She continued her lament.
"She had a bad heart, dat girl did, Jimmie. She was wicked teh deh heart an" we never knowed it."
Jimmie nodded, admitting the fact.
"We lived in deh same house wid her an" I brought her up an" we never knowed how bad she was."
Jimmie nodded again.
"Wid a home like dis an" a mudder like me, she went teh deh bad," cried the mother, raising her eyes.
One day, Jimmie came home, sat down in a chair and began to wriggle about with a new and strange nervousness. At last he spoke shamefacedly.
"Well, look-a-here, dis t"ing queers us! See? We"re queered! An"
maybe it "ud be better if I--well, I t"ink I kin look "er up an"--maybe it "ud be better if I fetched her home an"--"
The mother started from her chair and broke forth into a storm of pa.s.sionate anger.
"What! Let "er come an" sleep under deh same roof wid her mudder agin!
Oh, yes, I will, won"t I? Sure? Shame on yehs, Jimmie Johnson, for sayin" such a t"ing teh yer own mudder--teh yer own mudder! Little did I t"ink when yehs was a babby playin" about me feet dat ye"d grow up teh say sech a t"ing teh yer mudder--yer own mudder. I never taut--"
Sobs choked her and interrupted her reproaches.
"Dere ain"t nottin" teh raise sech h.e.l.l about," said Jimmie. "I on"y says it "ud be better if we keep dis t"ing dark, see? It queers us!
See?"
His mother laughed a laugh that seemed to ring through the city and be echoed and re-echoed by countless other laughs. "Oh, yes, I will, won"t I! Sure!"
"Well, yeh must take me fer a d.a.m.n fool," said Jimmie, indignant at his mother for mocking him. "I didn"t say we"d make "er inteh a little tin angel, ner nottin", but deh way it is now she can queer us! Don" che see?"
"Aye, she"ll git tired of deh life atter a while an" den she"ll wanna be a-comin" home, won" she, deh beast! I"ll let "er in den, won" I?"
"Well, I didn" mean none of dis prod"gal bus"ness anyway," explained Jimmie.
"It wasn"t no prod"gal dauter, yeh d.a.m.n fool," said the mother. "It was prod"gal son, anyhow."
"I know dat," said Jimmie.
For a time they sat in silence. The mother"s eyes gloated on a scene her imagination could call before her. Her lips were set in a vindictive smile.
"Aye, she"ll cry, won" she, an" carry on, an" tell how Pete, or some odder feller, beats "er an" she"ll say she"s sorry an" all dat an" she ain"t happy, she ain"t, an" she wants to come home agin, she does."
With grim humor, the mother imitated the possible wailing notes of the daughter"s voice.
"Den I"ll take "er in, won"t I, deh beast. She kin cry "er two eyes out on deh stones of deh street before I"ll dirty deh place wid her.
She abused an" ill-treated her own mudder--her own mudder what loved her an" she"ll never git anodder chance dis side of h.e.l.l."
Jimmie thought he had a great idea of women"s frailty, but he could not understand why any of his kin should be victims.
"d.a.m.n her," he fervidly said.
Again he wondered vaguely if some of the women of his acquaintance had brothers. Nevertheless, his mind did not for an instant confuse himself with those brothers nor his sister with theirs. After the mother had, with great difficulty, suppressed the neighbors, she went among them and proclaimed her grief. "May Gawd forgive dat girl," was her continual cry. To attentive ears she recited the whole length and breadth of her woes.
"I bringed "er up deh way a dauter oughta be bringed up an" dis is how she served me! She went teh deh devil deh first chance she got! May Gawd forgive her."
When arrested for drunkenness she used the story of her daughter"s downfall with telling effect upon the police justices. Finally one of them said to her, peering down over his spectacles: "Mary, the records of this and other courts show that you are the mother of forty-two daughters who have been ruined. The case is unparalleled in the annals of this court, and this court thinks--"
The mother went through life shedding large tears of sorrow. Her red face was a picture of agony.
Of course Jimmie publicly d.a.m.ned his sister that he might appear on a higher social plane. But, arguing with himself, stumbling about in ways that he knew not, he, once, almost came to a conclusion that his sister would have been more firmly good had she better known why.
However, he felt that he could not hold such a view. He threw it hastily aside.
Chapter XIV
In a hilarious hall there were twenty-eight tables and twenty-eight women and a crowd of smoking men. Valiant noise was made on a stage at the end of the hall by an orchestra composed of men who looked as if they had just happened in. Soiled waiters ran to and fro, swooping down like hawks on the unwary in the throng; clattering along the aisles with trays covered with gla.s.ses; stumbling over women"s skirts and charging two prices for everything but beer, all with a swiftness that blurred the view of the cocoanut palms and dusty monstrosities painted upon the walls of the room. A bouncer, with an immense load of business upon his hands, plunged about in the crowd, dragging bashful strangers to prominent chairs, ordering waiters here and there and quarreling furiously with men who wanted to sing with the orchestra.
The usual smoke cloud was present, but so dense that heads and arms seemed entangled in it. The rumble of conversation was replaced by a roar. Plenteous oaths heaved through the air. The room rang with the shrill voices of women bubbling o"er with drink-laughter. The chief element in the music of the orchestra was speed. The musicians played in intent fury. A woman was singing and smiling upon the stage, but no one took notice of her. The rate at which the piano, cornet and violins were going, seemed to impart wildness to the half-drunken crowd. Beer gla.s.ses were emptied at a gulp and conversation became a rapid chatter. The smoke eddied and swirled like a shadowy river hurrying toward some unseen falls. Pete and Maggie entered the hall and took chairs at a table near the door. The woman who was seated there made an attempt to occupy Pete"s attention and, failing, went away.
Three weeks had pa.s.sed since the girl had left home. The air of spaniel-like dependence had been magnified and showed its direct effect in the peculiar off-handedness and ease of Pete"s ways toward her.
She followed Pete"s eyes with hers, antic.i.p.ating with smiles gracious looks from him.
A woman of brilliance and audacity, accompanied by a mere boy, came into the place and took seats near them.
At once Pete sprang to his feet, his face beaming with glad surprise.
"By Gawd, there"s Nellie," he cried.
He went over to the table and held out an eager hand to the woman.
"Why, h.e.l.lo, Pete, me boy, how are you," said she, giving him her fingers.
Maggie took instant note of the woman. She perceived that her black dress fitted her to perfection. Her linen collar and cuffs were spotless. Tan gloves were stretched over her well-shaped hands. A hat of a prevailing fashion perched jauntily upon her dark hair. She wore no jewelry and was painted with no apparent paint. She looked clear-eyed through the stares of the men.
"Sit down, and call your lady-friend over," she said cordially to Pete.
At his beckoning Maggie came and sat between Pete and the mere boy.
"I thought yeh were gone away fer good," began Pete, at once. "When did yeh git back? How did dat Buff"lo bus"ness turn out?"
The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Well, he didn"t have as many stamps as he tried to make out, so I shook him, that"s all."
"Well, I"m glad teh see yehs back in deh city," said Pete, with awkward gallantry.
He and the woman entered into a long conversation, exchanging reminiscences of days together. Maggie sat still, unable to formulate an intelligent sentence upon the conversation and painfully aware of it.
She saw Pete"s eyes sparkle as he gazed upon the handsome stranger. He listened smilingly to all she said. The woman was familiar with all his affairs, asked him about mutual friends, and knew the amount of his salary.