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When he got to the place where she worked he inquired of one of the watchmen there had not been any accident, so far as the man had heard. At the time office, which he found already open, the clerk told him that Ona's check had been turned in the night before, showing that she had left her work.
That rusty black hat with the drooping red flower, it might not be Ona's, but there was very little likelihood of it. He would know for certain very soon, for she would get out two blocks ahead. He slowed down, and let the car go on. She got out: and as soon as she was out of sight on the side street Jurgis broke into a run.
Once or twice in these outbreaks he caught Ona's eye, and it seemed to him like the eye of a hunted animal; there were broken phrases of anguish and despair now and then, amid her frantic weeping. It was only because he was so numb and beaten himself that Jurgis did not worry more about this.
The tears came so easily into Ona's eyes, and she would look at him so appealingly it kept Jurgis quite busy making resolutions, in addition to all the other things he had on his mind. It was true that more things were going on at this time in the mind of Jurgis than ever had in all his life before. He had to protect her, to do battle for her against the horror he saw about them.
And then again came Ona's scream, smiting him like a blow in the face, making him wince and turn white. Her voice died away into a wail then he heard her sobbing again, "My God let me die, let me die!" And Marija hung her arms about him, crying: "Come out! Come away!" She dragged him back into the kitchen, half carrying him, for he had gone all to pieces.
He had no appetite, and they could not afford to tempt him with delicacies. It was better, he said, that he should not eat, it was a saving. About the end of March he had got hold of Ona's bankbook, and learned that there was only three dollars left to them in the world.
He could hardly grasp the thing much less try to solve it; but a hundred wild surmises came to him, a sense of impending calamity overwhelmed him. Because there was nothing else to do, he went back to the time office to watch again. He waited until nearly an hour after seven, and then went to the room where Ona worked to make inquiries of Ona's "forelady."
Then a man came up, wheeling a truck; he knew Jurgis for Ona's husband, and was curious about the mystery. "Maybe the cars had something to do with it," he suggested "maybe she had gone down-town." "No," said Jurgis, "she never went down-town." "Perhaps not," said the man. Jurgis thought he saw him exchange a swift glance with the girl as he spoke, and he demanded quickly.
He found an unexpected state of affairs for the girl's father had died, and his estate was tied up with creditors; Jurgis' heart leaped as he realized that now the prize was within his reach. There was Elzbieta Lukoszaite, Teta, or Aunt, as they called her, Ona's stepmother, and there were her six children, of all ages.
But Ona's father proved as a rock the girl was yet a child, and he was a rich man, and his daughter was not to be had in that way. So Jurgis went home with a heavy heart, and that spring and summer toiled and tried hard to forget. In the fall, after the harvest was over, he saw that it would not do, and tramped the full fortnight's journey that lay between him and Ona.
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