第4章

That was six months ago,and Ada had returned to the factory,where her disaster created no stir.Such accidents were common.Mrs Yabsley reared the child as she had reared her daughter,in a box-cradle near the wash-tub or ironing-board,for Ada proved an indifferent mother.

Then,with a sudden change of front,she encouraged Jonah's intimacy with Ada.She invited him to the house,which he avoided with an animal craft and suspicion,meeting Ada in the streets.It was her scheme to get him to live in the house;the rest,she thought,would be easy.But Jonah feared dimly that if he ventured inside the house he would bring himself under the law.So he grinned,and kept his distance,like an animal that fears a trap.

But at last,his resistance worn to a thread by constant coaxing,he had agreed to spend the night there on account of the fowls.He was interested in these,for one pair was his gift to Ada,the fruit of some midnight raid.

Jonah stood alone at the corner watching the crowd.Chook's reference to the baby had shaken his resolution,and he decided to think it over.

And as he watched the moving procession with the pleasure of a spectator at the play,he thought uneasily of women and marriage.As he nodded from time to time to an acquaintance,a young man passed him carrying a child in his arms.His wife,a slip of a girl,loaded with bundles,gave Jonah a quick look of fear and scorn.The man stared Jonah full in the face without a sign of recognition,and bent his head over the child with a caressing movement.Jonah noted the look of humble pride in his eyes,and marvelled.Twelve months ago he was Jonah's rival in the Push,famous for his strength and audacity,and now butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.Jonah called to mind other cases,with a sudden fear in his heart at this mysterious ceremony before a parson that affected men like a disease,robbing them of all a man desired,and leaving them contented and happy.He turned into Cardigan Street with the air of a man who is putting his neck in the noose,resolving secretly to cut and run at the least hint of danger.

As he walked slowly up the street he became aware of a commotion at the corner of George Street.He saw that a crowd had gathered,and quickened his pace,for a crowd in Cardigan Street generally meant a fight.Jonah elbowed his way through the ring,and found a young policeman,new to this beat,struggling with an undersized man with the face of a ferret.

Jonah's first thought was to effect a rescue,as his practised eye took in the details of the scene.Let them get away from the light of the street lamp,and with a sudden rush the thing would be done.He looked round for the Push and remembered that they were scattered.Then he saw that the captive was a stranger,and decided to look on quietly and note the policeman's methods for future use.

On finding that he was overmatched in strength,the prisoner had dropped to the ground,and,with silent,cat-like movements baulked the policeman's efforts.As Jonah looked on,the constable straightened his back,wiped the sweat from his face,and then,suddenly desperate,called on the nearest to help him.The men slipped behind the women,who laughed in his face.It was his first arrest,and he looked in astonishment at the grinning,hostile faces,too nervous to use his strength,harassed by the hatred of the people.

"Take 'im yerself;do yer own dirty work."

"Wot's the poor bloke done?"

"Nuthin',yer may be sure."

"These Johns run a man in,an'swear his life away ter git a stripe on their sleeve.""They think they kin knock a man about as they like 'cause 'e's poor.""They'd find plenty to do if they took the scoundrels that walk the streets in a top 'at.""It don't pay.They know which side their bread's buttered,don't yous fergit."Chiefly by his own efforts the prisoner had become a disreputable wreck.

Hatless,with torn collar,his clothes covered with the dirt he was rolling in,ten minutes'struggle with the policeman had transformed him into a scarecrow.

"If there was any men about,they wouldn't see a decent young man turned into a criminal under their very eyes,"cried a virago,looking round for a champion.

"If I was a man,I'd."

She stopped as Sergeant Carmody arrived with a brisk air,and the crowd fell back,silent before the official who knew every face in the ring.

In an instant the captive was lifted to his feet,his arms were twisted behind his back till the sinews cracked,and the procession moved off to the station.When Jonah reached the cottage,he stood irresolute on the other side of the street.Already regretting his promise,he turned to go,when Ada came to the door and saw him under the gas lamp.He crossed the street,trying to show by his walk that his presence was a mere accident.

"Cum in,"cried Ada."Mum won't eat yer."

Mrs Yabsley,who was ironing among a pile of shirts and collars,looked up,with the iron in her hand.

"W'y,Joe,ye're quite a stranger!"she cried."Sit down an'make yerself at 'ome.""'Ow do,missus?"said Jonah,looking round nervously for the child,but it was not visible.

"I knowed yer wouldn't let them take the old woman's fowls,"she continued."'Ere,Ada,go an'git a jug o'beer."The room,which served for a laundry,was dimly lit with a candle.

The pile of white linen brought into relief the dirt and poverty of the interior.The walls were stained with grease and patches of dirt,added slowly through the years as a face gathers wrinkles.But Jonah saw nothing of this.He was used to dirt.

He sat down,and,with a sudden attack of politeness,decided to take off his hat,but,uncertain of his footing,pushed it on the back of his head as a compromise.He lit a cigarette,and felt more at ease.

A faint odour of scorching reached his nostrils as Mrs Yabsley passed the hot iron over the white fronts.The small black iron ran swiftly over the clean surface,leaving a smooth,shining track behind it.And he watched,with an idler's pleasure,the swift,mechanical movements.