half dazed, without knowing where he went. Ona had deceived
him! She had lied to him! And what could it mean--where had she been?
Where was she now? He could hardly grasp the thing--much less try to
solve it; but a hundred wild surmises came to him, a sense of impending
calamity overwhelmed him.

Because there was nothing else to do, he went back to the time office to
watch again. He waited until nearly an hour after seven, and then went
to the room where Ona worked to make inquiries of Ona's "forelady." The
"forelady," he found, had not yet come; all the lines of cars that
came from downtown were stalled--there had been an accident in the
powerhouse, and no cars had been running since last night. Meantime,
however, the ham-wrappers were working away, with some one else in
charge of them. The girl who answered Jurgis was busy, and as she
talked she looked to see if she were being watched. Then a man came
up, wheeling a truck; he knew Jurgis for Ona's husband, and was curious
about the mystery.

"Maybe the cars had something to do with it," he suggested--"maybe she
had gone down-town."

"No," said Jurgis, "she never went down-town."

"Perhaps not," said the man. Jurgis thought he saw him exchange a swift
glance with the girl as he spoke, and he demanded quickly. "What do you
know about it?"

But the man had seen that the boss was watching him; he started on
again, pushing his truck. "I don't know anything about it," he said,
over his shoulder. "How should I know where your wife goes?"

Then Jurgis went out again and paced up and down before the building.
All the morning he stayed there, with no thought of his work. About
noon he went to the police station to make inquiries, and then came
back again for another anxious vigil. Finally, toward the middle of the
afternoon, he set out for home once more.

He was walking out Ashland Avenue. The streetcars had begun running
again, and several passed him, packed to the steps with people. The
sight of them set Jurgis to thinking again of the man's sarcastic
remark; and half involuntarily he found himself watching the cars--with
the result that he gave a sudden startled exclamation, and stopped short
in his tracks.

Then he broke into a run. For a whole block he tore after the car, only
a little ways behind. That rusty black hat with the drooping red flower,
it might not be Ona's, but there was very little likelihood of it.
He would know for certain very soon, for she w