Manners and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
There were some old mezzotints in the window of the loan shop, a string
of coins and medals, a row of new French posters; and far down to the
front a tray filled with gold and silver cigarette-cases and watches and
rings. It occurred to Helen, who was still bent on making restitution
for her neglect, that a cigarette-case would be more appropriate for a
man than flowers, and more lasting. And she scanned the contents of
the window with the eye of one who now saw in everything only something
which might give Philip pleasure. The two objects of value in the tray
upon which her eyes first fell were the gold seal-ring with which Philip
had sealed his letters to her, and, lying next to it, his gold watch!
There was something almost human in the way the ring and watch spoke to
her from the past--in the way they appealed to her to rescue them from
the surroundings to which they had been abandoned. She did not know what
she meant to do with them nor how she could return them to Philip; but
there was no question of doubt in her manner as she swept with a rush
into the shop. There was no attempt, either, at bargaining in the way
in which she pointed out to the young woman behind the counter the
particular ring and watch she wanted. They had not been left as
collateral, the young woman said; they had been sold outright.
“Then any one can buy them?” Helen asked eagerly. “They are for sale to
the public--to any one?”
The young woman made note of the customer’s eagerness, but with an
unmoved countenance.
“Yes, miss, they are for sale. The ring is four pounds and the watch
twenty-five.”
“Twenty-nine pounds!” Helen gasped.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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