“Attendnow,“hesuddenlyexclaimed。“Itwillnotbesohsoon。Atderendofderday,venweshallhavehomegecommen,denwullitpeadjudge,eh?AREwardofmerittohimwhoderbes’pehaves。Itisanorder。Vorwarts!“
“ThatwasaSacramentotrain,“saidMarcustoSelinaastheystartedoff;“itwas,forafact。“
“IknowagirlinSacramento,“TrinatoldMcTeague。“She’sforewomaninaglovestore,andshe’sgotconsumption。“
“IwasinSacramentoonce,“observedMcTeague,“nearlyeightyearsago。“
“Isitaniceplace——asniceasSanFrancisco?“
“It’shot。Ipractisedthereforawhile。“
“IlikeSanFrancisco,“saidTrina,lookingacrossthebaytowherethecitypileditselfuponitshills。
“SodoI,“answeredMcTeague。“Doyoulikeitbetterthanlivingoverhere?“
“Oh,sure,Iwishwelivedinthecity。Ifyouwanttogoacrossforanythingittakesupthewholeday。“
“Yes,yes,thewholeday——almost。“
“Doyouknowmanypeopleinthecity?DoyouknowanybodynamedOelbermann?That’smyuncle。HehasawholesaletoystoreintheMission。Theysayhe’sawfulrich。“
“No,Idon’knowhim。“
“Hisstepdaughterwantstobeanun。Justfancy!AndMr。
Oelbermannwon’thaveit。Hesaysitwouldbejustlikeburyinghischild。Yes,shewantstoentertheconventoftheSacredHeart。AreyouaCatholic,DoctorMcTeague?“
“No。No,I——“
“PapaisaCatholic。HegoestoMassonthefeastdaysonceinawhile。Butmamma’sLutheran。“
“TheCatholicsaretryingtogetcontroloftheschools,“
observedMcTeague,suddenlyrememberingoneofMarcus’spoliticaltirades。
“That’swhatcousinMarksays。Wearegoingtosendthetwinstothekindergartennextmonth。“
“What’sthekindergarten?“
“Oh,theyteachthemtomakethingsoutofstrawandtoothpicks——kindofaplayplacetokeepthemoffthestreet。“
“There’soneuponSacramentoStreet,notfarfromPolkStreet。Isawthesign。“
“Iknowwhere。Why,Selinausedtoplaythepianothere。“
“Doessheplaythepiano?“
“Oh,yououghttohearher。Sheplaysfine。Selina’sveryaccomplished。Shepaints,too。“
“Icanplayontheconcertina。“
“Oh,canyou?Iwishyou’dbroughtitalong。Nexttimeyouwill。Ihopeyou’llcomeoftenonourpicnics。You’llseewhatfunwe’llhave。“
“Finedayforapicnic,ain’tit?Thereain’tacloud。“
“That’sso,“exclaimedTrina,lookingup,“notasinglecloud。Oh,yes;thereisone,justoverTelegraphHill。“
“That’ssmoke。“
“No,it’sacloud。Smokeisn’twhitethatway。“
“’Tisacloud。“
“IknewIwasright。IneversayathingunlessI’mprettysure。“
“Itlookslikeadog’shead。“
“Don’tit?Isn’tMarcusfondofdogs?“
“Hegotanewdoglastweek——asetter。“
“Didhe?“
“Yes。HeandItookalotofdogsfromhishospitaloutforawalktotheCliffHouselastSunday,butwehadtowalkallthewayhome,becausetheywouldn’tfollow。You’vebeenouttotheCliffHouse?“
“Notforalongtime。WehadapicnicthereoneFourthofJuly,butitrained。Don’tyoulovetheocean?“
“Yes——yes,Ilikeitprettywell。“
“Oh,I’dliketogooffinoneofthosebigsailingships。
Justaway,andaway,andaway,anywhere。They’redifferentfromalittleyacht。I’dlovetotravel。“
“Sure;sowouldI。“
“Papaandmammacameoverinasailingship。Theyweretwenty-onedays。Mamma’suncleusedtobeasailor。HewascaptainofasteameronLakeGeneva,inSwitzerland。“
“Halt!“shoutedMr。Sieppe,brandishinghisrifle。Theyhadarrivedatthegatesofthepark。AllatonceMcTeagueturnedcold。Hehadonlyaquarterinhispocket。Whatwasheexpectedtodo——payforthewholeparty,orforTrinaandhimself,ormerelybuyhisownticket?Andeveninthislattercasewouldaquarterbeenough?Helosthiswits,rollinghiseyeshelplessly。Thenitoccurredtohimtofeignagreatabstraction,pretendingnottoknowthatthetimewascometopay。Helookedintentlyupanddownthetracks;perhapsatrainwascoming。“Hereweare,“criedTrina,astheycameuptotherestoftheparty,crowdedabouttheentrance。“Yes,yes,“observedMcTeague,hisheadintheair。
“Gi’mefourbits,Mac,“saidMarcus,comingup。“Here’swhereweshellout。“
“I——I——Ionlygotaquarter,“mumbledthedentist,miserably。HefeltthathehadruinedhimselfforeverwithTrina。Whatwastheuseoftryingtowinher?Destinywasagainsthim。“Ionlygotaquarter,“hestammered。Hewasonthepointofaddingthathewouldnotgointhepark。
Thatseemedtobetheonlyalternative。
“Oh,allright!“saidMarcus,easily。“I’llpayforyou,andyoucansquarewithmewhenwegohome。“
Theyfiledintothepark,Mr。Sieppecountingthemoffastheyentered。
“Ah,“saidTrina,withalongbreath,assheandMcTeaguepushedthroughthewicket,“hereweareoncemore,Doctor。“
ShehadnotappearedtonoticeMcTeague’sembarrassment。
Thedifficultyhadbeentidedoversomehow。OncemoreMcTeaguefelthimselfsaved。
“Toderbeach!“shoutedMr。Sieppe。Theyhadcheckedtheirbasketsatthepeanutstand。Thewholepartytroopeddowntotheseashore。Thegreyhoundwasturnedloose。Thechildrenracedonahead。
FromoneofthelargerparcelsMrs。Sieppehaddrawnforthasmalltinsteamboat——August’sbirthdaypresent——agaudylittletoywhichcouldbesteamedupandnavigatedbymeansofanalcohollamp。Hertrialtripwastobemadethismorning。
“Gi’meit,gi’meit,“shoutedAugust,dancingaroundhisfather。
“Notsoh,notsoh,“criedMr。Sieppe,bearingitaloft。“I
mustfirstdereggsperimuntmake。“
“No,no!“wailedAugust。“Iwanttoplaywithut。“
“Obey!“thunderedMr。Sieppe。Augustsubsided。Alittlejettyranpartofthewayintothewater。Here,afteracarefulstudyofthedirectionsprintedonthecoverofthebox,Mr。Sieppebegantofirethelittleboat。
“Iwanttopututinthewa-ater,“criedAugust。
“Standback!“shoutedhisparent。“Youdonotknowsowellasme;dereisdandger。Mitoutattentionhewilleggsplode。“
“Iwanttoplaywithut,“protestedAugust,beginningtocry。
“Ach,soh;youcry,bube!“vociferatedMr。Sieppe。“Mommer,“
addressingMrs。Sieppe,“hewillsohsoonbege-whipt,eh?“
“Iwantmyboa-wut,“screamedAugust,dancing。
“Silence!“roaredMr。Sieppe。Thelittleboatbegantohissandsmoke。
“Soh,“observedthefather,“hegommence。Attention!Iputhiminderwater。“Hewasveryexcited。Theperspirationdrippedfromthebackofhisneck。Thelittleboatwaslaunched。Ithissedmorefuriouslythanever。Cloudsofsteamrolledfromit,butitrefusedtomove。
“Youdon’tknowhowshewo-rks,“sobbedAugust。
“Iknowmoresohmudgeasdergrossestliddlefoolasyou,“
criedMr。Sieppe,fiercely,hisfacepurple。
“Youmustgiveitsh——shove!“exclaimedtheboy。
第11章