me as being broader and deeper in its meaning than the mere bantering witticism it might have been taken to be. It suggested more to me, unsettling me, than a mere change of, or removal of, attire. It suggested to me, for a moment, a reference to a world in which a woman might be without defenses, fully, a world in which she was simply not permitted defenses.
'Perhaps I should have worn something more feminine,' I said.
He regarded me, appraisingly. I sensed that he was looking past the severe man-tailored blazer, the rather strict blouse, the rather strict, beige pleated skirt. As they had had me pose in the shorts and blouse, and had had me move, I was sure they had little doubt, for most practical purposes, as to what I looked like.
'If you are selected,' he said, 'any apparel which you might receive, I assure you, will leave little doubt as to your femininity.'
'If I am selected?' I asked.
'Yes,' he said.
'It is my hope that I pleased you,' I said. 'I thought you were pleased.' One of the men, I recalled, had thought that I might be ideal for their purposes. 'We are pleased,' he said, 'very. You did very well.'
'When will you be able to make your decision?' I asked. 'When will I learn whether or not I have been selected?'
'For one thing,' said the man, 'you have already been selected.' One of the men laughed.
'That decision we are empowered to Make,' said the first man. 'The second decision, that with respect to the more important post, so to speak, of necessity, must be made elsewhere.'
'May I call you?' I asked.
'We have your number,' he said.
'I understand,' I said. I was not really displeased, for he bad told me that for one thing, at any rate, I had already been selected.
'Process the photos, immediately,' he said to the photographer.
The photographer nodded.
They were apparently going to proceed expeditiously in the matter. This pleased me. I do not like to wait.
'When do you think you will know,' I asked, '-about the more important post?' 'it will take at least several days,' he said.
'Oh,' I said.
'Come here,'-he said, beckoning to me. I went and stood quite close to him. 'Put down your head,' he said. I did so, and he, moving behind me, and pulling the collar of my blouse out a bit with his finger, put his head down, close to the side of my face, by my neck. He inhaled, deeply.
'Yes,' I said, 'I am wearing the perfume, as you asked.'
'As I commanded,' he said.
'Yes,' I said, softly, rather startled at myself, 'as you commanded.' Is I then left. I wore his perfume.
2 The Crate
I turned off the shower.
It must have been about ten minutes after eight in the evening. It was now some six weeks after my test, or interview, or whatever it had been, in the photographer's studio. On each Monday of these six weeks I had received in the mail, in a plain white envelope without a return address, a one-hundred-dollar bill. This money, I bad gathered, was in the nature of some sort of a retainer. I recalled that the man who had first seen me at the perfume counter, he who seemed to be in charge of the group, had said that he recognized that my time, as of now, was valuable. I was still not clear on what he had meant by the phrase 'as of now.' These bills, until a few days ago, had been my only evidence that the men had not forgotten me. Then, on a Monday evening, a few days ago, the Monday before last, at eight o'clock, I bad received a phone call. I bad returned home to my small apartment only a few minutes earlier, from the local supermarket.
I was putting away groceries and was not thinking of the men at all. I had, to be sure, taken the hundred- dollar bill from the mail box earlier and put it in my dresser. This had become for me, however, almost routine. I was, at any rate, not thinking of the men. When the phone rang my first reaction was one of irritation. I picked up the phone. 'Hello,' I said.
'Hello?' Then I was suddenly afraid. I was not sure there was someone on the line. 'Hello?' I said. Then, after a moment's silence, a male voice on the other end of the line spoke quietly and precisely. I did not recognize the voice. 'You have been selected,' it said. 'Hello!' I said. 'Hello Who is this?' Then the line was dead. He had hung up. The next two nights I waited by the phone at eight o'clock. It was silent. It rang, however, on Thursday, precisely at eight. I seized the receiver from its hook. I was told to report the next evening to the southwest corner of a given intersection in Manhattan at precisely eight P.M. There I would be picked up by a limousine.
I was almost sick with relief when I saw that the man I knew, he whom I had met at the perfume counter, he who had seemed in charge of the others, was in the limousine. The other two were with him, too, one with him in the back seat and one riding beside the driver. I did not recognize the driver.
'Congratulations, Miss Collins!' he said, warmly. 'You have been fully approved. You qualify with flying colors, as I had thought you would, on all counts.' 'Wonderful!' I said.
The driver bad now left the vehicle and come about, to open the door. The man I knew stepped out, and, while the driver held the door, motioned that I might enter. I did so, and then he entered behind me. The driver shut the door, and returned about the vehicle to his place. I was sitting between the two men in the back of the limousine.
'I had hoped I might qualify,' I said.
'I was confident you would,' he said. 'You have the appearance, and, independently, the beauty and the dispositions. You are perfectly suited to our purposes.'
'Am I to gather that I have been found acceptable for what you spoke of as the more important position, or post, or something like that, then?' I asked. 'Precisely,' he said, warmly.
'Good,' I said, snuggling back against the seat. I was quite pleased. These men, it seemed, were rich, or, at least, had access to considerable wealth. They would doubtless be willing to pay highly for the use of my beauty.
'I recall, you said,' I said, 'that I had already been selected for one thing, even at the photographer's studio.'
'Yes,' he said.
'But it was less important, I gather, than this other, more prestigious assignment, or position?'
'Yes,' he said. 'The other position, so to speak, could be filled by almost any beautiful woman.'
'I see,' I said.
'And if there should come a time in which your services are no longer required for this more important post, as I have put it, you might still, I am sure, meet the qualifications f or this other thing.'
'That is reassuring,' I said.
The man on my left smiled.
'Where are we going?' I asked.
'Were you given permission to speak?' asked the man I knew, he who had originally seen Me in the department store, he on my right.
I looked at him, startled.
'Kneel down here,' he said, pointing to the floor of the car, 'your left side to the back of the front seat.' I did so, frightened. I was the only woman in the car. 'Get on your hands and knees,' he said. I did so. I could then, facing as I was, see him, by lifting and turning my head. He was unfolding a blanket. 'You will not speak,' be said, 'until five minutes after you have left the limousine.' He then, opening the blanket, cast it over me. I on all fours before them, covered by the blanket, hidden by it, was in consternation. The limousine drove on. No one outside
