Dangerous Days

From the moment, the day before Christmas, when Graham had taken the

little watch from his pocket and fastened it on Anna's wrist, he was

rather uneasily aware that she had become his creature. He had had no

intention of buying Anna. He was certainly not in love with her. But he

found her amusing and at times comforting.

He had, of course, expected to lose her after the unlucky day when

Clayton had found them together, but Dunbar had advised that she be

kept on for a time at least. Mentally Graham figured that the first of

January would see her gone, and the thought of a Christmas present for

her was partly compounded of remorse.

He had been buying a cigaret case for Marion when the thought came to

him. He had not bought a Christmas present for a girl, except flowers,

since the first year he was at college. He had sent Delight one that

year, a half-dozen little leather-bound books of poetry. What a precious

young prig he must have been! He knew now that girls only pretended to

care for books. They wanted jewelry, and they got past the family with

it by pretending it was not real, or that they had bought it out of

their allowances. One of Toots' friends was taking a set of silver fox

from a man, and she was as straight as a die. Oh, he knew girls, now.

The next day he asked Anna Klein: "What would you like for Christmas?"

Anna, however, had insisted that she did not want a Christmas present.

Later on, however, she had seen a watch one of the girls on the hill

had bought for twelve dollars, and on his further insistence a day or so

later she had said: "Do you really want to know?"

"Of course I do."

"You oughtn't to spend money on me, you know."

"You let me attend to that. Now, out with it!"

So she told him rather nervously, for she felt that twelve dollars was a

considerable sum. He had laughed, and agreed instantly, but when he went

to buy it he found himself paying a price that rather startled him.

"Don't you lose it, young lady!" he admonished her when, the day before

Christmas, he fastened it on her wrist. Then he had stooped down to kiss

her, and the intensity of feeling in her face had startled him. "It's

a good watch," he had said, rather uneasily; "no excuse for your being

late now!"

All the rest of the day she was radiant.