第32章

I’llwriteaseriesofstudiessomewhatlikeJefferies’-orBarrie’s-

only，ofcourse，I’llbeoriginal。I’lljusttakehisplanOftellingaboutthepeopleImeetandtheirqueerways，soquaintandgood。“

“I’mtiredofthescramble，“hekeptbreakingoutOfsilencetosay。

“Idon’tblametheboys，butit’splaintometheyseethatmygoingwillletthemmoveupone。Masoncynicallyvoicedthewholethingtoday：’Icansay，“Sorrytoseeyougo，Bloom，“becauseyourgoingdoesn’tconcernme。I’mnotinlineofsuccession，butsomeoftheotherboysdon’tfeelso。There’snodivinitydothhedgeaneditor；nothingbutlawpreventsthemurderofthoseabovebythosebelow。’“

“Idon’tlikeMr。Masonwhenhetalkslikethat，“saidthewife。

“Well-Idon’t。“Hedidn’ttellherwhatMasonsaidwhenRoberttalkedaboutthegoodsimplelifeofthepeopleinBluffSiding：

“Oh，bosh，Bloom!You’llfindthestruggleoftheoutsideworldreflectedinyourlittletown。You’llfindmenandwomenjustashardandselfishintheirsmallway。It’llbehardertobear，becauseitwillallbesopettyandpusillailmous。“

ItwasalovelydayinlateAprilwhentheytookthetrainoutofthegreatgrimyterriblecity。Itwaseighto’clock，butthestreetsweremuddyandwet，acoldEastwindblowingoffthelake。

Withclangingbellthetrainmovedaway，piercingtheraggedgrayformlessmobofhousesandstreets(throughwhichrailwaysalwaysruninacity)。Menwerehurryingtowork，andRobertpitiedthem，poorfellows，condemnedtodothatthingforever。

Inanhourtheyreachedtheprairies，alreadyclotheduponfaintlywithgreengrassandtenderspringingwheat。Thepurple-brownsquaresreservedforthecornlookeddeliciouslysoftandwarmtothesickman，andhelongedtosethisbarefeetintoit。

Hisboyswerewildwithdelight。Theyhadthenaturalloveoftheearthstillinthem，andcorrespondinglycaredlittleforthecity。

Theyracedthroughthecarslikecolts。Theysaweverything。Everyblossomingplant，everybuddingtree，wasprecioustothemall。

Alldaytheyrode。TowardnoontheyleftthesunnyprairielandofnorthernIllinoisandsouthernWisconsin，andentereduponthehilllandofMadisonandbeyond。AstheywentNorth，theseasonwaslessadvanced，butspringwasinthefreshwindandthewarmsunshine。

Aseveningdrewon，thehylasbegantopeepfromthepools，andtheirchorusdeepenedastheycameontowardBluffSiding，whichseemedverysmall，verysqualid，anduninteresting，butRobertpointedatthecirclingwine-coloredwallofhillsandthewarmsunsetsky。

“We’reinlucktofindahotel，“saidRobert。“Theyburndowneverythreemonths。“

Theyweremetbyamiddle-agedmanandconductedacrosstheroadtoahotel，whichhadbeenaroller-skatingrinkinotherdays，andwasnotprepossessing。However，theywereusheredintotheparlor，whichresembledthesittingroomofaratherambitiousvillagehome，andtheretheytookseats，whilethelandlordconsultedaboutrooms。

Thewife’sheartsank。Fromthewindowshecouldseeseveralofthelowhouses，andfaroffjustthehillswhichseemedtomakethetownsoverysmall，verylonely。Shewasnotgiventimetoshedtears。Thechildrenclamoredforfood，tiredandcross。

Robertwentoutintotheoffice，wherehesiguedhisnameunderthecloseandsilentscrutinyofahalfdozenroughlycladmen，whosatleaningagainstthewall。Theyweremerelyworkingmentohim，butinMrs。Bloom’seyestheyweredangerouspeople。

ThelandlordlookedatthenameasRobertwrote。“Yourboxesareallhere，“hesaid。

Robertlookedupathiminsurprise。“Whatboxes？“

“Yourhouseholdgoods。TheycameinonNo。9。“

Robertrecoveredhimself。Herememberedthiswasavillagewhereeverythingthatgoeson-everything-isknown。

Thestairwayrosepicturesquelyoutoftheofficetothelowsecondstory，andwpthesestairstheytrampedto’theirtinyrooms，whichwerelikecells。

“Oh，Mamma，ain’titqu

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