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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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"Sure," he said, reaching over and filling her cup with tea. "I’ll help you." She looked at him, and he laughed reassuringly. "Now I’ll tell you what well do. We’ll go over here to Partridge’s and you pick out what you want. Then we’ll look around for a room for you. You can leave the things there. Then we’ll go to the show to-night." Carrie shook her head. "Well, you can go out to the flat then, that’s all right. You don’t need to stay in the room. Just take it and leave your things there." She hung in doubt about this until the dinner was over. "Let’s go over and look at the jackets," he said. Together they went. In the store they found that shine and rustle of new things which immediately laid hold of Carrie’s heart. Under the influence of a good dinner and Drouet’s radiating presence, the scheme proposed seemed feasible. She looked about and picked a jacket like the one which she had admired at The Fair. When she got it in her hand it seemed so much nicer. The saleswoman helped her on with it, and, by accident, it fitted perfectly. Drouet’s face lightened as he saw the improvement. She looked quite smart. "That’s the thing," he said. Carrie turned before the glass. She could not help feeling pleased as she looked at herself. A warm glow crept into her cheeks. "That’s the thing," said Drouet. "Now pay for it." "It’s nine dollars," said Carrie. "That’s all right-take it," said Drouet. She reached in her purse and took out one of the bills. The woman asked if she would wear the coat and went off. In a few minutes she was back and the purchase was closed. From Partridge’s they went to a shoe store, where Carrie was fitted for shoes. Drouet stood by, and when he saw how nice they looked, said, "Wear them." Carrie shook her head, however. She was thinking of returning to the flat. He bought her a purse for one thing, and a pair of gloves for another, and let her buy the stockings. "To-morrow," he said, "you come down here and buy yourself a skirt." In all of Carrie’s actions there was a touch of misgiving. The deeper she sank into the entanglement, the more she imagined that the thing hung upon the few remaining things she had not done. Since she had not done these, there was a way out. Drouet knew a place in Wabash Avenue where there were rooms. He showed Carrie the outside of these, and said: "Now, you’re my sister." He carried the arrangement off with an easy hand when it came to the selection, looking around, criticising, opining. "Her trunk will be here in a day or so," he observed to the landlady, who was very pleased. When they were alone, Drouet did not change in the least. He talked in the same general way as if they were out in the street. Carrie left her things. "Now," said Drouet, "why don’t you move to-night?" "Oh, I can’t," said Carrie. "Why not?" "I don’t want to leave them so." He took that up as they walked along the avenue. It was a warm afternoon. The sun had come out and the wind had died down. As he talked with Carrie, he secured an accurate detail of the atmosphere of the flat. "Come out of it," he said, "they won’t care. I’ll help you get along." She listened until her misgivings vanished. He would show her about a little and then help her get something. He really imagined that he would. He would be out on the road and she could be working. "Now, I’ll tell you what you do," he said, "you go out there and get whatever you want and come away." |
