ignorant! But they had come to a new country, where
everything was different, including the food. They had
always been accustomed to eat a great deal of smoked
sausage, and how could they know that what they bought
in America was not the same -- that its color was made
by chemicals, and its smoky flavor by more chemicals,
and that it was full of "potato-flour" besides? Potato-
flour is the waste of potato after the starch and alcohol
have been extracted; it has no more food value than so
much wood, and as its use as a food adulterant is a penal
offense in Europe, thousands of tons of it are shipped to
America every year. It was amazing what quantities of
food such as this were needed every day, by eleven
hungry persons. A dollar sixty-five a day was simply
not enough to feed them, and there was no use trying;
and so each week they made an inroad upon the pitiful
little bank-account that Ona had begun. Because the
account was in her name, it was possible for her to keep
this a secret from her husband, and to keep the heart~
sickness of it for her own.

It would have been better if Jurgis had been really ill;
if he had not been able to think. For he had no resources
such as most invalids have; all he could do was to lie
there and toss about from side to side. Now and then he
would break into cursing, regardless of everything; and
now and then his impatience would get the better of him,
and he would try to get up, and poor Teta Elzbieta would
have to plead with him in frenzy. Elzbieta was all alone
with him the greater part of the time. She would sit and
smooth his forehead by the hour, and talk to him and try
to make him forget. Sometimes it would be too cold for
the children to go to school, and they would have to play
in the kitchen, where Jurgis was, because it was the only
room that was half warm. These were dreadful times, for
Jurgis would get as cross as any bear; he was scarcely to
be blamed, for he had enough to worry him, and it was
hard when he was trying to take a nap to be kept awake
by noisy and peevish children.

Elzbieta's only resource in those times was little Antanas;

[[139]]

p138 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p139w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p140

v?