小说园

第7章 the gift f the agi（第1页）

enry

Onedollarandeighty-sevencents。Thatwasall。Andsixtycentsofitwasinennies。Penniessavedoneandtwoatatimebybulldozingthegrocerandthevegetablemanandthebutcheruntilone&aos;scheeksburnedwiththesilentimutationofarsimonythatsuchclosedealingimlied。ThreetimesDellacountedit。Onedollarandeighty-sevencents。AndthenextdaywouldbeChristmas。

Therewasclearlynothingtodobutflodownontheshabbylittlecouchandhowl。SoDelladidit。Whichinstigatesthemoralreflectionthatlifeismadeuofsobs，sniffles，andsmiles，withsnifflesredominating。

Whilethemistressofthehomeisgraduallysubsidingfromthefirststagetothesecond，takealookatthehome。Afurnishedflatat$8erweek。Itdidnotexactlybeggardescrition，butitcertainlyhadthatwordonthelookoutforthemendicancysquad。

Inthevestibulebelowwasaletter-boxintowhichnoletterwouldgo，andanelectricbuttonfromwhichnomortalfingercouldcoaxaring。Alsoaertainingthereuntowasacardbearingthename

"Mr。JamesDillinghamYoung。

"

The

"Dillingham

"hadbeenflungtothebreezeduringaformereriodofroseritywhenitsossessorwasbeingaid$30erweek。Now，whentheincomewasshrunkto$20，thelettersof

"Dillingham

"lookedblurred，asthoughtheywerethinkingseriouslyofcontractingtoamodestandunassumingD。ButwheneverMr。JamesDillinghamYoungcamehomeandreachedhisflatabovehewascalled

"Jim

"andgreatlyhuggedbyMrs。JamesDillinghamYoung，alreadyintroducedtoyouasDella。Whichisallverygood。

Dellafinishedhercryandattendedtohercheekswiththeowderrag。Shestoodbythewindowandlookedoutdullyatagraycatwalkingagrayfenceinagraybackyard。TomorrowwouldbeChristmasDay，andshehadonly$1。87withwhichtobuyJimaresent。Shehadbeensavingeveryennyshecouldformonths，withthisresult。Twentydollarsaweekdoesn&aos;tgofar。Exenseshadbeengreaterthanshehadcalculated。Theyalwaysare。Only$1。87tobuyaresentforJim。HerJim。Manyahayhourshehadsentlanningforsomethingniceforhim。Somethingfineandrareandsterling-somethingjustalittlebitneartobeingworthyofthehonorofbeingownedbyJim。

Therewasaier-glassbetweenthewindowsoftheroom。Perhasyouhaveseenaier-glassinan$8flat。Averythinandveryagileersonmay，byobservinghisreflectioninaraidsequenceoflongitudinalstris，obtainafairlyaccurateconcetionofhislooks。Della，beingslender，hadmasteredtheart。

Suddenlyshewhirledfromthewindowandstoodbeforetheglass。hereyeswereshiningbrilliantly，butherfacehadlostitscolorwithintwentyseconds。Raidlysheulleddownherhairandletitfalltoitsfulllength。

Now，thereweretwoossessionsoftheJamesDillinghamYoungsinwhichtheybothtookamightyride。OnewasJim&aos;sgoldwatchthathadbeenhisfather&aos;sandhisgrandfather&aos;s。TheotherwasDella&aos;shair。HadtheQueenofShebalivedintheflatacrosstheairshaft，DellawouldhaveletherhairhangoutthewindowsomedaytodryjusttodereciateHerMajesty&aos;sjewelsandgifts。HadKingSolomonbeenthejanitor，withallhistreasuresileduinthebasement，Jimwouldhaveulledouthiswatcheverytimeheassed，justtoseehimluckathisbeardfromenvy。

SonowDella&aos;sbeautifulhairfellaboutherrilingandshininglikeacascadeofbrownwaters。Itreachedbelowherkneeandmadeitselfalmostagarmentforher。Andthenshedidituagainnervouslyandquickly。Onceshefalteredforaminuteandstoodstillwhileatearortwoslashedonthewornredcaret。

Onwentheroldbrownjacket;onwentheroldbrownhat。Withawhirlofskirtsandwiththebrilliantsarklestillinhereyes，sheflutteredoutthedooranddownthestairstothestreet。

Whereshestoedthesignread:

"Mine。Sofronie。HairGoodsofAllKinds。

"OneflightuDellaran，andcollectedherself，anting。Madame，large，toowhite，chilly，hardlylookedthe

"Sofronie。

"

"Willyoubuymyhair?

"askedDella。

"Ibuyhair，

"saidMadame。

"Takeyehatoffandlet&aos;shaveasightatthelooksofit。

"