heoldhereveryhinghaookpce，everyhingha

wassaidiwasasifshehadbeenhereandhewasdyingo

inroduceherohesenewfriendswhohaddi

erasevenhiry

inheevening

“goalongwihyou!”shesaid“whadoheywanoknow

mefor?”

“heydo!”hecriedindignanly“ifheywanoknow

me—andheysayheydo—henheywanoknowyou，because

youarequieascleverasiam”

“goalongwihyou，child!”sheughed

bushebeganospareherhandshey，oo，wereworkgnarled

nowheskinwasshinywihsomuchhowaer，he

knucklesraherswollenbushebeganobecarefulokeep

hemouofsodasheregreedwhaheyhadbeen—sosmall

andexquisieandwhena

ieinsisedonherhavingmore

sylishblousesosuiherage，shesubmiedsheevenwenso

farasoallowabckvelvebowobepcedonherhairhen

shesniffedinhersarcasicma

er，andwassureshelookeda

sighbushelookedady，pauldecred，asmuchasmrs

majormoreon，andfar，farnicerhefamilywascomingon

onlymorelremainedunchanged，orraher，psedslowly

paulandhismohernowhadlongdiscussionsaboulife

religionwasfadinginohebackgroundhehadshoveledaway

allhebeliefshawouldhamperhim，hadclearedheground，

andcomemoreorlessohebedrockofbeliefhaoneshould

feelinsideoneselfforrighandwrong，andshouldhavehe

paienceograduallyrealizeone’sgodnowlifeineresedhim

more

“youknow，”hesaidohismoher，“idon’wanobelong

ohewellodomiddlecssilikemycommonpeoplebesi

belongohecommonpeople”

“buifanyoneelsesaidso，myson，wouldn’youbeina

earyouknowyouconsideryourselfequaloanygenleman”

“inmyself，”heanswered，”noinmycssormyeducaion

ormyma

ersbuinmyselfiam’

“verywell，henhenwhyalkabouhecommonpeople?”

“because—hedifferencebeweenpeopleisn’inheircss，

buinhemselvesonlyfromhemiddlecssesonegesideas，

andfromhecommonpeople—lifeiself，warmhyoufeelheir

haesandloves”

“i’sallverywell，myboybu，hen，whydon’yougoand

alkoyourfaher’spals?”

“buhey’reraherdifferen”

noaallhey’rehecommonpeopleaferall，whomdoyou

mixwihnow—amonghecommonpeople?hosehaexchange

ideas，likehemiddlecssesheresdon’ineresyou”

“bu—here’shelife—”

“idon’believehere’salomorelifefrommiriamhanyou

couldgefromanyeducaedgirl—saymissmoreon?iisyou

whoaresnobbishaboucss”

shefranklywanedhimoclimbinohemiddlecss，a

hingnoverydifficul，sheknewandshewanedhiminhe

endomarryady

nowshebeganocombahiminhisreslessfreinghesill

kepuphisco

exionwihmiriam，couldneiherbreakfreenor

gohewholelenghofengagemenandhisindecisionseemed

obleedhimofhisenergymoreover，hismohersuspecedhim

ofanunrecognizedleaningowardscra，and，sinceheer

wasamarriedwoman，shewishedhewouldfallinlovewih

oneofhegirlsinabeersaionoflifebuhewassupid，and

wouldrefuseoloveorevenoadmireagirlmuch，jusbecause

shewashissocialsuperior

“myboy，”saidhismoherohim，“allyourcleverness，

yourbreakingawayfromoldhings，andakinglifeinyourown

hands，doesn’seemobringyoumuchhappiness”

“whaishappiness!”hecried“i’snohingome!how

amiobehappy?”

heplumpquesiondisurbedher

“ha’sforyouojudge，mydbuifyoucouldmee

somegoodwomanwhowouldmakeyouhappy—andyoubegan

ohinkofselingyourlife—whenyouhavehemeans—so

hayoucouldworkwihouallhisfreing—iwouldbemuch

beerforyou”

hefrownedhismohercaughhimonherawofhiswound

ofmiriamhepushedheumbledhairoffhisforehead，hiseyes

fullofpainandfire

“youmeaneasy，moher，”hecried“ha’sawoman’s

wholedocrineforlife—easeofsoulandphysicalcomforandido

despisei”

“oh，doyou!”repliedhismoher“anddoyoucallyoursa

divinedisconen?”

“yesidon’careabouisdiviniybudamnyour

happiness!solongaslife’sfull，idoesn’maerwheheri’s

happyornoi’mafraidyourhappinesswouldboreme”

“younevergiveiachance，”shesaidhensuddenlyallher

passionofgriefoverhimbrokeou“buidoesmaer!”she

cried“andyououghobehappy，yououghoryobehappy，

oliveobehappyhowcouldibearohinkyourlifewouldn’

beahappyone!

“yourown’sbeenbadenough，maer，buihasn’lefyou

somuchworseoffhanhefolkwho’vebeenhappierireckon

you’vedonewellandiamhesamearen’iwellenoughoff?”

“you’reno，mysonbale—bale—andsufferi’sabou

allyoudo，asfarasicansee”

“buwhyno，mydear?iellyoui’shebes—”

“iisn’andoneoughobehappy，oneough

byhisimemrsmorelwasremblingviolenlysruggles

ofhiskindofenookpcebeweenherandherson，whenshe

seemedofighforhisverylifeagainshisownwillodiehe

ookherinhisarmsshewasillandpiiful

“nevermind，lile，”hemurmured“solongasyoudon’feel

life’spalryandamiserablebusiness，heresdoesn’maer，

happinessorunhappiness”

shepressedhimoher

“buiwanyouobehappy，”shesaidpaheically

eh，mydear—sayraheryouwanmeolive

mrsmorelfelasifherhearwouldbreakforhimahis

raesheknewhewouldnolivehehadhapoignancareless

nessabouhimself，hisownsuffering，hisownlife，which

isaformofslowsuicideialmosbrokeherhearwihallhe

passionofhersrongnaureshehaedmiriamforhavingin