Last year everything got shabby so
quickly and "looked like a rag," before the season was over but she
hoped for better luck this time. She rose and put her new possessions
away very carefully in the little closet and boxes and turned to the
mirror. The hair dresser had shown her a new way to dress her hair and
she tried it now herself. After a long time she met with fair success.
She did not call the family to see the result, for there might be more
words of disapproval and though they would not influence her in the
least still it was a bore to listen to them. The new arrangement was
very uncomfortable and it did seem strange to be apparently without ears
but she was an earnest devotee and what it pleased the idol to dictate,
that she did. Next she tried the new concoctions for cheeks and
eyebrows. The result pleased her. She called to her mother to ask the
time and exclaiming at the lateness of the hour called back that she was
dead tired and would go to bed. When she hung up her skirt she was
dismayed to see how worn it was. She had paid for the style in it, not
for the material. She did not go to sleep directly though she had a
right to be tired, for she had to get up very early each morning and she
was obliged to stand all day at her work. But she was troubled. Even
the pleasure of possessing the clothes so carefully protected in the
closet could not take away the anxiety produced by the conscious need of
rubbers and a winter suit.
Pages:
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67