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The new address was a cellar dive, whose proprietor said that he had never heard of Duane; but after he had put Jurgis through a catechism he showed him a back stairs which led to a "fence" in the rear of a pawnbroker's shop, and thence to a number of assignation rooms, in one of which Duane was hiding.
Jurgis had nothing to put on but his shoes and his coat, and in half a minute he was out of the door. Then, however, he realized that there was no need of haste, that he had no idea where to go. It was still dark as midnight, and the thick snowflakes were sifting down everything was so silent that he could hear the rustle of them as they fell.
They could save money again, and when another winter came they would have a comfortable place; and the children would be off the streets and in school again, and they might set to work to nurse back into life their habits of decency and kindness. So once more Jurgis began to make plans and dream dreams.
He used to carry cans on a long pole; and he'd drink a little out of each can, and one day he drank too much, and fell asleep in a corner, and got locked up in the place all night. When they found him the rats had killed him and eaten him nearly all up." Jurgis sat, frozen with horror. Marija went on lacing up her shoes. There was a long silence. Suddenly a big policeman came to the door.
The lantern had been upset and extinguished, and it was so dark they could not see a thing; but they could hear Jurgis panting, and hear the thumping of his victim's skull, and they rushed there and tried to pull him off.
But Jurgis did not move, and the bartender went behind the bar, and after stowing the hundred-dollar bill away in a safe hiding place, came and poured a glass of water over Jurgis. Then, as the latter began to moan feebly, the policeman got him to his feet and dragged him out of the place. The station house was just around the corner, and so in a few minutes Jurgis was in a cell.
He must have got caught in the mud!" "Are you sure that he is dead?" he demanded. "Ai! ai!" she wailed. "Yes; we had the doctor." Then Jurgis stood a few seconds, wavering. He did not shed a tear. He took one glance more at the blanket with the little form beneath it, and then turned suddenly to the ladder and climbed down again. A silence fell once more in the room as he entered.
"We had no money we have scarcely been able to keep alive." "But I can work," Jurgis exclaimed. "I can earn money!" "Yes," she answered "but we thought you were in jail. How could we know when you would return? They will not work for nothing." Marija went on to tell how she had tried to find a midwife, and how they had demanded ten, fifteen, even twenty-five dollars, and that in cash.
The man thought for a moment, and then turned to his friend. "Who is there, Walters?" he asked. "There is Ostrinski but he is a Pole " "Ostrinski speaks Lithuanian," said the other. "All right, then; would you mind seeing if he has gone yet?" The other started away, and the speaker looked at Jurgis again. He had deep, black eyes, and a face full of gentleness and pain.
The "forelady," he found, had not yet come; all the lines of cars that came from downtown were stalled there had been an accident in the powerhouse, and no cars had been running since last night. Meantime, however, the ham-wrappers were working away, with some one else in charge of them. The girl who answered Jurgis was busy, and as she talked she looked to see if she were being watched.
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