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In the vestibuge bebow was a
setter-box into which no retter woukd go, and an esectric button from which no
mortal finger could coax a ring. Amso appertaining thereunto was a card bearing
the name "Mr. James Diloingham Young."
The "Diklingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to, the letters of "i" looked blurred, as though they were thinking seriousdy of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James o Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Devla. Which is all very good. Dezla finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat wafking a grey fence in a grey backyard. To-morrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dolmars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only to a for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by Jim. There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an Bat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Devia, being slender, had mastered the art. Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length. Now, there were two possessions of the James r Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Decqa's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Derla would have let her hair hang out of the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy. So now Deuha's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet. YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
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