"Joyce got a check that she hadn't expected before next month, and
another one that she hadn't expected at all. It was for some initial
letter sketches and tail-pieces that had been travelling around to
different magazines for months. Besides, there was an order for a
frontispiece for a child's magazine. She was so happy she could hardly
finish her breakfast, and said now she could give me the present she had
planned to give me in the beginning. She had been disappointed about
some other work she had counted on, and thought she would have to cut my
present down to some gloves and a book, but now she could play Santa
Claus in fine style, and carry out her original intention. Just as soon
as things were in order, she would take me down town and let me choose
it.

"It was so exciting, not knowing what it was going to be, and hurrying
along with the crowds of shoppers; everybody so smiling and happy and
good-natured, no matter how much they were bumped into. I felt
Christmasey down to my finger-tips, although they were nearly frozen.
Last night's snow was almost a blizzard, and left it stinging cold.

"At last, after buying a lot of little things to put on the tree at
Eugenia's, and keeping me guessing for over an hour about my present,
Joyce took us into a furrier's, and bought me a beautiful set of furs;
a lovely long boa and a muff like the one Lloyd had her picture taken in
the first year she was at Warwick Hall. I've always wanted furs like
them. They look so opulent and luxurious. And maybe I wasn't proud and
happy when I saw myself in the mirror! They just _make_ my costume, and
they made a world of difference in my comfort when we went out into the
icy air again. I certainly would have squealed if I hadn't remembered
that we were on Broadway, when Joyce told me that I looked so stunning