“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’sonlytwohundred。It’salmosttwohundredandfifty;
andI’llgetagooddealoutofthesale。“
Butthissalewasalongagony。Itlastedaweek。
Everythingwent——everythingbutthefewbigpiecesthatwentwiththesuite,andthatbelongedtothephotographer。Themelodeon,thechairs,theblackwalnuttablebeforewhichtheyweremarried,theextensiontableinthesitting-room,thekitchentablewithitsoilclothcover,theframedlithographsfromtheEnglishillustratedpapers,theverycarpetsonthefloors。ButTrina’sheartnearlybrokewhenthekitchenutensilsandfurnishingsbegantogo。Everypot,everystewpan,everyknifeandfork,wasanoldfriend。
Howshehadworkedoverthem!Howcleanshehadkeptthem!
Whatapleasureithadbeentoinvadethatlittlebrick-
pavedkitcheneverymorning,andtowashupandputtorightsafterbreakfast,turningonthehotwateratthesink,rakingdowntheashesinthecook-stove,goingandcomingoverthewarmbricks,herheadintheair,singingatherwork,proudinthesenseofherproprietorshipandherindependence!Howhappyhadshebeenthedayafterhermarriagewhenshehadfirstenteredthatkitchenandknewthatitwasallherown!Andhowwellsherememberedherraidsuponthebargaincountersinthehouse-furnishingdepartmentsofthegreatdown-townstores!Andnowitwasalltogo。Someoneelsewouldhaveitall,whileshewasrelegatedtocheaprestaurantsandmealscookedbyhiredservants。Nightafternightshesobbedherselftosleepatthethoughtofherpasthappinessandherpresentwretchedness。However,shewasnotaloneinherunhappiness。
“Anyhow,I’mgoingtokeepthesteelengravingan’thestonepugdog,“declaredthedentist,hisfistclenching。WhenithadcometothesaleofhisofficeeffectsMcTeaguehadrebelledwiththeinstinctiveobstinacyofaboy,shuttinghiseyesandears。OnlylittlebylittledidTrinainducehimtopartwithhisofficefurniture。Hefoughtovereveryarticle,overthelittleironstove,thebed-lounge,themarble-toppedcentretable,thewhatnotinthecorner,theboundvolumesof“Allen’sPracticalDentist,“theriflemanufacturer’scalendar,andtheprim,militarychairs。A
veritablescenetookplacebetweenhimandhiswifebeforehecouldbringhimselftopartwiththesteelengravingof“Lorenzode’MediciandHisCourt“andthestonepugdogwithitsgoggleeyes。
“Why,“hewouldcry,“I’vehad’emeversince——eversinceI
BEGAN;longbeforeIknewyou,Trina。ThatsteelengravingIboughtinSacramentoonedaywhenitwasraining。Isawitinthewindowofasecond-handstore,andafellowGAVEmethatstonepugdog。Hewasadruggist。
ItwasinSacramentotoo。Wetraded。Igavehimashaving-
mugandarazor,andhegavemethepugdog。“
Therewere,however,twoofhisbelongingsthatevenTrinacouldnotinducehimtopartwith。
“Andyourconcertina,Mac,“sheprompted,astheyweremakingoutthelistforthesecond-handdealer。“Theconcertina,and——oh,yes,thecanaryandthebirdcage。“
“No。“
“Mac,youMUSTbereasonable。Theconcertinawouldbringquiteasum,andthebirdcageisasgoodasnew。
I’llsellthecanarytothebird-storemanonKearneyStreet。“
“No。“
“Ifyou’regoingtomakeobjectionstoeverysinglething,wemightaswellquit。Come,now,Mac,theconcertinaandthebirdcage。We’llputtheminLotD。“
“No。“
“You’llhavetocometoitsoonerorlater。I’Mgivingupeverything。I’mgoingtoputthemdown,see。“
“No。“
Andshecouldgetnofurtherthanthat。Thedentistdidnotlosehistemper,asinthecaseofthesteelengravingorthestonepugdog;hesimplyopposedherentreatiesandpersuasionswithapassive,inertobstinacythatnothingcouldmove。IntheendTrinawasobligedtosubmit。
McTeaguekepthisconcertinaandhiscanary,evengoingsofarastoputthembothawayinthebedroom,attachingtothemtagsonwhichhehadscrawledinimmenseroundletters,“NotforSale。“
Oneeveningduringthatsameweekthedentistandhiswifewereinthedismantledsitting-room。Theroompresentedtheappearanceofawreck。TheNottinghamlacecurtainsweredown。Theextensiontablewasheapedhighwithdishes,withteaandcoffeepots,andwithbasketsofspoonsandknivesandforks。Themelodeonwashauledoutintothemiddleofthefloor,andcoveredwithasheetmarked“LotA,“thepictureswereinapileinacorner,thechenilleportiereswerefoldedontopoftheblackwalnuttable。Theroomwasdesolate,lamentable。Trinawasgoingovertheinventory;McTeague,inhisshirtsleeves,wassmokinghispipe,lookingstupidlyoutofthewindow。Allatoncetherewasabriskrappingatthedoor。
“Comein,“calledTrina,apprehensively。Now-a-daysateveryunexpectedvisitsheanticipatedafreshcalamity。
Thedooropenedtoletinayoungmanwearingacheckedsuit,agaycravat,andamarvellouslyfiguredwaistcoat。
TrinaandMcTeaguerecognizedhimatonce。ItwastheOtherDentist,thedebonairfellowwhoseclientswerethebarbersandtheyoungwomenofthecandystoresandsoda-
waterfountains,theposer,thewearerofwaistcoats,whobetmoneyongreyhoundraces。
“How’do?“saidthisone,bowinggracefullytotheMcTeaguesastheystaredathimdistrustfully。
“How’do?Theytellme,Doctor,thatyouaregoingoutoftheprofession。“
McTeaguemutteredindistinctlybehindhismustacheandgloweredathim。
“Well,say,“continuedtheother,cheerily,“I’dliketotalkbusinesswithyou。Thatsignofyours,thatbiggoldentooththatyougotoutsideofyourwindow,Idon’tsupposeyou’llhaveanyfurtheruseforit。MaybeI’dbuyitifwecouldagreeonterms。“
Trinashotaglanceatherhusband。McTeaguebegantogloweragain。
“Whatdoyousay?“saidtheOtherDentist。
“Iguessnot,“growledMcTeague“Whatdoyousaytotendollars?“
“Tendollars!“criedTrina,herchinintheair。
“Well,whatfigureDOyouputonit?“
TrinawasabouttoanswerwhenshewasinterruptedbyMcTeague。