there was pretty sure to be a friend who would treat you, and then you
would have to treat him. Then some one else would come in--and, anyhow,
a few drinks were good for a man who worked hard. As he went back he did
not shiver so, he had more courage for his task; the deadly brutalizing
monotony of it did not afflict him so,--he had ideas while he worked,
and took a more cheerful view of his circumstances. On the way home,
however, the shivering was apt to come on him again; and so he would
have to stop once or twice to warm up against the cruel cold. As there
were hot things to eat in this saloon too, he might get home late to his
supper, or he might not get home at all. And then his wife might set out
to look for him, and she too would feel the cold; and perhaps she would
have some of the children with her--and so a whole family would drift
into drinking, as the current of a river drifts downstream. As if to
complete the chain, the packers all paid their men in checks, refusing
all requests to pay in coin; and where in Packingtown could a man go to
have his check cashed but to a saloon, where he could pay for the favor
by spending a part of the money?

From all of these things Jurgis was saved because of Ona. He never would
take but the one drink at noontime; and so he got the reputation of
being a surly fellow, and was not quite welcome at the saloons, and had
to drift about from one to another. Then at night he would go straight
home, helping Ona and Stanislovas, or often putting the former on a car.
And when he got home perhaps he would have to trudge several blocks, and
come staggering back through the snowdrifts with a bag of coal upon
his shoulder. Home was not a very attractive place--at least not this
winter. They had only been able to buy one stove, and this was a small
one, and proved not big enough to warm even the kitchen in the bitterest
weather. This made it hard for Teta Elzbieta all day, and for the
children when they could not get to school. At night they would sit