tears came into his eyes, and he began the long battle
with the specter.

It was a battle that had no end, that never could have
one. But Jurgis did not realize that very clearly; he was
not given much time for reflection. He simply knew that
he was always fighting. Steeped in misery and despair
as he was, merely to walk down the street was to be put
upon the rack. There was surely a saloon on the corner --
perhaps on all four corners, and some in the middle of the
block as well; and each one stretched out a hand to him --
each one had a personality of its own, allurements unlike
any other. Going and coming -- before sunrise and after
dark -- there was warmth and a glow of light, and the
steam of hot food, and perhaps music, or a friendly face,
and a word of good cheer. Jurgis developed a fondness
for having Ona on his arm whenever he went out on the
street, and he would hold her tightly, and walk fast. It
was pitiful to have Ona know of this -- it drove him wild
to think of it; the thing was not fair, for Ona had never
tasted drink, and so could not understand. Sometimes, in
desperate hours, he would find himself wishing that she
might learn what it was, so that he need not be ashamed
in her presence. They might drink together, and escape
from the horror -- escape for a while, come what would.

So there came a time when nearly all the conscious life
of Jurgis consisted of a struggle with the craving for
liquor. He would have ugly moods, when he hated Ona
and the whole family, because they stood in his way. He
was a fool to have married; he had tied himself down,
had made himself a slave. It was all because he was a
married man that he was compelled to stay in the yards;
if it had not been for that he might have gone off like
Jonas, and to hell with the packers. There were few
single men in the fertilizer-mill -- and those few were
working only for a chance to escape. Meantime, too, they
had something to think about while they worked, -- they
had the memory of the last time they had been drunk, and
the hope of the time when they would be drunk again. As
for Jurgis, he was expected to bring home every penny;

[[165]]

p164 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p165w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p166

v?