第20章

Marcusandthedentistwalkedupthesilentstreetandreachedthelittledoghospital。Theyhadhardlyspokenontheway。McTeague’sbrainwasinawhirl；speechfailedhim。

Hewasbusythinkingofthegreatthingthathadhappenedthatnight，andwastryingtorealizewhatitseffectwouldbeuponhislife——hislifeandTrina’s。Assoonastheyhadfoundthemselvesinthestreet，Marcushadrelapsedatoncetoasullensilence，whichMcTeaguewastooabstractedtonotice。

Theyenteredthetinyofficeofthehospitalwithitsredcarpet，itsgasstove，anditscoloredprintsoffamousdogshangingagainstthewalls。Inonecornerstoodtheironbedwhichtheyweretooccupy。

“Yougoonan’gettobed，Mac，“observedMarcus。“I’lltakealookatthedogsbeforeIturnin。“

Hewentoutsideandpassedalongintotheyard，thatwasboundedonthreesidesbypenswherethedogswerekept。A

bullterrierdyingofgastritisrecognizedhimandbegantowhimperfeebly。

Marcuspaidnoattentiontothedogs。Forthefirsttimethateveninghewasaloneandcouldgiveventtohisthoughts。Hetookacoupleofturnsupanddowntheyard，thensuddenlyinalowvoiceexclaimed：

“Youfool，youfool，MarcusSchouler！Ifyou’dkeptTrinayou’dhavehadthatmoney。Youmighthavehadityourself。

You’vethrownawayyourchanceinlife——togiveupthegirl，yes——butthis，“hestampedhisfootwithrage——“tothrowfivethousanddollarsoutofthewindow——tostuffitintothepocketsofsomeoneelse，whenitmighthavebeenyours，whenyoumighthavehadTrinaANDthemoney——andallforwhat？Becausewewerepals。Oh，’pals’isallright——butfivethousanddollars——tohaveplayeditrightintohishands——GodDAMNtheluck！“

CHAPTER8

Thenexttwomonthsweredelightful。TrinaandMcTeaguesaweachotherregularly，threetimesaweek。ThedentistwentovertoBStreetSundayandWednesdayafternoonsasusual；

butonFridaysitwasTrinawhocametothecity。Shespentthemorningbetweennineandtwelveo’clockdowntown，forthemostpartinthecheapdepartmentstores，doingtheweeklyshoppingforherselfandthefamily。AtnoonshetookanuptowncarandmetMcTeagueatthecornerofPolkStreet。ThetwolunchedtogetheratasmalluptownhoteljustaroundthecorneronSutterStreet。Theyweregivenalittleroomtothemselves。Nothingcouldhavebeenmoredelicious。Theyhadbuttoclosetheslidingdoortoshutthemselvesofffromthewholeworld。

Trinawouldarrivebreathlessfromherraidsuponthebargaincounters，herpalecheeksflushed，herhairblownaboutherfaceandintothecornersofherlips，hermother’snetreticulestuffedtobursting。Onceintheirtinyprivateroom，shewoulddropintoherchairwithalittlegroan。

“Oh，MAC，Iamsotired；I’vejustbeenallOVER

town。Oh，it’sgoodtositdown。Justthink，Ihadtostandupinthecaralltheway，afterbeingonmyfeetthewholeblessedmorning。LookherewhatI’vebought。Justthingsandthings。Look，there’ssomedottedveilingIgotformyself；seenow，doyouthinkitlookspretty？“——shespreaditoverherface——“andIgotaboxofwritingpaper，andarollofcrepepapertomakealampshadeforthefrontparlor；and——whatdoyousuppose——IsawapairofNottinghamlacecurtainsforFORTY-NINECENTS；isn’tthatcheap？

andsomechenilleportieresfortwoandahalf。NowwhathaveYOUbeendoingsinceIlastsawyou？DidMr。Heisefinallygetupenoughcouragetohavehistoothpulledyet？“

Trinatookoffherhatandveilandrearrangedherhairbeforethelooking-glass。

“No，no——notyet。Iwentdowntothesignpainter’syesterdayafternoontoseeaboutthatbiggoldtoothforasign。Itcoststoomuch；Ican’tgetityetawhile。

There’stwokinds，oneGermangiltandtheotherFrenchgilt；buttheGermangiltisnogood。“

McTeaguesighed，andwaggedhishead。EvenTrinaandthefivethousanddollarscouldnotmakehimforgetthisoneunsatisfiedlonging。

Atothertimestheywouldtalkatlengthovertheirplans，whileTrinasippedherchocolateandMcTeaguedevouredhugechunksofbutterlessbread。TheyweretobemarriedattheendofMay，andthedentistalreadyhadhiseyeonacoupleofrooms，partofthesuiteofabankruptphotographer。

Theyweresituatedintheflat，justbackofhis“Parlors，“

andhebelievedthephotographerwouldsubletthemfurnished。

McTeagueandTrinahadnoapprehensionsastotheirfinances。Theycouldbesure，infact，ofatidylittleincome。Thedentist’spracticewasfairlygood，andtheycouldcountupontheinterestofTrina’sfivethousanddollars。ToMcTeague’smindthisinterestseemedwoefullysmall。Hehadhaduncertainideasaboutthatfivethousanddollars；hadimaginedthattheywouldspenditinsomelavishfashion；wouldbuyahouse，perhaps，orwouldfurnishtheirnewroomswithoverwhelmingluxury——luxurythatimpliedredvelvetcarpetsandcontinuedfeasting。Theold-

timeminer’sideaofwealtheasilygainedandquicklyspentpersistedinhismind。ButwhenTrinahadbeguntotalkofinvestmentsandinterestsandpercents，hewastroubledandnotalittledisappointed。Thelumpsumoffivethousanddollarswasonething，amiserablelittletwentyortwenty-fiveamonthwasquiteanother；andthensomeoneelsehadthemoney。

“Butdon’tyousee，Mac，“explainedTrina，“it’soursjustthesame。Wecouldgetitbackwheneverwewantedit；andthenit’sthereasonablewaytodo。Wemustn’tletitturnourheads，Mac，dear，likethatmanthatspentallhewoninbuyingmoretickets。Howfoolishwe’dfeelafterwe’dspentitall！Weoughttogoonjustthesameasbefore；asifwehadn’twon。Wemustbesensibleaboutit，mustn’twe？“

“Well，well，Iguessperhapsthat’sright，“thedentistwouldanswer，lookingslowlyaboutonthefloor。

JustwhatshouldultimatelybedonewiththemoneywasthesubjectofendlessdiscussionintheSieppefamily。Thesavingsbankwouldallowonlythreepercent。，butTrina’sparentsbelievedthatsomethingbettercouldbegot。

“There’sUncleOelbermann，“Trinahadsuggested，rememberingtherichrelativewhohadthewholesaletoystoreintheMission。

Mr。Sieppestruckhishandtohisforehead。“Ah，anidea，“

hecried。Intheendanagreementwasmade。ThemoneywasinvestedinMr。Oelbermann’sbusiness。HegaveTrinasixpercent。

Investedinthisfashion，Trina’swinningwouldbringintwenty-fivedollarsamonth。But，besidesthis，Trinahadherownlittletrade。ShemadeNoah’sarkanimalsforUncleOelbermann’sstore。Trina’sancestorsonbothsideswereGerman-Swiss，andsomelong-forgottenforefatherofthesixteenthcentury，someworsted-legginedwood-carveroftheTyrol，hadhandeddownthetalentofthenationalindustry，toreappearinthisstrangelydistortedguise。

ShemadeNoah’sarkanimals，whittlingthemoutofablockofsoftwoodwithasharpjack-knife，theonlyinstrumentsheused。TrinawasveryproudtoexplainherworktoMcTeagueashehadalreadyexplainedhisowntoher。

“Yousee，Itakeablockofstraight-grainedpineandcutouttheshape，roughlyatfirst，withthebigblade；thenI

gooveritasecondtimewiththelittleblade，morecarefully；thenIputintheearsandtailwithadropofglue，andpaintitwitha’non-poisonous’paint——Vandykebrownforthehorses，foxes，andcows；slategrayfortheelephantsandcamels；burntumberforthechickens，zebras，andsoon；then，last，adotofChinesewhitefortheeyes，andthereyouare，allfinished。Theysellforninecentsadozen。OnlyIcan’tmakethemanikins。“

“Themanikins？“

“Thelittlefigures，youknow——Noahandhiswife，andShem，andalltheothers。“

Itwastrue。Trinacouldnotwhittlethemfastenoughandcheapenoughtocompetewiththeturninglathe，thatcouldthrowoffwholetribesandpeoplesofmanikinswhileshewasfashioningonefamily。Everythingelse，however，shemade——

thearkitself，allwindowsandnodoor；theboxinwhichthewholewaspacked；evendowntopastingonthelabel，whichread，“MadeinFrance。“Sheearnedfromthreetofourdollarsaweek。

Theincomefromthesethreesources，McTeague’sprofession，theinterestofthefivethousanddollars，andTrina’swhittling，madearespectablelittlesumtakenaltogether。

Trinadeclaredtheycouldevenlaybysomething，addingtothefivethousanddollarslittlebylittle。

ItsoonbecameapparentthatTrinawouldbeanextraordinarilygoodhousekeeper。Economywasherstrongpoint。Agooddealofpeasantbloodstillranundilutedinherveins，andshehadalltheinstinctofahardyandpenuriousmountainrace——theinstinctwhichsaveswithoutanythought，withoutideaofconsequence——savingforthesakeofsaving，hoardingwithoutknowingwhy。EvenMcTeaguedidnotknowhowcloselyTrinaheldtohernew-foundwealth。

Buttheydidnotalwayspasstheirluncheonhourinthisdiscussionofincomesandeconomies。Asthedentistcametoknowhislittlewomanbettershegrewtobemoreandmoreofapuzzleandajoytohim。Shewouldsuddenlyinterruptagravediscourseupontherentsofroomsandthecostoflightandfuelwithabrusqueoutburstofaffectionthatsethimalla-tremblewithdelight。Allatonceshewouldsetdownherchocolate，and，leaningacrossthenarrowtable，wouldexclaim：

“Nevermindallthat！Oh，Mac，doyoutruly，reallyloveme——lovemeBIG？“

McTeaguewouldstammersomething，gasping，andwagginghishead，besidehimselfforthelackofwords。

“Oldbear，“Trinawouldanswer，graspinghimbybothhugeearsandswayinghisheadfromsidetoside。“Kissme，then。Tellme，Mac，didyouthinkanylessofmethatfirsttimeIletyoukissmethereinthestation？Oh，Mac，dear，whatafunnynoseyou’vegot，allfullofhairsinside；and，Mac，doyouknowyou’vegotabaldspot——“shedraggedhisheaddowntowardsher——“rightonthetopofyourhead。“

Thenshewouldseriouslykissthebaldspotinquestion，declaring：

“That’llmakethehairgrow。“

TrinatookaninfiniteenjoymentinplayingwithMcTeague’sgreatsquare-cuthead，rumplinghishairtillitstoodonend，puttingherfingersinhiseyes，orstretchinghisearsoutstraight，andwatchingtheeffectwithherheadononeside。Itwaslikealittlechildplayingwithsomegigantic，good-naturedSaintBernard。

Oneparticularamusementtheyneverweariedof。Thetwowouldleanacrossthetabletowardseachother，McTeaguefoldinghisarmsunderhisbreast。ThenTrina，restingonherelbows，wouldparthismustache-thegreatblondmustacheofaviking——withhertwohands，pushingitupfromhislips，causinghisfacetoassumetheappearanceofaGreekmask。Shewouldcurlitaroundeitherforefinger，drawingittoafineend。ThenallatonceMcTeaguewouldmakeafearfulsnortingnoisethroughhisnose。Invariably——thoughshewasexpectingthis，thoughitwaspartofthegame