. She
helped Coupeau up on his legs again. Then she offered her cheek with a
smile. But the zinc-worker, without caring a button for the other people
being present, seized her bosom.

"It's not for the sake of saying so," he murmured; "but your dirty linen
stinks tremendously! Still, I love you all the same, you know."

"Leave off, you're tickling me," cried she, laughing the louder. "What a
great silly you are! How can you be so absurd?"

He had caught hold of her and would not let her go. She gradually
abandoned herself to him, dizzy from the slight faintness caused by the
heap of clothes and not minding Coupeau's foul-smelling breath. The long
kiss they exchanged on each other's mouths in the midst of the filth of
the laundress's trade was perhaps the first tumble in the slow downfall
of their life together.

Madame Bijard had meanwhile been tying the laundry up into bundles and
talking about her daughter, Eulalie, who at two was as smart as a grown
woman. She could be left by herself; she never cried or played with
matches. Finally Madame Bijard took the laundry away a bundle at a time,
her face splotched with purple and her tall form bent under the weight.

"This heat is becoming unbearable, we're roasting," said Gervaise,
wiping her face before returning to Madame Boche's cap.

They talked of boxing Augustine's ears when they saw that the stove was
red-hot. The irons, also, were getting in the same condition. She must
have the very devil in her body! One could not turn one's back a moment
without her being up to some of her tricks. Now they would have to
wait a quarter of an hour before they would be able to use their irons.
Gervaise covered the fire with two shovelfuls of cinders. Then she
thought to hang some sheets on the brass wires near the ceiling to serve
as curtains to keep out the sunlight.

Things were now better in the shop. The temperature was still high, but
you could imagine it was cooler. Footsteps could still be heard outside
but you were free to make yourself comfortable. Clemence removed her
camisole again. Coupeau still refused to go to bed, so they allowed him
to stay, but he had to promise to be quiet in a corner, for they were
very busy.

"Whatever has that vermin done with my little iron?" murmured Gervaise,
speaking of Augustine.

They were for ever seeking the little iron, which they found in the most
out-of-the-way places, where the apprentice, so they said, hid it out of
spite