第30章

“Butyou’vesignedaPAPER，“criedTrina，exasperated。

“You’vegottopaythatfirstmonth’srent，anyhow——toforfeitit。Oh，youaresostupid！There’sthirty-

fivedollarsjustthrownaway。ISHAN’Tgointothathouse；wewon’tmoveaFOOToutofhere。I’vechangedmymindaboutit，andthere’swaterinthebasementbesides。“

“Well，Iguesswecanstandthirty-fivedollars，“mumbledthedentist，“ifwe’vegotto。“

“Thirty-fivedollarsjustthrownoutofthewindow，“criedTrina，herteethclicking，everyinstinctofherparsimonyaroused。“Oh，youthethick-wittedestmanthatIeverknew。

Doyouthinkwe’remillionaires？Oh，tothinkoflosingthirty-fivedollarslikethat。“Tearswereinhereyes，tearsofgriefaswellasofanger。NeverhadMcTeagueseenhislittlewomansoaroused。Suddenlysherosetoherfeetandslammedthechopping-bowldownuponthetable。“Well，Iwon’tpayanickelofit，“sheexclaimed。

“Huh？What，what？“stammeredthedentist，takenallabackbyheroutburst。

“Isaythatyouwillfindthatmoney，thatthirty-fivedollars，yourself。“

“Why——why——“

“It’syourstupiditygotusintothisfix，andyou’llbetheonethat’llsufferbyit。“

“Ican’tdoit，IWON’Tdoit。We’ll——we’llshareandsharealike。Why，yousaid——youtoldmeyou’dtakethehouseifthewaterwasfree。“

“INEVERdid。INEVERdid。Howcanyoustandthereandsaysuchathing？“

“Youdidtellmethat，“vociferatedMcTeague，beginningtogetangryinhisturn。

“Mac，Ididn’t，andyouknowit。Andwhat’smore，Iwon’tpayanickel。Mr。Heisepayshisbillnextweek，it’sforty-threedollars，andyoucanjustpaythethirty-fiveoutofthat。“

“Why，yougotawholehundreddollarssavedupinyourmatch-safe，“shoutedthedentist，throwingoutanarmwithanawkwardgesture。“YoupayhalfandI’llpayhalf，that’sonlyfair。“

“No，no，NO，“exclaimedTrina。“It’snotahundreddollars。Youwon’ttouchit；youwon’ttouchmymoney，I

tellyou。“

“Ah，howdoesithappentobeyours，I’dliketoknow？“

“It’smine！It’smine！It’smine！“criedTrina，herfacescarlet，herteethclickinglikethesnapofaclosingpurse。

“Itain’tanymoreyoursthanitismine。“

“Everypennyofitismine。“

“Ah，whatafinefixyou’dgetmeinto，“growledthedentist。“I’vesignedthepaperwiththeowner；that’sbusiness，youknow，that’sbusiness，youknow；andnowyougobackonme。Supposewe’dtakenthehouse，we’d’a’sharedtherent，wouldn’twe，justaswedohere？“

Trinashruggedhershoulderswithagreataffectationofindifferenceandbeganchoppingtheonionsagain。

“Yousettleitwiththeowner，“shesaid。“It’syouraffair；you’vegotthemoney。“Shepretendedtoassumeacertaincalmnessasthoughthematterwassomethingthatnolongeraffectedher。HermannerexasperatedMcTeagueallthemore。

“No，Iwon’t；no，Iwon’t；Iwon’teither，“heshouted。

“I’llpaymyhalfandhecancometoyoufortheotherhalf。“Trinaputahandoverhereartoshutouthisclamor。

“Ah，don’ttryandbesmart，“criedMcTeague。“Come，now，yesorno，willyoupayyourhalf？“

“YouheardwhatIsaid。“

“Willyoupayit？“

“No。“

“Miser！“shoutedMcTeague。“Miser！you’reworsethanoldZerkow。Allright，allright，keepyourmoney。I’llpaythewholethirty-five。I’dratherloseitthanbesuchamiserasyou。“

“Haven’tyougotanythingtodo，“returnedTrina，“insteadofstayinghereandabusingme？“

“Well，then，forthelasttime，willyouhelpmeout？“

Trinacuttheheadsofafreshbunchofonionsandgavenoanswer。

“Huh？willyou？“

“I’dliketohavemykitchentomyself，please，“shesaidinamincingway，irritatingtoalastdegree。Thedentiststampedoutoftheroo