“Fresh guy，” explained Aileen， “last night as I was goinghome at Twenty-third and Sixth. Sashayed up， so he did，and made a break. I turned him down， cold， and he madea sneak； but followed me down to Eighteenth， and triedhis hot air again. Gee！ but I slapped him a good one， sideof the face. Then he give me that eye. Does it look realawful， Til？ I should hate that Mr. Nicholson should see itwhen he comes in for his tea and toast at ten.”
Tildy listened to the adventure with breathless admiration.
No man had ever tried to follow her. She was safe abroad atany hour of the twenty-four. What bliss it must have been tohave had a man follow one and black one’s eye for love！
Among the customers at Bogle’s was a young man namedSeeders， who worked in a laundry office. Mr. Seeders wasthin and had light hair， and appeared to have been recentlyrough-dried and starched. He was too diffident to aspireto Aileen’s notice； so he usually sat at one of Tildy’s tables，where he devoted himself to silence and boiled weakfish.
One day when Mr. Seeders came in to dinner hehad been drinking beer. There were only two or threecustomers in the restaurant. When Mr. Seeders hadfinished his weakfish he got up， put his arm around Tildy’swaist， kissed her loudly and impudently， walked outupon the street， snapped his fingers in the direction ofthe laundry， and hied himself to play pennies in the slotmachines at the Amusement Arcade.
For a few moments Tildy stood petrified. Then she wasaware of Aileen shaking at her an arch forefinger， andsaying：
“Why， Til， you naughty girl！ Ain’t you getting to beawful， Miss Slyboots！ First thing I know you’ll be stealingsome of my fellows. I must keep an eye on you， my lady.”
Another thing dawned upon Tildy’s recovering wits. In amoment she had advanced from a hopeless， lowly admirerto be an Eve-sister of the potent Aileen. She herself wasnow a man-charmer， a mark for Cupid， a Sabine whomust be coy when the Romans were at their banquetboards. Man had found her waist achievable and her lipsdesirable. The sudden and amatory Seeders had， as it were，performed for her a miraculous piece of one-day laundrywork. He had taken the sackcloth of her uncomeliness，had washed， dried， starched and ironed it， and returned itto her sheer embroidered lawn—the robe of Venus herself.
The freckles on Tildy’s cheeks merged into a rosy flush.
Now both Circe and Psyche peeped from her brightenedeyes. Not even Aileen herself had been publicly embracedand kissed in the restaurant.
Tildy could not keep the delightful secret. When tradewas slack she went and stood at Bogle’s desk. Her eyeswere shining； she tried not to let her words sound proudand boastful.
“A gentleman insulted me to-day，” she said. “He huggedme around the waist and kissed me.”
“That so？” said Bogle， cracking open his businessarmour. “After this week you get a dollar a week more.”