The violence and the misery are too much for Hurstwood and he leaves nervously. He is finally rescued by the policemen, but as he is climbing back aboard the car, he is struck by a bullet. Although there are policemen aboard the car for protection, Hurstwood is attacked and dragged off in a skirmish. The hours are long and the weather is cold, but the hardest and most dangerous part of the job is facing the angry strikers. After a day of instruction and a cold night in the loft of the car storage barn, Hurstwood begins his first day of work in many months. The manager of the line is so pressed for workers that he decides to hire and train Hurstwood as a motorman. Making his way through the cold to the trolley yard, he offers his services. Although his sympathy lies with the strikers, he decides to go to Brooklyn to find work because Carrie seems to suspect him of stealing her money. One winter day, after Carrie complains to Hurstwood that she cannot possibly pay all their bills by herself, Hurstwood reads an advertisement in the newspaper announcing that because of a labor strike, a Brooklyn trolley line is seeking motormen and conductors. Of course, the hotel job he talked about never materializes. Hurstwood continues to sit in the rocking chair, reading his newspaper, promising himself that things will go better for him. Carrie obtains another part at a higher salary when the opera in which she played a part goes on the road. The remainder of the summer and the autumn pass.
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