TONIGHT IS PART
OF
THE STRUGGLE
5
"Sure, Madam," he said, "Mrs. Rockefeller, I'll take you
to the opera to-night being as how on account of I got a car–
token that is just enough to get me down to the relief office
tomorrow."
"Tonight is just like every other night," she said, "I got
to get outen here.
Y.l
e might take a walk."
''We might take a walk," he said, "in the fine March wind,
fine for the brat."
She laid the baby in the cracker box, letting his white fine
head down easy off her thin arm. He let his arms wave as if
signalling to someone not in the room. It was silent, outside the
snow was falling. Somebody began to holler upstairs. She
looked at Jock. He sat helpless· looking at his hands. You
could hear the sour sounds of people scurrying upstairs like lone–
ly
rats. The baby kept signalling. You could just see his hands
over the side of the box. Outside the snow was falling as . if
speaking against the window, saying something.
\'Do you suppose," Leah said, "that it is snowing every–
where?"
He looked at her, the things women said, how in hell should
I know am I supposed to know where it is snowing.
She began to cry softly as if she were alone in the room.
It made him nervous. "Listen," he said, "why don't we go to
that mass meeting at the auditorium?"
"I don't know what a mass meeting is," she said.
"Well, the auditorium is only one ·block away and it will
be good and warm there and we'll see some people."
"Oh, will there be people there?" she stood up. "Oh look
look, Jock, I can wrap him right up, he won't wake up he won't
even
kno~
and we can take turns carrying him."
"Ok," he said, putting on his three year old coat.
"Listen," she said, "you. wear the sweater under the coat,
the wind is nippy."
"For Christ's sake shut up, put it on yourself."
While they wrapped up the baby, he mumbled on: "Put on
the sweater yourself, that's what I say, that's the trouble with
women always telling men what they ought to do, make saps
out of 'em."
Outside in the dark alley the snow was falling softly and
when they got out on the street being only one block from the
auditorium, the hurrying people began to swell around them,
caught them up in many powerful streamlets pouring into the
