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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43831 ***
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and
+italic text is surrounded by _underscores_.]
+
+
+
+Our Little French Cousin
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+Little Cousin Series
+
+(TRADE MARK)
+
+    Each volume illustrated with six or more full page plates in
+    tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover
+    per volume, $1.00
+
+
+LIST OF TITLES
+
+    By COL. F. A. POSTNIKOV, ISAAC TAYLOR
+    HEADLAND, EDWARD C. BUTLER,
+    AND OTHERS
+
+    =Our Little African Cousin=
+    =Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
+    =Our Little Arabian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Argentine Cousin=
+    =Our Little Armenian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Australian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Austrian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Belgian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Bohemian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Bulgarian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Great Northwest=
+    =Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Maritime Provinces=
+    =Our Little Chinese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Cossack Cousin=
+    =Our Little Cuban Cousin=
+    =Our Little Czecho-Slovac Cousin=
+    =Our Little Danish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Dutch Cousin=
+    =Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
+    =Our Little English Cousin=
+    =Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
+    =Our Little Finnish Cousin=
+    =Our Little French Cousin=
+    =Our Little German Cousin=
+    =Our Little Grecian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hindu Cousin=
+    =Our Little Hungarian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Indian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Irish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Italian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Japanese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Jewish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Jugoslav Cousin=
+    =Our Little Korean Cousin=
+    =Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin=
+    =Our Little Mexican Cousin=
+    =Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Panama Cousin=
+    =Our Little Persian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Philippine Cousin=
+    =Our Little Polish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
+    =Our Little Portuguese Cousin=
+    =Our Little Quebec Cousin=
+    =Our Little Roumanian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Russian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Scotch Cousin=
+    =Our Little Servian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Siamese Cousin=
+    =Our Little South African (Boer) Cousin=
+    =Our Little Spanish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Swedish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Swiss Cousin=
+    =Our Little Turkish Cousin=
+    =Our Little Ukrainian Cousin=
+    =Our Little Welsh Cousin=
+    =Our Little West Indian Cousin=
+
+    L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (Inc.)
+    53 Beacon Street     Boston, Mass.
+
+[Illustration: GERMAINE]
+
+
+
+
+    Our Little
+    French Cousin
+
+
+    By
+    Blanche McManus
+
+
+    _Illustrated by_
+    The Author
+
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+
+    Boston
+    The Page Company
+    Publishers
+
+
+
+
+    _Copyright, 1905_
+    BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
+    (INCORPORATED)
+
+
+    _All rights reserved_
+
+
+    Made in U. S. A.
+
+
+    Published May, 1905
+    Fourth Impression, May, 1908
+    Fifth Impression, October, 1909
+    Sixth Impression, June, 1911
+    Seventh Impression, February, 1913
+    Eighth Impression, October, 1915
+    Ninth Impression, March, 1918
+    Tenth Impression, May, 1919
+    Eleventh Impression, February, 1922
+    Twelfth Impression, March, 1926
+
+
+    PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY
+    BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+IF a little girl or boy helps another who is in trouble, they are sure
+to be the best of friends. In the early days, before this country
+became a great nation, when the Colonies were at war with England,
+fighting for the independence and freedom which we now celebrate each
+year on the Fourth of July, a French nobleman by the name of Lafayette
+came across the sea to help us. We needed his help, and when the brave
+Colonial soldiers at last won a great victory, and the Colonies became
+one nation, we were very grateful to Lafayette for the help he had
+given, and because he was a Frenchman, the people of France and the
+people of the United States became fast friends.
+
+This story was written to help us learn more about our wonderful French
+cousins. Germaine, "Our Little French Cousin," happened to live in
+Normandy, but her every-day life, her parents and her friends were just
+like those of other French children. True, she travelled more than most
+children, but if she had not, the story would not tell so much about
+other parts of her native land.
+
+It was in the early days of August, 1914, that the French people
+learned that Germany, her conqueror in the Franco-Prussian war, had
+again declared war, and was even then hammering at the forts of Belgium
+so she could march her armies right into their beloved France.
+
+The news stirred the French people, but while the brave little army of
+Belgians halted the German troops, an army was gathered quickly under
+the leadership of Joseph-Jacques-Cesaire Joffre, a man of humble birth
+whom every one loved. We all know how the Prussian army defeated the
+Belgians and how the French were forced to retreat until they reached
+the River Marne, and then how they made a stand which resulted in such
+a glorious victory for France.
+
+During these bitter days Germaine, and thousands of other French
+children, learned how to suffer and yet smile. She learned that her
+beloved France could produce heroes as great as Bayard, Du Guesclin,
+Ney, Henry of Navarre, Lafayette and Rochambeau. She never tired of
+hearing stories of the great General Petain, a quiet, reserved man who
+filled his troops with a new spirit which urged them on to another
+great victory at Verdun.
+
+When, in 1917, the American soldiers went to France to help the
+French, the English, the Canadians, the Australians, the Belgians and
+all the other Allies drive the Germans out of France and Belgium,
+General Pershing, commander of the American Army, visited the tomb
+of Lafayette. He placed a wreath upon the tomb and made the greatest
+speech that was ever made in so few words. He said, "Lafayette, we're
+here." So we repaid our debt to France.
+
+Then General Ferdinand Foch was made Commander-in-chief of all the
+armies that France and all the other nations had raised to show the
+Germans that right is greater than might. Then Germaine became even
+more proud of her native land when she was told of Georges Clemenceau,
+the "Tiger" premier, who was so brave and so sure, always, of success,
+and who played such a great part in making peace again throughout the
+world.
+
+As a reward for her many sacrifices during the four years of the most
+cruel war the world has ever known, France regained her two lost
+provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. In another volume, "Our Little Alsatian
+Cousin," is told the story of the home life, the work and the play of
+the little folks who live in these provinces which were long a part of
+Germany, not because the people wanted it, but because Germany had won
+the Franco-Prussian war.
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+
+"OUR Little French Cousin" is an attempt to tell, in plain, simple
+language, something of the daily life of a little French girl, living
+in a Norman village, in one of the most progressive and opulent
+sections of France.
+
+The old divisions, or ancient provinces, of France each had its special
+characteristics and manners and customs, which to this day have endured
+to a remarkable extent.
+
+To American children, no less than to our English cousins, the memories
+of the great names of history which have come down to us from ancient
+Norman times are very numerous.
+
+Besides the great Norman William who conquered England, and Richard
+the Lion-hearted, there are the lesser lights, such as Champlain, La
+Salle, and Jean Denys,--the discoverer of Newfoundland; and before them
+was the Northman ancestor of Rollo, Lief, the son of Eric, who was
+perhaps the real discoverer of America. All these link Normandy with
+the New World in a manner that is perhaps not at first remembered.
+
+"Our Little French Cousin" lives in Normandy, simply because she must
+live somewhere, and not because any attempt has been made to specialize
+or localize the every-day life of Germaine, her parents, and her
+friends. Indeed, for a little French girl, it may be thought that she
+had remarkable opportunities for acquaintanceship with the outside
+world.
+
+But to-day even little French girls live in a progressive world, and
+what with tourists and automobilists, to say nothing of a reasonably
+large colony of English-speaking folk who had actually settled near her
+home, it was but natural that her outlook was somewhat different from
+what it might have been had she lived a hundred years ago.
+
+So far as France in general goes, the great world of Paris, and much
+that lay beyond, were also brought to her notice in, it is believed,
+a perfectly rational and plausible fashion; and thus within the
+restricted limits of this little book will be found many references
+to the life and history of Old France which, in one way or another,
+has linked itself with the early days in the history of America, in a
+manner of which little American cousins are in no way ignorant.
+
+Joliet, Champlain, La Salle, Père Marquette, and many others first
+pointed the way and mapped out the civilization of America, when it was
+but the home of the red man, now so nearly disappeared.
+
+Later came Lafayette and Rochambeau, who were indeed good friends to
+the then new nation, and lastly, if it is permissible to think of it
+in that light, the great Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbour, is
+another witness of the friendliness of the French nation for the people
+of the United States. A reciprocal echo of this is found in the recent
+erection, in Paris, of a statue of Washington.
+
+To her cousins across the sea little Germaine, "Our Little French
+Cousin," holds out a cordial hand of greeting.
+
+_Les Andelys, Eure, January, 1905._
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+                                         PAGE
+       I. AT THE FARM OF LA CHAUMIÈRE       1
+      II. TO ROUEN ON A BARGE              23
+     III. THE FÊTES AT ROUEN               41
+      IV. GOING HOME BY TRAIN              62
+       V. THE MARKET AT GRAND ANDELYS      71
+      VI. GERMAINE AND THE ARTIST          83
+     VII. THE FÊTE OF ST. SAUVEUR          92
+    VIII. AN AUTOMOBILE JOURNEY           108
+
+
+
+
+List of Illustrations
+
+
+                                              PAGE
+    GERMAINE                          _Frontispiece_
+    THE FARM OF _LA CHAUMIÈRE_                   8
+    "THE CITY BEGAN TO UNFOLD BEFORE THEM"      40
+    THE MARKET-SQUARE                           75
+    THE CIRCUS                                 100
+    CHÂTEAU GAILLARD                           106
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Our Little French Cousin
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+AT THE FARM OF LA CHAUMIÈRE
+
+
+"OH, mamma!" cried little Germaine, as she jumped out of bed and ran to
+the window, "how glad I am it is such a beautiful day."
+
+Germaine was up bright and early on this sunshiny day, for many
+pleasant things were going to happen. However, this was not her only
+reason for early rising. French people always do so, and little French
+children are not allowed to lie in bed and to be lazy.
+
+At the first peep of daylight Germaine's papa and mamma were up, and
+soon the "little breakfast," as it is called, was ready in the big
+kitchen of the farmhouse. Even the well-to-do farmers, like Germaine's
+papa, eat their meals in their kitchens, which are also used as a
+general sitting-room.
+
+Everything about a French house is very neat, but especially so is the
+kitchen, whose bare wooden or stone floor is waxed and polished every
+day until it shines like polished mahogany. On the mantelpiece of
+the kitchen of Germaine's home, which was more than twice as tall as
+Germaine herself, was a long row of brass candlesticks, a vase or two,
+and a little statue of the Madonna with flowers before it.
+
+The fireplace took up nearly all of one side of the room, and was so
+large that it held a bench in either side where one could sit and keep
+nice and warm in winter. Hanging in the centre, over the fire, was a
+big crane,--a chain with a hook on the end of it on which to hang pots
+and kettles to boil. There were beautiful blue tiles all around the
+fireplace, and a ruffle of cloth along the edge of the mantel-shelf.
+
+Not far from the fireplace was a good cooking-stove, for the better
+class farmers do not cook much on the open fire, as do the peasants.
+
+All about the walls were hung row after row of copper cooking utensils
+of all kinds and shapes, all highly polished with "_eau de cuivre_."
+Madame Lafond, Germaine's mamma, prided herself on having all her pots
+and pans shine like mirrors.
+
+"Be quick, my little one," said Madame Lafond, as Germaine seated
+herself at the table in the centre of the room. "You have much to do,
+for, as you know, we are to see M. Auguste before we go to meet Marie;
+and we must finish our work here, so as to be off at an early hour."
+
+Germaine's breakfast was a great bowl of hot milk, with coffee and a
+slice from the big loaf lying on the bare table. The French have many
+nice kinds of bread, and what they call household bread, made partly
+of flour and partly of rye, is the kind generally eaten by the country
+people. It is a little dark in colour, but very good.
+
+It was to-day that Germaine was to go with Madame Lafond to the
+station at Petit Andelys to meet her sister Marie, who had been away
+at a convent school at Evreux, and who was coming home for the summer
+holidays. On their way they were to stop at the Hôtel Belle Étoile,
+for it was the birthday--the fête-day, as the French call it--of their
+good friend the proprietor, M. Auguste, and Madame Lafond was taking
+him a little present of some fine _white_ strawberries which are quite
+a delicacy, and which are grown only round about. M. Lafond was to meet
+them at the station, and all were to take dinner with her Uncle Daboll
+at his house in the village, to celebrate Marie's home-coming.
+
+So, as may be imagined, Germaine did not linger over her breakfast, but
+set to work at her morning tasks with a will.
+
+"Blanche, you want your breakfast, too," she said, as she stroked her
+pet white turtledove, who had been walking over the table trying to
+attract her attention with soft, deep "coos," "and you shall have it
+here in the sunshine," and, putting her pet on the deep window-ledge,
+she sprinkled before it a bountiful supply of crumbs. "That, now, must
+last until I get back."
+
+"Now, come, Raton," she called to their big dog. "We must feed the
+rabbits," and, taking a basket of green stuff, she ran across the
+courtyard into the garden.
+
+In France the farm buildings are often built around an open square,
+which is entered by a large gate. This is called a _closed_ farm. In
+olden times there were also the fortified farms, which were built
+strongly enough to withstand the assaults of marauders, and some of
+these can still be seen in various parts of the country.
+
+The gateway was rather a grand affair, with big stone pillars, on top
+of which was a stone vase, and in the gate was a smaller one, which
+could be used when there was no need to open the large one to allow a
+carriage or wagon to enter.
+
+On one side of the yard was the _laiterie_, where the cows were kept
+and milked. There were a number of cows, for M. Lafond sold milk and
+butter, carrying it into the market at Grand Andelys.
+
+On another side was the stable, where were kept the big
+farm-horses,--Norman horses as we know them, one of the three
+celebrated breeds of horses in France. Near by were the wire-enclosed
+houses for the chickens and geese and the ducks, which ran about the
+yard at will and paddled in the little pond in one corner.
+
+In the centre was the pigeon-house, a large, round, stone building,
+such as will be seen on all the old farms like this of M. Lafond's. It
+was an imposing structure, and looked as if it could shelter hundreds
+of pigeon families. Under a low shed stood the farm-wagons and the
+farming tools and implements.
+
+_La Chaumière_, as the farm was known, took its name from the
+thatch-covered cottage. Many of the houses in this part of the country
+have roofs thatched with straw, as had the other buildings on the farm.
+Germaine's home, however, had a red tile roof, though it was thatched
+in the olden days, for it had been in M. Lafond's family for many
+generations.
+
+On the opposite side of the house was the garden, surrounded by a
+high wall finished off with a sort of roof of red tiles. The square
+beds of fine vegetables were bordered by flowers, for in France the
+two are usually cultivated together in one garden. Against the wall
+were trained peach, pear, and plum trees, as if they were vines;
+this to ripen the fruit well. In a corner were piled up the glass
+globes,--shaped like a bell or a beehive,--which are used to put over
+the young and tender plants to protect them and hasten their growth.
+
+[Illustration: THE FARM OF _LA CHAUMIÈRE_]
+
+Against one corner of the wall were the hutches for the rabbits, built
+in tiers, one above the other, and full of dozens of pretty "bunnies,"
+white, black and white, and some quite black.
+
+It was Germaine's duty to feed them night and morning, and she liked
+nothing better than to give them crisp lettuce and cabbage leaves and
+see them nibble them up, wriggling their funny little noses all the
+time. "Well, bunnies, you will have to eat your breakfast alone this
+morning; I cannot spare you much time," Germaine told them, as she
+gave them the contents of her basket. Raton was leaping beside her and
+barking, for he was a great pet, and more of a companion than most dogs
+in French farms. They are usually kept strictly for watch purposes, the
+poor things being tied up in the yard all of the time; but Germaine's
+people were very kind to animals, and Raton did much as he pleased.
+
+"I am ready, mamma," said Germaine, running into the kitchen.
+
+"So am I, my dear," and Madame Lafond took from behind a copper
+saucepan hanging on the wall a bag of money, from which she took some
+coins and put the bag back again in this queer money-box. She then
+placed the basket of strawberries on their bed of green leaves on her
+arm, and she, Germaine, and Raton set off.
+
+Madame Lafond had on a neat black dress, very short, and gathered full
+around the waist, and a blue apron. Her hair was brushed back under
+her white cap, and on her feet she wore _sabots_, the wooden shoes all
+the working people in the country wear.
+
+Germaine's dress was her mother's in miniature, and her little _sabots_
+clacked as she ran down the road, carrying in her hand a pot holding a
+flower, carefully wrapped about with white paper for M. Auguste. It was
+a beautiful walk through the fields and apple orchards, into the road,
+shaded by old trees that led to the top of the hill, and then down the
+hillside past the old Château Gaillard; that wonderful castle whose
+history Germaine never wearied of hearing.
+
+It seemed to her like a fairy-tale that such things could have happened
+so near her papa's farm, though it all took place many hundreds of
+years ago, when there was nothing but wild woods where now stands their
+farm and those of their neighbours.
+
+The château was built by the great Norman who became an English king.
+He was known as Richard the Lion-hearted, because he was so brave and
+fearless. Perhaps our little English cousins will remember him best by
+this romantic story. Once King Richard was imprisoned by his enemies,
+no one knew where; his friends had given him up for lost--all but his
+faithful court musician Blondel, who went from castle to castle, the
+length and breadth of Europe, singing the favourite songs that he and
+his royal master had sung together. One day his devotion was rewarded,
+for, while singing under the windows of a castle in Austria, he heard a
+voice join with his, and he knew he had found his master.
+
+At that time France was not the big country it is now. Normandy
+belonged to the English Crown, and the Kings of France were always
+trying to conquer it for their own.
+
+So Richard built this strong fortress on the river Seine, at the most
+important point where the dominion of France joined that of Normandy.
+He planned it all himself, and, it is said, even helped to put up the
+stones with his own hands. It was begun and finished in one year, and
+when the last stone was placed in the big central tower, King Richard
+cried out: "Behold my beautiful daughter of a year." Then he named it
+Château Gaillard, which is the French for "Saucy Castle," and stood on
+its high walls and defied the French king, Philippe-Auguste, who was
+encamped across the river, to come and take it from him,--just as a
+naughty boy puts a chip on his shoulder and dares another boy to knock
+it off. Well, the French king took his dare, but he also took care to
+wait until the great, brave Richard had been killed by an arrow in
+warfare. Then for five months he and his army besieged the castle, and
+a desperate fight it was on both sides. At last the French forced an
+entrance. After that, for several hundred years, its story was one of
+bloody deeds and fierce fights, until another French king, Henri IV.,
+practically destroyed it, in order to show his power over the Norman
+barons whom he feared; and so it stands to-day only a big ruin--but one
+of the most splendid in France.
+
+Germaine often wondered why it was called "Saucy," for it did not look
+so to her now. The big central tower with its broken windows seemed
+to her like an old face, with half-shut eyes and great yawning mouth,
+weary with its struggles, leaning with a tired air against the few
+jagged walls that still stood around it.
+
+But it looked very grand for all that, and Germaine was fond of it,
+and she with her cousin Jean often played about its crumbling walls.
+Jean would stand in the great broken window and play he was one of the
+archers of King Richard's time, with a big bow six feet long in his
+hand, and arrows at his belt, and that he was watching for the enemy
+who always travelled by the river, for in those days there were few
+roads, and journeying by boat on the river was the most convenient way
+to come and go.
+
+There is no finer outlook in all France than from King Richard's castle
+at Petit Andelys, for one can look ten miles up the river on one side
+and ten miles down on the other. Thus no one could go from France
+into Normandy without being seen by the watchman on the tower of the
+Château Gaillard. Three hundred feet below is the tiny village of Petit
+Andelys, looking like a lot of toy houses.
+
+As they entered the main street of the village, Madame Lafond stopped
+at the _Octroi_, to pay the tax on her strawberries. All towns in
+France put a tax on all produce brought into the town, and for this
+purpose there is a small building at each entrance to the town where
+every one must stop and declare what they have, and pay the small tax
+accordingly.
+
+"I hear the '_Appariteur_,'" said Germaine, as they walked down the
+narrow cobble-paved street, "I wonder what he is calling out." The
+"_Appariteur_" is a sort of town-crier, who makes the announcements of
+interest to the neighbourhood by going along the streets beating a drum
+and crying out his news, while the people run to the windows and doors
+to listen. It takes the place of a daily newspaper to some extent, and
+costs nothing to the public.
+
+They were soon at the Hôtel Belle Étoile, and found stout, good-natured
+M. Auguste at the entrance, seeing some of his guests off. He was
+delighted with the strawberries, and when Germaine gave him the bouquet
+of flowers, with a pretty little speech of congratulation for his
+birthday, he kissed her, French fashion, on both cheeks, and took them
+into the café, where he gave them a sweet fruit-syrup to drink. It
+is always the custom among our French cousins to offer some kind of
+refreshment on every possible occasion, and especially on a visit of
+ceremony such as this. So when M. Auguste asked Madame Lafond what she
+would take, she and Germaine chose a "_Sirop de Groseilles_," which
+is made of the juice of gooseberries and sweetened. A few spoonfuls
+of this in a glass of soda-water makes a delightful cool drink in hot
+weather, and one of which French children are very fond. There are also
+syrups made in the same way from strawberries, raspberries, peaches,
+etc., but this is one of the best liked.
+
+"There is Madeleine making signs to you outside the door. Run and see
+what she wants, my little one," said M. Auguste. "I can guess," he
+said, laughingly, as Germaine ran to greet the waitress of the hotel,
+who always looked so neat and pretty in her white country cap, her
+coloured apron over a black dress, and a coloured handkerchief around
+her neck, with neat black slippers on her feet.
+
+"Let me show you how we are going to celebrate the fête-day of M.
+Auguste," said she, smiling, and, opening a box, she showed Germaine
+the sticks of powder, which they would burn when night came, and make
+the beautiful red and green light such as all children and many grown
+folks like. The first of these sticks was to be burnt at the very
+entrance door, that all the village might know that it was M. Auguste's
+birthday. Madeleine and the cook and the housemaid and the washerwoman
+and the boy that blacked the guests' boots had each given a few
+centimes (or cents) to buy these, as well as other things that wriggled
+along the ground and went off with a bang, as a surprise for M.
+Auguste. Also the American and English visitors at the hotel had bought
+"Roman candles" and some "catharine-wheels," which were to be let off
+in front of the Belle Étoile; so the hotel would be very gay that night.
+
+M. Auguste's name-day had also been celebrated in another way some time
+before. On the fête of St. Auguste it was the custom to carry around a
+big anvil and stop with it in front of the house of every one who is
+named Auguste or Augustine. A cartridge was placed on the anvil and hit
+sharply with a hammer, when of course it made a frightful noise; and
+for some unknown reason this was supposed to please good St. Auguste as
+well as those who bore his name. Then the person who had this little
+attention paid him or her would come out and ask every one into their
+house to have a glass of _calvados_, which is a favourite drink in this
+part of France, and is made from apples.
+
+The Belle Étoile, like most of the hotels of France, was built with a
+courtyard in the centre, and around this were galleries or verandas, on
+which the sleeping-rooms opened. Carriages passed through an archway
+into this courtyard, on the one side of which were stables, on another
+the kitchen and servants' quarters, and the entrance to the big cellar
+where were kept the great barrels of cider.
+
+Most of the courtyard was given up to a beautiful garden, set about
+with shrubs and flowers. At little tables under big, gay, striped
+garden-umbrellas, the guests of the Belle Étoile ate their meals. In
+the country, every one who can dines in the garden during the summer
+months, which is another pleasant custom of this people.
+
+M. Auguste was very fond of little Germaine, and often told her of
+his boyhood days in the gay little city of Tours, where the purest
+French is spoken, with its fine old cathedral and the lovely country
+thereabouts all covered with grape-vines; and how in the bright autumn
+days the vineyards are full of workers filling the baskets on their
+backs with the green and purple grapes; how late in the evening the
+big wagons, full of men, women, and children, come rolling home, piled
+up with grapes, the pickers all singing and joyous, with great bunches
+of wild flowers tied on the front of each wagon. "A very happy, gay
+people, my dear," would remark M. Auguste, "not like these cold, stolid
+Normans." But to us foreigners all the French people seem as gay as
+these good folk of Touraine, the land of vineyards and beautiful white
+châteaux.
+
+M. Auguste had also been a great traveller, for his father was
+well-to-do, and he thought that his boy should see something of his
+own country--though French people as a rule are not great travellers.
+They are the most home-loving people in the world, and their greatest
+ambition is to have a little house and a garden in which to spend their
+days.
+
+So M. Auguste had seen much. He had been to the bustling city of Lyons,
+where the finest silks and velvets in the world are made. He had
+journeyed along the beautiful coast of France where it borders on the
+blue Mediterranean, where palms and oranges and such lovely flowers
+grow, especially the sweet purple violets from which the perfumes are
+made. From here also come the candied rose-petals and violets, that the
+confectioners sell you as the latest thing in sweetmeats.
+
+He had visited the great port of Marseilles, the most important in
+France, where are to be seen ships from all over the world, and there
+he learned to make their famous dish, the _bouillabaisse_, which is a
+luscious stew of all kinds of fish--for M. Auguste prides himself on
+the special dishes that he cooks for his guests, and Germaine is often
+asked to try them. He had been also to the rich city of Bordeaux,
+where the fine wines come from. Oh, M. Auguste is a great traveller,
+thought Germaine, as they sat together in the kitchen of the Belle
+Étoile, while M. Auguste talked with Mimi, the white cat, sitting on
+his shoulder, while Fifine, the black one, was on his knee. They were
+great pets of M. Auguste, and as well known and liked as himself by the
+guests at the Belle Étoile.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TO ROUEN ON A BARGE
+
+
+GERMAINE and her parents, and her Uncle Daboll and his wife, and
+their little son Jean, just one year younger than Germaine, were all
+at the station long before the train was due. The two children were
+fairly prancing with glee, while Raton leaped about no less excited.
+They were very fond of Marie, as was every one who knew her, for she
+was a gentle, kind-hearted girl, and though several years older than
+Germaine, they were great companions. This was her first year away from
+home, and Germaine had missed her sadly.
+
+"There she is," cried Germaine, as the train pulled slowly in, and a
+young girl appeared at the window of one of the third-class carriages,
+waving her handkerchief, and throwing them kisses.
+
+Her father lifted her down, and every one kissed her twice, on either
+cheek, and amid much laughing and talking they walked toward Uncle
+Daboll's house, while Raton danced in circles about them as if he had
+gone mad.
+
+"Oh, Marie," cried Germaine and Jean in the same breath, "we have such
+a lovely surprise for you! You have heard, of course, of the grand
+'Norman Fêtes,' which are to be held at Rouen next week! Well, just
+think, we are all going to see them, that is, you and Jean and me and
+uncle and aunt, and better still--how do you think we are going?" "Why,
+on the train, of course," laughed Marie, "and won't we have a good
+time." "No," spoke up Jean, quickly, "we are going a brand-new way.
+What do you say to going on a barge on the river?" "A barge," cried
+Marie, "but I thought no one was allowed to travel on the barges,
+except the people who ran them and lived on them." "That is true," said
+Germaine, "but uncle has fixed all that; you know he sends lots of
+brick to Rouen by the barges--one is being loaded up now at the quay,
+and he has arranged that we go on it to Rouen and stay on the barge
+while it is being unloaded, and see the fêtes. Then we will come back
+by train. Won't it be glorious?" "And," chimed in Jean, "papa is going
+to tell us all about the history of these fêtes after dinner."
+
+M. Daboll's home was a neat little cottage, with its upper part of
+black beams and white plaster, and a pretty red-tiled roof, the ground
+floor being of stone. M. Daboll owned a large brick-kiln, and was quite
+well-to-do.
+
+They all gathered for dinner about a round table in an arbour that
+overlooked the river. The arbour was ingeniously formed by training
+the branches of two trees and interlacing them as if they were vines,
+which gave complete shelter from the sun.
+
+Every one was eager to listen to Marie's account of her school life
+at the convent. It was a very old convent, with beautiful gardens
+surrounding it, built as usual around a courtyard, in the centre of
+which was a statue of St. Antoine, who is a favourite patron saint of
+schools, and considered the special guardian of children. He also,
+according to tradition, helps one find lost articles, and as we all
+know how school-children are always losing their belongings, this may
+be another reason for having the kind St. Antoine as a protector of
+school-children. At six the girls are up, and study an hour before
+the "little breakfast" of a roll and butter and chocolate or coffee.
+Lessons take up the time until noon, when they have their dinner of
+soup, meat, vegetable, and cider, with a _gâteau_, as they call a
+cake, on Sundays. After dinner they are taught plain sewing, and when
+the sewing hour is over they can play about the gardens until the
+study hour comes around again. A plain supper of bread and cheese,
+chocolate or milk, follows, and by nine o'clock every one is in bed.
+The children dress very simply,--plain cotton frocks, which indoors are
+always completely covered with a black apron or _tablier_. On Thursdays
+they have a half-holiday, and in the care of the Sisters go on little
+excursions or walks in the neighbourhood. A pleasant, simple life, and,
+as M. Lafond said, as he pinched Marie's cheek, "It seems to agree with
+you, my dear."
+
+"Now, papa, you promised to tell us about these Norman Fêtes," said
+Jean, when the table had been cleared away, and the little coffee-cups
+brought out.
+
+"So I will, Jean, and first you bring me that big roll which you will
+find on the side-table in the dining-room."
+
+Jean was back with it directly, and Uncle Daboll unrolled a big poster,
+advertising the fêtes. It showed a fine, strong man in ancient armour,
+seated on a prancing horse, carrying on his arm a shield, emblazoned
+with two red lions, and holding aloft a spear. Below him on the river
+were to be seen three small boats, each with one sail, and also
+arranged so that it could be rowed by hand.
+
+"This represents Rollo," went on M. Daboll, as the children clustered
+around him, "the leader of a great race of people whose home was in
+the cold, far-away North. Tall people they were, with golden hair, and
+great sailors, who sailed in tiny ships, like those you see in the
+picture, over the bleak, stormy sea which lies between their land and
+France, until they came to the river Seine, where it empties into the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+
+"They rowed up the river and camped where the fine city of Rouen
+now stands, and from these fair-haired Northmen are descended the
+present-day Normans. It has been many centuries since all this
+happened, so the good people of Rouen thought this a suitable time to
+celebrate the founding of their city, and of the great Norman race, at
+one time the most powerful in France."
+
+"And at Rouen we shall also see the spot where poor Jeanne d'Arc was
+burned," said Marie. "We have just been reading her history at the
+school."
+
+"Tell us her story again," said Jean.
+
+"She will on the barge. You will have plenty of time then," said M.
+Lafond; "but we must be getting home now. It is quite a walk, and our
+little Marie must be tired after her long day."
+
+It was about six o'clock in the morning of the next day when the gay
+little party found themselves on the barge bound for Rouen.
+
+"Now here comes our tow that we must tie up to," said the bargeman, as
+a tug with five barges in tow came puffing down the river; and taking
+a long pole with a hook in the end of it, he began pushing the barge
+away from the shore until it moved toward the middle of the river. Then
+the tugboat slowed down until the long line of barges was just creeping
+along; one could hardly see that they moved at all. Just as the last
+one passed that which carried our party, the man in the stern of it
+threw them a rope which was quickly caught and fastened to the forward
+end, and as it grew taut, the barge began to move and soon took its
+place at the tail-end of the long procession.
+
+The children at once began to make themselves at home in their new
+surroundings. "Did you ever see anything nicer?" said Germaine, as she
+dragged Marie into the little house under the big tiller, where the
+bargeman and his wife lived.
+
+"Does it not look like a doll's house?" said Marie, as they went down
+the ladder into the tiny living room. Everything was as neat as could
+be, and painted white, with lace curtains at each of the small windows.
+
+It was wonderful how much could be stowed away inside, and yet leave
+plenty of room. A sewing-machine stood in one corner; a bird-cage was
+hanging in the window, and a little stove, a table to dine on, and a
+couple of chairs completed the arrangements, save the pictures on the
+walls, the china in a neat little cupboard, and the beds which were
+built like shelves, one above the other, to allow all the floor space
+possible. On deck, one side of the house was given up to a shelf full
+of gay flowers in pots, and vines were trained up against the side
+of the house. There was also on deck a chest to hold the meat and
+vegetables, so as to keep them cool and fresh, and a small cask was
+made into a house for the dog. Every barge has its dog and cat, which
+usually get on together very well, considering their crowded quarters.
+Everything about the house end of the barge was painted white with
+green trimmings, and all was very clean and neat.
+
+Jean then came up to tell them that he had found out that every barge
+in the tow belonged to a different owner. This he had learned from the
+gaudy colours with which they were decorated. "You will see," said
+he, "that ours has a big white triangle with a smaller red triangle
+inside of that painted on the bow. The one next to us has a broad red
+band with two white circles, and there is another yellow with two big
+blue stars on either side. These are the distinguishing marks of the
+different companies to which they belong."
+
+They were now leaving behind them the great high cliffs of white chalk
+that shine like snow, through which the river runs almost all the way
+from Mantes to Rouen. Just here it wound through rich green meadows.
+Along the water's edge were clumps of willow-trees, whose long, pliable
+twigs are used by the country people to weave baskets. They trim off
+the branches, but leave the tree standing for more branches to grow,
+and so they never use up their basket material. The French take very
+good care of their trees, and when they cut one down, always plant
+another in its place.
+
+Often the barge passed other long tows, whose barge-people would shout
+greetings across to them. For most _bargees_ are acquainted, at least
+by sight, and the dogs would bark "How do you do's" as well. Great coal
+barges from Belgium passed, having come laden many hundreds of miles
+across France; and others with hogsheads of wine from the south, which
+have been brought by sea to Rouen.
+
+A merry dinner was served on a table on deck under an awning. The wife
+of the bargeman had cooked a good meal on the little stove which stood
+on one of the hatches right out in the open. They had a favourite
+country soup first, beef and cabbage soup with a crust of bread in it.
+(French soups are usually called _potage_, though the real country
+soup is often known by the name we call it ourselves--_soupe_.) Then
+there was a crisp green salad, big jugs of Normandy cider, which is a
+beautiful golden colour, _blanquette de veau_, which is veal with a
+nice white egg sauce over it. _Lapin garnne_ followed, which is nothing
+more than stewed rabbit, and a dish of which all French people are very
+fond, and have nearly every day when it is in season. Fresh Normandy
+cream cheese and cherries and little cakes finished the meal, with the
+usual coffee and _calvados_ for the older people.
+
+"We will soon see Pont de l'Arche," said the bargeman, and they had
+barely finished dinner when the picturesque church of the town was seen
+rising above the trees.
+
+"It has no spire nor towers; it looks like half of a church," said Jean.
+
+"Which is true, but it is quite a famous church, nevertheless," said
+his father. "It is probably the only church in the world which is
+dedicated to 'Art and to the Artists.'"
+
+"Our Lady of the Arts" it is called. Artists are beginning to visit it
+more from year to year, and it is a veritable place of pilgrimage now.
+
+The barge soon passed under the old bridge at Pont de l'Arche, and left
+behind the church, standing high above the town, a landmark for miles
+along the river.
+
+Marie had promised to tell the children the story of Jeanne d'Arc, as
+they wanted to have it fresh in their minds when they visited Rouen,
+for every part of this old city is full of memories of this wonderful
+little peasant girl who saved her country, and, by so doing, made
+possible the existence of the great French nation of to-day.
+
+Sitting under the awning, as the barge glided along, Marie told the
+story of the little peasant girl, only sixteen years old, who lived in
+the far-away village of Domremy. Believing that Heaven had chosen her
+to save her country from the hands of the English, she made her way to
+the court of Charles VII., then King of France. It was at Chinon in
+the valley of the Loire--that other great river of France--that she
+finally reached her king, and in one of the great castles, whose ruins
+still crown the heights above the city, eloquently pleaded her cause.
+Visitors there to-day can see the room with its great fireplace in
+which this famous meeting took place.
+
+Her plea convinced the king, and she was made commander-in-chief of the
+army, which she led on to Orleans, raised the siege of that city, and
+drove the English off. There is to-day no city in France as proud of
+the "Maid" as is Orleans; indeed she is known as the "Maid of Orleans."
+The house she is supposed to have stayed in is now preserved as a
+museum, and every May, on the anniversary of the day on which the siege
+was raised, a great celebration takes place in front of the cathedral,
+and a procession of priests and people carrying banners marches around
+the town chanting hymns in her praise. Jeanne d'Arc did break the power
+of the English in France, true to her promise, and finally brought
+King Charles to the magnificent cathedral at Reims, where the French
+kings were always crowned, and herself, amid great rejoicing, placed
+the crown upon his head. But the king forgot what the "Maid" had done
+for him and for his country, apparently, and finally she was betrayed
+into the hands of her enemies, who took her to Rouen, and, after
+a mock trial, poor Jeanne was sentenced to death, and burnt in the
+market-place at Rouen.
+
+In later years the French nation recognized the great good she had
+done, and the memory of the little peasant girl of Domremy is loved and
+venerated throughout the land. There is scarcely a city in France that
+has not honoured her in some way, either by erecting a statue to her,
+or naming a _place_ or street in her honour.
+
+The children were so much interested in the wonderful story of Jeanne
+d'Arc that they had not realized how time was flying. They were drawing
+near Rouen, for over the flat fields of the river valley on the left
+rose the tall chimneys of the cotton factories at Oissel and Elbeuf.
+
+There is much cotton cloth made in the vicinity of Rouen, and shipped
+all over France. On the quays there may be seen the bales of cotton
+that is grown on the plantations in the Southern States of America,
+and shipped from New Orleans direct to Rouen.
+
+Just here the bargeman pointed out to them the tiny church of St.
+Adrien. The "Rock Church," as it is known, is cut out of the chalk
+cliff, hanging high above the river. It looks like a bird's house
+perched up so high, with its four small windows and tiny bell-tower.
+
+Presently Uncle Daboll said, "Look way down the river, children, and
+tell me what you see."
+
+"Oh," cried Jean, "I see three church spires."
+
+"More than that," said Germaine. "I can count seven."
+
+"Both of you are right," said Uncle Daboll. "The three spires are
+those of three of the most beautiful churches in France. That tall,
+needle-like one belongs to the Cathedral of Notre Dame."
+
+[Illustration: "THE CITY BEGAN TO UNFOLD BEFORE THEM"]
+
+"There is one which looks as if it has a crown on the top," said
+Germaine.
+
+"It does look like a crown made of stone, and so it has been called the
+'Crown of Normandy.' It is on the central tower of the church of St.
+Ouen."
+
+The city began to unfold before them, with its long rows of quays lined
+with shops, hotels, and cafés on the one side, and ships from all parts
+of the world on the other.
+
+Their barge soon deftly glided into what seemed a perfect tangle
+of barges of all kinds, and came to anchor next to a big Belgian
+coal-carrier, whose occupants, like themselves, were evidently bent on
+getting as much enjoyment out of their visit to Rouen as possible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE FÊTES AT ROUEN
+
+
+IT was growing dark when our little party scrambled over the decks of
+several barges, and finally found themselves walking up the quay.
+
+The lights were beginning to twinkle in all directions, and in a few
+minutes the river and city were ablaze. It seemed like fairyland to the
+children. The bridges were outlined with golden globes and festoons of
+tiny lamps of red, white, and blue. Wreaths of lights, in the shape of
+flowers of all colours, made innumerable arches of light across the
+streets. Everywhere were flags grouped about shields on which were the
+letters R. F., which stand for the words "Republic of France."
+
+Walking in any direction was not easy. A mass of people swaying hither
+and thither blocked streets, bridges, and quays. Our little Les Andelys
+party did not attempt to stem the torrent. "We will just drift along,"
+said Uncle Daboll, "and see what we can, and you children hold each
+other's hands and keep closely to us."
+
+It was a motley and most good-natured crowd. Ladies in Parisian gowns
+mingled with country women in their fanciful white caps, kerchiefs, and
+short skirts. There were Breton fisherfolk and dark-skinned people from
+the far south; sailors and soldiers in their gay red and blue uniforms,
+and every now and then one would hear a clear English voice.
+
+Vendors of toys for the little ones, and souvenirs for everybody,
+stood on every corner and did a flourishing trade, and high above
+the heads of every one floated masses of the small red, white, and
+blue balloons, held captive on a long string, without which no French
+fête is complete. On the sidewalk in front of the cafés, people were
+sitting at small tables sipping their coffee and the numberless sweet
+drinks of which the French are so fond, while at each café a band
+was playing for the amusement of its guests, but was also enjoyed
+by the passing throngs. It took the combined efforts of many natty
+policemen--"_gendarmes_," they are called--to keep an open pathway
+through the crowd.
+
+A _gendarme_ looks more like a soldier than a policeman, in his dark
+blue uniform and soldier-cap, a short sword by his side, and a cape
+over his shoulders, all of which gives him quite a military air.
+
+Presently, at a corner, they were stopped by an even denser throng who
+were watching a gaily dressed crowd of people entering a brilliantly
+decorated and illuminated building.
+
+"What is this?" asked Uncle Daboll of a man near him.
+
+"It is the grand costume ball at the theatre, where every one is
+expected to dress in old Norman costume," was the answer.
+
+"Oh," said Germaine, "that is why the ladies are wearing those funny
+tall head-dresses; look, Marie, there is one quite near us."
+
+The costume was both pretty and odd. The lady had on a white head-dress
+made of embroidered muslin, very like a sunbonnet in shape, with a high
+crown, around which was tied a big bow of ribbon. A bright-coloured
+kerchief was about her neck, and she wore a square-necked cloth bodice
+neatly laced in front, with sleeves to the elbow; underneath this was a
+white _chemisette_, as it is called. Around the neck and sleeves of the
+bodice were bands of velvet. A very short skirt, gathered as full as
+possible about the waist, a dainty little apron of coloured silk with
+lace insertion, wooden _sabots_, prettily carved, and lace mitts on
+her hands, completed her unusual costume.
+
+The gentleman with her was also in Norman dress. He had big baggy
+trousers, a high velvet waistcoat embroidered in bright colours, a
+short round jacket with gold buttons, a high white collar with a big
+red silk handkerchief tied in a bow around the neck, enormous _sabots_,
+and all topped off with a high silk hat, with a straight brim.
+
+While the children were busy looking at the details of the costumes,
+a carriage halted so near Germaine that she could have put out her
+hand and touched its occupant, who was a young girl about her own age.
+Germaine was at once attracted to her. She had a sweet pretty face,
+bright rosy cheeks, and soft blue eyes; her waving, brown hair fell
+loosely about her shoulders, and across her white dress was draped a
+small silk flag which Germaine recognized as the British flag, known
+as the "_Union Jack_." She wore a wreath of red roses and carried in
+her hand a bunch of the same flowers in which were stuck two small
+silk flags--one French and the other British. Beside her sat a portly
+gentleman in a gorgeous robe of black and red trimmed with fur, while
+around his neck was a massive golden chain.
+
+As Germaine was watching her, the little girl leaned eagerly out of
+the carriage window, and in so doing dropped her bouquet at Germaine's
+feet. "Oh, papa, I have lost my flowers," she cried. Meanwhile Germaine
+quickly picked them up, and handed them back to her; and not a moment
+too soon, for the carriage was moving on again and the bouquet would
+have been crushed under its wheels.
+
+"Thank you so much," cried the little girl, looking back and waving
+her hand. Germaine did not understand the words, but knew she had been
+thanked in English.
+
+Germaine had been so taken up with this little incident that she had
+not noticed that the crowd had separated her from her companions. Her
+heart gave a bound, and with a startled cry she realized that only
+strange faces were about her, and she stood motionless with fright. Her
+terror was fortunately short-lived, for through the crowd she saw Uncle
+Daboll making his way toward her, and rushing up to him thankfully
+clasped his hand, which he made her promise not to loose again until
+they were safe back on the barge.
+
+It was not until later, when they were sitting on the deck of the barge
+watching the fireworks on the heights around the city leave fiery
+streaks and showers of shining stars on the blackness of the summer
+sky, that Germaine had the opportunity of telling the family of her
+adventure with the "little girl of the roses," as she called her.
+
+Aunt Daboll thought that probably she belonged to one of the parties
+of English visitors who had come to Rouen to take part in the Fêtes.
+
+Very early the following morning they finished their coffee and rolls
+and began their round of sightseeing, all of which had to be crowded
+into the morning, as the afternoon was to be given over to the Water
+Tournament, to which the children were looking forward with great
+excitement.
+
+Jean, especially, had been impressed with the posters which showed in
+brilliant colours men in unfamiliar dress, tumbling into the water and
+being fished out again, with, apparently, great unconcern as to the
+consequences.
+
+"Well, what shall we see first?" asked Uncle Daboll.
+
+"Oh, the big clock," said Jean, "and then let's climb the iron spire of
+the cathedral."
+
+Germaine wanted to see where poor Jeanne d'Arc had been put to death;
+the others were ready for anything.
+
+"Everywhere one sees the name of Jeanne d'Arc," said Marie. "This
+street is named after her, and last night we were in the Boulevard
+Jeanne d'Arc."
+
+"And just at the top of this same street," said Uncle Daboll, "we shall
+see the Tower of Jeanne d'Arc, where the poor girl was imprisoned
+during her mock trial in the great castle, of which only this one tower
+is left standing."
+
+They soon turned into a narrow street, and there was the great clock,
+built in a tower, under which runs the roadway itself.
+
+Another turning brought them to the Palais de Justice, with its big
+dormer windows elaborately carved in stone.
+
+A few steps more, and they were in the old market-place, and little
+Germaine with bated breath looked at the stone let into the pavement
+at her feet, which marks the spot where poor Jeanne bravely met her
+terrible death by fire. All about the place the market people were
+peddling their wares, bargaining and calling out the merits of their
+various vegetables and fruits and poultry, the scene not unlike what it
+may have been in those olden days when the Normans ruled.
+
+Our party could not, however, linger very long over memories of the
+"Maid," for Uncle Daboll hurried them away to see the great church of
+St. Ouen, with such large windows that it seems to have walls of glass,
+and its curious Portal of the Marmosets, all over which are carved
+little animals which look like ferrets. They passed the little church
+of St. Maclou, set like a gem in a tangle of streets that were little
+more than alleys. As Jean said, the tall, old houses seemed to be
+leaning over toward one another as if they were trying to knock their
+heads together.
+
+At one street corner there had been erected a triumphal arch which was
+surmounted by a facsimile of the statue of William the Conqueror, the
+original of which stands in the little Norman town of Falaise, where he
+was born.
+
+All French children know the history of this great Norman, who was an
+unknown boy in an obscure little village, but who in time sailed across
+what is now known as the English Channel, conquered England, and made
+himself King of England as well as Duke of Normandy.
+
+When they came to the cathedral, our party were glad to enter and rest
+awhile within the cool, lofty aisles and say a short prayer.
+
+Marie remembered her favourite St. Antoine and dropped two sous in the
+box at the foot of his statue, for the poor.
+
+While Uncle Daboll and Jean climbed up the iron spire, the rest of the
+party were taken by the "_suisse_" to see the chapels with their tombs
+and tapestries.
+
+The _suisse_ is an imposing person in gorgeous dress of black velvet
+and gold lace, a big three-cornered hat covered with gold braid,
+white silk stockings, shoes with big buckles, and he carries a tall
+gold-headed stock.
+
+It is his duty to guard the church and, for a small fee, to show
+visitors the chapels and other parts of the church not generally open.
+
+Marie and Germaine felt quite in awe of him at first. They had never
+seen anything so magnificent before, but seeing their great interest in
+all that he pointed out to them, he unbent, and when he showed Germaine
+the spot where was buried the heart of King Richard, and she told
+him that she lived near the great castle the king had built, at Les
+Andelys, he smiled in a most friendly way, and patted her on the head.
+
+It was quite a change when, after Uncle Daboll and Jean joined them,
+they went out from the dark church into the square blazing with
+sunlight, and full of booths with all sorts of things to sell, toys,
+souvenirs, and picture post-cards galore.
+
+Jean was full of his experiences in the tower: how they went up a
+little winding stairway to the very top, and they could see for miles
+around the city, and how the people looked like tiny black dots far
+below; and how, when coming down, he got a bit dizzy, and his father
+made him shut his eyes and sit still for a minute or two; but that was
+doing better than a grown man who was just behind them, and who had to
+go back just after they had started.
+
+When Jean had finished telling his experiences, everybody found out
+that they were very hungry. Uncle Daboll laughed, and said he had never
+known them to be so much of one mind before.
+
+"Well, follow me, little ones, and we shall find something," he said,
+and led the way down the street, gay with flags, wreaths, and flowers.
+
+"Just one moment, uncle," cried Marie, "let us stop and buy some
+post-cards to send home."
+
+"It will be better," said Uncle Daboll, "to get them after dinner, and
+while we are having our coffee at a café we can write them and send
+them off. If we stop now, we shall be late for dinner, for it is past
+noon."
+
+"Here is our place for dinner," he continued, as they entered a small
+square surrounded by old-time houses near the river. On one side was a
+modest little hotel called the "Three Merchants." Going up an outside
+stairway, they entered a small room with a low ceiling and a stone
+floor, with a long table down the centre.
+
+It was a typical place for the farmers to come for their dinners when
+they brought their produce into the markets. Some of these farmers
+were now sitting at the table with blue or black blouses over their
+broadcloth suits, with their wives in black dresses and white caps, all
+talking and gesticulating away over their dinner.
+
+There were two pleasant-faced curés in their long, tight black gowns
+closely buttoned up the front, the brims of their flat black hats
+caught up on either side with a cord, who had evidently come in from
+some country parish to see the fêtes. There was also a solitary
+bicyclist whose costume betrayed the fact that he was a Frenchman, for
+no other bicyclists in the world get themselves up in so juvenile a
+manner as do the French. A loose black alpaca coat, a broad waistband
+in which was sewed his purse, baggy knickerbockers of gray plaid, and
+socks with low shoes, leaving the leg bare to the knee, completed his
+marvellous costume.
+
+You would think this a little boy's dress in America, would you not?
+
+These were the guests to whom our party nodded, which is a polite and
+universal French custom when entering and leaving a room where others
+are, even though they may be unknown to you.
+
+After a bountiful middle-class dinner, our party passed out into the
+crowded streets again, when the energetic Jean exclaimed: "Now for our
+post-cards!"
+
+"Now for a place to rest a little while," cried uncle and aunt in the
+same breath.
+
+"Here is a pleasant, cool-looking little café across the street; the
+one with the green shrubs in boxes before it. We will have our coffee
+there while you select your post-cards. You will find them in that
+corner shop."
+
+In a few minutes the children were back with the cards. Jean had
+selected a view of the cathedral, because he wanted to show his uncle
+and aunt the great spire up which he had climbed; Marie sent several
+showing the decorations in the streets to various of her school
+friends, and Germaine did not forget her friend, M. Auguste, after
+sending one each to her father and mother.
+
+Before two o'clock everybody was hurrying toward the river to see the
+water sports.
+
+"Oh, aunty," cried Germaine, pulling her aunt by the sleeve, "look,
+there is my 'little girl of the roses,' see, walking this way with
+those ladies and gentlemen!"
+
+Germaine was quite trembling with excitement as she saw the little girl
+recognized her, and came quickly toward them.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad to see you," she cried. "I have wanted to see you
+again to thank you. Oh, but isn't it stupid of me?" she went on, with a
+sign of vexation. "Of course you don't know English, and I can't speak
+French, except to say _merci_ and _bon jour_ and _bon soir_, so how
+can we talk to each other?" Then she stopped and laughed, and Germaine
+laughed, too, and the two little girls stood smiling at one another,
+when the portly gentleman, whom Germaine had seen in the carriage,
+hurried up. "Ethel, my dear, why did you run off like this?"
+
+"Oh, papa, this is the little girl who handed me back my roses, when
+they fell from the carriage last night. You know my special programme
+was tied with the flowers, and I would not have lost it for anything."
+
+Just then some French people came up who also spoke English, and the
+little girl explained the situation. Germaine then learned that Ethel
+was the daughter of the mayor of the English town of Hastings, and
+he had been invited to represent England at the fêtes, for it was at
+Hastings that William the Conqueror had landed, and near there that
+the great battle of Hastings was fought, which gave England to the
+Normans.
+
+That was so very long ago that everybody in England is now very proud
+of it, and the English cousins from Hastings were taking as much
+interest in the fêtes as the French themselves.
+
+Germaine blushed while the gentleman was telling her all this, and
+Ethel took a little English flag that she had pinned on her dress and
+gave it to Germaine. When Ethel's papa heard where Germaine lived, he
+said he had been to Les Andelys, he had stayed at the Belle Étoile, and
+knew M. Auguste, and perhaps next year he would come there again and
+bring Ethel and her mother, and then they should all meet again.
+
+After the French gentleman kindly made all this known to Germaine, the
+little girls shook hands and parted, for the Tournament had begun.
+
+Two queer-looking craft, much like gondolas, took up their positions,
+one at either end of the course. The crew of one had a white costume
+with red sashes and red caps--the other was in similar dress, except
+that their caps and sashes were blue. These respective crews were known
+as the "Blues" and the "Reds."
+
+On a raised platform at the end of his boat stood a "Red," with a long
+lance at rest; opposite was a "Blue" in the same position. At a given
+signal, the boats came toward one another, and one lance-man attempted
+to push the other off into the water.
+
+Great was the excitement among their partisans on the banks, and cries
+of encouragement came from friends on either side. Jean had picked out
+the "Blue" as his choice, while Marie and Germaine hoped the "Red"
+would win. By this time the children were standing on their chairs,
+Jean waving his cap with great enthusiasm. Suddenly "Red" gave a
+stronger push, and down went poor "Blue," head foremost in the water.
+However, he did not seem to mind it, as he sat dripping in the rescue
+boat. Jean felt rather badly over the fall of his hero, but another man
+took his place, and this time Jean's man won, to his intense delight.
+So the fun went on until late in the afternoon. Another evening's walk
+through the illuminated city, and the children were quite ready for
+their beds on the barge,--for the men of the party slept on deck while
+the rest had the little house to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+GOING HOME BY TRAIN
+
+
+IT was with real regret that our little friends parted from the good
+barge people and their floating home, as well as from the beautiful
+city of Rouen, where they had seen so much, and had such a good time.
+
+Germaine, who had not been before in a big railway station, was
+somewhat bewildered at the confusion about her, while Jean, who had
+been once to Mantes, was proud to be able to explain things to her. The
+tall man in a blue uniform was the station-master, and one could always
+tell him from the other blue-uniformed officials, because he wore a
+white cap. It was his duty to send off the trains, which he does by
+blowing a small whistle, after which some one rings a hand-bell that
+sounds like a dinner-bell, and off goes the train.
+
+The men who were pushing luggage around on small hand-trucks were the
+porters, in blue blouses like any French working man, except they were
+belted in at the waist by a broad band of red and black stripes.
+
+Presently the station-master whistled off their train. "Keep a sharp
+lookout," said Uncle Daboll, "and, as soon as we leave this tunnel we
+are now going through, look out on the right side and you will have a
+fine view of the city."
+
+Sure enough, in a few minutes they were on the bridge, crossing the
+river, and before them stretched out a panorama of Rouen, with a jumble
+of factory chimneys and church spires, and rising above all the grand
+three-towered cathedral.
+
+Perhaps American children might like to know what French trains
+are like; they are so different from theirs in every way. To begin
+with, there are first, second and third class cars,--carriages, they
+are called,--and each carriage is divided into compartments, each
+compartment holding six persons in the first class, three on each side,
+and eight persons in the second, and in the third class, five on a
+side--ten in all. There is a door and two small windows in each end of
+a compartment.
+
+The first and second classes have cushioned seats, but there are only
+wooden benches in the third. In many of the third class the divisions
+between the compartments are not carried up to the roof, and one can
+look over and see who his neighbours may be. The people who travel
+third class on French railways are a very sociable lot, and every
+one soon gets to talking. A French third class carriage under these
+conditions is the liveliest place you were ever in, especially when the
+train stops at a town on market-day and many people are about, as they
+were on this occasion.
+
+Well! Such a hubbub, and such a time as they had getting all their
+various baskets and belongings in with them.
+
+The big ruddy-faced women pulled themselves in with great difficulty,
+for these trains are high from the ground and hard to get into,
+especially when one has huge baskets on one's arm, and innumerable
+boxes and bundles are being pushed in after one by friends.
+
+The men come with farming tools, bags of potatoes, and their big
+_sabots_, all taking up a lot of room.
+
+One tall stout woman, with a basket in either hand, got stuck in the
+doorway until Uncle Daboll gave her a helping hand and her friends
+pushed her from the outside. She finally plumped down on a seat quite
+out of breath, when from under the cover of one basket two ducks' heads
+appeared with a loud "quack, quack, quack." "Ah, my beauties, get
+back," and she tapped them playfully and shut the lid down, but out
+popped their heads again with another series of "quacks," just like a
+double jack-in-the-box. How the children laughed, and that made them
+all friends at once.
+
+Germaine offered to hold one of her baskets, for there was not a bit of
+room in the overhead racks, or anywhere else. When she took it on her
+knee, she thought she saw a gleam of bright eyes through the cracks,
+and sure enough it was full of little white rabbits. The old woman,
+seeing her interest, let her stroke their sensitive little ears, while
+she told how she had bought them at a _bon marché_, a good bargain, and
+was taking them home to her grandchild, just Germaine's age.
+
+Next to her were two women who were evidently carrying on some dispute
+that had begun early in the day, and each was bent on having the last
+word. So their talk went on, an endless stream, while the fat woman sat
+by and laughed at them both. Perhaps no wonder one of them was cross.
+She looked every little while at a big basket of eggs she carried,
+some of which were broken, and with small wonder, it would seem to
+inexperienced eyes, for they were packed in the basket without anything
+between them. When she found one badly broken, she swallowed it, as
+much as to say, "That is safe anyway," and then she would talk faster
+than ever.
+
+Uncle Daboll talked to the man next him about market prices, and the
+cider crop, and what a fine fruit year it was. One had only to look out
+at the orchards they were passing to see the truth of this, for the
+apple-trees were so full of fruit that branches had to be propped up
+with poles to keep them from breaking down.
+
+In the next compartment a party of four were playing dominoes, one of
+the women who was with them having spread out her apron for a table.
+
+Another party was evidently making up for a meal they had lost, while
+doing business. The mother took from a basket a part of a big loaf,
+from which she cut slices and distributed them, with a bit of cheese,
+to her party, at the same time passing around a jug of cider.
+
+There was an exciting time when one of the chickens escaped from a
+market-basket and had to be chased all over the carriage. Such a
+clattering of tongues, flapping of wings, and distressful clucks from
+the poor fowl, which was at last caught just as she was about to fly
+out of a window, were never heard before.
+
+The chattering was increased by elaborate good-byes, as one by one the
+passengers dropped off at the small stations. No one grumbled at having
+to help sort out the luggage each time, but cheerfully and politely
+helped disentangle the belongings of the departing ones, and carefully
+helped to lift the baskets on to the platform, amid profuse thanks,
+where more friends and relations met them, and there was as much
+kissing on both cheeks as if they had been on a long journey instead of
+merely to market.
+
+At one of the stops Germaine noticed a woman, holding a horn and a
+small red flag, standing by the sliding gates, where the road crossed
+the railway. She had seen these women before along the line, and
+her uncle explained that the railway is fenced in on either side by
+hedges or wire fencing, and wherever a road or street crossed, there
+are gates, which must be kept closed while trains are passing. Not
+only must the gatekeeper, who is generally a woman, have the gates
+tight shut, but she must also stand beside them like a soldier at his
+post, with her brass horn in one hand and a red flag, rolled up, in
+the other, showing that she is prepared for any emergency. If she
+were not there, the engineer of the passing train would report it to
+headquarters, and she would doubtless be dismissed. The gatekeeper
+lives in a neat cottage adjoining, and some minutes before each train
+is due she takes the horn and flag from where they hang on the wall,
+and is at her post.
+
+At the station were M. and Madame Lafond to welcome them home, and you
+can imagine how everybody talked at once, and how much there was to
+tell. The fête at Rouen was the topic of conversation until its glories
+paled before Petit Andelys' own special fête, which was held some weeks
+after, and which our little friends, with true French patriotism,
+thought the finest in the world, not excepting the more elaborate
+affair at Rouen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE MARKET AT GRAND ANDELYS
+
+
+THERE was always much noise and activity in the farmyard of La
+Chaumière on Mondays, for that was market-day at Grand Andelys,--_the_
+important event in a country neighbourhood in France.
+
+For miles about, from the farms and small villages, every one meets in
+the market-place in the centre of the old town; not only to buy and
+sell, but to talk and be sociable, to hear news and tell it.
+
+The French folk are very industrious, and they do not take much time
+for idle gossip unless there is some profit connected with it; but on
+market-day they combine business with pleasure, and make good bargains
+and hear all the happenings of the countryside at the same time.
+
+"Come, Germaine," called out Marie, after dinner on this particular
+Monday, "let us see them put the little calves in the cart. Papa is
+going to take four of them to market."
+
+"I know it, but I felt so sorry I did not want to see them go," said
+Germaine, for she was very tender-hearted. Rather reluctantly she
+followed Marie into the farmyard. Marie was also very fond of the
+farm animals, but, having been away at school, had naturally not made
+such pets of them as had Germaine, who petted everything, from the
+big plough-horses to the tiny chickens just out of the shell. They
+were to her like friends, and it was really a grief to her when any
+of them were taken away to the market. But she tried to conquer the
+feeling, for it was part of her papa's business to sell cattle in the
+market, and he did so to provide for his two little daughters. All
+French parents, of whatever position, will stint and save in order to
+accumulate a "dot," as it is called, for their children, and will make
+any reasonable sacrifice to start them well in life.
+
+The four little calves had been tied in the cart with many bleatings,
+and much protesting on the part of their mothers. "Papa is going to
+take them to market, and mamma is to drive you and me," said Marie.
+
+Madame Lafond and the two girls climbed into the cart hung high above
+its two great wheels. All three sat together on the one seat, which
+was quite wide. These country carts are almost square and also rather
+pretty. They are built of small panels of wood arranged in more or less
+ornamental patterns, and are usually painted in bright colours, and
+have, also, a big hood which can be put up as a protection from the
+rain.
+
+The back of the cart was filled with baskets of eggs, from a specially
+famous variety of fowl, for which the farm was noted.
+
+[Illustration: THE MARKET-SQUARE]
+
+The road to Les Andelys was crowded with their neighbours and friends
+bound in the same direction, and all in the same style of high carts,
+drawn by a single horse.
+
+They drove beside the river that flows through the two villages, along
+which the washerwomen gathered when they washed their clothes. They
+knelt by a long plank and gossiped as they beat out the dirt with a
+paddle, rinsing the clothes afterward in the running water of the
+stream itself.
+
+At the town they drove into the courtyard of the hotel of the "Bon
+Laboureur," where there were dozens of country carts like their own,
+from which the horses had already been taken. They left the stableman
+to take charge of theirs, and walked across to the market-square.
+
+Booths, with awnings, held everything that could be imagined, from
+old cast-off pieces of iron, locks, keys and the like, to the newest
+kinds of clothing; for everything under the sun is sold at these
+markets, and it is here that the people do most of their shopping
+rather than in the shops. Laces, crockery, imitation jewelry and
+furniture, and most things useful to man or beast are sold here.
+
+Big umbrellas were stuck up for protection against sun and rain. Some
+of them were of brilliant colours, reds, blues, and greens, some were
+faded to neutral tints by the weathers of many market-days--looking
+like a field of big mushrooms.
+
+On one side of the square was the vegetable and fruit market, where
+the women in their neat cotton dresses and white caps sat under their
+umbrellas, with heaped up baskets of peas, beans, cauliflower, melons,
+and crisp green stuff for salads around them. These vegetable and fruit
+sellers are known as the "Merchants of the four seasons," because they
+sell, at various times, the products of the four seasons of the year.
+
+Near by were the geese, ducks, and chickens packed in big
+basket-crates, piled one on top of the other, and all clucking and
+restless. Quantities of little rabbits were also there, and when a
+buyer wished to know if the rabbit were in prime condition, he would
+lift it up by the back of its neck just as one does a kitten, and feel
+its backbone. One does not know whether the poor rabbits like it or
+not, but they look very frightened, and seem glad when it is over.
+
+Madame Lafond made her way toward the egg-market, where the eggs are
+displayed piled up in great baskets, stopping to speak to a friend or
+an acquaintance by the way. She was soon in her accustomed place, and
+had opened up her eggs for her customers, for eggs from La Chaumière
+never went begging.
+
+The two little children of the wagon-maker joined Marie and Germaine,
+and the four amused themselves looking at the booths, and planning what
+they would buy if they had the money, or amused themselves watching the
+crowd that quite filled the big market-place. "There are the English,"
+some one said, and, turning, Germaine saw her friend Mr. Carter, and
+his wife, the Americans who were spending the summer at the Belle
+Étoile, standing at one of the booths, buying a _baton Normand_, a
+rough stick of native wood, with a head of plaited leather, and a
+leather loop to hold it on the arm, for they are used by the peasants
+in driving cattle, and they frequently want to have their hands
+otherwise quite free. "This will make me a good walking-stick," said
+Mr. Carter, coming up to the little girls and shaking hands with them.
+"This is your sister back from school, eh? Well, when are you two going
+to take that ride with me?"
+
+It had been a promise of long standing that when Marie was at home,
+they were to go for a day's trip in Mr. Carter's big automobile. "Well,
+I must fix on a day, and let M. Auguste send word to your mamma so
+that you and Marie can come to the Belle Étoile, and we can start from
+there."
+
+"Won't it be lovely?" said Marie; "we shall feel as fine as M. Lecoq,
+the rich farmer who comes to market in his great auto, wearing his fur
+coat over his blouse, with his _sabots_ on just as if he was in the
+farm wagon, riding behind his four white oxen."
+
+All French working men wear the blouse. It is almost like a uniform,
+and by the colour of his blouse one can generally guess a man's trade.
+Painters, masons, grocers, and bakers wear the white blouse; mechanics
+and the better class of farmers seem to prefer black, and the ordinary
+peasants and labourers wear blue.
+
+The blouse is made like a big full shirt, and reaches nearly to the
+knees. You will see men well dressed in black broadcloth, white shirts
+and neat ties, and over all the blouse. It is really worn now to
+protect the clothes, but is a survival of the olden times when all
+trades wore a livery.
+
+At the market at Grand Andelys one could but notice the neatly dressed
+hair of the women folk.
+
+All Frenchwomen, of whatsoever class, always dress their hair neatly
+and prettily: and as the young girls seldom wear a hat or a bonnet, it
+shows off to so much better advantage. This is all very well in summer,
+but one wonders that they do not take cold in winter. The women wear
+felt slippers, and thrust their feet into their _sabots_, when they go
+out, which are not so clumsy as those of the men, dropping them at the
+door when they come into the house. You will always see several pairs
+of _sabots_ around the entrance to the home of a French working man.
+
+The children by this time had got to where the calves stood in their
+little fenced-in enclosure. They were not put in the market by the
+church with the big cattle, and Germaine felt much happier when she
+heard that they had been sold for farm purposes, and not for veal to
+the big butcher in his long white apron, who stood by, jingling his
+long knives that hung at his side from a chain around his waist.
+
+As they were near the bakers', Marie suggested they buy a _brioche_,
+and take it home to eat with their chocolate. _Brioche_ is a very
+delicate bread made with eggs and milk, and is esteemed as a great
+delicacy. The bakery looked very tempting filled with bread of all
+kinds and shapes,--sticks of bread a yard long, loaves like a big ring
+with a hole in the middle, big flat loaves which would nearly cover a
+small table, twisted loaves and square loaves.
+
+When they had made their purchases and rejoined their mother, they
+found her with Madame Daboll, who told them that poor M. Masson, the
+wealthy mill-owner, who had been ill so long, was dead, and there was
+to be a grand funeral at the church of St. Sauveur the next day.
+
+In France great respect is paid to the dead, and funerals are conducted
+with as much pomp as one's circumstances permit.
+
+M. Masson was connected, in one way or another, with nearly every one
+in the neighbourhood, and the little church of St. Sauveur was crowded
+with the friends and relatives all in deep black, the men wearing a
+band of crape on the arm. Over the church door was a sort of black
+lambrequin with the letter M. embroidered in silver. As the funeral
+passed through the streets, the "_suisse_," the clergy, and the
+mourners, following the hearse on foot, made an impressive and solemn
+sight. As the cortège passed, all who met it bowed their heads or
+removed their hats, as is the custom all over Europe.
+
+The only thing out of place seemed to be the ugly wreaths made of
+black, white, and purple beads, with which the hearse was covered. To
+our taste they seem hideous, but Germaine thought the white bead lilies
+with black jet leaves very beautiful, for she was used to seeing the
+graves in the small cemetery covered with such tributes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+GERMAINE AND THE ARTIST
+
+
+ALL artists are fond of painting French country life, and there is no
+part that they like better than the picturesque old villages, farms,
+and apple-orchards of Normandy, while perhaps Les Andelys is one of
+their favourite stopping-places.
+
+Germaine had made many friends among them, for they often came to draw
+or paint the quaint jumble of old buildings at La Chaumière.
+
+Germaine and the English artist who was staying at the Belle Étoile
+were great friends. He was painting near the farm, and he often dropped
+in to sit in their garden and drink a glass of cider.
+
+This warm bright morning Germaine could see his white umbrella under
+the apple-trees, whereupon she ran into the _laiterie_ where her mamma
+was putting away butter in stone jars for winter use.
+
+"Mamma, I see that Mr. Thomson is painting again in the field. It is so
+hot. May I not take him a glass of cider?"
+
+"Yes, truly, my little one, but do not stay too long, for I shall need
+you later to help me." Madame Lafond knew that when her little daughter
+was watching the painting of a picture, she would forget all about how
+time flies.
+
+Germaine went into the dark cellar where the large casks of cider
+were kept cool, and drawing off a jug full, took a glass, and holding
+an umbrella over her, carefully carried it down the hillside to Mr.
+Thomson, who was lying full length on the grass, smoking vigorously and
+scowling at his picture.
+
+"Oh, Germaine," he called out, when he caught sight of her, "you are a
+jewel, a good little girl to bring me a cold drink. It was just what I
+wanted, and I was too lazy to walk up to the farm and ask for it. I am
+stuck and can't do a bit of work. I don't believe this picture is good
+for anything, after all."
+
+Germaine could not believe this, for had she not heard Mr. Carter tell
+of pictures that Mr. Thomson had sold for so many thousands of francs
+that it took away her breath. Besides, did it not look just like her
+papa's wheat-field, with a bit of the river showing between the trees?
+
+She shook her head. "I think it is a most beautiful picture," she said
+as she looked at it admiringly.
+
+"Oh! if all the folk who buy pictures had your good taste, Germaine,
+how lucky we artist chaps would be," he said, draining the cider jug.
+"I feel much refreshed and must get to work again, for the light is
+changing fast. Sit there in the shade, child, and tell me what you are
+going to do at the fête of St. Sauveur next week."
+
+There was nothing Germaine liked better than to watch the picture
+grow under the quickly moving brushes; and Mr. Thomson talked to her
+so pleasantly in his queer French that it amused her. Germaine never
+smiled, even when he made mistakes in grammar that a French child of
+eight would not have made.
+
+The French are a proverbially polite people, and at no time is their
+politeness so apparent as when a foreigner is speaking their language.
+They never laugh nor take the slightest notice of the worst blunders,
+but with the greatest pains try to understand them, and even go out of
+their way to set them right.
+
+But to-day it was not the fête that Germaine wanted to talk about.
+"Tell me more about Paris," she said, shyly.
+
+"Oh, Germaine, you are just like all the world--wild about Paris,"
+laughed Mr. Thomson. He lived in Paris during the winter, and his big
+studio looked out on the fine old gardens of the Luxembourg, and from
+the windows could be seen the gilded dome of the Hôtel des Invalides,
+under which is the tomb of the great Napoleon.
+
+It was the dream of Germaine's life to see this wonderful city of Paris
+that she had heard so much about. So she listened eagerly when Mr.
+Thomson told her of the broad boulevards shaded by chestnut-trees, with
+fine shops on either side, and the great avenue of the Champs Élysées,
+at the end of which stands the Arch of Triumph, erected by Napoleon in
+memory of his victories.
+
+Along this avenue passes the gay world of Paris in carriages,
+automobiles, and on foot, bound for the Bois de Boulogne. A part of
+this great park is set aside for the special use of the children. No
+noisy automobile is allowed in this special enclosure, and carriages
+can only drive at a moderate pace. Here the Parisian mothers bring
+their children for a good time. They can romp over the grass and
+play among the pretty flower-beds; have games of tennis, croquet, or
+battledore and shuttlecock (which is a favourite game with them), while
+their older relatives sit around on little camp-stools, which every one
+carries with them to the parks, and talk or do fancy work.
+
+There are ornamental refreshment houses where cakes and milk and sweet
+drinks can be had: thus it is a veritable children's paradise!
+
+"But there is even more fun to be had in the gardens of the Tuileries;
+_there_ is where I would like to take you, Germaine," said Mr. Thomson.
+
+"There among bright flower-beds and shady alleys the little children
+play games around the feet of the marble statues; roll their hoops;
+run after their toy balloons; and trundle their dolls about, or sail
+toy boats with red, blue, or white sails, on the little pond, while
+their _bonnes_, or nurses we would call them, in their long cloaks and
+big caps with streamers of bright ribbons, sit gossiping on the benches.
+
+"We would walk along until we found Guignol, which English and American
+girls and boys call 'Punch and Judy;' but they would enjoy it just as
+much as do the French children, for even though Mr. Punch and Mrs. Judy
+speak French, the show is just the same.
+
+"And then we would go on a little farther and join the crowd standing
+around a man with birds flying all about him. He is the 'bird charmer,'
+who seems to draw the birds to him by some magic. He whistles, and they
+perch on his head, shoulders, and hands, eat out of his mouth, and
+perform tricks on the stick he holds in his hand. This greatly amuses
+the children, and they are always ready to give the man a few sous, so
+it is a profit to him as well as an amusement."
+
+Then there is the great Cathedral of Notre Dame, which is probably the
+best known church in all the world. It stands on the river bank, for
+Paris is built on either side of that same Seine that Germaine sees
+through the trees in the distance as she sits under the apple-trees on
+her father's farm.
+
+Mr. Thomson tells her also of the new Palace of Art, where, among
+many thousands of others, he hopes to exhibit this picture he is now
+painting; and of the beautiful Alexander III. bridge near it, with its
+lofty white columns crowned by the great golden-winged horses, named
+after a Czar of Russia, for the French and Russian people are very
+friendly.
+
+"Ah, yes! Paris is a great city," Mr. Thomson would always say when he
+had finished.
+
+"Papa said when I was older perhaps he would take Marie and me there,"
+said Germaine. "But now I must go," she added, jumping up; "mamma will
+be waiting for me to help her with the chickens," and saying good-bye
+to her friend, Germaine ran toward the farmyard gate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE FÊTE OF ST. SAUVEUR
+
+
+ST. SAUVEUR is the patron saint of Petit Andelys, and its little church
+is the church of St. Sauveur.
+
+Each year Petit Andelys, as do most of the towns of France, celebrates
+the fête-day of its patron, and does it so well that the lustre of the
+fête has spread far and wide, bringing many visitors, which pleases the
+good folk of the little town, for they are proud of it and everything
+connected therewith.
+
+The fête-day of St. Sauveur has no connection whatever with Petit
+Andelys' big twin town of Grand Andelys, which has its own fête, but
+nothing like so grand. There is some little jealousy between the two
+Andelys. The size and importance of Grand Andelys throws the other
+quite in the shade, but Petit Andelys has the river, and the people of
+Grand Andelys have to walk a dusty mile before they reach it, and that
+is one reason that visitors like the Belle Étoile.
+
+So Petit Andelys arranges its own fête. The mayor and its leading
+citizens organize committees, and great preparations go on for weeks
+beforehand.
+
+One day the children running out of school at the noon hour saw, in the
+square in front of the church, many wagons with poles, and flapping
+canvas strewn about. These were the booths for the fair, which were
+being put up.
+
+The great attraction of every fête is its fair, and these _foires_, as
+the French also call them, move about the country from town to town in
+wagons like an old-fashioned circus, planning to reach an important
+town for some special occasion--such as its fête-day.
+
+The participants in these fairs live in their lumbering wagons very
+much as do gipsies, selling all sorts of knickknacks, and performing
+little plays, or feats of agility or strength.
+
+In a few days the little town was dressed out with flags and wreaths,
+gay streamers and paper lanterns.
+
+Marie and Germaine, who were staying at their Uncle Daboll's for the
+fête, were awakened at five o'clock on the opening day by a succession
+of terrific noises, which were set forth on the official programme as a
+"Salvo of Artillery."
+
+They were soon dressed and out, but even at that early hour the whole
+town was astir. Later on the booths in the square opened up for
+business.
+
+There was a merry-go-round, "flying horses" the children call them,
+with big pink pigs to ride on, and swings in the shape of boats, and a
+marvellous "wheel of fortune" for those who wanted to try their luck.
+
+Germaine never tired of admiring what seemed to her the most beautiful
+things set out for sale.
+
+Jean's great ambition was to hit some of the pipes in the
+shooting-gallery, and win a wonderful knife that contained everything
+from a corkscrew to a file.
+
+The real gaiety, however, only began in the evening, when a torchlight
+procession marched up and down the main streets.
+
+First came the "Salvo of Artillery" again, which, after all, was a very
+simple affair. A cartridge was placed on a paving-stone and struck
+with a big hammer. It made a tremendous noise, however, and everybody
+jumped, and Germaine put her fingers in her ears when she saw the
+hammer coming down.
+
+Behind came men and boys carrying lighted paper lanterns, and then
+the band of the _pompiers_ (the village fire department), and then
+more people, while all along the route was burned red and green fire.
+Lanterns and fairy lamps in front of the houses and around the square
+were lighted, and the band played on a platform near the booths for the
+young people to dance.
+
+Jean rode on one of the pink pigs on the merry-go-round, but Marie and
+Germaine preferred the chairs shaped like swans, for they were afraid
+of slipping off the round pigs. The only trouble was that the man who
+had charge of these wonderful beasts cut the rides rather short.
+
+Uncle Daboll and M. Lafond broke several of the pipes in the
+shooting-gallery, and Germaine's papa even hit one of the funny paper
+ducks that kept bobbing up, and got a walking-stick for his pains, but
+no one succeeded in hitting the white ball that swung at the end of a
+string.
+
+Germaine's mamma bought her a little toy _laiterie_, which looked just
+like the one at their farm. There was a little cow on one side, and in
+the other the milk-pans and churn--all true to life.
+
+Perhaps the booth which had the most custom was the one with the
+gingerbread, which is a very popular variety of cake throughout France.
+Our little friends were soon there buying quite a menagerie of animals
+made of gingerbread. Jean chose a horse, Marie an elephant, and
+Germaine a cat, which, strange to say, was as big as Marie's elephant.
+
+Then they all crowded into the little theatre; the funniest one you
+ever saw. The stage was made up out of a wagon, and the audience sat
+under an awning in front. There was no scenery, but a piece of cloth
+with a queer-looking picture painted on it, and the actors never
+changed their costumes once, but every one laughed and enjoyed it as
+much as if it had been the big theatre in Grand Andelys.
+
+It was late when everybody got home, that is, it was ten o'clock, which
+is a very late hour for a French village, where every one is usually
+sound asleep by half-past eight or nine. The fête was to last a week,
+and every day had something new to offer.
+
+The next day Jean announced, "There is a circus down on the quay," as
+he burst into the kitchen where the family were gathered for breakfast.
+"The baker's boy told me he could see them from the bakery. They came
+late last night, and are waiting to get permission from the mayor to
+put up their tents in the town."
+
+"Oh, let's go and see them at once!" said Marie and Germaine in the
+same breath. Jean quickly disposed of his breakfast by taking a slice
+of bread and eating it as he went.
+
+The quay presented a lively appearance indeed. There were nearly a
+dozen gaudily painted wagons, while near by were tethered the horses.
+The women were preparing the morning meal outside the wagons, which
+served for houses, while the men fed the horses or fished in the
+river, and the children played about, or followed the visitors with
+outstretched hands asking for pennies.
+
+"I should like to give them something," said Marie, "but you know they
+are not allowed to beg while they are in the village, and we should not
+encourage them to break the law. I will go back, though, and ask aunty
+to give me some cakes for them," and the kind-hearted girl ran back to
+Madame Daboll's.
+
+Meanwhile Jean was wondering what was inside the wagons with CIRQUE
+painted in big black letters on their sides. Near a bright yellow van
+were tethered two goats which were carried for their milk. Goat's milk
+is much used in France among the poorer classes, especially in the
+southern part of the country, and the white goat's milk cheeses are
+rather good, when one gets used to the peculiar flavour.
+
+[Illustration: THE CIRCUS]
+
+Germaine was getting acquainted with a lot of dark-skinned little
+children, who looked chubby and well taken care of in their neat cotton
+dresses.
+
+Their mother was a gipsy-like woman who had fancy baskets for sale,
+and she told Germaine she had nine children, which set Germaine to
+wondering how they all stowed themselves away in the one wagon. It was
+a big one, to be sure, divided into two rooms, and wonderfully compact,
+and as they sat and eat out-of-doors on the ground or the steps of
+their wagons, they could easily get on without tables and chairs.
+
+Here Marie came running up with her cakes, which she divided among the
+little ones who gathered about her.
+
+By this time they had got the desired permission to open up the circus
+on the square, and that afternoon our three little friends had the
+pleasure of seeing the horse that could find a hidden handkerchief, the
+performing dogs, and all the other wonders of the show.
+
+The grand events of the fête were saved up for the last day. There were
+to be the sports in the afternoon, and a grand illumination and display
+of fireworks in the evening. The sports, in which the young boys were
+to take part, were held in the square. Jean was to participate in one
+of these, and was one of the first to be at the roped-in enclosure in
+the middle of which stood two high poles. Between these poles were hung
+a dozen or more tin buckets all filled with water, except the middle
+one. In this was a new five-franc piece. To each bucket was attached
+a string, and when a boy was blindfolded, and an enormous grotesque
+mask put over his head, it was a somewhat difficult task to walk up
+and to pull the string of the bucket which held the five-franc piece.
+Should he pull any of the others, down would tumble a pail full of
+water all over him, amid the laughter and jeers of the bystanders. Jean
+had talked for weeks beforehand how he would spend the five francs if
+he were fortunate enough to win it. He had in imagination bought most
+of the things in M. Carré's shop. Five francs, which is equal to one
+American dollar, was a big sum to a little French boy such as Jean.
+
+"I do hope you will get it, Jean!" whispered Germaine; "remember to
+try and walk straight." Jean was so excited as he groped his way along
+he could not have told whether he was going backwards or forwards.
+"Oh, he will get it! Keep where you are! You're in the right place!"
+shouted Jean's friends, as they watched his hand touch the strings with
+indecision. Little Germaine held her breath. "Oh, he has done it!" she
+cried, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "Marie, he has it!"
+as the bag with the five franc piece tumbled on top of his head.
+
+Jean was the hero of the hour among the children, and some of his prize
+was soon spent at one of the booths on _sucre du pomme_, which was
+distributed lavishly among his admiring friends. _Sucre du pomme_, by
+the by, is a very nice candy made in sticks of various sizes from sugar
+and the drippings of the cider apples. Each stick is carefully wrapped
+in a pretty paper, and tied together, in bundles of six or a dozen,
+with bright ribbons.
+
+Jean's father and M. Lafond took part in the men's sports on the
+river-front, but neither had Jean's luck. One feat was quite difficult.
+It was something like what children elsewhere know as "climbing the
+greasy pole," but in this case it was a bar that extended over the
+river, in which at regular intervals were placed, hanging downward,
+wooden pegs. These pegs were well greased, and one had to swing
+himself by his hands from one of these pegs to another in order to
+reach the extreme end of the bar, where was fastened a small bag of
+money. Well, you may imagine this was not easy to do, and generally
+about the third or fourth peg the participant would drop into the water
+with a splash, and be picked up by a waiting boat, to the intense
+amusement of the lookers-on, who thronged the banks of the river. After
+many trials, one venturesome fellow grabbed the bag just before he
+slipped off, taking it with him, however, into the water.
+
+After this came the diving matches and the swimming contests, and then
+everybody got ready for the evening's grand wind-up. In the Belle
+Étoile all was bustle and confusion; the maids were flying about, for
+there were many visitors who had come in for the usual _apéritif_.
+The café was full, the gardens were filled up with extra tables, and
+M. Auguste was quite distracted in his endeavours to be polite and
+attentive to every one, besides stopping to take a glass with his
+friends, as was his custom. He had barely a moment to pat Germaine on
+the cheek, and to hear the story of Jean's success.
+
+Mr. Carter, with the help of the young lady artists, was hanging
+lanterns in the front windows, and getting ready a big lot of Roman
+candles as the contribution of the visitors of the Belle Étoile to
+the evening's gaieties, while Mimi, the white cat, sat in the doorway
+regarding things with her usual lofty air of superiority.
+
+As it grew dark, our two parties found themselves once more on the
+quay, amid a great throng of tourists, country folk, visitors in
+automobiles and farm carts, on bicycles, and in lumbering buses from
+out-of-the-way villages.
+
+The prosaic little neighbourhood was changed for the night into a
+gorgeous panorama of light and colour. The river banks burned with
+red, green, and white Bengal fires. Queer boats rigged with golden
+lamps, and sails of coloured lanterns, floated down the stream, and
+into the sky burst showers of gold and silver stars.
+
+[Illustration: CHÂTEAU GAILLARD]
+
+Suddenly there was heard a great boom, and from the top of Château
+Gaillard rose a red cloud of fire, and the old walls and turrets stood
+out red against the dark blue sky, a beacon for miles of country
+roundabout. It was a mimic reproduction of the destruction of the grand
+old castle many hundreds of years ago.
+
+Germaine caught Marie's hand, it seemed so real. It seemed as if her
+cherished playground were crumbling away, and that never again could
+she picture the great king and his knights riding out of its massive
+gateway to do battle against its foes.
+
+"Ah! _Messieurs_ and _Mesdames_, is it not a wonderful sight; a grand
+occasion for our city?" The voice brought Germaine back to earth
+again. It was the indefatigable little _sous-Commissaire_, the one
+policeman of the village, speaking to them. The little man had come
+unwearied and triumphant through the excitements of the great day. Ah!
+it was he who had managed it all so successfully! It was he who had
+kept order among the vast throng. No other _sous-Commissaire_ in all
+France could have done better, and the little man swelled with pride.
+
+The light had faded off the château; the last rocket had been fired;
+the band of the _pompiers_ played the "Marseillaise,"--the national
+air,--and the great event of the year for Petit Andelys was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+AN AUTOMOBILE JOURNEY
+
+
+EARLY one morning three of the happiest children in France were stowed
+away in the back of Mr. Carter's big automobile. They were still more
+delighted when Pierre, Mr. Carter's fine, black French poodle, jumped
+up on the seat beside him, looking very jaunty with his fore-locks tied
+up with a blue ribbon, and as complacent as if he was driving the auto
+himself.
+
+"I thought we would go by way of La Roche-Guyon to Mantes and have
+lunch there, and then come back by way of Vernon; that ought to show
+you children a bit of the country," said Mr. Carter.
+
+The children were ready for anything, and off they went at a pace that
+nearly took away their breath.
+
+They were soon flying through rolling farmlands, where the various
+crops were planted in such regular fields that they looked like a
+great patchwork quilt, with squares of green, yellow, and brown spread
+out for miles. There were no divisions by fences or hedges, except
+sometimes at each corner of a farm a small white stone marked the
+boundary. Suddenly, they slowed down.
+
+"Here is something which always stops me," said Mr. Carter. "It is like
+running into a big spider's web."
+
+A woman coming up the road was driving eight or nine cows, each
+attached to a long rope, which she held in her hand. It seemed like a
+maze to an outsider, but she drew in first one rope, and then twisted
+another, and pulled back another, until she finally got her charges to
+one side of the road.
+
+The cows are taken out to pasture, where there are no regular fields
+where they may run loose. So they must be guarded in this manner, and
+when they have eaten one spot up clean, they are taken on to another.
+
+Farther up the road two children were watching some goats on the side
+of the road, but in this case each goat's rope was tied to an iron
+stake which was driven in the ground, so the children could amuse
+themselves until it was time to move the animals on to a fresh bit of
+pasturage.
+
+"Your horses wear gay clothes," said Mr. Carter, as they passed a great
+lumbering wagon, swung between two big wheels, drawn tandem-wise,--that
+is, one horse in front of the other,--by five heavy-limbed Norman
+horses.
+
+Around their big clumsy wooden collars, which are usually painted in
+bright colours, was draped a dark blue sheepskin blanket. On their
+heads bobbed big tassels of blue and red, or blue, red, and yellow,
+which so dangled in their eyes that one wonders how they could see at
+all.
+
+The leader was more finely dressed than the others. His neck-blanket
+had long stole-like ends, that hung almost to the ground, and an extra
+high collar with more tassels. All this may not be comfortable for the
+horses, but they looked so very picturesque, one hopes that they did
+not mind it.
+
+The automobile now whizzed by a team of slow-moving cream-coloured
+oxen,--beautiful beasts with yokes twisted around their horns instead
+of around their necks. They never so much as lifted their sleepy eyes
+to look at our party.
+
+"This is another frequent obstacle in the way of the automobilist,"
+said Mr. Carter, as they came in sight of a flock of sheep with their
+shepherd, which completely blocked up the road. "But I do not object
+to stopping in this case, for it is worth one's while to watch the
+sheep-dogs do their work."
+
+The children stood up in the auto and watched the amusing performance
+with much interest, and Pierre barked his appreciation. The dogs
+knew perfectly well which side of the road must be left open for the
+automobile, and they began to drive the sheep toward the other side,
+pushing them and barking at them; the slow ones they would catch by the
+wool, give them a little shake, as much as to say "you had better move
+quickly," and then pull them out of the way, looking back every few
+minutes to see how near to them was the automobile.
+
+"They act with as much judgment as human beings," said Mr. Carter, as
+he carefully steered through the flock. The shepherd, who had let the
+dogs do the work, was a fine-looking fellow, in a long grayish white
+cloak, striped with colour, which made him look like a shepherd of
+Bible times. In the field near by stood his house, a kind of big box on
+wheels, just large enough for him and his dogs to sleep in, which he
+could move about where he liked.
+
+They were now running down a long, steep hill into La Roche-Guyon.
+
+"Look!" cried Germaine, "there are chimneys and stovepipes coming up
+out of the ground; is it not funny?"
+
+"Those are the cave-dwellings," explained Mr. Carter. "These people
+have cut their houses in the side of the cliff; you can see the
+openings to them, often in tiers one above the other, and those
+chimneys you see come from the houses. There are many such dwellings
+all over the country, especially along the other great river of France,
+the Loire."
+
+"Are people living in them?" asked Jean, "and how can they see in them?
+Are they not dark and gloomy?"
+
+"Well, as you can see, there is always a door and often one or two
+windows. The poorer people do sometimes live in them, though not so
+much as they used to many years ago when the French peasant was much
+worse off than he is now. The working people are now building and
+owning their own little homes, and these caves are being used more for
+storehouses and, in the grape districts, for cellars in which to store
+the wine-crop."
+
+"I should not like to live in the ground like that," declared Jean.
+
+They only stopped long enough in the town to look at the big château,
+which to-day belongs to the noble French family in whose possession it
+has been for hundreds of years. This splendid building was very odd,
+for the back had been built into the high chalk-cliff which towers
+above it.
+
+"I can see the towers of a big church in the distance," said Germaine,
+presently.
+
+"That is the church of Mantes, and we shall soon be in the town,"
+replied Mr. Carter. "It is said that this church was built by William
+the Conqueror to replace one that was destroyed while he was besieging
+the town, and it was at this same siege that he was mortally wounded."
+
+After lunch and a walk around the town, they started for home over a
+fine broad road shaded with trees.
+
+"This is a 'National Road,'" said Jean. "Papa told me about these great
+highways laid out all over France by the great Napoleon, so that
+soldiers could be moved easily from one part of the country to another."
+
+"Oh, look! What is that big gray thing in the sky just above that clump
+of trees? It looks like a fish," suddenly cried Marie, as they were
+passing a small village lying just off the highroad.
+
+"Why, bless me if it is not an air-ship!" ejaculated Mr. Carter. "I
+remember now that the big sugar manufacturer lives near here, who is so
+much interested in flying-machines, and every now and again he sends
+one up to find out how his experiments are getting on. Well, children,
+that is a sight for you that I did not anticipate. Who knows, however,
+but what you will live yet to see a flying-machine express going
+between Rouen and Paris, stopping at Les Andelys to take up passengers."
+
+This was sufficient to give the party something to talk about until
+they reached Vernon, where they stopped at a pretty riverside café to
+have a _sirop de groseille_, and, as Mr. Carter jokingly said, to rest
+the horses.
+
+It was still early when they again came in sight of Château Gaillard,
+and so ended a blissful day for our young people, who had something to
+talk about for many a long winter evening.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Selections from The Page Company's Books for Young People
+
+
+THE BLUE BONNET SERIES
+
+    _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.75
+
+
+=A TEXAS BLUE BONNET=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS.
+
+"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of
+wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND EDYTH ELLERBECK READ.
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its
+many human touches."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their teens."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET--DÉBUTANTE=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"The author's intimate detail and charm of narration gives the reader
+an interesting story of the heroine's war activities."--_Pittsburgh
+Leader._
+
+
+=ONLY HENRIETTA=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+    Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated  $1.90
+
+"It is an inspiring story of the unfolding of life for a young girl--a
+story in which there is plenty of action to hold interest and wealth of
+delicate sympathy and understanding that appeals to the hearts of young
+and old."--_Pittsburgh Leader._
+
+
+=HENRIETTA'S INHERITANCE:= A Sequel to "Only Henrietta"
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+    Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated  $1.90
+
+"One of the most noteworthy stories for girls issued this season. The
+life of Henrietta is made very real, and there is enough incident in
+the narrative to balance the delightful characterization."--_Providence
+Journal._
+
+
+=THE YOUNG KNIGHT=
+
+By I. M. B. of K.
+
+    Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated   $1.75
+
+The clash of broad-sword on buckler, the twanging of bow-strings and
+the cracking of spears splintered by whirling maces resound through
+this stirring tale of knightly daring-do.
+
+
+=THE YOUNG CAVALIERS=
+
+By I. M. B. of K.
+
+    Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated  $1.75
+
+"There have been many scores of books written about the Charles Stuarts
+of England, but never a merrier and more pathetic one than 'The Young
+Cavaliers.'"--_Family Herald._
+
+"The story moves quickly, and every page flashes a new thrill
+before the reader, with plenty of suspense and excitement. There is
+valor, affection, romance, chivalry and humor in this fascinating
+tale."--_Kansas City Kansan._
+
+
+
+
+THE MARJORY-JOE SERIES
+
+By ALICE E. ALLEN
+
+ _Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated,
+      per volume_                                         $1.50
+
+
+=JOE, THE CIRCUS BOY AND ROSEMARY=
+
+These are two of Miss Allen's earliest and most successful stories,
+combined in a single volume to meet the insistent demands from young
+people for these two particular tales.
+
+
+=THE MARTIE TWINS:= Continuing the Adventures of Joe, the Circus Boy
+
+"The chief charm of the story is that it contains so much of human
+nature. It is so real that it touches the heart strings."--_New York
+Standard._
+
+
+=MARJORY, THE CIRCUS GIRL=
+
+A sequel to "Joe, the Circus Boy," and "The Martie Twins."
+
+
+=MARJORY AT THE WILLOWS=
+
+Continuing the story of Marjory, the Circus Girl.
+
+"Miss Allen does not write impossible stories, but delightfully pins
+her little folk right down to this life of ours, in which she ranges
+vigorously and delightfully."--_Boston Ideas._
+
+
+=MARJORY'S HOUSE PARTY:= Or, What Happened at Clover Patch
+
+"Miss Allen certainly knows how to please the children and tells them
+stories that never fail to charm."--_Madison Courier._
+
+
+=MARJORY'S DISCOVERY=
+
+This new addition to the popular MARJORY-JOE SERIES is as lovable and
+original as any of the other creations of this writer of charming
+stories. We get little peeps at the precious twins, at the healthy
+minded Joe and sweet Marjory. There is a bungalow party, which lasts
+the entire summer, in which all of the characters of the previous
+MARJORY-JOE stories participate, and their happy times are delightfully
+depicted.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES
+
+By HARRISON ADAMS
+
+    _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.65
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO;= OR, CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
+
+"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the
+young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
+ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;= OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE IROQUOIS.
+
+"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only
+interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling
+type of character which these days of self-reliance and trial
+produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;= OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE
+WILDERNESS.
+
+"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."--_New York
+Sun._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;= OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
+
+"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations,
+true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for
+boys."--_Watchman Examiner, New York City._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;= OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF WONDERS.
+
+"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well
+told."--_Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA:= OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT
+NORTHWEST.
+
+"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable
+historical information."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+
+
+THE FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES
+
+By HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH
+
+    _Each one volume, cloth, decorative, 12mo,
+      illustrated, per volume_                   $1.75
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE=
+
+"It is a book that cheers, that inspires to higher thinking; it knits
+hearts; it unfolds neighborhood plans in a way that makes one tingle to
+try carrying them out, and most of all it proves that in daily life,
+threads of wonderful issues are being woven in with what appears the
+most ordinary of material, but which in the end brings results stranger
+than the most thrilling fiction."--_Belle Kellogg Towne in The Young
+People's Weekly, Chicago._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION=
+
+"It is a clean, wholesome, hearty story, well told and full of
+incident. It carries one through experiences that hearten and brighten
+the day."--_Utica, N. Y., Observer._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS=
+
+"It is a bright, entertaining story, with happy girls, good times,
+natural development, and a gentle earnestness of general tone."--_The
+Christian Register, Boston._
+
+
+=THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE=
+
+"The story is told in easy and entertaining style and is a most
+delightful narrative, especially for young people. It will also make
+the older readers feel younger, for while reading it they will surely
+live again in the days of their youth."--_Troy Budget._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S WAY=
+
+"The author has again produced a story that is replete with wholesome
+incidents and makes Peggy more lovable than ever as a companion and
+leader."--_World of Books._
+
+"It possesses a plot of much merit and through its 324 pages it weaves
+a tale of love and of adventure which ranks it among the best books for
+girls."--_Cohoes American._
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES
+
+By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON
+
+    _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $2.00
+
+
+=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS=
+
+"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young
+readers with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS=
+
+"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation
+of battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the
+whites for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United
+States History."--_New York Marine Journal._
+
+
+=FAMOUS SCOUTS=
+
+"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
+and young men."--_New London Day._
+
+
+=FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA=
+
+"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
+stirring the blood with thrilling force."--_Pittsburgh Post._
+
+
+=FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER=
+
+"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable,
+making a book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
+adventure."--_Cleveland Leader._
+
+
+=FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF AMERICA=
+
+"The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and bravest adventures
+of which the world has known."--_Brooklyn Daily Eagle._
+
+
+=FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR=
+
+Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.
+
+"The pages of this book have the charm of romance without its
+unreality. The book illuminates, with life-like portraits, the history
+of the World War."--_Rochester Post Express._
+
+
+By EDWIN WILDMAN
+
+
+=FAMOUS LEADERS OF INDUSTRY.=--First Series
+
+"Are these stories interesting? Let a boy read them; and tell
+you."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+
+=FAMOUS LEADERS OF INDUSTRY.=--Second Series
+
+"As fascinating as fiction are these biographies, which emphasize their
+humble beginning and drive home the truth that just as every soldier of
+Napoleon carried a marshal's baton in his knapsack, so every American
+youngster carries potential success under his hat."--_New York World._
+
+
+=THE FOUNDERS OF AMERICA= (Lives of Great Americans from the Revolution
+to the Monroe Doctrine)
+
+"How can one become acquainted with the histories of some of the famous
+men of the United States? A very good way is to read 'The Founders of
+America,' by Edwin Wildman, wherein the life stories of fifteen men who
+founded our country are told."--_New York Post._
+
+
+=FAMOUS LEADERS OF CHARACTER= (Lives of Great Americans from the Civil
+War to Today)
+
+"An informing, interesting and inspiring book for boys."--_Presbyterian
+Banner._
+
+"... Is a book that should be read by every boy in the whole
+country...."--_Atlanta Constitution._
+
+
+=FAMOUS AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICERS= With a complete index.
+
+By CHARLES LEE LEWIS
+
+_Professor, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis_
+
+"Professor Lewis does not make the mistake of bringing together simply
+a collection of biographical sketches. In connection with the life of
+John Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur, and other famous naval officers, he
+groups the events of the period in which the officer distinguished
+himself, and combines the whole into a colorful and stirring
+narrative."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+
+
+STORIES BY EVALEEN STEIN
+
+    Each, one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated,
+      with a jacket in color                                $1.65
+
+
+=THE CHRISTMAS PORRINGER=
+
+This story happened many hundreds of years ago in the quaint Flemish
+city of Bruges and concerns a little girl named Karen, who worked at
+lace-making with her aged grandmother.
+
+
+=GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK=
+
+"No works in juvenile fiction contain so many of the elements that
+stir the hearts of children and grown-ups as well as do the stories so
+admirably told by this author."--_Louisville Daily Courier._
+
+
+=A LITTLE SHEPHERD OF PROVENCE=
+
+"The story should be one of the influences in the life of every child
+to whom good stories can be made to appeal."--_Public Ledger._
+
+
+=THE LITTLE COUNT OF NORMANDY=
+
+"This touching and pleasing story is told with a wealth of interest
+coupled with enlivening descriptions of the country where its scenes
+are laid and of the people thereof."--_Wilmington Every Evening._
+
+
+=WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY=
+
+"The stories are music in prose--they are like pearls on a chain of
+gold--each word seems exactly the right word in the right place; the
+stories sing themselves out, they are so beautifully expressed."--_The
+Lafayette Leader._
+
+
+=PEPIN: A Tale of Twelfth Night=
+
+"This retelling of an old Twelfth Night romance is a creation almost as
+perfect as her 'Christmas Porringer.'"--_Lexington Herald._
+
+
+
+
+THE HADLEY HALL SERIES
+
+By LOUISE M. BREITENBACH
+
+    _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.65
+
+
+=ALMA AT HADLEY HALL=
+
+"The author is to be congratulated on having written such an appealing
+book for girls."--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR=
+
+"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things in girls'
+books."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR=
+
+"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are strongly drawn,
+the incidents are well developed and the action is never dull."--_The
+Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR=
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+
+
+DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL SERIES
+
+By MARION AMES TAGGART
+
+    _Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume_, $1.75
+
+
+=THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL=
+
+"A charming story of the ups and downs of the life of a dear little
+maid."--_The Churchman._
+
+
+=SWEET NANCY:= THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL.
+
+"Just the sort of book to amuse, while its influence cannot but be
+elevating."--_New York Sun._
+
+
+=NANCY, THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE PARTNER=
+
+"The story is sweet and fascinating, such as many girls of wholesome
+tastes will enjoy."--_Springfield Union._
+
+
+=NANCY PORTER'S OPPORTUNITY=
+
+"Nancy shows throughout that she is a splendid young woman, with plenty
+of pluck."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=NANCY AND THE COGGS TWINS=
+
+"The story is refreshing."--_New York Sun._
+
+
+
+
+IDEAL BOOKS FOR GIRLS
+
+    _Each, one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo_,  $1.10
+
+
+=A LITTLE CANDY BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By AMY L. WATERMAN.
+
+"This is a peculiarly interesting little book, written in the simple,
+vivacious style that makes these little manuals as delightful to read
+as they are instructive."--_Nashville Tennessean and American._
+
+
+=A LITTLE COOK-BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By CAROLINE FRENCH BENTON.
+
+This book explains how to cook so simply that no one can fail to
+understand every word, even a complete novice.
+
+
+=A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By CAROLINE FRENCH BENTON.
+
+A little girl, home from school on Saturday mornings, finds out how to
+make helpful use of her spare time, and also how to take proper pride
+and pleasure in good housework.
+
+
+=A LITTLE SEWING BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By LOUISE FRANCES CORNELL.
+
+"It is comprehensive and practical, and yet revealingly instructive.
+It takes a little girl who lives alone with her mother, and shows how
+her mother taught her the art of sewing in its various branches. The
+illustrations aid materially."--_Wilmington Every Evening._
+
+
+=A LITTLE PRESERVING BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By AMY L. WATERMAN.
+
+In simple, clear wording, Mrs. Waterman explains every step of the
+process of preserving or "canning" fruits and vegetables.
+
+
+=A LITTLE GARDENING BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL=
+
+By PETER MARTIN.
+
+This little volume is an excellent guide for the young gardener. In
+addition to truck gardening, the book gives valuable information on
+flowers, the planning of the garden, selection of varieties, etc.
+
+
+
+
+THE SANDMAN SERIES
+
+    Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume  $1.75
+
+
+BY WILLIAM J. HOPKINS
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS FARM STORIES.
+
+"Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who take the little
+ones to bed and rack their brains for stories will find this book a
+treasure."--_Cleveland Leader._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= MORE FARM STORIES.
+
+"Children will call for these stories over and over again."--_Chicago
+Evening Post._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS SHIP STORIES.
+
+"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and their
+parents will read between the lines and recognize the poetic and
+artistic work of the author."--_Indianapolis News._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS SEA STORIES.
+
+"Once upon a time there was a man who knew little children and the kind
+of stories they liked, so he wrote four books of Sandman's stories, all
+about the farm or the sea, and the brig Industry, and this book is one
+of them."--_Canadian Congregationalist._
+
+
+BY JENNY WALLIS
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS SONGS AND RHYMES.
+
+"Here is a fine collection of poems for mothers and friends to use
+at the twilight hour. They are not of the soporific kind especially.
+They are wholesome reading when most wide-awake and of such a soothing
+and delicious flavor that they are welcome when the lights are
+low."--_Christian Intelligencer._
+
+
+BY HELEN I. CASTELLA
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS FAIRY STORIES.
+
+This time the Sandman comes in person, and takes little Joyce, who
+believes in him, to the wonderful land of Nod. There they procure pots
+and pans from the pansy bed, a goose from the gooseberry bush, a chick
+from the chick weed, corn from the cornflower, and eat on a box from
+the boxwood hedge. They have almost as many adventures as Alice in
+Wonderland.
+
+
+By HARRY W. FREES
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS ANIMAL STORIES.
+
+"The simplicity of the stories and the fascinating manner in which they
+are written make them an excellent night-cap for the youngster who is
+easily excited into wakefulness."--_Pittsburgh Leader._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS KITTYCAT STORIES.
+
+"The Sandman is a wonderful fellow. First he told farm stories, then
+ship stories, then sea stories. And now he tells stories about the
+kittens and the fun they had in Kittycat Town. A strange thing about
+these kittens is the ability to talk, work and play like boys and
+girls, and that is why all of the little tots will like the Sandman's
+book."--_Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS BUNNY STORIES.
+
+"The whole book is filled with one tale after another and is
+narrated in such a pleasing manner as to reach the heart of every
+child."--_Common Sense, Chicago._
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS PUPPY STORIES.
+
+Another volume of Mr. Frees' inimitable stories for tiny tots, this
+time about the "doggie mothers who lived with their puppies" on the
+other side of Kitty-way lane in Animal Land. The illustrations are
+from photographs posed by the author with the same appeal which has
+characterized his previous pictures.
+
+
+By W. S. PHILLIPS
+
+(EL COMANCHO)
+
+
+=THE SANDMAN:= HIS INDIAN STORIES.
+
+The Indian tales for this Celebrated Series of Children's Bedtime
+Stories have been written by a man who has Indian blood, who spent
+years of his life among the Redmen, in one of the tribes of which he
+is an honored member, and who is an expert interpreter of the Indian
+viewpoint and a practised authority on Indians as well as a master
+teller of tales.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page xiii, "107" changed to "108" to reflect actual start of chapter
+VIII.
+
+Page 81, "nother" changed to "another" (another, with nearly every)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Our Little French Cousin, by Blanche McManus
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43831 ***