第11章

“Attendnow，“hesuddenlyexclaimed。“Itwillnotbesohsoon。Atderendofderday，venweshallhavehomegecommen，denwullitpeadjudge，eh？AREwardofmerittohimwhoderbes’pehaves。Itisanorder。Vorwarts！“

“ThatwasaSacramentotrain，“saidMarcustoSelinaastheystartedoff；“itwas，forafact。“

“IknowagirlinSacramento，“TrinatoldMcTeague。“She’sforewomaninaglovestore，andshe’sgotconsumption。“

“IwasinSacramentoonce，“observedMcTeague，“nearlyeightyearsago。“

“Isitaniceplace——asniceasSanFrancisco？“

“It’shot。Ipractisedthereforawhile。“

“IlikeSanFrancisco，“saidTrina，lookingacrossthebaytowherethecitypileditselfuponitshills。

“SodoI，“answeredMcTeague。“Doyoulikeitbetterthanlivingoverhere？“

“Oh，sure，Iwishwelivedinthecity。Ifyouwanttogoacrossforanythingittakesupthewholeday。“

“Yes，yes，thewholeday——almost。“

“Doyouknowmanypeopleinthecity？DoyouknowanybodynamedOelbermann？That’smyuncle。HehasawholesaletoystoreintheMission。Theysayhe’sawfulrich。“

“No，Idon’knowhim。“

“Hisstepdaughterwantstobeanun。Justfancy！AndMr。

Oelbermannwon’thaveit。Hesaysitwouldbejustlikeburyinghischild。Yes，shewantstoentertheconventoftheSacredHeart。AreyouaCatholic，DoctorMcTeague？“

“No。No，I——“

“PapaisaCatholic。HegoestoMassonthefeastdaysonceinawhile。Butmamma’sLutheran。“

“TheCatholicsaretryingtogetcontroloftheschools，“

observedMcTeague，suddenlyrememberingoneofMarcus’spoliticaltirades。

“That’swhatcousinMarksays。Wearegoingtosendthetwinstothekindergartennextmonth。“

“What’sthekindergarten？“

“Oh，theyteachthemtomakethingsoutofstrawandtoothpicks——kindofaplayplacetokeepthemoffthestreet。“

“There’soneuponSacramentoStreet，notfarfromPolkStreet。Isawthesign。“

“Iknowwhere。Why，Selinausedtoplaythepianothere。“

“Doessheplaythepiano？“

“Oh，yououghttohearher。Sheplaysfine。Selina’sveryaccomplished。Shepaints，too。“

“Icanplayontheconcertina。“

“Oh，canyou？Iwishyou’dbroughtitalong。Nexttimeyouwill。Ihopeyou’llcomeoftenonourpicnics。You’llseewhatfunwe’llhave。“

“Finedayforapicnic，ain’tit？Thereain’tacloud。“

“That’sso，“exclaimedTrina，lookingup，“notasinglecloud。Oh，yes；thereisone，justoverTelegraphHill。“

“That’ssmoke。“

“No，it’sacloud。Smokeisn’twhitethatway。“

“’Tisacloud。“

“IknewIwasright。IneversayathingunlessI’mprettysure。“

“Itlookslikeadog’shead。“

“Don’tit？Isn’tMarcusfondofdogs？“

“Hegotanewdoglastweek——asetter。“

“Didhe？“

“Yes。HeandItookalotofdogsfromhishospitaloutforawalktotheCliffHouselastSunday，butwehadtowalkallthewayhome，becausetheywouldn’tfollow。You’vebeenouttotheCliffHouse？“

“Notforalongtime。WehadapicnicthereoneFourthofJuly，butitrained。Don’tyoulovetheocean？“

“Yes——yes，Ilikeitprettywell。“

“Oh，I’dliketogooffinoneofthosebigsailingships。

Justaway，andaway，andaway，anywhere。They’redifferentfromalittleyacht。I’dlovetotravel。“

“Sure；sowouldI。“

“Papaandmammacameoverinasailingship。Theyweretwenty-onedays。Mamma’suncleusedtobeasailor。HewascaptainofasteameronLakeGeneva，inSwitzerland。“

“Halt！“shoutedMr。Sieppe，brandishinghisrifle。Theyhadarrivedatthegatesofthepark。AllatonceMcTeagueturnedcold。Hehadonlyaquarterinhispocket。Whatwasheexpectedtodo——payforthewholeparty，orforTrinaandhimself，ormerelybuyhisownticket？Andeveninthislattercasewouldaquarterbeenough？Helosthiswits，rollinghiseyeshelplessly。Thenitoccurredtohimtofeignagreatabstraction，pretendingnottoknowthatthetimewascometopay。Helookedintentlyupanddownthetracks；perhapsatrainwascoming。“Hereweare，“criedTrina，astheycameuptotherestoftheparty，crowdedabouttheentrance。“Yes，yes，“observedMcTeague，hisheadintheair。

“Gi’mefourbits，Mac，“saidMarcus，comingup。“Here’swhereweshellout。“

“I——I——Ionlygotaquarter，“mumbledthedentist，miserably。HefeltthathehadruinedhimselfforeverwithTrina。Whatwastheuseoftryingtowinher？Destinywasagainsthim。“Ionlygotaquarter，“hestammered。Hewasonthepointofaddingthathewouldnotgointhepark。

Thatseemedtobetheonlyalternative。

“Oh，allright！“saidMarcus，easily。“I’llpayforyou，andyoucansquarewithmewhenwegohome。“

Theyfiledintothepark，Mr。Sieppecountingthemoffastheyentered。

“Ah，“saidTrina，withalongbreath，assheandMcTeaguepushedthroughthewicket，“hereweareoncemore，Doctor。“

ShehadnotappearedtonoticeMcTeague’sembarrassment。

Thedifficultyhadbeentidedoversomehow。OncemoreMcTeaguefelthimselfsaved。

“Toderbeach！“shoutedMr。Sieppe。Theyhadcheckedtheirbasketsatthepeanutstand。Thewholepartytroopeddowntotheseashore。Thegreyhoundwasturnedloose。Thechildrenracedonahead。

FromoneofthelargerparcelsMrs。Sieppehaddrawnforthasmalltinsteamboat——August’sbirthdaypresent——agaudylittletoywhichcouldbesteamedupandnavigatedbymeansofanalcohollamp。Hertrialtripwastobemadethismorning。

“Gi’meit，gi’meit，“shoutedAugust，dancingaroundhisfather。

“Notsoh，notsoh，“criedMr。Sieppe，bearingitaloft。“I

mustfirstdereggsperimuntmake。“

“No，no！“wailedAugust。“Iwanttoplaywithut。“

“Obey！“thunderedMr。Sieppe。Augustsubsided。Alittlejettyranpartofthewayintothewater。Here，afteracarefulstudyofthedirectionsprintedonthecoverofthebox，Mr。Sieppebegantofirethelittleboat。

“Iwanttopututinthewa-ater，“criedAugust。

“Standback！“shoutedhisparent。“Youdonotknowsowellasme；dereisdandger。Mitoutattentionhewilleggsplode。“

“Iwanttoplaywithut，“protestedAugust，beginningtocry。

“Ach，soh；youcry，bube！“vociferatedMr。Sieppe。“Mommer，“

addressingMrs。Sieppe，“hewillsohsoonbege-whipt，eh？“

“Iwantmyboa-wut，“screamedAugust，dancing。

“Silence！“roaredMr。Sieppe。Thelittleboatbegantohissandsmoke。

“Soh，“observedthefather，“hegommence。Attention！Iputhiminderwater。“Hewasveryexcited。Theperspirationdrippedfromthebackofhisneck。Thelittleboatwaslaunched。Ithissedmorefuriouslythanever。Cloudsofsteamrolledfromit，butitrefusedtomove。

“Youdon’tknowhowshewo-rks，“sobbedAugust。

“Iknowmoresohmudgeasdergrossestliddlefoolasyou，“

criedMr。Sieppe，fiercely，hisfacepurple。

“Youmustgiveitsh——shove！“exclaimedtheboy。