第17章

“Ah，thesoloistwasthebest——theladywhosangthosesadsongs。“

“Wasn’t——wasn’tthatmagiclanternwonderful，wherethefiguresmoved？Wonderful——ah，wonderful！Andwasn’tthatfirstactfunny，wherethefellowfelldownallthetime？

Andthatmusicalact，andthefellowwiththeburnt-corkfacewhoplayed’Nearer，MyGod，toThee’onthebeerbottles。“

TheygotoffatPolkStreetandwalkedupablocktotheflat。Thestreetwasdarkandempty；oppositetheflat，inthebackofthedesertedmarket，theducksandgeesewerecallingpersistently。

Astheywerebuyingtheirtamalesfromthehalf-breedMexicanatthestreetcorner，McTeagueobserved：

“Marcusain’tgonetobedyet。See，there’salightinhiswindow。There！“heexclaimedatonce，“Iforgotthedoorkey。Well，Marcuscanletusin。“

Hardlyhadherungthebellatthestreetdooroftheflatwhentheboltwasshotback。Inthehallatthetopofthelong，narrowstaircasetherewasthesoundofagreatscurrying。MariaMacapastoodthere，herhandupontheropethatdrewthebolt；Marcuswasatherside；OldGranniswasinthebackground，lookingovertheirshoulders；whilelittleMissBakerleantoverthebanisters，astrangemaninadrabovercoatatherside。AsMcTeague’spartysteppedintothedoorwayahalf-dozenvoicescried：

“Yes，it’sthem。“

“Isthatyou，Mac？“

“Isthatyou，MissSieppe？“

“IsyournameTrinaSieppe？“

Then，shrillerthanalltherest，MariaMacapascreamed：

“Oh，MissSieppe，comeupherequick。Yourlotterytickethaswonfivethousanddollars！“

CHAPTER7

“Whatnonsense！“answeredTrina。

“AchGott！Whatisut？“criedMrs。Sieppe，misunderstanding，supposingacalamity。

“What——what——what，“stammeredthedentist，confusedbythelights，thecrowdedstairway，themedleyofvoices。Thepartyreachedthelanding。Theotherssurroundedthem。

Marcusaloneseemedtorisetotheoccasion。

“Le’mebethefirsttocongratulateyou，“hecried，catchingTrina’shand。Everyonewastalkingatonce。

“MissSieppe，MissSieppe，yourtickethaswonfivethousanddollars，“criedMaria。“Don’tyourememberthelotteryticketIsoldyouinDoctorMcTeague’soffice？“

“Trina！“almostscreamedhermother。“Fivetausendthalers！

fivetausendthalers！Ifpopperwereonlyhere！“

“Whatisit——whatisit？“exclaimedMcTeague，rollinghiseyes。

“Whatareyougoingtodowithit，Trina？“inquiredMarcus。

“You’rearichwoman，mydear，“saidMissBaker，herlittlefalsecurlsquiveringwithexcitement，“andI’mgladforyoursake。Letmekissyou。TothinkIwasintheroomwhenyouboughttheticket！“

“Oh，oh！“interruptedTrina，shakingherhead，“thereisamistake。Theremustbe。Why——whyshouldIwinfivethousanddollars？It’snonsense！“

“Nomistake，nomistake，“screamedMaria。“Yournumberwas400，012。Hereitisinthepaperthisevening。Irememberitwell，becauseIkeepanaccount。“

“ButIknowyou’rewrong，“answeredTrina，beginningtotrembleinspiteofherself。“WhyshouldIwin？“

“Eh？Whyshouldn’tyou？“criedhermother。

Infact，whyshouldn’tshe？TheideasuddenlyoccurredtoTrina。Afterall，itwasnotaquestionofeffortormeritonherpart。Whyshouldshesupposeamistake？Whatifitweretrue，thiswonderfulfillipoffortunestrikingintherelikesomechance-drivenbolt？

“Oh，doyouthinkso？“shegasped。

Thestrangerinthedrabovercoatcameforward。

“It’stheagent，“criedtwoorthreevoices，simultaneously。

“Iguessyou’reoneoftheluckyones，MissSieppe，“hesaid。Isupposeyouhavekeptyourticket。“

“Yes，yes；fourthreeoughtstwelve——Iremember。“

“That’sright，“admittedtheother。“Presentyourticketatthelocalbranchofficeassoonaspossible——theaddressisprintedonthebackoftheticket——andyou’llreceiveacheckonourbankforfivethousanddollars。Yournumberwillhavetobeverifiedonourofficiallist，butthere’shardlyachanceofamistake。Icongratulateyou。“

AllatonceagreatshrillofgladnesssurgedupinTrina。

Shewastopossessfivethousanddollars。Shewascarriedawaywiththejoyofhergoodfortune，anatural，spontaneousjoy——thegaietyofachildwithanewandwonderfultoy。

“Oh，I’vewon，I’vewon，I’vewon！“shecried，clappingherhands。“Mamma，thinkofit。I’vewonfivethousanddollars，justbybuyingaticket。Mac，whatdoyousaytothat？I’vegotfivethousanddollars。August，doyouhearwhat’shappenedtosister？“

“Kissyourmommer，Trina，“suddenlycommandedMrs。Sieppe。

“Whateferwillyoudomitalldosemoney，eh，Trina？“

“Huh！“exclaimedMarcus。“Getmarriedonitforonething。

Thereattheyallshoutedwithlaughter。McTeaguegrinned，andlookedaboutsheepishly。“Talkaboutluck，“mutteredMarcus，shakinghisheadatthedentist；thensuddenlyheadded：

“Well，arewegoingtostaytalkingouthereinthehallallnight？Can’tweallcomeintoyour’Parlors，’Mac？“

“Sure，sure，“exclaimedMcTeague，hastilyunlockinghisdoor。

“Eferybottygome，“criedMrs。Sieppe，genially。“Ain’tutso，Doktor？“

“Everybody，“repeatedthedentist。“There’s——there’ssomebeer。“

“We’llcelebrate，bydamn！“exclaimedMarcus。“Itain’teverydayyouwinfivethousanddollars。It’sonlySundaysandlegalholidays。“Againhesetthecompanyoffintoagaleoflaughter。Anythingwasfunnyatatimelikethis。

Insomewayeveryoneofthemfeltelated。Thewheeloffortunehadcomespinningclosetothem。Theywereneartothisgreatsumofmoney。Itwasasthoughtheytoohadwon。

“Here’srightwhereIsatwhenIboughtthatticket，“criedTrina，aftertheyhadcomeintothe“Parlors，“andMarcushadlitthegas。“Righthereinthischair。“Shesatdowninoneoftherigidchairsunderthesteelengraving。

“And，Marcus，yousathere——“

“AndIwasjustgettingoutoftheoperatingchair，“

interposedMissBaker。

“Yes，yes。That’sso；andyou，“continuedTrina，pointingtoMaria，“cameupandsaid，’Buyaticketinthelottery；

justadollar。’Oh，Irememberitjustasplainasthoughitwasyesterday，andIwasn’tgoingtoatfirst——“

“Anddon’tyouknowItoldMariaitwasagainstthelaw？“

“Yes，Iremember，andthenIgaveheradollarandputtheticketinmypocketbook。It’sinmypocketbooknowathomeinthetopdrawerofmybureau——oh，supposeitshouldbestolennow，“shesuddenlyexclaimed。

“It’sworthbigmoneynow，“assertedMarcus。

“Fivethousanddollars。Whowouldhavethoughtit？It’swonderful。“Everybodystartedandturned。ItwasMcTeague。

Hestoodinthemiddleofthefloor，wagginghishugehead。

Heseemedtohavejustrealizedwhathadhappened。

“Yes，sir，fivethousanddollars！“exclaimedMarcus，withasuddenunaccountablemirthlessness。“Fivethousanddollars！

Doyougetontothat？CousinTrinaandyouwillberichpeople。“

“Atsixpercent，that’stwenty-fivedollarsamonth，“

hazardedtheagent。

“Thinkofit。Thinkofit，“mutteredMcTeague。Hewentaimlesslyabouttheroom，hiseyeswide，hisenormoushandsdangling。

“Acousinofminewonfortydollarsonce，“observedMissBaker。“Buthespenteverycentofitbuyingmoretickets，andneverwonanything。“

Thenthereminiscencesbegan。Mariatoldaboutthebutcheronthenextblockwhohadwontwentydollarsthelastdrawing。Mrs。SieppeknewagasfitterinOaklandwhohadwonseveraltimes；onceahundreddollars。LittleMissBakerannouncedthatshehadalwaysbelievedthatlotterieswerewrong；but，justthesame，fivethousandwasfivethousand。

“It’sallrightwhenyouwin，ain’tit，MissBaker？“

observedMarcus，withacertainsarcasm。WhatwasthematterwithMarcus？Atmomentsheseemedsingularlyoutoftemper。

Buttheagentwasfullofstories。Hetoldhisexperiences，thelegendsandmythsthathadgrownuparoundthehistoryofthelottery；hetoldofthepoornewsboywithadyingmothertosupportwhohaddrawnaprizeoffifteenthousand；

ofthemanwhowasdriventosuicidethroughwant，butwhoheld(hadhebutknownit)thenumberthattwodaysafterhisdeathdrewthecapitalprizeofthirtythousanddollars；

ofthelittlemillinerwhofortenyearshadplayedthelotterywithoutsuccess，andwhohadonedaydeclaredthatshewouldbuybutonemoreticketandthengiveuptrying，andofhowthislasttickethadbroughtherafortuneuponwhichshecouldretire；ofticketsthathadbeenlostordestroyed，andwhosenumbershadwonfabuloussumsatthedrawing；ofcriminals，driventovicebypoverty，andwhohadreformedafterwinningcompetencies；ofgamblerswhoplayedthelotteryastheywouldplayafarobank，turningintheirwinningsagainassoonasmade，buyingthousandsofticketsalloverthecountry；ofsuperstitionsastoterminalandinitialnumbers，andastoluckydaysofpurchase；ofmarvellouscoincidences——threecapitalprizesdrawnconsecutivelybythesametown；aticketboughtbyamillionaireandgiventohisboot-black，whowonathousanddollarsuponit；thesamenumberwinningthesameamountanindefinitenumberoftimes；andsoontoinfinity。

Invariablyitwastheneedywhowon，thedestituteandstarvingwoketowealthandplenty，thevirtuoustoilersuddenlyfoundhisrewardinaticketboughtatahazard；

thelotterywasagreatcharity，thefriendofthepeople，avastbeneficentmachinethatrecognizedneitherranknorwealthnorstation。

Thecompanybegantobeverygay。Chairsandtableswerebroughtinfromtheadjoiningrooms，andMariawassentoutformorebeerandtamales，andalsocommissionedtobuyabottleofwineandsomecakeforMissBaker，whoabhorredbeer。

The“DentalParlors“wereingreatconfusion。Emptybeerbottlesstoodonthemovablerackwheretheinstrumentswerekept；platesandnapkinswereupontheseatoftheoperatingchairanduponthestandofshelvesinthecorner，sidebysidewiththeconcertinaandthevolumesof“Allen’sPracticalDentist。“Thecanarywokeandchitteredcrossly，hisfeatherspuffedout；thehusksoftamaleslitteredthefloor；thestonepugdogsittingbeforethelittlestovestaredattheunusualscene，hisglasseyesstartingfromtheirsockets。