第18章

Theydrankandfeastedinimpromptufashion。MarcusSchoulerassumedtheofficeofmasterofceremonies；hewasinalatherofexcitement，rushingabouthereandthere，openingbeerbottles，servingthetamales，slappingMcTeagueupontheback，laughingandjokingcontinually。HemadeMcTeaguesitattheheadofthetable，withTrinaathisrightandtheagentathisleft；he——whenhesatdownatall——occupiedthefoot，MariaMacapaathisleft，whilenexttoherwasMrs。Sieppe，oppositeMissBaker。Owgoostehadbeenputtobeduponthebed-lounge。

“Where’sOldGrannis？“suddenlyexclaimedMarcus。Sureenough，wherehadtheoldEnglishmangone？Hehadbeenthereatfirst。

“Icalledhimdownwitheverybodyelse，“criedMariaMacapa，“assoonasIsawinthepaperthatMissSieppehadwon。WeallcamedowntoMr。Schouler’sroomandwaitedforyoutocomehome。Ithinkhemusthavegonebacktohisroom。

I’llbetyou’llfindhimsewinguphisbooks。“

“No，no，“observedMissBaker，“notatthishour。“

Evidentlythetimidoldgentlemanhadtakenadvantageoftheconfusiontoslipunobtrusivelyaway。

“I’llgobringhimdown，“shoutedMarcus；“he’sgottojoinus。“

MissBakerwasingreatagitation。

“I——Ihardlythinkyou’dbetter，“shemurmured；“he——he——I

don’tthinkhedrinksbeer。“

“Hetakeshisamusementinsewin’upbooks，“criedMaria。

Marcusbroughthimdown，nevertheless，havingfoundhimjustpreparingforbed。

“I——Imustapologize，“stammeredOldGrannis，ashestoodinthedoorway。“Ihadnotquiteexpected——I——find——

findmyselfalittleunprepared。“Hewaswithoutcollarandcravat，owingtoMarcusSchouler’sprecipitatehaste。HewasannoyedbeyondwordsthatMissBakersawhimthus。

Couldanythingbemoreembarrassing？

OldGranniswasintroducedtoMrs。SieppeandtoTrinaasMarcus’semployer。Theyshookhandssolemnly。

“Idon’tbelievethathean’MissBakerhaveeverbeenintroduced，“criedMariaMacapa，shrilly，“an’they’vebeenlivin’sidebysideforyears。“

Thetwooldpeoplewerespeechless，avoidingeachother’sgaze。Ithadcomeatlast；theyweretoknoweachother，totalktogether，totoucheachother’shands。

MarcusbroughtOldGrannisaroundthetabletolittleMissBaker，dragginghimbythecoatsleeve，exclaiming：“Well，I

thoughtyoutwopeoplekneweachotherlongago。MissBaker，thisisMr。Grannis；Mr。Grannis，thisisMissBaker。“Neitherspoke。Liketwolittlechildrentheyfacedeachother，awkward，constrained，tongue-tiedwithembarrassment。ThenMissBakerputoutherhandshyly。OldGrannistoucheditforaninstantandletitfall。

“Nowyouknoweachother，“criedMarcus，“andit’sabouttime。“Forthefirsttimetheireyesmet；OldGrannistrembledalittle，puttinghishanduncertainlytohischin。

MissBakerflushedeversoslightly，butMariaMacapapassedsuddenlybetweenthem，carryingahalfemptybeerbottle。

Thetwooldpeoplefellbackfromoneanother，MissBakerresumingherseat。

“Here’saplaceforyouoverhere，Mr。Grannis，“criedMarcus，makingroomforhimathisside。OldGrannisslippedintothechair，withdrawingatoncefromthecompany’snotice。Hestaredfixedlyathisplateanddidnotspeakagain。OldMissBakerbegantotalkvolublyacrossthetabletoMrs。Sieppeabouthot-houseflowersandmedicatedflannels。

ItwasinthemidstofthislittleimpromptusupperthattheengagementofTrinaandthedentistwasannounced。InapauseinthechatterofconversationMrs。Sieppeleanedforwardand，speakingtotheagent，said：

“Vell，youknowalsomydaughterTrinagetmarriedbrettysoon。Sheandderdentist，DoktorMcTeague，eh，yes？“

Therewasageneralexclamation。

“Ithoughtsoallalong，“criedMissBaker，excitedly。“ThefirsttimeIsawthemtogetherIsaid，’Whatapair！’“

“Delightful！“exclaimedtheagent，“tobemarriedandwinasnuglittlefortuneatthesametime。“

“So——So，“murmuredOldGrannis，noddingathisplate。

“Goodlucktoyou，“criedMaria。

“He’sluckyenoughalready，“growledMarcusunderhisbreath，relapsingforamomentintooneofthosestrangemoodsofsullennesswhichhadmarkedhimthroughouttheevening。

Trinaflushedcrimson，drawingshylynearerhermother。

McTeaguegrinnedfromeartoear，lookingaroundfromonetoanother，exclaiming“Huh！Huh！“

Buttheagentrosetohisfeet，anewlyfilledbeerglassinhishand。Hewasamanoftheworld，thisagent。Heknewlife。Hewassuaveandeasy。Adiamondwasonhislittlefinger。

“Ladiesandgentlemen，“hebegan。Therewasaninstantsilence。“Thisisindeedahappyoccasion。I——Iamgladtobehereto-night；tobeawitnesstosuchgoodfortune；topartakeinthese——inthiscelebration。Why，IfeelalmostasgladasifIhadheldfourthreeoughtstwelvemyself；asifthefivethousandweremineinsteadofbelongingtoourcharminghostess。ThegoodwishesofmyhumbleselfgoouttoMissSieppeinthismomentofhergoodfortune，andI

think——infact，IamsureIcanspeakforthegreatinstitution，thegreatcompanyIrepresent。ThecompanycongratulatesMissSieppe。We——they——ah——Theywishhereveryhappinesshernewfortunecanprocureher。Ithasbeenmyduty，my——ah——cheerfuldutytocalluponthewinnersoflargeprizesandtoofferthefelicitationofthecompany。

Ihave，inmyexperience，calleduponmanysuch；butneverhaveIseenfortunesohappilybestowedasinthiscase。

Thecompanyhavedoweredtheprospectivebride。IamsureIbutechothesentimentsofthisassemblywhenIwishalljoyandhappinesstothishappypair，happyinthepossessionofasnuglittlefortune，andhappy——happyin——“

hefinishedwithasuddeninspiration——“inthepossessionofeachother；Idrinktothehealth，wealth，andhappinessofthefuturebrideandgroom。Letusdrinkstandingup。“

Theydrankwithenthusiasm。Marcuswascarriedawaywiththeexcitementofthemoment。

“Outasight，outasight，“hevociferated，clappinghishands。“Verywellsaid。Tothehealthofthebride。

McTeague，McTeague，speech，speech！“

Inaninstantthewholetablewasclamoringforthedentisttospeak。McTeaguewasterrified；hegrippedthetablewithbothhands，lookingwildlyabouthim。

“Speech，speech！“shoutedMarcus，runningaroundthetableandendeavoringtodragMcTeagueup。

“No——no——no，“mutteredtheother。“Nospeech。“Thecompanyrattleduponthetablewiththeirbeerglasses，insistinguponaspeech。McTeaguesettledobstinatelyintohischair，veryredintheface，shakinghisheadenergetically。

“Ah，goon！“heexclaimed；“nospeech。“

“Ah，getupandsaysomethun，anyhow，“persistedMarcus；

“yououghttodoit。It’sthepropercaper。“

McTeagueheavedhimselfup；therewasaburstofapplause；

helookedslowlyabouthim，thensuddenlysatdownagain，shakinghisheadhopelessly。

“Oh，goon，Mac，“criedTrina。

“Getup，saysomethun，anyhow，criedMarcus，tuggingathisarm；“youGOTto。“

OncemoreMcTeaguerosetohisfeet。

“Huh！“heexclaimed，lookingsteadilyatthetable。Thenhebegan：

“Idon’knowwhattosay——I——I——Iain’tnevermadeaspeechbefore；I——Iain’tnevermadeaspeechbefore。ButI’mgladTrina’swontheprize——“

“Yes，I’llbetyouare，“mutteredMarcus。

“I——I——I’mgladTrina’swon，andI——Iwantto——Iwantto——Iwantto——wanttosaythat——you’re——all——welcome，an’

drinkhearty，an’I’mmuchobligedtotheagent。TrinaandIaregoin’tobemarried，an’I’mgladeverybody’shereto-

night，an’you’re——all——welcome，an’drinkhearty，an’I

hopeyou’llcomeagain，an’you’realwayswelcome——an’——I——

an’——an’——That’s——about——all——I——gottasay。“Hesatdown，wipinghisforehead，amidsttremendousapplause。

Soonafterthatthecompanypushedbackfromthetableandrelaxedintocouplesandgroups。Themen，withtheexceptionofOldGrannis，begantosmoke，thesmelloftheirtobaccominglingwiththeodorsofether，creosote，andstalebedding，whichpervadedthe“Parlors。“Soonthewindowshadtobeloweredfromthetop。Mrs。SieppeandoldMissBakersattogetherinthebaywindowexchangingconfidences。MissBakerhadturnedbacktheoverskirtofherdress；aplateofcakewasinherlap；fromtimetotimeshesippedherwinewiththedelicacyofawhitecat。Thetwowomenweremuchinterestedineachother。MissBakertoldMrs。SieppeallaboutOldGrannis，notforgettingthefictionofthetitleandtheunjuststepfather。

“He’squiteapersonagereally，“saidMissBaker。

Mrs。Sieppeledtheconversationaroundtoherchildren。

“Ach，Trinaissudgeagootegirl，“shesaid；“alwaysgay，yes，undsingfrommorgentonight。UndOwgooste，heissohsmartalso，yes，eh？Hehasdergeniusformachines，alwaysmakingsomethunmitwheelsundsbrings。“

“Ah，if——if——Ihadchildren，“murmuredthelittleoldmaidatriflewistfully，“onewouldhavebeenasailor；hewouldhavebegunasamidshipmanonmybrother’sship；intimehewouldhavebeenanofficer。Theotherwouldhavebeenalandscapegardener。“

“Oh，Mac！“exclaimedTrina，lookingupintothedentist’sface，“thinkofallthismoneycomingtousjustatthisverymoment。Isn’titwonderful？Don’titkindofscareyou？“

“Wonderful，wonderful！“mutteredMcTeague，shakinghishead。

“Let’sbuyalotoftickets，“headded，struckwithanidea。

“Now，that’showyoucanalwaystellagoodcigar，“