Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-12-20
Thf Gift nj thr miaf mrm
THE GIFT OF THE WISE MEN.
By o. Henry.
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.

0" uoHol aWu elghlySeVen cents. mat a all. And sixty
cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by
bandozing the grocer and the vegetable nan and the he butcher em until si
close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and
e'sht 5SN"a cents And the next day would be Christmas.
Little tt;s.f couch IA and dt howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral
p'e'S %%1s ing m;xtre.s of +ho HANNA. .A.u.
first stage to e the e sseond, f take ess a HSRF at IS the ssi homs. s a furmishf fdo flat ta at
Ss per week. 1t did not exactly begsar description, but it certainly
In the vssdbale below was a letter box into which no letter would
go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a
M. James Dillingham; Young ""' " '"'" 0''''"s "e name
The Dillingham;, had been flung to the breeze during a former
Enw w of prosperity f%a imncm when %a. its aSn posse ss p vas s being paid $50 mM per week:
looked I blurred %s as as t though h tSey y" mer 20 Thinking hin ig s serious Gl of p eontractiny
to a modest and unassuming ID. But whenever Mr.. James DILLINGHAM;
aud greatly Rugged by Mrs sls James s' Dillingham; 5nii lssn You mes already intro
d"ee a5 to you fi as Della: Which is all very good;
rag; She stood by the window and looked out DULY at a grey cat
c chrts"g q d Ersy ad She N had a s oniy s Sis7 with w nG%i'r to- b w9" 5m be s
pre-, ptss'4 4t. She san had r5 been saying every penny she could for months,
had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only
had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and
rare "a and stsr5ing-something Just a little bit near to being worthy of
. h There was was q a pier pier glass be between I'VE q the the windows ess. of fH the a9 Perhaps 2
person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longi-
tudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della,
Suddenly she whrled from the window and stood before the
glass Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost it's
let it fall to its full length.
in. which %sh they hssn both 9th took "a mighty light pr pride ds,nS 1.f was 5i% NJ. gold eaS. watch
airshaft. Della would have let her hair hang ont the window some
King 4" IS Solomon % . '"< been ;s s ss is";fer; with b's I'll lis : treasures ?s@"'s 'P pi7e a'' "p in f se
basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed,
just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
so now Della S beautiful hair fell about her, ripping and shining
like a cascade of brown waters. 1t reached below her knee and made
itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nerv-
S%ay s a te a" sa two oass s9f o ts't tS j, rd 5Sn a %i @sr".t and stood still
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With
Q whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still i'm her eyes. she
fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.
Of Al W k;nss she o 5,sp E3s,5 the "p * bsils ss s.n. and "" seii s s herself, H" r. Gasss
Madame. large, too Wits, shily hardly looked the 'solro"s
Will you buy my hair, - asked Della.
II buy hair, said Madame. Take yer hat off and let have a
sight at the looks of it."
Twenty dollars, said Madame, lifting the mass with a prac-
tied hand.
Give it to IN e quick, said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours trippcd by on rosy wings. Forget the
hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim s present.
She found it at last. 1t surely had been made for Jim and no
one else. There was no other like it i'm amy of the stores. and she had
turned all of them inside out. 1t was a platinum fob chain. simple and
chased in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone
1t was even worthy of The Watch. AS soon a she saw it she knew
that must be Jms 1t was like him. Quietness and value-the
description applied to both. Twcnty-one dollars they took from her
his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any com
pany. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the
sly on account of the old leather strap he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxicahon gave way a little to
prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the
gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity
added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends-a
mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close lying
eurls that made her look wonderfully like a t,uant schoolboy. She
IF Jim doesn't kill me, she said to herself, before he takes
. second look at me, he'll say look: like a Coney Island chorus girl.
seven cents?s
At Z o'clock the coffee was made and the frying pan was o N the
back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.
Jim val never late. Della doubled the fob chain i'm her hand
and sat on the corner of the fable near the door that he always
entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first
flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit Of
saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things. and