How had it all come about? A month ago he was perfectly content; he was calm and peaceful, taking his little pleasures as he found them. His life had shaped itself; was, no doubt, to continue always along these same lines. A woman had entered his small world and instantly there was discord. The disturbing element had appeared. Wherever the woman had put her foot a score of distressing complications had sprung up, like the sudden growth of strange and puzzling flowers.
"Say, Mac, go on; let's have ut straight," urged Marcus, leaning toward him. "Has any duck been doing you dirt?" he cried, his face crimson on the instant.
"No," said McTeague, helplessly.
"Come along, old man," persisted Marcus; "let's have ut.
What is the row? I'll do all I can to help you."
It was more than McTeague could bear. The situation had got beyond him. Stupidly he spoke, his hands deep in his pockets, his head rolled forward.
"It's--it's Miss Sieppe," he said.
"Trina, my cousin? How do you mean?" inquired Marcus sharply.
"I--I--I don' know," stammered McTeague, hopelessly confounded.
"You mean," cried Marcus, suddenly enlightened, "that you are--that you, too."
McTeague stirred in his chair, looking at the walls of the room, avoiding the other's glance. He nodded his head, then suddenly broke out:
"I can't help it. It ain't my fault, is it?"
Marcus was struck dumb; he dropped back in his chair breathless. Suddenly McTeague found his tongue.
"I tell you, Mark, I can't help it. I don't know how it happened. It came on so slow that I was, that--that--that it was done before I knew it, before I could help myself. I know we're pals, us two, and I knew how--how you and Miss Sieppe were. I know now, I knew then; but that wouldn't have made any difference. Before I knew it--it--it--there I was. I can't help it. I wouldn't 'a' had ut happen for anything, if I could 'a' stopped it, but I don' know, it's something that's just stronger than you are, that's all.
She came there--Miss Sieppe came to the parlors there three or four times a week, and she was the first girl I had ever known,--and you don' know! Why, I was so close to her I touched her face every minute, and her mouth, and smelt her hair and her breath--oh, you don't know anything about it.
I can't give you any idea. I don' know exactly myself; I only know how I'm fixed. I--I--it's been done; it's too late, there's no going back. Why, I can't think of anything else night and day. It's everything. It's--it's--oh, it's everything! I--I--why, Mark, it's everything--I can't explain." He made a helpless movement with both hands.
Never had McTeague been so excited; never had he made so long a speech. His arms moved in fierce, uncertain gestures, his face flushed, his enormous jaws shut together with a sharp click at every pause. It was like some colossal brute trapped in a delicate, invisible mesh, raging, exasperated, powerless to extricate himself.
Marcus Schouler said nothing. There was a long silence.
Marcus got up and walked to the window and stood looking out, but seeing nothing. "Well, who would have thought of this?" he muttered under his breath. Here was a fix.
Marcus cared for Trina. There was no doubt in his mind about that. He looked forward eagerly to the Sunday afternoon excursions. He liked to be with Trina. He, too, felt the charm of the little girl--the charm of the small, pale forehead; the little chin thrust out as if in confidence and innocence; the heavy, odorous crown of black hair. He liked her immensely. Some day he would speak; he would ask her to marry him. Marcus put off this matter of marriage to some future period; it would be some time--a year, perhaps, or two. The thing did not take definite shape in his mind. Marcus "kept company" with his cousin Trina, but he knew plenty of other girls. For the matter of that, he liked all girls pretty well. Just now the singleness and strength of McTeague's passion startled him.
McTeague would marry Trina that very afternoon if she would have him; but would he--Marcus? No, he would not; if it came to that, no, he would not. Yet he knew he liked Trina.
He could say--yes, he could say--he loved her. She was his "girl." The Sieppes acknowledged him as Trina's "young man." Marcus came back to the table and sat down sideways upon it.
"Well, what are we going to do about it, Mac?" he said.
"I don' know," answered McTeague, in great distress. "I don' want anything to--to come between us, Mark."
"Well, nothun will, you bet!" vociferated the other. "No, sir; you bet not, Mac."
Marcus was thinking hard. He could see very clearly that McTeague loved Trina more than he did; that in some strange way this huge, brutal fellow was capable of a greater passion than himself, who was twice as clever. Suddenly Marcus jumped impetuously to a resolution.
"Well, say, Mac," he cried, striking the table with his fist, "go ahead. I guess you--you want her pretty bad. I'll pull out; yes, I will. I'll give her up to you, old man."
The sense of his own magnanimity all at once overcame Marcus. He saw himself as another man, very noble, self- sacrificing; he stood apart and watched this second self with boundless admiration and with infinite pity. He was so good, so magnificent, so heroic, that he almost sobbed. Marcus made a sweeping gesture of resignation, throwing out both his arms, crying:
"Mac, I'll give her up to you. I won't stand between you."
There were actually tears in Marcus's eyes as he spoke.
There was no doubt he thought himself sincere. At that moment he almost believed he loved Trina conscientiously, that he was sacrificing himself for the sake of his friend.
The two stood up and faced each other, gripping hands. It was a great moment; even McTeague felt the drama of it.
What a fine thing was this friendship between men! the dentist treats his friend for an ulcerated tooth and refuses payment; the friend reciprocates by giving up his girl.
