Page:Storm Over Paris.pdf/120

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back and forth over the machine in spasms of laughter. Only Anna remained silent and glum. Had Eric loved her the way Lucien loved his women, grossly, obscenely, mere vessels of naked flesh that relieved him of a biological function?

The buffoonery of the shop seemed to drive away its collective boredom, like primitives who frighten away evil spirits with weird noises and pounding drums.

"Listen to me, my aging cavalier," Jeanne shouted in her deep throaty voice, "just show me that you really mean it, and I'm yours-right here on the spot!"

Weak from laughter, the workers gasped in alarm. Lucien made a motion to unloosen the belt of his trousers. Suddenly, from nowhere it seemed, young Marcel materialized in front of the couple with a bucket of water, and emptied it over them.

When the excitement was over, Lucien grudgingly agreed to join in Pierre's scheme. That evening the shop was unionized.

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