Edward Alden Jewell

The White Kami Edward Alden Jewell

Her name was Stella, and she did not like her name. Her hair was quite lustrous, but she did not like her hair, either, and stood combing it jerkily before a glass which possessed in its midst one of those unfortunate waves capable of drawing the face of the beholder into a sad and sometimes startling distortion. Nor did she take the trouble to keep out of range of the wave, which proved beyond any reasonable doubt that things were not going very well with her. Stella's face was by no means a discredit to her sex; but a woman is never seen to the best advantage when at odds with her hair one of the few generalities that may fairly be called safe. Her life was a failure that worst of all possible failures: the kind of failure one just misses grasping. She phrased it all supremely: "I guess I'm about as deep in the mire as any one could get without being swallowed up entirely."