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Jennie Gerhardt Chapter 4 · The Theodore Dreiser Library

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  Speaker 1: The desire to flee which Jenny experienced upon seeing the
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  Speaker 1: Senator again was attributable to what she considered the disgrace
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  Speaker 1: of her position. She was ashamed to think that he,
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  Speaker 1: who thought so well of her, should discover her doing
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  Speaker 1: so common a thing. Girl-like, she was inclined to imagine
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  Speaker 1: her that his interest in her depended upon something else
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  Speaker 1: than her mere personality. When she reached home, Mrs. Gerhardt
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  Speaker 1: had heard of her flight from the other children.' What
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  Speaker 1: was the matter with you anyhow?' asked George, when she
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  Speaker 1: came in.' Oh, nothing,' she answered, but immediately turned to
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  Speaker 1: her mother and said,' Mr. Brander came by and saw us.'' Oh,
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  Speaker 1: did he?' softly exclaimed her mother. He's back then. What
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  Speaker 1: made you run, though, you foolish girl? Well, I didn't
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  Speaker 1: want him to see me. Well, maybe he didn't know
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  Speaker 1: you anyhow, she said, with a certain sympathy for her
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  Speaker 1: daughter's predicament. Oh, yes, he did, too, whispered Jenny. He
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  Speaker 1: called after me three or four times. Mrs. Gerhardt shook
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  Speaker 1: her head. What is it? said Gerhardt, who had been
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  Speaker 1: hearing the conversation from the adjoining room, and now came
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  Speaker 1: out Oh, nothing, said the mother, who hated to explain
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  Speaker 1: the significance which the senator's personality had come to have
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  Speaker 1: in their lives. A man frightened them when they were
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  Speaker 1: bringing the coal. The arrival of the Christmas presents later
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  Speaker 1: in the evening threw the household into an uproar of excitement.
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  Speaker 1: Neither Gerhardt nor the mother could believe their eyes when
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  Speaker 1: a grocery wagon halted in front of their cottage and
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  Speaker 1: a lusty clerk began to carry in the gifts. After
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  Speaker 1: failing to persuade the clerk that he had made a mistake,
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  Speaker 1: the large assortment of good things was looked over with
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  Speaker 1: very human glee. Just you never mind, was the clerk's
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  Speaker 1: authoritative words. I know what I'm about. Gerhard, isn't it? Well,
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  Speaker 1: you're the people. Mrs. Gerhard moved about, rubbing her hands
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  Speaker 1: in excitement and giving vent to an occasional,' Well, isn't
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  Speaker 1: that nice now?' Gerhardt himself was melted at the thought
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  Speaker 1: of the generosity of the unknown benefactor, and was inclined
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  Speaker 1: to lay it all to the goodness of a great
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  Speaker 1: local mill-owner, who knew him and wished him well. Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Gerhardt tearfully suspected the source, but said nothing. Jenny knew
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  Speaker 1: by instinct the author of it all. The afternoon of
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  Speaker 1: the day after Christmas was Brander encountered the mother in
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  Speaker 1: the hotel, Jenny having been left at home to look
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  Speaker 1: after the house.' How do you do, Mrs. Gerhardt?' he exclaimed, genially,
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  Speaker 1: extending his hand.' How did you enjoy your Christmas?' Poor Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Gerhardt took it nervously, her eyes filled rapidly with tears.' There, there,'
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  Speaker 1: he said, patting her on the shoulder.' Don' t cry. You
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  Speaker 1: mustn't forget to get my laundry to-day.' Oh, no, sir,
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  Speaker 1: she returned, and would have said more had he not
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  Speaker 1: walked away. From this on Gerhardt heard continually of the
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  Speaker 1: fine senator at the hotel, how pleasant he was, and
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  Speaker 1: how much he paid for his washing. With the simplicity
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  Speaker 1: of a German working man, he was easily persuaded that Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Bander must be a very great and a very good man. Jenny,
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  Speaker 1: whose feelings needed no encouragement in this direction, was more
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  Speaker 1: than ever prejudiced in his favor. There was developing in
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  Speaker 1: her that perfection of womanhood, the full mold of form
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  Speaker 1: which could not help but attract any man. Already she
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  Speaker 1: was well built and tall for a girl. Had she
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  Speaker 1: been dressed in the trailing skirts of a woman of fashion,
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  Speaker 1: she would have made a fitting companion for a man
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  Speaker 1: the height of a senator. Her eyes were wondrously clear
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  Speaker 1: and bright, her skin fair, and her teeth white and even.
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  Speaker 1: She was clever, too, in a sensible way, and by
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  Speaker 1: no means deficient in observation. All that she lacked was training,
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  Speaker 1: and the assurance of which the knowledge of utter dependency
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  Speaker 1: despoils one. But the carrying of washing, and the compulsion
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  Speaker 1: to acknowledge almost anything as a favor, put her at
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  Speaker 1: a disadvantage. Nowadays, when she came to the hotel, Upon
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  Speaker 1: her semi-weekly errand, Senator Bander took her presence with easy grace,
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  Speaker 1: and to this she responded. He often gave her little
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  Speaker 1: presents for herself, or for her brothers and sisters, and
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  Speaker 1: he talked to her so unaffectedly that, finally, the overawing
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  Speaker 1: sense of the great differences between them was brushed away,
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  Speaker 1: and she looked upon him more as a generous friend
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  Speaker 1: than as a distinguished senator. He asked her once how
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  Speaker 1: she would like to go to a seminary, thinking all
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  Speaker 1: the while how attractive she would be when she came out. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: one evening, he called her to his side. Come over here, Jenny,
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  Speaker 1: he said, and stand by me. She came, and moved
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  Speaker 1: by sudden impulse, he took her hand. Well, Jenny, he said,
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  Speaker 1: studying her face in a quizzical, interrogative way, What do
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  Speaker 1: you think of me, anyhow?' Oh,' she answered, looking consciously away,'
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. What makes you ask me that?'' Oh, yes,
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  Speaker 1: you do,' he returned.' You have some opinion of me.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me now. What is it?'' No, I haven't,' she
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  Speaker 1: said innocently.' Oh, yes, you have,' he went on, pleasantly,
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  Speaker 1: interested by her transparent evasiveness.' You must think something of me.
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  Speaker 1: Now what is it?' Do you mean, do I like you?
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  Speaker 1: she asked frankly, looking down at the big mop of
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  Speaker 1: black hair, well streaked with grey, which hung about his forehead,
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  Speaker 1: and gave an almost leonine cast to his fine face. Well, yes,
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  Speaker 1: he said, with a sense of disappointment. She was barren
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  Speaker 1: of the art of the coquette. Why, of course I
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  Speaker 1: like you, she replied prettily. Haven't you ever thought anything
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  Speaker 1: else about me? he went on. I think you're very kind,
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  Speaker 1: she went on, even more bashfully, she realized now that
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  Speaker 1: he was still holding her hand.' Is that all?' he asked.' Well,'
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  Speaker 1: she said, with fluttering eyelids,' isn' t that enough?' He looked
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  Speaker 1: at her, and the playful, companionable directness of her answering
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  Speaker 1: gaze thrilled him through and through. He studied her face
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  Speaker 1: in silence while she turned and twisted, feeling, but scarcely understanding,
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  Speaker 1: the deep import of his scrutiny.' Well,' he said at last,'
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  Speaker 1: I think you're a fine girl. Don't you think I'm
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  Speaker 1: a pretty nice man?'' Yes,' said Jenny promptly. He leaned
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  Speaker 1: back in his chair and laughed at the unconscious drollery
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  Speaker 1: of her reply. She looked at him curiously and smiled.'
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  Speaker 1: What made you laugh?' she inquired.' Oh, your answer,' he returned.'
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  Speaker 1: I really ought not to laugh, though.' You don't appreciate
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  Speaker 1: me in the least. I don't believe you like me
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  Speaker 1: at all. But I do, though, she replied earnestly. I
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  Speaker 1: think you're so good. Her eyes showed very plainly that
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  Speaker 1: she felt what she was saying. Well, he said, drawing
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  Speaker 1: her gently down to him, then, at the same instant,
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  Speaker 1: he pressed his lips to her cheek. Oh, she cried,
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  Speaker 1: straightening up, at once startled and frightened. It was a
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  Speaker 1: new note in their relationship. The senatorial quality vanished in
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  Speaker 1: an instant. She recognized in him something that she had
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  Speaker 1: not felt before. He seemed younger, too. She was a
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  Speaker 1: woman to him, and he was playing the part of
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  Speaker 1: a lover. She hesitated, but not knowing just what to do,
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  Speaker 1: did nothing at all. Well, he said, did I frighten you?
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  Speaker 1: She looked at him, But moved by her underlying respect
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  Speaker 1: for this great man, she said with a smile, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: you did. I did it because I like you so much.
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  Speaker 1: She meditated upon this a moment, and then said, I
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  Speaker 1: think I'd better be going. Now then, he pleaded, are
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  Speaker 1: you going to run away because of that? No, she said,
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  Speaker 1: moved by a curious feeling of ingratitude. But I ought
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  Speaker 1: to be going. They'll be wondering where I am. You're
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  Speaker 1: sure you're not angry about it? No, she replied, and
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  Speaker 1: with more of a womanly air than she had ever
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  Speaker 1: shown before. It was a novel experience to be in
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  Speaker 1: so authoritative a position. It was so remarkable that it
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  Speaker 1: was somewhat confusing to both of them. You're my girl anyhow,
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  Speaker 1: the senator said, rising. I'm going to take care of
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  Speaker 1: you in the future. Jenny heard this, and it pleased her.
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  Speaker 1: He was so well fitted, she thought, to do wondrous things.
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  Speaker 1: He was nothing less than a veritable magician. She looked
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  Speaker 1: about her, and the thought of coming into such a
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  Speaker 1: line and such an atmosphere was heavenly. Not that she
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  Speaker 1: fully understood his meaning, however. He meant to be good
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  Speaker 1: and generous, and to give her fine things. Naturally she
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  Speaker 1: was happy. She took up the package she had come for,
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  Speaker 1: not seeing or feeling the incongruity of of her position,
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  Speaker 1: while he felt it as a direct reproof. She ought
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  Speaker 1: not to carry that, he thought. A great wave of
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  Speaker 1: sympathy swept over him. He took her cheeks between his hands,
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  Speaker 1: this time in a superior and more generous way. Never mind,
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  Speaker 1: little girl, he said. You won't have to do this always.
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  Speaker 1: I'll see what I can do. The outcome of this
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  Speaker 1: was simply a more sympathetic relationship between them. He did
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  Speaker 1: not hesitate to ask her to sit beside him on
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  Speaker 1: the arm of his chair the next time she came,
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  Speaker 1: and to question her intimately about the family's condition and
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  Speaker 1: her own desires. Several times he noticed that she was
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  Speaker 1: evading his questions, particularly in regard to what her father
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  Speaker 1: was doing. She was ashamed to own that he was
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  Speaker 1: sawing wood fearing lest something more serious was impending, he
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  Speaker 1: decided to go out some day and see for himself.
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  Speaker 1: This he did, when a convenient morning presented itself, and
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  Speaker 1: his other duties did not press upon him. It was
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  Speaker 1: three days before the great fight in the legislature began,
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  Speaker 1: which ended in his defeat. Nothing could be done in
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  Speaker 1: these few remaining days. So he took his cane and
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  Speaker 1: strolled forth, coming to the cottage in the course of
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  Speaker 1: a half-hour, and knocked boldly at the door. Mrs. Gerhard
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  Speaker 1: opened it.' Good morning,' he said cheerily, and then, seeing
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  Speaker 1: her hesitate, he added,' May I come in?' The good mother,
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  Speaker 1: who was all but overcome by his astonishing presence, wiped
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  Speaker 1: her hands furtively upon her much-mended apron, and, seeing that
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  Speaker 1: he waited for a reply, said,' Oh, yes, come right in.'
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  Speaker 1: She hurried forward, forgetting to close the door, and offering
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  Speaker 1: him a chair, asked him to be seated. Brander, feeling
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  Speaker 1: sorry that he was the occasion of so much confusion, said,
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  Speaker 1: Don't trouble yourself, Mrs. Gerhardt. I was passing, and thought
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  Speaker 1: I'd come in. How is your husband? He's well, thank you,
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  Speaker 1: returned the mother. He's out working to-day. Then he has
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  Speaker 1: found employment? Yes, sir, said Mrs. Gerhardt, who hesitated like Jenny,
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  Speaker 1: to say what it was.' The children are all well now,
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  Speaker 1: all in school, I hope?'' Yes,' replied Mrs. Gerhardt. She
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  Speaker 1: had now unfastened her apron, and was nervously turning it
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  Speaker 1: in her lap.' That' s good. And where is Jenny?' The latter,
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  Speaker 1: who had been ironing, had abandoned the board, and had
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  Speaker 1: concealed herself in the bedroom, where she was busy tidying herself,
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  Speaker 1: in the fear that her mother would would not have
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  Speaker 1: the forethought to say that she was out, and so
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  Speaker 1: let her have a chance for escape. She's here, returned
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  Speaker 1: the mother. I'll call her. What did you tell him
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  Speaker 1: I was here for? said Jenny weakly. What could I do?
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  Speaker 1: asked the mother. Together they hesitated, while the senator surveyed
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  Speaker 1: the room. He felt sorry to think that such deserving
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  Speaker 1: people must suffer so, he intended in a vague way,
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  Speaker 1: to ameliorate their condition, if possible. Good morning, the Senator
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  Speaker 1: said to Jenny, when finally she came hesitatingly into the room.
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  Speaker 1: How do you do today? Jenny came forward, extending her
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  Speaker 1: hand and blushing. She found herself so much disturbed by
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  Speaker 1: this visit that she could hardly find tongue to answer
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  Speaker 1: his questions. I thought, he said, I'd come out and
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  Speaker 1: find where you live. This is a quite comfortable house,
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  Speaker 1: How many rooms have you?' Five,' said Jenny.' You' ll have
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  Speaker 1: to excuse the looks this morning. We've been ironing. It's
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  Speaker 1: all upset.'' I know,' said Brander gently.' Don' t you think
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  Speaker 1: I understand, Jenny? You mustn't feel nervous about me.' She
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  Speaker 1: noticed the comforting, personal tone he always used with her
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  Speaker 1: when she was at his room, and it helped to
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  Speaker 1: subdue her flustered senses.' You mustn't think it anything,' If
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  Speaker 1: I come here occasionally, I intend to come. I want
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  Speaker 1: to meet your father.' Oh,' said Jenny,' he' s out to-day.'
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  Speaker 1: While they were talking, however, the honest woodcutter was coming
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  Speaker 1: in at the gate with his buck and saw. Brander
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  Speaker 1: saw him, and at once recognized him by a slight
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  Speaker 1: resemblance to his daughter.' There he is now, I believe,'
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  Speaker 1: he said.' Oh, is he?' said Jenny, looking out.' Gareheart,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: who was given to speculation these days, passed by the
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  Speaker 1: window without looking up. He put his wooden buck down, and,
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  Speaker 1: hanging his saw on a nail on the side of
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  Speaker 1: the house, came in.' Mother,' he called in German, and then,
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  Speaker 1: not seeing her, he came to the door of the
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  Speaker 1: front room and looked in. Brander arose and extended his hand.
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  Speaker 1: The knotted and weather-beaten German came forward, took it with
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: a very questioning expression of countenance,' This is my father, Mr. Brander,'
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: said Jenny, all her diffidence dissolved by sympathy.' This is
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  Speaker 1: the gentleman from the hotel, Papa. Mr. Brander.'' What' s the name?'
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: said the German, turning his head.' Brander,' said the Senator.' Oh, yes,'
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: he said, with a considerable German accent.' Since I had
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  Speaker 1: the fever, I don't hear good. My wife, she spoke
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  Speaker 1: to me of you.'' Yes,' said the Senator.' I thought
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  Speaker 1: I'd come out and make your acquaintance. You have quite
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  Speaker 1: a family.'' Yes,' said the father, who was conscious of
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  Speaker 1: his very poor garments and anxious to get away.' I
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  Speaker 1: have six children, all young. She's the oldest girl.' Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Gerhardt now came back, and Gerhardt, seeing his chance, said hurriedly,' Well,
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  Speaker 1: if you'll excuse me, I'll go. I broke my saw,
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  Speaker 1: and so I had to stop work. Certainly, said Brander, graciously,
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  Speaker 1: realizing now why Jenny had never wanted to explain. He
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: half wished that she were courageous enough not to conceal anything. Well, Mrs. Gerhardt,
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  Speaker 1: he said, when the mother was stiffly seated, I want
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  Speaker 1: to tell you that you mustn't look on me as
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  Speaker 1: a stranger. Hereafter, I want you to keep me informed
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  Speaker 1: of how things are going with you. Jenny won't always
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  Speaker 1: do it. Jenny smiled quietly. Mrs. Gerhardt only rubbed her hands. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: she answered, humbly grateful. They talked for a few minutes,
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  Speaker 1: and then the senator rose. Tell your husband, he said,
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  Speaker 1: to come and see me next Monday at my office
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  Speaker 1: in the hotel. I want to do something for him.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, faltered Mrs. Gerhardt. I'll not stay any longer now,
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  Speaker 1: he added. Don't forget to have him come.' Oh, he'll come,'
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: she returned. Adjusting a glove on one hand, he extended
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  Speaker 1: the other to Jenny.' Here is your finest treasure, Mrs. Gerhard,'
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: he said.' I think I'll take her.'' Well, I don't know,'
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: said her mother,' whether I could spare her or not.'' Well,'
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: said the Senator, going toward the door, giving Mrs. Gerhard
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  Speaker 1: his hand,' Good morning.' He nodded and walked out, while
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: a half-dozen neighbors— who had observed his entrance, peeked from
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: behind curtains and drawn blinds, at the astonishing sight.' Who
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: can that be, anyhow?' was the general query.' See what
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: he gave me?' said the innocent mother to her daughter,
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  Speaker 1: the moment he had closed the door. It was a
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: ten-dollar bill. He had placed it softly in her hand,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: as he said goodbye. End of chapter 4