command! If Jurgis so much as raised a hand against
them, back he would go into that wild-beast pen from
which he had just escaped!

To get up and go away was to give up, to acknowledge
defeat, to leave the strange family in possession; and
Jurgis might have sat shivering in the rain for hours before
he could do that, had it not been for the thought of his
family. It might be that he had worse things yet to learn
-- and so he got to his feet and started away, walking on,
wearily, half-dazed.

To Aniele's house, in back of the yards, was a good two
miles; the distance had never seemed longer to Jurgis,
and when he saw the familiar dingy-gray shanty his heart
was beating fast. He ran up the steps and began to ham~
mer upon the door.

The old woman herself came to open it. She had shrunk
all up with her rheumatism since Jurgis had seen her last,
and her yellow parchment face stared up at him from a
little above the level of the door-knob. She gave a start
when she saw him. "Is Ona here?" he cried, breath~
lessly.

"Yes," was the answer, "she's here."

"How--" Jurgis began, and then stopped short,
clutching convulsively at the side of the door. From
somewhere within the house had come a sudden cry, a
wild, horrible scream of anguish. And the voice was
Ona's.

For a moment Jurgis stood half-paralyzed with fright;
then he bounded past the old woman and into the room.

It was Aniele's kitchen, and huddled round the stove
were half a dozen women, pale and frightened. One of
them started to her feet as Jurgis entered; she was hag~
gard and frightfully thin, with one arm tied up in band~
ages -- he hardly realized that it was Marija. He looked
first for Ona; then, not seeing her, he stared at the
women, expecting them to speak. But they sat dumb,
gazing back at him, panic-stricken; and a second later
came another piercing scream.

It was from the rear of the house, and upstairs. Jurgis

[[213]]

p212 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p213w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p214

v?