第40章

“Yougooutofhere。“

“Hey？What？“

“Yougooutofhere。“

Theotherretreatedtowardthedoor。

“Youcan’tmakesmallofme。Gooutofhere。“

McTeaguecameforwardastep，hisgreatredfistclenching。

Theyoungmanfled。Buthalfwaydownthestairshepausedlongenoughtocallback：

“Youdon’twanttotradeanythingforadiploma，doyou？“

McTeagueandhiswifeexchangedlooks。

“Howdidheknow？“exclaimedTrina，sharply。TheyhadinventedandspreadthefictionthatMcTeaguewasmerelyretiringfrombusiness，withoutassigninganyreason。Butevidentlyeveryoneknewtherealcause。Thehumiliationwascompletenow。OldMissBakerconfirmedtheirsuspicionsonthispointthenextday。ThelittleretireddressmakercamedownandweptwithTrinaoverhermisfortune，anddidwhatshecouldtoencourageher。ButshetooknewthatMcTeaguehadbeenforbiddenbytheauthoritiesfrompractising。Marcushadevidentlyleftthemnoloopholeofescape。

“It’sjustlikecuttingoffyourhusband’shands，mydear，“

saidMissBaker。“Andyoutwoweresohappy。WhenIfirstsawyoutogetherIsaid，’Whatapair！’“

OldGrannisalsocalledduringthisperiodofthebreakingupoftheMcTeaguehousehold。

“Dreadful，dreadful，“murmuredtheoldEnglishman，hishandgoingtremulouslytohischin。“Itseemsunjust；itdoes。

ButMr。Schoulercouldnothavesetthemontodoit。I

can’tquitebelieveitofhim。“

“OfMarcus！“criedTrina。“Hoh！Why，hethrewhisknifeatMaconetime，andanothertimehebithim，actuallybithimwithhisteeth，whiletheywerewrestlingjustforfun。

MarcuswoulddoanythingtoinjureMac。“

“Dear，dear，“returnedOldGrannis，genuinelypained。“I

hadalwaysbelievedSchoulertobesuchagoodfellow。“

“That’sbecauseyou’resogoodyourself，Mr。Grannis，“

respondedTrina。

“Itellyouwhat，Doc，“declaredHeisetheharness-maker，shakinghisfingerimpressivelyatthedentist，“youmustfightit；youmustappealtothecourts；you’vebeenpractisingtoolongtobedebarrednow。Thestatuteoflimitations，youknow。“

“No，no，“Trinahadexclaimed，whenthedentisthadrepeatedthisadvicetoher。“No，no，don’tgonearthelawcourts。

Iknowthem。Thelawyerstakeallyourmoney，andyouloseyourcase。We’rebadoffasitis，withoutlawingaboutit。“

Thenatlastcamethesale。McTeagueandTrina，whomMissBakerhadinvitedtoherroomforthatday，sattheresidebyside，holdingeachother’shands，listeningnervouslytotheturmoilthatrosetothemfromthedirectionoftheirsuite。Fromnineo’clocktilldarkthecrowdscameandwent。AllPolkStreetseemedtohaveinvadedthesuite，luredonbytheredflagthatwavedfromthefrontwindows。

Itwasafete，averitableholiday，forthewholeneighborhood。Peoplewithnothoughtofbuyingpresentedthemselves。Youngwomen——thecandy-storegirlsandflorist’sapprentices——cametoseethefun，walkingarminarmfromroomtoroom，makingjokesabouttheprettylithographsandmimickingthepictureofthetwolittlegirlssayingtheirprayers。

“Lookhere，“theywouldcry，“lookherewhatsheusedforcurtains——NOTTINGHAMlace，actually！WhoeverthinksofbuyingNottinghamlacenow-a-days？Say，don’tthatJAR

you？“

“Andamelodeon，“anotheronewouldexclaim，liftingthesheet。“Amelodeon，whenyoucanrentapianoforadollaraweek；andsay，Ireall