Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson Read Free Book Online

the mother or whether some alchemy in which Joe and the mother had separate parts had wrought this miracle, no one could know, and no one wondered. The result of this was that in the Quongs’home – for these partitioned rooms were indeed a home – there was almost ceaseless noise and clatter, but the noise was not of crying or of anger and nobody minded the noise to which the sound of a radio was usually added.
    The family of nine children was a healthy family in spite of all the reasons why they should not be strong and healthy. The youngest little boy was blind, but he was healthy too, and he was so much beloved and watched over by his brothers and sisters that one might say that he was luckier than many other little boys; but that, of course, could hardly be. The children’s names were Sam, Alfred, Joey, Yip, Angus, Billy, Greta, Joan, and Maureen. Angus wore spectacles and was short of stature. He admired Joey and wished to be like him, but that was impossible.
    As Sam and Alfred grew up and drove the taxis, and now as Joey had begun to drive too, Joe had bought another not very good taxi (that made three in all), and then Yip would soon be able to drive as well. Then there were two cousins nearby. Some horse-riding families make up polo teams among themselves. The Quong family had a taxi team. Joe did not drive and he spent long pleasant idle and busy hours within reach of the telephone and kept a guiding hand on things. Angus was big enough and smart enough to take messages. He was very earnest, and that made him fairly reliable.
    Joe spoke both English and Cantonese. Mrs. Quong spoke Cantonese only. She understood English but she did not care for the language so she did not speak it. She got along very well in her own world of her family and friends and neighbors. The children spoke to the mother in either language and did not notice.
    It was very pretty to see one of the big boys amble up from where he had parked his car, and walk through a web oflittle brightly dressed children who usually rushed up and embraced him round the legs. The big boy would pick up a child at random, give it a razoo in the air and set it down squealing for more and would then walk on to the office. Greta, who was sidewalk-broke and had a permanent, was constantly to be seen bending, with her little rump sticking out behind and each curve of her small body instinct with care and preservation, herding Maureen or the blind brother or a neighbor baby away from the curb. That was Greta’s function. Maureen had no permanent yet. She was a doll with straight hair and an ivory skin and a face of secrecy. Joan was indistinguishable from anybody else.
    Joe’s boys had often been approached by dope peddlers and could have made a lot of money in the business, but now the peddlers did not approach them unless they were new to the place. It was well known that Joe would take the hide off of the boys if they had any truck with those peddlers, and, anyway, the boys despised them.
    So when Joey came home and told Joe about what the lady had said about partners and the business, they both thought it was pretty funny. When Joe told the mother she said That was an awful woman and not to have anything ever to do with her, out to get young boys like that. But both Joe and Joey said No, she was not that kind of a person at all, she was a lovely woman, but still they couldn’t understand it. The rest of the family soon knew about what this character had said, because all the boys had experiences of one kind and another and everything was discussed. The family thought it was pretty funny, and then they forgot all about it.

NINE
    M r. Spencer of Thorpe & Spencer, Sporting Goods, remarked to himself that Mrs. Lloyd hadn’t come yesterday. A week later he said irritably “Anybody see Mrs. Lloyd?” and everybody said No.
    Mr. Spencer suddenly remembered an unidentified envelope that had come to him through the mail a short time before. Inside it, clipped to a