Read these lines from the excerpt again: “ah, you have had experience! ” (yes, a rip down the back of the hand) “they are just right for you—your hand is very small—if they tear, you need not pay for them.” (there was a rent across the middle.) “i can always tell when a gentleman understands putting on kid gloves. there is a grace about it that only comes with long patience.” (meanwhile, my efforts caused the whole afterguard of the glove to “fetch away,” as the sailors say, and then the fabric parted across the knuckles, and nothing was left but a melancholy ruin.) in this excerpt from the story the narrator struggles with the gloves because he really needs gloves and those are the only pair he wants the shop girl to keep complimenting him he can get the gloves at a discount if they are damaged he thinks the shop girl should buy the gloves