第51章

“Where’sthefourhundreddollarsyourobbedmeofwhenyoudesertedme？“returnedTrina，coldly。

“Well，I’vespentit，“growledthedentist。“ButyouCAN’Tseemestarve，Trina，nomatterwhat’shappened。

Givemealittlemoney，then。“

“I’llseeyoustarvebeforeyougetanymoreofMY

money。“

Thedentiststeppedbackapaceandstaredupatherwonder-

stricken。Hisfacewasleanandpinched。Neverhadthejawbonelookedsoenormous，northesquare-cutheadsohuge。

Themoonlightmadedeepblackshadowsintheshrunkencheeks。

“Huh？“askedthedentist，puzzled。“Whatdidyousay？“

“Iwon’tgiveyouanymoney——neveragain——notacent。“

“ButdoyouknowthatI’mhungry？“

“Well，I’vebeenhungrymyself。Besides，IDON’T

believeyou。“

“Trina，Iain’thadathingtoeatsinceyesterdaymorning；

that’sGod’struth。EvenifIdidgetoffwithyourmoney，youCAN’Tseemestarve，canyou？Youcan’tseemewalkthestreetsallnightbecauseIain’tgotaplacetosleep。

Willyouletmein？Say，willyou？Huh？“

“No。“

“Well，willyougivemesomemoneythen——justalittle？

Givemeadollar。Givemehalfadol——Say，givemeaDIME，an’Icangetacupofcoffee。“

“No。“

Thedentistpausedandlookedatherwithcuriousintentness，bewildered，nonplussed。

“Say，you——youmustbecrazy，Trina。I——I——wouldn’tletaDOGgohungry。“

“Notevenifhe’dbittenyou，perhaps。“

Thedentiststaredagain。

Therewasanotherpause。McTeaguelookedupatherinsilence，ameanandvicioustwinklecomingintohissmalleyes。Heutteredalowexclamation，andthencheckedhimself。

“Well，lookhere，forthelasttime。I’mstarving。I’vegotnowheretosleep。Willyougivemesomemoney，orsomethingtoeat？Willyouletmein？“

“No——no——no。“

Trinacouldfancyshealmostsawthebrassyglintinherhusband’seyes。Heraisedoneenormousleanfist。Thenhegrowled：

“IfIhadholdofyouforaminute，byGod，I’dmakeyoudance。An’Iwillyet，Iwillyet。Don’tyoubeafraidofthat。“

Heturnedabout，themoonlightshowinglikealayerofsnowuponhismassiveshoulders。Trinawatchedhimashepassedundertheshadowofthecherrytreesandcrossedthelittlecourt。Sheheardhisgreatfeetgrindingontheboardflooring。Hedisappeared。

Miserthoughshewas，Trinawasonlyhuman，andtheechoofthedentist’sheavyfeethadnotdiedawaybeforeshebegantohesorryforwhatshehaddone。Shestoodbytheopenwindowinhernightgown，herfingeruponherlips。

“Hedidlookedpinched，“shesaidhalfaloud。“MaybeheWAShungry。Ioughttohavegivenhimsomething。IwishI

had，IWISHIhad。Oh，“shecried，suddenly，withafrightenedgestureofbothhands，“whathaveIcometobethatIwouldseeMac——myhusband——thatIwouldseehimstarveratherthangivehimmoney？No，no。It’stoodreadful。IWILLgivehimsome。I’llsendittohimto-morrow。Where？——well，he’llcomeback。“Sheleanedfromthewindowandcalledasloudlyasshedared，“Mac，oh