She supplicated, she protested she had never complained; but he roughly
closed the trunk and sat down upon it, saying, "No!" to her face. He
could surely do as he liked with what belonged to him! Then, to escape
from the inquiring looks she leveled at him, he went and laid down on
the bed again, saying that he was sleepy, and requesting her not to make
his head ache with any more of her row. This time indeed, he seemed to
fall asleep. Gervaise, for a while, remained undecided. She was tempted
to kick the bundle of dirty clothes on one side, and to sit down and
sew. But Lantier's regular breathing ended by reassuring her. She took
the ball of blue and the piece of soap remaining from her last washing,
and going up to the little ones who were quietly playing with some old
corks in front of the window, she kissed them, and said in a low voice:

"Be very good, don't make any noise; papa's asleep."

When she left the room, Claude's and Etienne's gentle laughter alone
disturbed the great silence beneath the blackened ceiling. It was ten
o'clock. A ray of sunshine entered by the half open window.

On the Boulevard, Gervaise turned to the left, and followed the Rue
Neuve de la Goutte-d'Or. As she passed Madame Fauconnier's shop, she
slightly bowed her head. The wash-house she was bound for was situated
towards the middle of the street, at the part where the roadway
commenced to ascend.

The rounded, gray contours of the three large zinc wash tanks, studded
with rivets, rose above the flat-roofed building. Behind them was
the drying room, a high second story, closed in on all sides by
narrow-slatted lattices so that the air could circulate freely, and