The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-09-22

DOSS. Iu6y sent IOr inc company
doctor, and he examined the foot and
told Jurgis to go home to bed, adding
that he had probably laid himself up
for months by his folly. The injury
was not one that Durham & Co. could
be held responsible for, and so that
was all there was to 1t, SO far as the
doctor was concerned.
Jurgis got home somehow, scarcely
able to see for the pain, and with an
awful terror In his soul. Elzbieta
helped him into bed and bandaged his
injured foot with cold water, and tried
hard not to let him see her dismay;
when the rest came home at night she
met them outside and told them, and
they, too, put on cheerful face, say
ing 1t would only be for q week or
two, and that they would pull him
through.
When they had gotten him to sleep,
however, they sat by the kitchen fire
and talked 1t over In frightened whis-
pers. They were In for q siege, that
was plainly to be seen. Jurgis had
only about sixty dollars In the bank,
and the slack season was upon them.
Both Jonas and Martha might soon be
earning no more than enough to pay
their board, and besides that there
were only the wages OF Ona and the
pittance OF the little boy. There was
the rent to pay. and still some on the
furniture; there was the insurance
just due, and every month there was
sack after sack of coal. II was Jan
uary, midwinter, an awful time to
have to face privation. Deep SHOWS
would come again, and who, would
carry Ona to her work now? She
might lose her place-she was almost
certain to lose 1t. And then little
Stanislovas began to whimper-who
would take care of him? III
It was dreadful that an accident of
this sort, that no man can help, should
have meant such suffering. The bit
terness of it was the daily food and
drink of Jurgis. It was Of no use for
them to try to deceive him; he knew
as much about the situation as they
did, and he knew that the family
might literally starve to death. The
worry Of 1t fairly ate him up--he be-
gan to look haggard the first two or
three days of 1t. In truth, It was al
most maddening for a strong man like
him, q fighter, to have to lie there
helpless on his back.
It was for all the world the old story
of Prometheus bound. AS Jurgis lay
on his bed, hour after hour, there
came to him emotions that he. had
never known before. Before this he
had met life with a welc0me--it had
It's trials, but none that a man could
not face. But now, in the nighttime,
when he lay tossing about, there
would come stalking into his chamber
a grisly phantom, the sight OF which
made his flesh curl and his hair bris-
tie up. 1t was like seeing the world
fall away from underneath his feet;
like plunging down into bottomless
abyss, into, yawning caverns Of de-
SPAR. II might be true, then, after
all, what others had told him about
life---that the best powers of a man
might not be equal to IL IL might
be true that, strive as he would, toll
as he would, he might fail, and 60
down and be destroyed! The thought
Of this was like an Icy hand at his
heart: the thought that here, In this
CHASTITY home of all horror, he and all
those who were dear to him might lie
and perish Of starvation and cold, and
there would be no ear to hear their
cry, no hand to help them! II was
true, 1t was true-that here In this
huge city, with its stores OF heaped
up wealth, human creatures might be
hunted down and destroyed by the
wild beast powers OF nature just as
truly as ever they were In the days Of
the cave-men.
Ona was making about thirty dol.
lars a month, and Stanislovas about
thirteen. To add to this there was
the board of Jonas and Maria, about
forty-dve dollars. Deducting from this
the rent. interest. and instalments on