第52章

“It’smine，“persistedMcTeague。“Iwantit。“

“Go’longwithyou，Mac。Whatdoyoumean？“

“Imeanthatit’smine，that’swhatImean。Yougotnorighttoit。ItwasSTOLENfromme，that’swhatI

mean，“headded，asullenangerflamingupinhislittleeyes。

Theclerkraisedashoulderandputtheconcertinaonanuppershelf。

“Youtalktothebossaboutthat；t’ain’tnoneofmyaffair。

Ifyouwanttobuyit，it’selevendollars。“

Thedentisthadbeenpaidoffthedaybeforeandhadfourdollarsinhiswalletatthemoment。Hegavethemoneytotheclerk。

“Here，there’spartofthemoney。You——youputthatconcertinaasideforme，an’I’llgiveyoutherestinaweekorso——I’llgiveittoyoutomorrow，“heexclaimed，struckwithasuddenidea。

McTeaguehadsadlymissedhisconcertina。Sundayafternoonswhentherewasnoworktobedone，hewasaccustomedtolieflatonhisbackonhisspringlessbedinthelittleroomintherearofthemusicstore，hiscoatandshoesoff，readingthepaper，drinkingsteambeerfromapitcher，andsmokinghispipe。Buthecouldnolongerplayhissixlugubriousairsuponhisconcertina，anditwasadeprivation。Heoftenwonderedwhereitwasgone。Ithadbeenlost，nodoubt，inthegeneralwreckofhisfortunes。Once，even，thedentisthadtakenaconcertinafromthelotkeptbythemusicstore。ItwasaSundayandnoonewasabout。Buthefoundhecouldnotplayuponit。Thestopswerearrangeduponasystemhedidnotunderstand。

Nowhisownconcertinawascomebacktohim。Hewouldbuyitback。Hehadgiventheclerkfourdollars。Heknewwherehewouldgettheremainingseven。

TheclerkhadtoldhimtheconcertinahadbeensoldonPolkStreettothesecond-handstorethere。Trinahadsoldit。

McTeagueknewit。Trinahadsoldhisconcertina——hadstolenitandsoldit——hisconcertina，hisbelovedconcertina，thathehadhadallhislife。Why，barringthecanary，therewasnotoneofallhisbelongingsthatMcTeaguehadcherishedmoredearly。Hissteelengravingof“Lorenzode’MediciandhisCourt“mightbelost，hisstonepugdogmightgo，buthisconcertina！

“Andshesoldit——stoleitfrommeandsoldit。JustbecauseIhappenedtoforgettotakeitalongwithme。Well，we’lljustseeaboutthat。You’llgivemethemoneytobuyitback，or——“

Hisrageloomedbigwithinhim。HishatredofTrinacamebackuponhimlikeareturningsurge。Hesawhersmall，primmouth，hernarrowblueeyes，herblackmaneofhair，andup-tiltedchin，andhatedherthemorebecauseofthem。

Aha，he’dshowher；he’dmakeherdance。He’dgetthatsevendollarsfromher，orhe’dknowthereasonwhy。Hewentthroughhisworkthatday，heavingandhaulingattheponderouspianos，handlingthemwiththeeaseofaliftingcrane，impatientforthecomingofevening，whenhecouldbelefttohisowndevices。Asoftenashehadamomenttosparehewentdownthestreettothenearestsaloonanddrankaponyofwhiskey。Nowandthenashefoughtandstruggledwiththevastmassesofebony，rosewood，andmahoganyontheupperfloo