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diff --git a/43831-0.txt b/43831-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..20d8e7d --- /dev/null +++ b/43831-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2907 @@ +*** 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 *** |