McTeaguehadcontinuedhiswork，actingfromsheerforceofhabit；hissluggish，deliberatenature，methodical，obstinate，refusingtoadaptitselftothenewconditions。
“MaybeMarcuswasonlytryingtoscareus，“Trinahadsaid。
“Howaretheygoingtoknowwhetheryou’repractisingornot？“
“Igotamouldtomaketo-morrow，“McTeaguesaid，“andVanovitch，thatplumberroundonSutterStreet，he’scomingagainatthree。“
“Well，yougorightahead，“Trinatoldhim，decisively；“yougorightaheadandmakethemould，andpulleverytoothinVanovitch’sheadifyouwantto。Who’sgoingtoknow？
Maybetheyjustsentthatnoticeasamatterofform。MaybeMarcusgotthatpaperandfilleditinhimself。“
Thetwowouldlieawakeallnightlong，staringupintothedark，talking，talking，talking。
“Haven’tyougotanyrighttopractiseifyou’venotbeentoadentalcollege，Mac？Didn’tyouevergo？“Trinawouldaskagainandagain。
“No，no，“answeredthedentist，“Ineverwent。IlearntfromthefellowIwasapprenticedto。Idon’knowanythingaboutadentalcollege。Ain’tIgotarighttodoasI
like？“hesuddenlyexclaimed。
“Ifyouknowyourprofession，isn’tthatenough？“criedTrina。
“Sure，sure，“growledMcTeague。“Iain’tgoingtostopforthem。“
“Yougorighton，“Trinasaid，“andIbetyouwon’thearanotherwordaboutit。“
“SupposeIgoroundtotheCityHallandseethem，“hazardedMcTeague。
“No，no，don’tyoudoit，Mac，“exclaimedTrina。“Because，ifMarcushasdonethisjusttoscareyou，theywon’tknowanythingaboutitthereattheCityHall；butthey’llbegintoaskyouquestions，andfindoutthatyouneverHAD
graduatedfromadentalcollege，andyou’dbejustasbadoffasever。“
“Well，Iain’tgoingtoquitforjustapieceofpaper，“
declaredthedentist。Thephrasestucktohim。Alldaylonghewentabouttheirroomsorcontinuedathisworkinthe“Parlors，“growlingbehindhisthickmustache：“Iain’tgoingtoquitforjustapieceofpaper。No，Iain’tgoingtoquitforjustapieceofpaper。Surenot。“
Thedayspassed，aweekwentby，McTeaguecontinuedhisworkasusual。TheyheardnomorefromtheCityHall，butthesuspenseofthesituationwasharrowing。Trinawasactuallysickwithit。Theterrorofthethingwaseverattheirelbows，goingtobedwiththem，sittingdownwiththematbreakfastinthekitchen，keepingthemcompanyallthroughtheday。TrinadarednotthinkofwhatwouldbetheirfateiftheincomederivedfromMcTeague’spracticewassuddenlytakenfromthem。ThentheywouldhavetofallbackontheinterestofherlotterymoneyandthepittanceshederivedfromthemanufactureoftheNoah’sarkanimals，alittleoverthirtydollarsamonth。No，no，itwasnottobethoughtof。Itcouldnotbethattheirmeansoflivelihoodwastobethusstrickenfromthem。
Afortnightwentby。“Iguesswe’reallright，Mac，“Trinaallowedherselftosay。“Itlooksasthoughwewereallright。Howaretheygoingtotellwhetheryou’repractisingornot？“
ThatdayasecondandmuchmoreperemptorynoticewasserveduponMcTeaguebyanofficialinperson。ThensuddenlyTrinawasseizedwithapanicterror，unreasoned，instinctive。IfMcTeaguepersistedtheywouldbothbesenttoaprison，shewassureofit；aplacewherepeoplewerechainedtothewall，inthedark，andfedonbreadandwater。
“Oh，Mac，you’vegottoquit，“shewailed。“Youcan’tgoon。Theycanmakeyoustop。Oh，whydidn’tyougotoadentalcollege？Whydidn’tyoufindoutthatyouhadtohaveacollegedegree？Andnowwe’repaupers，beggars。
We’vegottoleavehere——leavethisflatwhereI’vebeen——
whereWE’VEbeensohappy，andsellalltheprettythings；sellthepicturesandthemelodeon，and——Oh，it’stoodreadful！“
“Huh？Huh？What？What？“exclaimedthedentist，bewildered。“Iain’tgoingtoquitforjustapieceofpaper。Letthemputmeout。I’llshowthem。They——theycan’tmakesmallofme。“
“Oh，that’sallveryfinetotalkthatway，butyou’llhavetoquit。“
“Well，weain’tpaupers，“McTeaguesuddenlyexclaimed，anideaenteringhismind。“We’vegotourmoneyyet。You’vegotyourfivethousanddollarsandthemoneyyou’vebeensavingup。Peopleain’tpauperswhenthey’vegotoverfivethousanddollars。“
“Whatdoyoumean，Mac？“criedTrina，apprehensively。
“Well，wecanliveonTHATmoneyuntil——until——until——“
hebrokeoffwithanuncertainmovementofhisshoulders，lookingabouthimstupidly。
“UntilWHEN？“criedTrina。“Thereain’tevergoingtobeany’until。’We’vegottheINTERESTofthatfivethousandandwe’vegotwhatUncleOelbermanngivesme，alittleoverthirtydollarsamonth，andthat’sallwe’vegot。You’llhavetofindsomethingelsetodo。“
“WhatwillIfindtodo？“
What，indeed？McTeaguewasoverthirtynow，sluggishandslow-wittedatbest。Whatnewtradecouldhelearnatthisage？
LittlebylittleTrinamadethedentistunderstandthecalamitythathadbefallenthem，andMcTeagueatlastbegancancellinghisappointments。Trinagaveitoutthathewassick。
“Notasoulneedknowwhat’shappenedtous，“shesaidtoherhusband。
ButitwasonlybyslowdegreesthatMcTeagueabandonedhisprofession。Everymorningafterbreakfasthewouldgointohis“Parlors“asusualandpotterabouthisinstruments，hisdentalengine，andhiswashstandinthecornerbehindhisscreenwherehemadehismoulds。Nowhewouldsharpena“hoe“excavator，nowhewouldbusyhimselfforawholehourmaking“mats“and“cylinders。“Thenhewouldlookoverhisslatewherehekeptarecordofhisappointments。
OnedayTrinasoftlyopenedthedoorofthe“Parlors“andcameinfromthesitting-room。ShehadnotheardMcTeaguemovingaboutforsometimeandhadbeguntowonderwhathewasdoing。Shecamein，quietlyshuttingthedoorbehindher。
McTeaguehadtidiedtheroomwiththegreatestcare。Thevolumesofthe“PracticalDentist“andthe“AmericanSystemofDentistry“werepileduponthemarble-topcentre-tableinrectangularblocks。Thefewchairsweredrawnupagainstthewallunderthesteelengravingof“Lorenzode’
Medici“withmorethanusualprecision。Thedentalengineandthenickelledtrimmingsoftheoperatingchairhadbeenfurbishedtilltheyshone，whileonthemovablerackinthebaywindowMcTeaguehadarrangedhisinstrumentswiththegreatestneatnessandregularity。“Hoe“excavators，pluggers，forceps，pliers，corundumdisksandburrs，eventheboxwoodmalletthatTrinawasnevertouseagain，allwerelaidoutandreadyforimmediateuse。
McTeaguehimselfsatinhisoperatingchair，lookingstupidlyoutofthewindows，acrosstheroofsopposite，withanunseeinggaze，hisredhandslyingidlyinhislap。
Trinacameuptohim。Therewassomethinginhiseyesthatmadeherputbotharmsaroundhisneckandlayhishugeheadwithitscoarseblondhairuponhershoulder。
“I——Igoteverythingfixed，“hesaid。“Igoteverythingfixedan’ready。See，everythingreadyan’waiting，an’——
an’——an’nobodycomes，an’nobody’severgoingtocomeanymore。Oh，Trina！“Heputhisarmsaboutheranddrewherdownclosertohim。
“Nevermind，dear；nevermind，“criedTrina，throughhertears。“It’llallcomerightintheend，andwe’llbepoortogetherifwehaveto。Youcansurefindsomethingelsetodo。We’llstartinagain。“
“Lookattheslatethere，“saidMcTeague，pullingawayfromherandreachingdowntheslateonwhichhekeptarecordofhisappointments。“Lookatthem。There’sVanovitchattwoonWednesday，andLoughhead’swifeThursdaymorning，andHeise’slittlegirlThursdayafternoonatone-thirty；Mrs。
WatsononFriday，andVanovitchagainSaturdaymorningearly——atseven。That’swhatIwastohavehad，andtheyain’tgoingtocome。Theyain’tevergoingtocomeanymore。“
Trinatookthelittleslatefromhimandlookedatitruefully。
“Rubthemout，“shesaid，hervoicetrembling；“rubitallout；“andasshespokehereyesbrimmedagain，andagreatteardroppedontheslate。“That’sit，“shesaid；“that’sthewaytorubitout，bymecryingonit。“Thenshepassedherfingersoverthetear-blurredwritingandwashedtheslateclean。“Allgone，allgone，“shesaid。
“Allgone，“echoedthedentist。Therewasasilence。ThenMcTeagueheavedhimselfuptohisfullsixfeettwo，hisfacepurpling，hisenormousmallet-likefistsraisedoverhishead。Hismassivejawprotrudedmorethanever，whilehisteethclickedandgratedtogether；thenhegrowled：
“IfeverImeetMarcusSchouler——“hebrokeoffabruptly，thewhiteofhiseyesgrowingsuddenlypink。
“Oh，ifeveryouDO，“exclaimedTrina，catchingherbreath。
CHAPTER14
“Well，whatdoyouthink？“saidTrina。
SheandMcTeaguestoodinatinyroomatthebackoftheflatandonitsverytopfloor。Theroomwaswhitewashed。
Itcontainedabed，threecane-seatedchairs，andawoodenwashstandwithitswashbowlandpitcher。Fromitssingleuncurtainedwindowonelookeddownintotheflat’sdirtybackyardandupontheroofsofthehovelsthatborderedthealleyintherear。Therewasaragcarpetonthefloor。Inplaceofaclosetsomedozenwoodenpegswereaffixedtothewalloverthewashstand。Therewasasmellofcheapsoapandofancienthair-oilintheair。
“That’sasinglebed，“saidTrina，“butthelandladysaysshe’llputinadoubleoneforus。Yousee——“
“Iain’tgoingtolivehere，“growledMcTeague。
“Well，you’vegottolivesomewhere，“saidTrina，impatiently。“We’velookedPolkStreetover，andthisistheonlythingwecanafford。“
“Afford，afford，“mutteredthedentist。“Youwithyourfivethousanddollars，andthetwoorthreehundredyougotsavedup，talkingabout’afford。’Youmakemesick。“
“Now，Mac，“exclaimedTrina，deliberately，sittingdowninoneofthecane-seatedchairs；“now，Mac，let’shavethisthing——“
“Well，Idon’tfigureonlivinginoneroom，“growledthedentist，sullenly。“Let’slivedecentlyuntilwecangetafreshstart。We’vegotthemoney。“
“Who’sgotthemoney？“
“WE’VEgotit。“
“We！“