“Where’sthefourhundreddollarsyourobbedmeofwhenyoudesertedme？“returnedTrina，coldly。
“Well，I’vespentit，“growledthedentist。“ButyouCAN’Tseemestarve，Trina，nomatterwhat’shappened。
Givemealittlemoney，then。“
“I’llseeyoustarvebeforeyougetanymoreofMY
money。“
Thedentiststeppedbackapaceandstaredupatherwonder-
stricken。Hisfacewasleanandpinched。Neverhadthejawbonelookedsoenormous，northesquare-cutheadsohuge。
Themoonlightmadedeepblackshadowsintheshrunkencheeks。
“Huh？“askedthedentist，puzzled。“Whatdidyousay？“
“Iwon’tgiveyouanymoney——neveragain——notacent。“
“ButdoyouknowthatI’mhungry？“
“Well，I’vebeenhungrymyself。Besides，IDON’T
believeyou。“
“Trina，Iain’thadathingtoeatsinceyesterdaymorning；
that’sGod’struth。EvenifIdidgetoffwithyourmoney，youCAN’Tseemestarve，canyou？Youcan’tseemewalkthestreetsallnightbecauseIain’tgotaplacetosleep。
Willyouletmein？Say，willyou？Huh？“
“No。“
“Well，willyougivemesomemoneythen——justalittle？
Givemeadollar。Givemehalfadol——Say，givemeaDIME，an’Icangetacupofcoffee。“
“No。“
Thedentistpausedandlookedatherwithcuriousintentness，bewildered，nonplussed。
“Say，you——youmustbecrazy，Trina。I——I——wouldn’tletaDOGgohungry。“
“Notevenifhe’dbittenyou，perhaps。“
Thedentiststaredagain。
Therewasanotherpause。McTeaguelookedupatherinsilence，ameanandvicioustwinklecomingintohissmalleyes。Heutteredalowexclamation，andthencheckedhimself。
“Well，lookhere，forthelasttime。I’mstarving。I’vegotnowheretosleep。Willyougivemesomemoney，orsomethingtoeat？Willyouletmein？“
“No——no——no。“
Trinacouldfancyshealmostsawthebrassyglintinherhusband’seyes。Heraisedoneenormousleanfist。Thenhegrowled：
“IfIhadholdofyouforaminute，byGod，I’dmakeyoudance。An’Iwillyet，Iwillyet。Don’tyoubeafraidofthat。“
Heturnedabout，themoonlightshowinglikealayerofsnowuponhismassiveshoulders。Trinawatchedhimashepassedundertheshadowofthecherrytreesandcrossedthelittlecourt。Sheheardhisgreatfeetgrindingontheboardflooring。Hedisappeared。
Miserthoughshewas，Trinawasonlyhuman，andtheechoofthedentist’sheavyfeethadnotdiedawaybeforeshebegantohesorryforwhatshehaddone。Shestoodbytheopenwindowinhernightgown，herfingeruponherlips。
“Hedidlookedpinched，“shesaidhalfaloud。“MaybeheWAShungry。Ioughttohavegivenhimsomething。IwishI
had，IWISHIhad。Oh，“shecried，suddenly，withafrightenedgestureofbothhands，“whathaveIcometobethatIwouldseeMac——myhusband——thatIwouldseehimstarveratherthangivehimmoney？No，no。It’stoodreadful。IWILLgivehimsome。I’llsendittohimto-morrow。Where？——well，he’llcomeback。“Sheleanedfromthewindowandcalledasloudlyasshedared，“Mac，oh，Mac。“Therewasnoanswer。
WhenMcTeaguehadtoldTrinahehadbeenwithoutfoodfornearlytwodayshewasspeakingthetruth。Theweekbeforehehadspentthelastofthefourhundreddollarsinthebarofasailor’slodging-housenearthewaterfront，andsincethattimehadlivedaveritablehand-to-mouthexistence。
Hehadspenthermoneyhereandthereaboutthecityinroyalfashion，absolutelyrecklessofthemorrow，feastinganddrinkingforthemostpartwithcompanionshepickedupheavenknowswhere，acquaintancesoftwenty-fourhours，whosenamesheforgotintwodays。Thensuddenlyhefoundhimselfattheendofhismoney。Henolongerhadanyfriends。Hungerrodehimandrowelledhim。Hewasnolongerwellfed，comfortable。Therewasnolongerawarmplaceforhimtosleep。HewentbacktoPolkStreetintheevening，walkingonthedarksideofthestreet，lurkingintheshadows，ashamedtohaveanyofhisold-timefriendsseehim。HeenteredZerkow’soldhouseandknockedatthedooroftheroomTrinaandhehadoccupied。Itwasempty。
NextdayhewenttoUncleOelbermann’sstoreandaskednewsofTrina。TrinahadnottoldUncleOelbermannofMcTeague’sbrutalities，givinghimotherreasonstoexplainthelossofherfingers；neitherhadshetoldhimofherhusband’srobbery。SowhenthedentisthadaskedwhereTrinacouldbefound，UncleOelbermann，believingthatMcTeaguewasseekingareconciliation，hadtoldhimwithouthesitation，and，headded：
“Shewasinhereonlyyesterdayanddrewoutthebalanceofhermoney。She’sbeendrawingagainsthermoneyforthelastmonthorso。She’sgotitallnow，Iguess。“
“Ah，she’sgotitall。“
Thedentistwentawayfromhisbootlessvisittohiswifeshakingwithrage，hatingherwithallthestrengthofacrudeandprimitivenature。Heclenchedhisfiststillhisknuckleswhitened，histeethgroundfuriouslyupononeanother。
“Ah，ifIhadholdofyouonce，I’dmakeyoudance。Shehadfivethousanddollarsinthatroom，whileIstoodthere，nottwentyfeetaway，andtoldherIwasstarving，andshewouldn’tgivemeadimetogetacupofcoffeewith；notadimetogetacupofcoffee。Oh，ifIoncegetmyhandsonyou！“Hiswrathstrangledhim。Heclutchedatthedarknessinfrontofhim，hisbreathfairlywhistlingbetweenhisteeth。
Thatnighthewalkedthestreetsuntilthemorning，wonderingwhatnowhewastodotofightthewolfaway。Themorningofthenextdaytowardsteno’clockhewasonKearneyStreet，stillwalking，stilltrampingthestreets，sincetherewasnothingelseforhimtodo。Byandbyhepausedonacornernearamusicstore，findingamomentaryamusementinwatchingtwoorthreemenloadingapianouponadray。Alreadyhalfitsweightwassupportedbythedray’sbackboard。Oneofthemen，abigmulatto，almosthiddenunderthemassofglisteningrosewood，wasguidingitscourse，whiletheothertwoheavedandtuggedintherear。Somethinginthestreetfrightenedthehorsesandtheyshiedabruptly。Theendofthepianowastwitchedsharplyfromthebackboard。Therewasacry，themulattostaggeredandfellwiththefallingpiano，anditsweightdroppedsquarelyuponhisthigh，whichbrokewitharesoundingcrack。
AnhourlaterMcTeaguehadfoundhisjob。Themusicstoreengagedhimashandleratsixdollarsaweek。McTeague’senormousstrength，uselessallhislife，stoodhimingoodsteadatlast。
Hesleptinatinybackroomopeningfromthestoreroomofthemusicstore。Hewasinsomesenseawatchmanaswellashandler，andwenttheroundsofthestoretwiceeverynight。
Hisroomwasaboxofaplacethatreekedwithodorsofstaletobaccosmoke。TheformeroccupanthadpaperedthewallswithnewspapersandhadpastedupfigurescutoutfromthepostersofsomeKiralfyballet，verygaudy。Bytheonewindow，chitteringalldayinitslittlegiltprison，hungthecanarybird，atinyatomoflifethatMcTeaguestillclungtowithastrangeobstinacy。
McTeaguedrankagooddealofwhiskeyinthesedays，buttheonlyeffectithaduponhimwastoincreasetheviciousnessandbadtemperthathaddevelopedinhimsincethebeginningofhismisfortunes。Heterrorizedhisfellow-handlers，powerfulmenthoughtheywere。Foragruffword，foranawkwardmovementinladingthepianos，forasurlylookoramutteredoath，thedentist’selbowwouldcrookandhishandcontracttoamallet-likefist。Asoftenasnottheblowfollowed，colossalinitsforce，swiftastheleapofthepistonfromitscylinder。
HishatredofTrinaincreasedfromdaytoday。He’dmakeherdanceyet。Waitonlytillhegothishandsuponher。
She’dlethimstarve，wouldshe？She’dturnhimoutofdoorswhileshehidherfivethousanddollarsinthebottomofhertrunk。Aha，hewouldseeaboutthatsomeday。
Shecouldn’tmakesmallofhim。Ah，no。She’ddanceallright——allright。McTeaguewasnotanimaginativemanbynature，buthewouldlieawakenights，hisclumsywitsgallopingandfriskingunderthelashofthealcohol，andfancyhimselfthrashinghiswife，tillasuddenfrenzyofragewouldovercomehim，andhewouldshakeallover，rollinguponthebedandbitingthemattress。
Onacertainday，aboutaweekafterChristmasofthatyear，McTeaguewasononeofthetopfloorsofthemusicstore，wherethesecond-handinstrumentswerekept，helpingtomoveaboutandrearrangesomeoldpianos。Ashepassedbyoneofthecountershepausedabruptly，hiseyecaughtbyanobjectthatwasstrangelyfamiliar。
“Say，“heinquired，addressingtheclerkincharge，“say，where’dthiscomefrom？“
“Why，let’ssee。Wegotthatfromasecond-handstoreuponPolkStreet，Iguess。It’safairlygoodmachine；alittletinkeringwiththestopsandabitofshellac，andwe’llmakeitabout’sgoodasnew。Goodtone。See。“Andtheclerkdrewalong，sonorouswailfromthedepthsofMcTeague’soldconcertina。
“Well，it’smine，“growledthedentist。
Theotherlaughed。“It’syoursforelevendollars。“