One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents, and the next day would be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color 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 Dillingham 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 Della's hair.
So now Della'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.
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