第39章

“Well，it’sallinthefamily。What’syoursismine，andwhat’smineisyours，ain’tit？“

“No，it’snot；no，it’snot，“criedTrina，vehemently。

“It’sallmine，mine。There’snotapennyofitbelongstoanybodyelse。Idon’tliketohavetotalkthiswaytoyou，butyoujustmakeme。We’renotgoingtotouchapennyofmyfivethousandnorapennyofthatlittlemoneyImanagedtosave——thatseventy-five。“

“ThatTWOhundred，youmean。“

“ThatSEVENTY-FIVE。We’rejustgoingtoliveontheinterestofthatandonwhatIearnfromUncleOelbermann——

onjustthatthirty-oneortwodollars。“

“Huh！ThinkI’mgoingtodothat，an’liveinsucharoomasthis？“

Trinafoldedherarmsandlookedhimsquarelyintheface。

“Well，whatAREyougoingtodo，then？“

“Huh？“

“Isay，whatAREyougoingtodo？Youcangoonandfindsomethingtodoandearnsomemoremoney，andTHEN

we’lltalk。“

“Well，Iain’tgoingtolivehere。“

“Oh，verywell，suityourself。I’Mgoingtolivehere。“

“You’lllivewhereITELLyou，“thedentistsuddenlycried，exasperatedatthemincingtonesheaffected。

“ThenYOU’LLpaytherent，“exclaimedTrina，quiteasangryashe。

“Areyoumyboss，I’dliketoknow？Who’stheboss，youorI？“

“Who’sgottheMONEY，I’dliketoknow？“criedTrina，flushingtoherpalelips。“Answermethat，McTeague，who’sgotthemoney？“

“Youmakemesick，youandyourmoney。Why，you’reamiser。Ineversawanythinglikeit。WhenIwaspractising，Ineverthoughtofmyfeesasmyown；welumpedeverythingintogether。“

“Exactly；andI’Mdoingtheworkingnow。I’mworkingforUncleOelbermann，andyou’renotlumpinginANYTHING

now。I’mdoingitall。DoyouknowwhatI’mdoing，McTeague？I’msupportingyou。“

“Ah，shutup；youmakemesick。“

“YougotnoRIGHTtotalktomethatway。Iwon’tletyou。I——Iwon’thaveit。“Shecaughtherbreath。Tearswereinhereyes。

“Oh，livewhereyoulike，then，“saidMcTeague，sullenly。

“Well，shallwetakethisroomthen？“

“Allright，we’lltakeit。Butwhycan’tyoutakealittleofyourmoneyan’——an’——sortoffixitup？“

“Notapenny，notasinglepenny。“

“Oh，Idon’tcareWHATyoudo。“Andfortherestofthedaythedentistandhiswifedidnotspeak。

Thiswasnottheonlyquarreltheyhadduringthesedayswhentheywereoccupiedinmovingfromtheirsuiteandinlookingfornewquarters。Everyhourthequestionofmoneycameup。TrinahadbecomemoreniggardlythaneversincethelossofMcTeague’spractice。Itwasnotmereeconomywithhernow。Itwasapanicterrorlestafractionofacentofherlittlesavingsshouldbetouched；apassionateeagernesstocontinuetosaveinspiteofallthathadhappened。

Trinacouldhaveeasilyaffordedbetterquartersthanthesinglewhitewashedroomatthetopoftheflat，butshemadeMcTeaguebelievethatitwasimpossible。

“Icanstillsavealittle，“shesaidtoherself，aftertheroomhadbeenengaged；“perhapsalmostasmuchasever。

I’llhavethreehundreddollarsprettysoon，andMacthinksit’so