“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，Mac。“Therewasnoanswer。
　　WhenMcTeaguehadtoldTrinahehadbeenwithoutfoodfornearlytwodayshewasspeakingthetruth。Theweekbeforehehadspentthelastofthefourhundreddollarsinthebarofasailor’slodging-housenearthewaterfront，andsincethattimehadlivedaveritablehand-to-mouthexistence。
　　Hehadspenthermoneyhereandthereaboutthecityinroyalfashion，absolutelyrecklessofthemorrow，feastinganddrinkingforthemostpartwithcompanionshepickedupheavenknowswhere，acquaintancesoftwenty-fourhours，whosenamesheforgotintwodays。Thensuddenlyhefoundhimselfattheendofhismoney。Henolongerhadanyfriends。Hungerrodehimandrowelledhim。Hewasnolongerwellfed，comfortable。Therewasnolongerawarmplaceforhimtosleep。HewentbacktoPolkStreetintheevening，walkingonthedarksideofthestreet，lurkingintheshadows，ashamedtohaveanyofhisold-timefriendsseehim。HeenteredZerkow’soldhouseandknockedatthedooroftheroomTrinaandhehadoccupied。Itwasempty。
　　NextdayhewenttoUncleOelbermann’sstoreandaskednewsofTrina。TrinahadnottoldUncleOelbermannofMcTeague’sbrutalities，givinghimotherreasonstoexplainthelossofherfingers；neitherhadshetoldhimofherhusband’srobbery。SowhenthedentisthadaskedwhereTrinacouldbefound，UncleOelbermann，believingthatMcTeaguewasseekingareconciliation，hadtoldhimwithouthesitation，and，headded：
　　“Shewasinhereonlyyesterdayanddrewoutthebalanceofhermoney。She’sbeendrawingagainsthermoneyforthelastmonthorso。She’sgotitallnow，Iguess。“
　　“Ah，she’sgotitall。“
　　Thedentistwentawayfromhisbootlessvisittohiswifeshakingwithrage，hatingherwithallthestrengthofacrudeandprimitivenature。Heclenchedhisfiststillhisknuckleswhitened，histeethgroundfuriouslyupononeanother。
　　“Ah，ifIhadholdofyouonce，I’dmakeyoudance。Shehadfivethousanddollarsinthatroom，whileIstoodthere，nottwentyfeetaway，andtoldherIwasstarving，andshewouldn’tgivemeadimetogetacupofcoffeewith；notadimetogetacupofcoffee。Oh，ifIoncegetmyhandsonyou！“Hiswrathstrangledhim。Heclutchedatthedarknessinfrontofhim，hisbreathfairlywhistlingbetweenhisteeth。
　　Thatnighthewalkedthestreetsuntilthemorning，wonderingwhatnowhewastodotofightthewolfaway。Themorningofthenextdaytowardsteno’clockhewasonKearneyStreet，stillwalking，stilltrampingthestreets，sincetherewasnothingelseforhimtodo。Byandbyhepausedonacornernearamusicstore，findingamomentaryamusementinwatchingtwoorthreemenloadingapianouponadray。Alreadyhalfitsweightwassupportedbythedray’sbackboard。Oneofthemen，abigmulatto，almosthiddenunderthemassofglisteningrosewood，wasguidingitscourse，whiletheothertwoheavedandtuggedintherear。Somethinginthestreetfrightenedthehorsesandtheyshiedabruptly。Theendofthepianowastwitchedsharplyfromthebackboard。Therewasacry，themulattostaggeredandfellwiththefallingpiano，anditsweightdroppedsquarelyuponhisthigh，whichbrokewitharesoundingcrack。
　　AnhourlaterMcTeaguehadfoundhisjob。Themusicstoreengagedhimashandleratsixdollarsaweek。McTeague’senormousstrength，uselessallhislife，stoodhimingoodsteadatlast。
　　Hesleptinatinybackroomopeningfromthestoreroomofthemusicstore。Hewasinsomesenseawatchmanaswellashandler，andwenttheroundsofthestoretwiceeverynight。
　　Hisroomwasaboxofaplacethatreekedwithodorsofstaletobaccosmoke。TheformeroccupanthadpaperedthewallswithnewspapersandhadpastedupfigurescutoutfromthepostersofsomeKiralfyballet，verygaudy。Bytheonewindow，chitteringalldayinitslittlegiltprison，hungthecanarybird，atinyatomoflifethatMcTeaguestillclungtowithastrangeobstinacy。
　　McTeaguedrankagooddealofwhiskeyinthesedays，buttheonlyeffectithaduponhimwastoincreasetheviciousnessandbadtemperthathaddevelopedinhimsincethebeginningofhismisfortunes。Heterrorizedhisfellow-handlers，powerfulmenthoughtheywere。Foragruffword，foranawkwardmovementinladingthepianos，forasurlylookoramutteredoath，thedentist’selbowwouldcrookandhishandcontracttoamallet-likefist。Asoftenasnottheblowfollowed，colossalinitsforce，swiftastheleapofthepistonfromitscylinder。
　　HishatredofTrinaincreasedfromdaytoday。He’dmakeherdanceyet。Waitonlytillhegothishandsuponher。
　　She’dlethimstarve，wouldshe？She’dturnhimoutofdoorswhileshehidherfivethousanddollarsinthebottomofhertrunk。Aha，hewouldseeaboutthatsomeday。
　　Shecouldn’tmakesmallofhim。Ah，no。She’ddanceallright——allright。McTeaguewasnotanimaginativemanbynature，buthewouldlieawakenights，hisclumsywitsgallopingandfriskingunderthelashofthealcohol，andfancyhimselfthrashinghiswife，tillasuddenfrenzyofragewouldovercomehim，andhewouldshakeallover，rollinguponthebedandbitingthemattress。
　　Onacertainday，aboutaweekafterChristmasofthatyear，McTeaguewasononeofthetopfloorsofthemusicstore，wherethesecond-handinstrumentswerekept，helpingtomoveaboutandrearrangesomeoldpianos。Ashepassedbyoneofthecountershepausedabruptly，hiseyecaughtbyanobjectthatwasstrangelyfamiliar。
　　“Say，“heinquired，addressingtheclerkincharge，“say，where’dthiscomefrom？“
　　“Why，let’ssee。Wegotthatfromasecond-handstoreuponPolkStreet，Iguess。It’safairlygoodmachine；alittletinkeringwiththestopsandabitofshellac，andwe’llmakeitabout’sgoodasnew。Goodtone。See。“Andtheclerkdrewalong，sonorouswailfromthedepthsofMcTeague’soldconcertina。
　　“Well，it’smine，“growledthedentist。
　　Theotherlaughed。“It’syoursforelevendollars。“