on.
At sight of her his feet on the leaf of the desk wavered, then
became inert; it would not do to put on manners with any of the
"hands." Thanks to the bath, he was not exuding his usual odor
that comes from bolting much strong, cheap food.

"Well, Lorny--what's the kick?" inquired he with his amiable
grin. His rise in the world never for an instant ceased to be a
source of delight to him; it--and a perfect digestion--kept him
in a good humor all the time.

"I want to know," stammered Susan, "if you can't give me a
little more money."

He laughed, eyeing her approvingly. Her clothing was that of the
working girl; but in her face was the look never found in those
born to the modern form of slavery-wage servitude. If he had
been "cultured" he might have compared her to an enslaved
princess, though in fact that expression of her courageous
violet-gray eyes and sensitive mouth could never have been in
the face of princess bred to the enslaving routine of the most
conventional of conventional lives; it could come only from
sheer erectness of spirit, the exclusive birthright of the sons
and daughters of democracy.

"More money!" he chuckled. "You _have_ got a nerve!--when
factories are shutting down everywhere and working people are
tramping the streets in droves."

"I do about one-fourth more than the best hands you've got,"
replied Susan, made audacious by necessity. "And I'll agree to
throw in my lunch time."

"Let me see, how much do you get?"

"Three dollars."

"And you aren't living at home. You must have a hard time. Not
much over for diamonds, eh? You want to hustle round and get
married, Lorny. Looks don't last long when a gal works. But
you're holdin' out better'n them that gads and dances all night."

"I help at the restaurant in the evening to piece out my board.
I'm pretty tired when I get a chance to go to bed."

"I'll bet!. . . So, you want more money. I've been watchin'
you. I watch all my gals--I have to, to keep weedin' out the
fast ones. I won't have no bad examples in _my_ place! As soon as
I ketch a gal livin' beyond her wages I give her the bounce."

Susan lowered her eyes and her cheeks burned--not because Matson
was frankly discussing the frivolous subject of sex. Another
girl might have affected the air of distressed modesty, but it
would have been affectation, pure and simple, as in those
regions all were used to hearing the frankest, vilest
things--and we do not b