smooth and polite as at the beginning. Ona had a dim recollection of the
lawyer telling Szedvilas that his charge was a dollar, which occasioned
some debate, and more agony; and then, after they had paid that, too,
they went out into the street, her stepmother clutching the deed in her
hand. They were so weak from fright that they could not walk, but had to
sit down on the way.

So they went home, with a deadly terror gnawing at their souls; and that
evening Jurgis came home and heard their story, and that was the end.
Jurgis was sure that they had been swindled, and were ruined; and he
tore his hair and cursed like a madman, swearing that he would kill the
agent that very night. In the end he seized the paper and rushed out
of the house, and all the way across the yards to Halsted Street. He
dragged Szedvilas out from his supper, and together they rushed to
consult another lawyer. When they entered his office the lawyer
sprang up, for Jurgis looked like a crazy person, with flying hair and
bloodshot eyes. His companion explained the situation, and the lawyer
took the paper and began to read it, while Jurgis stood clutching the
desk with knotted hands, trembling in every nerve.

Once or twice the lawyer looked up and asked a question of Szedvilas;
the other did not know a word that he was saying, but his eyes were
fixed upon the lawyer's face, striving in an agony of dread to read his
mind. He saw the lawyer look up and laugh, and he gave a gasp; the man
said something to Szedvilas, and Jurgis turned upon his friend, his
heart almost stopping.

"Well?" he panted.

"He says it is all right," said Szedvilas.