poor folks' money and now of poor
folks' work. Mamise's contention that there were not enough workmen
for the country's needs fell on deaf ears, for Jake believed that work
was a crime against the sacred cause of the laboring-man. His ideal of
a laboring-man was one who seized the capital from the capitalists and
then ceased to labor.

But Jake's too familiar eyes showed that he regarded Mamise as a very
interesting spectacle. The rest of the workmen seemed to have the same
opinion when she went to the yard in her overalls next morning. She
was the first woman to take up man's work in the neighborhood, and she
had to endure the most searching stares, grins, frowns, and comments
that were meant to be overheard.

She struck all the men as immodest; some were offended and some were
delighted. As usual, modesty was but another name for conformity.
Mamise had to face the glares of the conventional wives and daughters
in their bodices that followed every contour, their light skirts that
blew above the knees, and their provocative hats and ribbons. They
made it plain to her that they were outraged by this shapeless
passer-by in the bifurcated potato-sack, with her hair tucked up under
a vizored cap and her hands in coarse mittens.

Mamise had studied the styles affected by the workmen as if they were
fashion-plates from Paris, and she had equipped herself with a slouchy
cap, heavy brogans, a thick sweater, a woolen shirt, and thick
flannels underneath.

She was as well concealed as she could manage, and yet her femininity
seemed to be emphasized by her very disguise. The roundness of bosom
and hip and the fineness of shoulder differed too much from the
masculine outline to be hidden. And somehow there was more coquetry in
her careful carelessness than in all the exaggerated womanishness of
the shanty belles. She had been a source of constant wonder to the
community from the first. But now she was regarded as a downright
menace to the peace and the morals of society.

Mamise reported to the superintendent and gave him Davidge's card. The
old man respected Davidge's written orders and remembered the private
instructions Davidge had given him to protect Mamise from annoyance at
all costs. The superintendent treated her as if she were a child
playing at salesmanship in a store. And this was the attitude of all
the men except a few incorrigible gallants, who tried to start
flirtations and make movie dates with her.

Sutton