"Sure I'm sure. Do you have to wait for a snake to bite you before you know what he's up to?"
"You could have called the floor-walker."
"And been fined for me pains, Mr. Porter."
Mr. Porter tapped his desk and kept his eyes on his fingers.
"I find," he said slowly, "that most men do not make approaches without some encouragement, in either word or manner, on the part of the girl. I also find that such occurrences as this are very rare in the experience of most of the girls in our employ."
He stopped, but Katie stood silent by the arm of the desk, her lips compressed, a frown between her arched black brows. He sent a crooked glance up at her, and then resumed:
"I scarcely ever have a case of this sort to deal with. I wonder why, if such things are done by customers, the other girls do not report them."
He stopped again, and this time Katie answered:
"I suppose they boss their own lives in their own way, Mr. Porter."
A faint spark of color shone in Mr. Porter's white cheek.