was arraigned that same morning, the district leader had already seen
the clerk of the court and explained that Jurgis Rudkus was a decent
fellow, who had been indiscreet; and so Jurgis was fined ten dollars and
the fine was "suspended"--which meant that he did not have to pay for
it, and never would have to pay it, unless somebody chose to bring it up
against him in the future.

Among the people Jurgis lived with now money was valued according to an
entirely different standard from that of the people of Packingtown; yet,
strange as it may seem, he did a great deal less drinking than he had
as a workingman. He had not the same provocations of exhaustion and
hopelessness; he had now something to work for, to struggle for. He
soon found that if he kept his wits about him, he would come upon new
opportunities; and being naturally an active man, he not only kept sober
himself, but helped to steady his friend, who was a good deal fonder of
both wine and women than he.

One thing led to another. In the saloon where Jurgis met "Buck" Halloran
he was sitting late one night with Duane, when a "country customer"
(a buyer for an out-of-town merchant) came in, a little more than half
"piped." There was no one else in the place but the bartender, and as
the man went out again Jurgis and Duane followed him; he went round
the corner, and in a dark place made by a combination of the elevated
railroad and an unrented building, Jurgis leaped forward and shoved a
revolver under his nose, while Duane, with his hat pulled over his eyes,
went through the man's pockets with lightning fingers. They got his
watch and his "wad," and were round the corner again and into the saloon
before he could shout more than once. The bartender, to whom they had
tipped the wink, had the cellar door open for them, and they vanished,
making their way by a secret entrance to a brothel next door. From the
roof of this there was access to three similar places beyond. By means
of these passages the customers of any one place could be gotten out
of the way, in case a falling out with the police chanced to lead to a
raid; and also it was necessary to have a way of getting a girl out
of reach in case of an emergency. Thousands of them came to Chicago
answering advertisements for "servants" and "factory hands," and found
themselves trapped by fake employment agencies, and locked up in a
bawdy-house. It was generally enough to take all their clothes away from
them; but