"
Pietro was glad to hear this. It shifted the responsibility from
his shoulders, and he was privately convinced that Mrs. McGuire
would prove a more formidable antagonist than the padrone
imagined. Whichever way it turned out, he would experience a
feeling of satisfaction. If the padrone got worsted, it would
show that he, Pietro, need not be ashamed of his defeat. If Mrs.
McGuire had to surrender at discretion, he would rejoice in her
discomfiture. So, in spite of his reprimand, he went to bed with
better spirits than he came home.
The next morning Pietro and the padrone proceeded to Newark, as
proposed. Arrived there, the former led his uncle at once to the
house of the redoubtable Mrs. McGuire. It will be necessary for
us to precede them.
Patrick McGuire was a laborer, and for some months past had had
steady work. But, as luck would have it, work ceased for him on
the day in which his wife had proved so powerful a protector to
Phil. When he came home at night he announced this.
"Niver mind, Pat," said Mrs. McGuire, who was sanguine and
hopeful, "we'll live somehow. I've got a bit of money upstairs,
and I'll earn something by washing.
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