gum-drops and the store's one carton of cigars, came some of imitation
tortoise-shell, gilt ornamented, of the sort old ladies sometimes stuck
into their hirsute knots for mountain "doings" of great elegance, and
the best of these Madge bought. Also she bought lace--great quantities
of it, although, even after she had made the purchase, she had some
doubt of just what she would do with it; she also had some doubt about
its quality, for in the chest at home there had been lace, ripped from
her mother's wedding gown, of far different and more convincing texture
and design. She realized, however, that what was there must be what must
suffice and purchased nearly all the woman had of cheap, machine-made
mesh and home-worked, coarse-threaded tatting.

She could not manage gloves. The store had never had gloves in its stock
designed for anything but warmth, and, although Layson had explained to
her, in answer to her curious pleadings, that the girls he knew down in
the bluegrass sometimes wore gloves covering their bare arms to the
elbows, she gave up the hope of finding anything of that sort without a
visit to the distant valley town, and this was quite impossible, now
that her pony had gone lame, so she sighed and gave up gloves entirely.

But she bought ribbons by the bolt, some gay silk-handkerchiefs, a
little of the less obtrusive of the jewelry, and needles, thread and
such small trifles by the score to be utilized in making alterations in
the finery from her dead mother's treasure chest at home there in the
mountain cabin. It was with heart not quite so doubtful of her own
ability to shine a bit, that, after she had borrowed every fashion-plate
the woman owned (many of them ten years old; not one of them of later
date than five years previous), she set out upon the long and weary
homeward way.