At the next regular meal when Tildy set food beforecustomers with whom she had acquaintance she said toeach of them modestly， as one whose merit needed nobolstering：“A gentleman insulted me to-day in the restaurant. Heput his arm around my waist and kissed me.”
The diners accepted the revelation in various ways—some incredulously， some with congratulations； othersturned upon her the stream of badinage that had hithertobeen directed at Aileen alone. And Tildy’s heart swelled inher bosom， for she saw at last the towers of Romance riseabove the horizon of the grey plain in which she had forso long travelled.
For two days Mr. Seeders came not again. During thattime Tildy established herself firmly as a woman to bewooed. She bought ribbons， and arranged her hair likeAileen’s， and tightened her waist two inches. She had athrilling but delightful fear that Mr. Seeders would rush insuddenly and shoot her with a pistol. He must have lovedher desperately； and impulsive lovers are always blindlyjealous.
Even Aileen had not been shot at with a pistol. Andthen Tildy rather hoped that he would not shoot at her，for she was always loyal to Aileen； and she did not want toovershadow her friend.
At 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the third day Mr.Seeders came in. There were no customers at the tables.
At the back end of the restaurant Tildy was refilling themustard pots and Aileen was quartering pies. Mr. Seederswalked back to where they stood.
Tildy looked up and saw him， gasped， and pressed themustard spoon against her heart. A red hair-bow was inher hair； she wore Venus’s Eighth Avenue badge， the bluebead necklace with the swinging silver symbolic heart.
Mr. Seeders was flushed and embarrassed. He plungedone hand into his hip pocket and the other into a freshpumpkin pie.
“Miss Tildy，” said he， “I want to apologise for what Idone the other evenin’. Tell you the truth， I was pretty welltanked up or I wouldn’t of done it. I wouldn’t do no ladythat a-way when I was sober. So I hope， Miss Tildy， you’llaccept my ’pology， and believe that I wouldn’t of done it if I’dknown what I was doin’ and hadn’t of been drunk.”
With this handsome plea Mr. Seeders backed away， anddeparted， feeling that reparation had been made.
But behind the convenient screen Tildy had thrownherself flat upon a table among the butter chips and thecoffee cups， and was sobbing her heart out—out and backagain to the grey plain wherein travel they with bluntnoses and hay-coloured hair. From her knot she had tornthe red hair-bow and cast it upon the floor. Seeders shedespised utterly； she had but taken his kiss as that of apioneer and prophetic prince who might have set theclocks going and the pages to running in fairyland. Butthe kiss had been maudlin and unmeant； the court had notstirred at the false alarm； she must forevermore remainthe Sleeping Beauty.
Yet not all was lost. Aileen’s arm was around her； andTildy’s red hand groped among the butter chips till itfound the warm clasp of her friend’s.”Don’t you fret， Til，” said Aileen， who did notunderstand entirely. “That turnip-faced little clothespin ofa Seeders ain’t worth it. He ain’t anything of a gentlemanor he wouldn’t ever of apologised.”
