"Ho," she said, with a great grunt of contempt. "An' what in
the devil are you stickin' your nose for?"

The babe crawled under the table and, turning, peered out
cautiously. The ragged girl retreated and the urchin in the corner
drew his legs carefully beneath him.

The man puffed his pipe calmly and put his great mudded boots
on the back part of the stove.

"Go teh hell," he murmured, tranquilly.

The woman screamed and shook her fists before her husband's
eyes. The rough yellow of her face and neck flared suddenly
crimson. She began to howl.

He puffed imperturbably at his pipe for a time, but finally
arose and began to look out at the window into the darkening chaos
of back yards.

"You've been drinkin', Mary," he said. "You'd better let up
on the bot', ol' woman, or you'll git done."

"You're a liar. I ain't had a drop," she roared in reply.

They had a lurid altercation, in which they damned each
other's souls with frequence.

The babe was staring out from under the table, his small face