The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-09-05

that talked about gettin' married
! to because of havin' a little fun, I
would be married now twenty
times"
But, he'll, thought you liked
me, or was you making beheve?'
Cliff ragged.
EDNA looked at him nervously.
Il She didn't know what to say.
She knew that she had liked him
at the beginning. Then her
mother came along with the story
OF his being a tramp. That scared
her and she began to feel indiffer-
ent to him. Then Fritz turned up.
He was a swell-looking fellow and
took her to places and he always
had money to spend She liked
Fritz. She didn't care any longer
for Cliff, but she couldn't tell him
that somehow.
ut seems there amt no use
talkin' to you" said Cliff.
You don't have to, if you don
wanna. amt gonna cry over it,
boy"
Cliff turned around and ran of
the porch. He walked a few feet
and stopped. He wanted to turn
back, plead with her, but he heard
the door close behind her.
He stood looking about him aim
leSsly. The sky had cleared up and
the glistening moon trembled dig
lilly in his eyes. His head ached.
His knees were bending. He drag
ged himself to the boarding house.
He fell on his bed without taking
off the wet clothes that stuck to his
body
CLIFF slept hard. He woke up in
v daze He couldn't think what
he had to do He looked at the
walls, he stared at the dark gray
ceiling. He heard the landlady
calling him for breakfast. He
looked at the clock. It was six.
1t was time to go to the shop And
with that he remembered the Macs.
Harris, and the meeting he had
missed.
He dressed, swallowed some food,
and ran off. He tried to think up
some good excuse for his absence.
Nothing good came to him. The
scene with Edna came back to him.
He hated her Harris was right. No
use making a fuss over it. And
Lentz had also said that Edna
wouldn't stick to him.
His mind Travelled from one thing
to another. His heart panied him.
He wanted to find relief from his
tormenting thoughts. He noticed
smoke curling out of the smoke
stacks He FASTENED his steps. He
wished he were down among the
boilers, in the uproar of the ma
chines-to forget Edna
When he came to check his name
the timekeeper told him to go to
the office.
Whats the natter"
Don't know, Mulligan Got or
ders to send you and Weber up to
the Office"
Maybe Barnes wants to give in"
he thought. and for moment a
happy feeling swept over him He
ran to the Office. Weber was COM
ing toward him.
Where in the dickens you been
last night?" the old man growled.
Lets not talk about it now.
John told me that we got to go to
the Office before We can start work
ing" he said, excitedly.
THAT means that we're sacked"
Weber said sadly 1T might be
something else, we better see Har-
ris."
What's the use to see him? He
can't help nothin'. We might as
well go in now"
THEY went into the office A clerk
made them sign a receipt and
handed them their envelopes. In
side they found slip in addition to
their money. 1t read: Permanently
discharged"
They went out Weber grumbled:-
Should never have done that. We.
had no business to go to Barnes
yesterday. Harris jest showed it
down our throat"
ut amt his fault. He didn't
mean anythin' bad"
He knew we was gonna get
canned. Look here, I Jest got nine
dollars pay. How am I gonna feed
the four mouths? The strike amt
en- yet an who knows if -
You ought not say that" Cliff
cut in. I'm sure Max didn't mean
anything bad He's a smart guy
and knows what he's dom, I guess.
He amt dom nothin' for us be-
cause we pay him No. Weber, you
ought not say that You ought not
blame him. He tries his best for
us fellows It's not monev that
counts to him. I don't think It's
something bigger than that"
Maybe you're right. I amt say
in he done it on purpose. Jest
lost his head, I guess"
He knows what he's dom, and
whatever he's dom is good for win
min the strike, guess"
ITO be continued