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第11章

  “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。