nd it was not convenient to discharge
that many at once. The cause of the panic had been the attempt of a
policeman to arrest a drunken man in a saloon next door, which had drawn
a crowd at the hour the people were on their way to work, and so started
the "run."

About this time Jurgis and Ona also began a bank account. Besides having
paid Jonas and Marija, they had almost paid for their furniture, and
could have that little sum to count on. So long as each of them could
bring home nine or ten dollars a week, they were able to get along
finely. Also election day came round again, and Jurgis made half a
week's wages out of that, all net profit. It was a very close election
that year, and the echoes of the battle reached even to Packingtown. The
two rival sets of grafters hired halls and set off fireworks and made
speeches, to try to get the people interested in the matter. Although
Jurgis did not understand it all, he knew enough by this time to realize
that it was not supposed to be right to sell your vote. However, as
every one did it, and his refusal to join would not have made the
slightest difference in the results, the idea of refusing would have
seemed absurd, had it ever come into his head.

Now chill winds and shortening days began to warn them that the winter
was coming again. It seemed as if the respite had been too short--they
had not had time enough to get ready for it; but still it came,
inexorably, and the hunted look began to come back into the eyes of
little Stanislovas. The prospect struck fear to the heart of Jurgis
also, for he knew that Ona was not fit to face the cold and the
snowdrifts this year. And suppose that some day when a blizzard struck
them and the cars were not running, Ona should have to give up, and
should come the next day to find that her place had been given to some
one who lived nearer and could be depended on?

It was the week before Christmas that the first storm came, and then the
soul of Jurgis rose up within him like a sleeping lion. There were four
days that the Ashland Avenue cars were stalled, and in those days,
for the first time in his life, Jurgis knew what it was to be really
opposed. He had faced difficulties before, but they had been child's
play; now there was a death struggle, and all the furies were unchained
within him. The first morning they set out two hours before dawn, Ona
wrapped all in blankets and tossed upon his shoulder like a sack of
meal, and the li