"IfJimdoesn'tkillme，"shesaidtoherself，"beforehetakesasee，he'llsayIlooklikeaeyIslandchirl。ButwhatcouldIdo-oh!WhatcouldIdowithadhty-seve;
At7o'clockthecoffeewasmadeandthefrying-panwasonthebackofthestovehotaocookthechops。
Jimwase。Delladoubledthefobherhandandsatontheerofthetablehathealwaysehensheheardhisstepoairawaydowflight，auramoment。Shehadahabitflittlesilehesimplesteverydaythings，andnowshewhispered:"PleaseGod，makehimthinkIamstillpretty。"ThedooropenedandJimsteppedina。Helookedthinandveryserious。Poorfellow，hewasowo-andtobeburdehafamily!Heneededaahoutgloves。
Jimstoppedihedoor，asimmovableasasetteratthestofquail。Hiseyeswerefixedupohereressiosheotread，anditterrifiedher。Itwasnotanger，norsurprise，nordisapproval，norhorror，noraimentsthatshehadbeenpreparedfor。Hesimplystaredatherfixedlyeculiarexpressiononhisface。
Dellawriggledoffthetableaforhim。
&qu，"shep;apos;tlookatmethatway。Ihadmyhairdsolditbep;apos;thavelivedthroughChristmaswithoutgivingyouapresent。It&apain-youos;tmind，willyou?Ijusthadtodoit。Myhairgrowsawfullyfast。Say'MerryChristmas!'Jim，a'sbehappy。Youdon'tknowwhataabeautiful，I'vegotforyou。"
"You'vecutoffyourhair?"askedJim，laboriously，asifhehadpateevehehardestmentallabor。
"Cutitoffandsoldit，"saidDella。"Don'tyoulikemejustaswell，anyhoos;mmewithoutmyhair，ain'tI?"
Jimlookedabouttheroomcuriously。
"Yousayyo;hesaid，withanairalmostofidiocy。
"Youneedn'tlookforit，"saidDella。"It'ssold，Itellyou-solda'sChristmasEve，boy。Begoodtome，foritwentforyou。Maybethehairsofmyheadwere;shewentonwithsuddenserioussweet;butnobodycouldeveryloveforyou。ShallIputthe?"
OutofhistranceJimseemedquicklytowake。HeenfoldedhisDella。Forteusregardwithdiscreetseiialobjetheotherdire。Eightdollarsaweekoramillioisthedifferehematiorawitwouldgiveyahemagibroughtvaluablegifts，butthatwasnotamohisdarkassertionwillbeillumieron。
Jimdreahisovercoatpodthrewitupoable。
"Don'tmakeanymistake，Dell，"hesaid，"aboutme。Idon'tthinkthere'sanythinginthewayofahaircutorashaveorashampoothatakemelikemygirlaifyou'llunaayseewhyyouhadmegoi。"
Whitefingersathestringaheicscreamofjoy;andthen，alas!aquiegetohystericaltearsandwails，ieemploymentofallthefpowersofthelordoftheflat。
FortherelayThebs-thesetofbs，sideandback，thatDellahadworshippedfinaBroad。Beautifulbs，puretortoiseshell，withjewelledrims-justtheshadetoweariifulvaheywereexpensivebs，shekhadsimplydyearhemwithouttheleasthopeofpossession。Andnow，theywerehers，butthetressesthatshouldhaveadoredadorsweregone。
Butshehuggedthemtoherbosom，ahshewasabletolookupwithdimeyesandasmileandsay:&qurowssofast，Jim!"
AndthenDellaleapeduplikealittlesia;Oh，oh!"
Jimhadseeifulpresetohimeagerlyupohedullpreetalseemedtoflashwithareflehta。
"Isn'titadandy，Jim?Ihuntedallovertowntofindit。You'llhavetolookatthetimeahuimesadaynow。Givemeyourwatttoseehowitlooksonit。"
Insteadofobeying，Jimtumbleddownonthedputhishahebackofhisheadandsmiled。
"Dell，"saidhe，"let'sputourChristmaspresentsa'emawhile。They'retooousejustatpresent。Isoldthewatchtogetthemoobuyyourbs。Andnowsupposeyouputthe。"
Themagi，asyouknoonderfullywisemen-whiftstotheBabeiheyiofgivingChristmaspresents。Beiheirgiftswerenodoubtwiseones，possiblybearingtheprivilegeofexcaseofduplidhereIhavelamelyrelatedtoyoutheufulicleoftwofoolishinaflatwhomostunwiselysacrificedforeachreatesttreasuresoftheirhouse。Butinalastwordtothewiseofthesedaysletitbesaidthatofallwhogivegiftsthesetisest。Ofallwhogiveas，suchastheyarewisest。Everywheretheyarewisest。Theyarethemagi。