Page 88 - Arrow Publications Pvt. Ltd.
P. 88
and stood still, while a tear or two
ran down her face.
She put on her old brown coat.
With the bright light still in her
eyes, she moved quickly out of
the door and down to the street.
Where she stopped, the sign said:
“Mrs. Sofronie. Hair Articles of
all kinds.”
Up to the second floor, Della ran,
and stopped to get her breath.
Mrs. Sofronie, large, too white,
and cold-eyed looked at her.
“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“Yes, I buy hair,” said Mrs. Sofronie. “Take your hat off and let me look at it.” Down fell the
brown waterfall. “Twenty dollars,” said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to feel its weight. “Give
it to me quick,” said Della.
And the next two hours seemed to fly. She was going from one shop to another, to find a gift
for Jim. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no
other like it in any of the shops, and she had looked in every shop in the city. It was a gold
watch chain, very simply made. Its value was in its rich and pure material. Because it was
so plain and simple, you knew that it was very valuable. All good things are like this. It was
good enough for the watch. She paid twenty-one dollars for it. And she hurried home with
the chain and eighty-seven cents.
Though Jim’s watch was fine, it did not have a fine chain. Jim sometimes took it out from
his pocket and looked at it only when no one could see him do it. With the gold chain on his
watch, Jim could look at it anywhere he might be.
Della arrived home and her mind quietened down a little. Within forty minutes, her head
looked a little better. With her short hair, she looked like a school boy. She stood at the
looking-glass for a long time.
“But what could I do-oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?” She said to
herself.
At seven, Jim’s dinner was ready for him. Della held the watch chain in her hand and sat near
the door where he always entered. Then she heard his step in the hall and her face lost colour
Arrow - English Plus-8 86
