within reach, and finally dragging his squealing quarry
from under a bed or a pile of old clothes in a closet.

Jurgis and two policemen chased some men into a bar-
room. One of them took shelter behind the bar, where a
policeman cornered him and proceeded to whack him over
the back and shoulders, until he lay down and gave a
chance at his head. The others leaped a fence in the rear,
balking the second policeman, who was fat; and as he came
back, furious and cursing, a big Polish woman, the owner
of the saloon, rushed in screaming, and received a poke in
the stomach that doubled her up on the floor. Meantime
Jurgis, who was of a practical temper, was helping himself
at the bar; and the first policeman, who had laid out his
man, joined him, handing out several more bottles, and
filling his pockets besides, and then, as he started to leave,
cleaning off all the balance with a sweep of his club. The
din of the glass crashing to the floor brought the fat Po~
lish woman to her feet again, but another policeman came
up behind her and put his knee into her back and his
hands over her eyes -- and then called to his companion,
who went back and broke open the cash-drawer and filled
his pockets with the contents. Then the three went out~
side, and the man who was holding the woman gave her a
shove and dashed out himself. The gang having already
got the carcass on to the truck, the party set out at a trot,
followed by screams and curses, and a shower of bricks
and stones from unseen enemies. These bricks and stones
would figure in the accounts of the "riot" which would
be sent out to a few thousand newspapers within an hour
or two; but the episode of the cash-drawer would never
be mentioned again, save only in the heart-breaking legends
of Packingtown.

It was late in the afternoon when they got back, and
they dressed out the remainder of the steer, and a couple
of others that had been killed, and then knocked off for
the day. Jurgis went down-town to supper, with three
friends who had been on the other trucks, and they ex~
changed reminiscences on the way. Afterward they

[[330]]

p329 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p330w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p331

v?