ise's tub what remained of a bag of soda which
she had brought with her. She also offered her some of the chemical
water, but the young woman declined it; it was only good for grease and
wine stains.

"I think he's rather a loose fellow," resumed Madame Boche, returning to
Lantier, but without naming him.

Gervaise, bent almost double, her hands all shriveled, and thrust in
amongst the clothes, merely tossed her head.

"Yes, yes," continued the other, "I have noticed several little
things--" But she suddenly interrupted herself, as Gervaise jumped up,
with a pale face, and staring wildly at her. Then she exclaimed, "Oh,
no! I don't know anything! He likes to laugh a bit, I think, that's all.
For instance, you know the two girls who lodge at my place, Adele and
Virginie. Well; he larks about with 'em, but he just flirts for sport."

The young woman standing before her, her face covered with perspiration,
the water dripping from her arms, continued to stare at her with a fixed
and penetrating look. Then the concierge got excited, giving herself a
blow on the chest, and pledging her word of honor, she cried:

"I know nothing, I mean it when I say so!"

Then calming herself, she added in a gentle voice, as if speaking to a
person on whom loud protestations would have no effect, "I think he has
a frank look about the eyes. He'll marry you, my dear, I'm sure of it."

Gervaise wiped her forehead with her wet hand. Shaking her head again,
she pulled another garment out of the water. Both of them kept silence
for a moment. The wash-house was quieting down, for eleven o'clock had
struck. Half of the washerwomen were perched on the edge of their tubs,
eating sausages between slices of bread and drinking from open bottles
of wine. Only housewives who had come to launder small bundles of family
linen were hurrying to finish.

Occasional beetle blows could still be heard amid the subdued laughter
and gossip half-choked by the greedy chewing of jawbones. The steam
engine never stopped. Its vibrant, snorting voice seemed to fill the
entire hall, though not one of the women even heard it. It was like the
breathing of the wash-house, its hot breath collecting under the ceiling
rafters in an eternal floating mist.

The heat was becoming intolerable. Through the tall windows on the left
sunlight was streaming in, touching the steamy vapors with opalescent
tints of soft pinks and grayish blues. Charles went from window to
window,