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McTeague
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第2章
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Lightswereextinguished。Atoneo’clockthecablestopped,leavinganabruptsilenceintheair。Allatonceitseemedverystill。Theuglynoisesweretheoccasionalfootfallsofapolicemanandthepersistentcallingofducksandgeeseintheclosedmarket。Thestreetwasasleep。

Dayafterday,McTeaguesawthesamepanoramaunrollitself。

Thebaywindowofhis“DentalParlors“wasforhimapointofvantagefromwhichhewatchedtheworldgopast。

OnSundays,however,allwaschanged。Ashestoodinthebaywindow,afterfinishinghisbeer,wipinghislips,andlookingoutintothestreet,McTeaguewasconsciousofthedifference。Nearlyallthestoreswereclosed。Nowagonspassed。Afewpeoplehurriedupanddownthesidewalks,dressedincheapSundayfinery。Acablecarwentby;ontheoutsideseatswereapartyofreturningpicnickers。Themother,thefather,ayoungman,andayounggirl,andthreechildren。Thetwoolderpeopleheldemptylunchbasketsintheirlaps,whilethebandsofthechildren’shatswerestuckfullofoakleaves。Thegirlcarriedahugebunchofwiltingpoppiesandwildflowers。

AsthecarapproachedMcTeague’swindowtheyoungmangotupandswunghimselfofftheplatform,wavinggoodbytotheparty。SuddenlyMcTeaguerecognizedhim。

“There’sMarcusSchouler,“hemutteredbehindhismustache。

MarcusSchoulerwasthedentist’soneintimatefriend。Theacquaintancehadbegunatthecarconductors’coffee-joint,wherethetwooccupiedthesametableandmetateverymeal。

Thentheymadethediscoverythattheybothlivedinthesameflat,MarcusoccupyingaroomontheflooraboveMcTeague。OndifferentoccasionsMcTeaguehadtreatedMarcusforanulceratedtoothandhadrefusedtoacceptpayment。Soonitcametobeanunderstoodthingbetweenthem。Theywere“pals。“

McTeague,listening,heardMarcusgoup-stairstohisroomabove。Inafewminuteshisdooropenedagain。McTeagueknewthathehadcomeoutintothehallandwasleaningoverthebanisters。

“Oh,Mac!“hecalled。McTeaguecametohisdoor。

“Hullo!’sthatyou,Mark?“

“Sure,“answeredMarcus。“Comeonup。“

“Youcomeondown。“

“No,comeonup。“

“Oh,youcomeondown。“

“Oh,youlazyduck!“retortedMarcus,comingdownthestairs。

“BeenouttotheCliffHouseonapicnic,“heexplainedashesatdownonthebed-lounge,“withmyuncleandhispeople——theSieppes,youknow。Bydamn!itwashot,“hesuddenlyvociferated。“Justlookatthat!Justlookatthat!“hecried,draggingathislimpcollar。“That’sthethirdonesincemorning;itis——itis,forafact——andyougotyourstovegoing。“Hebegantotellaboutthepicnic,talkingveryloudandfast,gesturingfuriously,veryexcitedovertrivialdetails。Marcuscouldnottalkwithoutgettingexcited。

“Yououghtt’haveseen,y’oughtt’haveseen。Itellyou,itwasoutasight。Itwas;itwas,forafact。“

“Yes,yes,“answeredMcTeague,bewildered,tryingtofollow。

“Yes,that’sso。“

Inrecountingacertaindisputewithanawkwardbicyclist,inwhichitappearedhehadbecomeinvolved,Marcusquiveredwithrage。“’Saythatagain,’saysItoum。’Justsaythatoncemore,and’“——herearollingexplosionofoaths——

“’you’llgobacktothecityintheMorguewagon。Ain’tI

gotarighttocrossastreeteven,I’dliketoknow,withoutbeingrundown——what?’Isayit’soutrageous。I’daknifedhiminanotherminute。Itwasanoutrage。IsayitwasanOUTRAGE。“

“Sureitwas,“McTeaguehastenedtoreply。“Sure,sure。“

“Oh,andwehadanaccident,“shoutedtheother,suddenlyoffonanothertack。“Itwasawful。Trinawasintheswingthere——that’smycousinTrina,youknowwhoImean——andshefellout。Bydamn!Ithoughtshe’dkilledherself;struckherfaceonarockandknockedoutafronttooth。It’sawondershedidn’tkillherself。ItISawonder;itis,forafact。Ain’tit,now?Huh?Ain’tit?Y’oughtt’haveseen。“

McTeaguehadavagueideathatMarcusSchoulerwasstuckonhiscousinTrina。They“keptcompany“agooddeal;MarcustookdinnerwiththeSieppeseverySaturdayeveningattheirhomeatBStreetstation,acrossthebay,andSundayafternoonsheandthefamilyusuallymadelittleexcursionsintothesuburbs。McTeaguebegantowonderdimlyhowitwasthatonthisoccasionMarcushadnotgonehomewithhiscousin。Assometimeshappens,Marcusfurnishedtheexplanationupontheinstant。

“IpromisedaduckuphereontheavenueI’dcallforhisdogatfourthisafternoon。“

MarcuswasOldGrannis’sassistantinalittledoghospitalthatthelatterhadopenedinasortofalleyjustoffPolkStreet,somefourblocksaboveOldGrannislivedinoneofthebackroomsofMcTeague’sflat。HewasanEnglishmanandanexpertdogsurgeon,butMarcusSchoulerwasabunglerintheprofession。Hisfatherhadbeenaveterinarysurgeonwhohadkeptaliverystablenearby,onCaliforniaStreet,andMarcus’sknowledgeofthediseasesofdomesticanimalshadbeenpickedupinahaphazardway,muchafterthemannerofMcTeague’seducation。SomehowhemanagedtoimpressOldGrannis,agentle,simple-mindedoldman,withasenseofhisfitness,bewilderinghimwithatorrentofemptyphrasesthathedeliveredwithfiercegesturesandwithamannerofthegreatestconviction。

“You’dbettercomealongwithme,Mac,“observedMarcus。

“We’llgettheduck’sdog,andthenwe’lltakealittlewalk,huh?Yougotnothuntodo。Comealong。“

McTeaguewentoutwithhim,andthetwofriendsproceededuptotheavenuetothehousewherethedogwastobefound。

Itwasahugemansion-likeplace,setinanenormousgardenthatoccupiedawholethirdoftheblock;andwhileMarcustrampedupthefrontstepsandrangthedoorbellboldly,toshowhisindependence,McTeagueremainedbelowonthesidewalk,gazingstupidlyatthecurtainedwindows,themarblesteps,andthebronzegriffins,troubledandalittleconfusedbyallthismassiveluxury。

Aftertheyhadtakenthedogtothehospitalandhadlefthimtowhimperbehindthewirenetting,theyreturnedtoPolkStreetandhadaglassofbeerinthebackroomofJoeFrenna’scornergrocery。

Eversincetheyhadleftthehugemansionontheavenue,Marcushadbeenattackingthecapitalists,aclasswhichhepretendedtoexecrate。Itwasaposewhichheoftenassumed,certainofimpressingthedentist。Marcushadpickedupafewhalf-truthsofpoliticaleconomy——itwasimpossibletosaywhere——andassoonasthetwohadsettledthemselvestotheirbeerinFrenna’sbackroomhetookupthethemeofthelaborquestion。Hediscusseditatthetopofhisvoice,vociferating,shakinghisfists,excitinghimselfwithhisownnoise。Hewascontinuallymakinguseofthestockphrasesoftheprofessionalpolitician——phraseshehadcaughtatsomeoftheward“rallies“and“ratificationmeetings。“Theserolledoffhistonguewithincredibleemphasis,appearingateveryturnofhisconversation——“Outragedconstituencies,““causeoflabor,“

“wageearners,““opinionsbiasedbypersonalinterests,“

“eyesblindedbypartyprejudice。“McTeaguelistenedtohim,awestruck。

“There’swheretheevillies,“Marcuswouldcry。“Themassesmustlearnself-control;itstandstoreason。Lookatthefigures,lookatthefigures。Decreasethenumberofwageearnersandyouincreasewages,don’tyou?don’tyou?“

Absolutelystupid,andunderstandingneveraword,McTeaguewouldanswer:

“Yes,yes,that’sit——self-control——that’stheword。“

“It’sthecapitaliststhat’sruiningthecauseoflabor,“

shoutedMarcus,bangingthetablewithhisfisttillthebeerglassesdanced;“white-livereddrones,traitors,withtheirliverswhiteassnow,eatunthebreadofwidowsandorphuns;there’swheretheevillies。“

Stupefiedwithhisclamor,McTeagueanswered,wagginghishead:

“Yes,that’sit;Ithinkit’stheirlivers。“

SuddenlyMarcusfellcalmagain,forgettinghisposeallinaninstant。

“Say,Mac,ItoldmycousinTrinatocomeroundandseeyouaboutthattoothofher’s。She’llbeinto-morrow,I

guess。“

CHAPTER2

AfterhisbreakfastthefollowingMondaymorning,McTeaguelookedovertheappointmentshehadwrittendowninthebook-slatethathungagainstthescreen。Hiswritingwasimmense,veryclumsy,andveryround,withhuge,full-

belliedl’sandh’s。Hesawthathehadmadeanappointmentatoneo’clockforMissBaker,theretireddressmaker,alittleoldmaidwhohadatinyroomafewdoorsdownthehall。ItadjoinedthatofOldGrannis。

Quiteanaffairhadarisenfromthiscircumstance。MissBakerandOldGranniswerebothoversixty,andyetitwascurrenttalkamongstthelodgersoftheflatthatthetwowereinlovewitheachother。Singularlyenough,theywerenotevenacquaintances;neverawordhadpassedbetweenthem。Atintervalstheymetonthestairway;heonhiswaytohislittledoghospital,shereturningfromabitofmarketinginthestreet。Atsuchtimestheypassedeachotherwithavertedeyes,pretendingacertainpre-

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