Two young artists named Sue and Joanna shared a studio apartment in the Greenwich Village area of New York, trying to realize their dreams. In November pneumonia  killed many people. Unluckily, Joanna fell ill, too. One morning, a doctor examined Joanna and then spoke with Sue in another room. "She has decided that she has no chance. All we can do is give her a strong will to live." Holding back her tears, Sue went to Joanna's room. Joanna lay with her face toward the window, eyes wide open. She was counting something backward. "Twelve," she said, and a little later "eleven" until "five," almost together. Sue looked out of the window. What was there to count? There was a wall covered with an old ivy vine growing half way up it. The cold breath of autumn has stricken the leaves from the vine until it was almost bare. "Five what, dear?" asked Sue. "Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too." "Oh, Don't be silly." Said Sue, "You will get better." "There goes another one. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark." "Try to sleep." said Sue. "I must call Mr. Behrman up to be my model for my drawing of an old miner. Don't try to move until I come back." Old Behrman was a poor painter who lived in the building. For years he had always been planning to paint a work of art, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little money by serving as a model to artists who could not pay for a professional  model.  Sue found Behrman in his room. In one area was a blank canvas that had been waiting twenty-five years for the first line of paint. Sue told him about Joanna and how she feared that her friend would float away like a leaf.  "What!" Old Behrman was angered at such an idea. "How silly! Just take me to her room." Joanna was sleeping when they went in. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow. The next morning, Sue awoke after an hour's sleep. She found Joanna staring at the covered window. "Pull up the shade; I want to see." Sue obeyed.  "It's the last leaf," said Joanna. "It will fall today, and I will go with it."  When night came, the rain began to fall again with a strong wind.  The next morning, Joanna demanded that the window shade be raised. The ivy leaf was still there. Joanna lay for a long time, looking at it. And then she called Sue, "I have been a bad girl. I'm so wrong. Now I want to get well and paint again." The doctor came to see Joanna in the afternoon. He told Sue "Joanna is improving. Now I must see Behrman. Pneumonia, too, very ill. Little hope for him." Later that day, Sue came to Joanna, and put one arm around her.  "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia in the hospital today. He was sick only two days. When someone went into his room, Behrman was lying there with his shoes on. His shoes and clothes were all wet. Nobody knew why." "Oh, poor Behrman!" Cried Joanna. "See the last leaf on the wall," said Sue, " It looks like a real leaf, doesn't it? " "A real leaf ? " "Ah, darling, it is Behrman's masterpiece  -- he painted it there the night when the last leaf fell." Which words can best describe Old Behrman?
Cold and mean. Poor but noble. Talented and successful. Devoted but selfish.