read the excerpt from "the gift of the magi."

at 7 o’clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.

jim was never late. della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. she had a habit of saying a little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things.

in this excerpt, the dillingham youngs are described as a couple that .