Part 32 (1/2)

”Ah, beg pardon,” said he to the clerk, ”but do you have an agency for a steam laundry here? I have been patronising a Chinaman down th' avenue for some time, but he--what? No? You have none here? Well, why don't you start one, anyhow? It'd be a good thing in this neighbourhood. I live just round the corner, and it'd be a great thing for me. I know lots of people who would--what? Oh, you don't? Oh!”

As the young man in the wet mackintosh retreated, the clerk with a blonde moustache made a hungry grab at the novel. He continued to read: ”Handkerchief fall in a puddle. Silvere sprang forward. He picked up the handkerchief. Their eyes met. As he returned the handkerchief, their hands touched. The young girl smiled. Silvere was in ecstacies. 'Ah, my G.o.d!'

”A baker opposite was quarrelling over two sous with an old woman.

”A grey-haired veteran with a medal upon his breast and a butcher's boy were watching a dog-fight. The smell of dead animals came from adjacent slaughter-houses. The letters on the sign over the tinsmith's shop on the corner shone redly like great clots of blood. It was h.e.l.l on roller skates.”

Here the clerk skipped some seventeen chapters descriptive of a number of intricate money transactions, the moles on the neck of a Parisian dressmaker, the process of making brandy, the milk-leg of Silvere's aunt, life in the coal-pits, and scenes in the Chamber of Deputies. In these chapters the reputation of the architect of Charlemagne's palace was vindicated, and it was explained why Heloise's grandmother didn't keep her stockings pulled up.

Then he proceeded: ”Heloise went to the country. The next day Silvere followed. They met in the fields. The young girl had donned the garb of the peasants. She blushed. She looked fresh, fair, innocent. Silvere felt faint with rapture. 'Ah, my G.o.d!'

”She had been running. Out of breath, she sank down in the hay. She held out her hand. 'I am so glad to see you.' Silvere was enchanted at this vision. He bended toward her. Suddenly he burst into tears. 'I love you!

I love you! I love you!' he stammered.

”A row of red and white s.h.i.+rts hung on a line some distance away. The third s.h.i.+rt from the left had a b.u.t.ton off the neck. A cat on the rear steps of a cottage near the s.h.i.+rt was drinking milk from a platter. The north-east portion of the platter had a crack in it.

”'Heloise!' Silvere was murmuring hoa.r.s.ely. He leaned toward her until his warm breath moved the curls on her neck. 'Heloise!' murmured Jean.”

”Young man,” said an elderly gentleman with a dripping umbrella to the clerk with a blonde moustache, ”have you any night-s.h.i.+rts open front and back? Eh? Night-s.h.i.+rts open front and back, I said. D'you hear, eh?

_Night-s.h.i.+rts open front and back._ Well, then, why didn't you say so?

It would pay you to be a trifle more polite, young man. When you get as old as I am, you will find out that it pays to--what? I didn't see you adding any column of figures. In that case I am sorry. You have no night-s.h.i.+rts open front and back, eh? Well, good-day.”

As the elderly gentleman vanished, the clerk with a blonde moustache grasped the novel like some famished animal. He read on: ”A peasant stood before the two children. He wrung his hands. 'Have you seen a stray cow?' 'No,' cried the children in the same breath. The peasant wept. He wrung his hands. It was a supreme moment.

”'She loves me!' cried Silvere to himself, as he changed his clothes for dinner.

”It was evening. The children sat by the fire-place. Heloise wore a gown of clinging white. She looked fresh, fair, innocent. Silvere was in raptures. 'Ah, my G.o.d!'

”Old Jean, the peasant, saw nothing. He was mending harness. The fire crackled in the fire-place. The children loved each other. Through the open door to the kitchen came the sound of old Marie shrilly cursing the geese who wished to enter. In front of the window two pigs were quarrelling over a vegetable. Cattle were lowing in a distant field. A hay-waggon creaked slowly past. Thirty-two chickens were asleep in the branches of a tree. This subtle atmosphere had a mighty effect upon Heloise. It was beating down her self-control. She felt herself going.

She was choking.

”The young girl made an effort. She stood up. 'Good-night, I must go.'

Silvere took her hand. 'Heloise,' he murmured. Outside the two pigs were fighting.

”A warm blush overspread the young girl's face. She turned wet eyes toward her lover. She looked fresh, fair, innocent. Silvere was maddened. 'Ah, my G.o.d!'

”Suddenly the young girl began to tremble. She tried vainly to withdraw her hand. But her knee--”

”I wish to get my husband some s.h.i.+rts,” said a shopping-woman with six bundles. The clerk with a blonde moustache made a private gesture of despair, and rapidly spread a score of different-patterned s.h.i.+rts upon the counter. ”He's very particular about his s.h.i.+rts,” said the shopping-woman. ”Oh, I don't think any of these will do. Don't you keep the Invincible brand? He only wears that kind. He says they fit him better. And he's very particular about his s.h.i.+rts. What? You don't keep them? No? Well, how much do you think they would come at?” ”Haven't the slightest idea.” ”Well, I suppose I must go somewhere else, then. Um, good-day.”

The clerk with the blonde moustache was about to make further private gestures of despair, when the shopping-woman with six bundles turned and went out. His fingers instantly closed nervously over the book. He drew it from its hiding-place, and opened it at the place where he had ceased. His hungry eyes seemed to eat the words upon the page. He continued: ”--struck cruelly against a chair. It seemed to awaken her.

She started. She burst from the young man's arms. Outside the two pigs were grunting amiably.

”Silvere took his candle. He went toward his room. He was in despair.

'Ah, my G.o.d!'

”He met the young girl on the stairs. He took her hand. Tears were raining down his face. 'Heloise!' he murmured.