THEY PASSED THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDETHEY PASSED THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE
The square was then called Place de la Revolution (pläs dĕ lä rĕv-ō-lū´-syōn). But now the name, "Place de la Concorde," means "Place of Peace."
They crossed bridges. There are thirty-two bridges in Paris. Some of these are very beautiful. Curiously, the oldest of these, a bridge begun in 1578, is called Pont Neuf (pôn nûf), which means "New Bridge."
They passed the Louvre (lo͞o´-vr´), once a palace. It is now the largest museum in the world. Here such famousworks of art as the Venus de Milo (vē´-nus dĕ mē´-lō) and the Mona Lisa (mō´-nä lē´-zä) are to be seen.
THE LOUVRE—THE LARGEST MUSEUM IN THE WORLDTHE LOUVRE—THE LARGEST MUSEUM IN THE WORLD
The Arc de Triomphe (ärk dĕ trē´-ônf´) stands as a memorial to the great victories of the French general, Napoleon I. It is an arch of splendor set in the center of branching wide avenues.
THE ARC DE TRIOMPHETHE ARC DE TRIOMPHE
For Paris is a city noted for beauty. It was planned and built and dreamed, while most other cities, like Topsy, the colored girl, "just growed."
Paris, with its avenues lined with trees, its wide streets and spacious parks, did not "just grow." It was a dream before it was built, and now it is that dream realized.
The little girls passed the spot wherethe Bastille once stood. This was the famous prison into which people were thrown by the French kings, usually without fair trial. But one day the Parisians marched against the Bastille and burned it to the ground.
THE SPOT WHERE ONCE STOOD THE BASTILLETHE SPOT WHERE ONCE STOOD THE BASTILLE
The little girls passed the Tuileries (twēl-rē´), which are fairy-like gardens. They are a children's paradise, and part of the dream that Paris is.
THE TUILERIES—FAIRY-LIKE GARDENS AND CHILDREN'S PARADISETHE TUILERIES—FAIRY-LIKE GARDENS AND CHILDREN'S PARADISE
Margot and Jeanne watched the people sitting outside of cafés on the streets. They watched the fashionable strollers along the boulevards.
For Paris is well dressed, both inside and out. French cooking is an art, as is everything that these art-loving people attempt.
At the end of their happy day the little girls drove to the park. They sat upon a bench beneath shady trees and they watched a Guignol play.
They had chatted and laughed and now were the very best of friends. Margot was a happy little girl that day. She had learned from Jeanne how to play.
"Sit still, Pierrot," scolded Jeanne softly so that only Margot might hear.
"Pierrot, you shall never come again if you do not behave!" continued Jeanne.
Margot was laughing, for she could see Pierrot bouncing up and down on the bench. Of course the other children couldn't see it, but Jeanne told Margotabout it. So she could see plainly what this naughty puppet was doing.
"Oh, dear!" whispered Jeanne to Margot. "He will do something dreadful when Guignol comes on the stage. You know he cannot bear Guignol!"
There now was an ugly, red-nosed clown in the play. He had taken Pierrot's place after that day when poor Pierrot had been abandoned.
"Here comes Guignol!" exclaimed Margot.
Guignol slid upon the stage and fell flop!—on his nose. Guignol began to dance. But again he tripped over his big feet and landed puff!—on his stomach.
He stood up, grunting and groaningand puffing, and again he danced.
Margot and Jeanne watched Pierrot bouncing up and down. Jeanne had to catch Pierrot's hat each time it flew off, as it did whenever Guignol fell down on the stage.
Pierrot's hair stood up like wire, and the cap went up in the air. At least, that is what Jeanne said it did!
When the fight came, they could not hold Pierrot. He kicked and squirmed and waved his arms.
Jeanne was so shocked when his cap flew off and hit a gentleman in the eye! Margot was embarrassed, too. They scolded and spanked Pierrot, but it did no good.
"He wants to be in the play," whisperedJeanne. "I have spoiled him by making him the hero, and now he cannot watch Guignol!"
The children were relieved when at last the play was over. They were then able to take the unruly puppet away and bundle him into the car.
"My child always disgraces me! But we cannot blame him," said Jeanne, shaking her head like a fond but troubled mother. "He was so abused before, and now he has discovered what a great actor he is, and what a hero!"
"Oh, but Pierrot is splendid!" answered Margot.
And pop!—went a button on Pierrot's suit. His chest puffed out, and his hat flew off. The children laughed.
JEANNE AND MARGOT PLAYED IN THE CHAMPS ELYSÉESJEANNE AND MARGOT PLAYED IN THE CHAMPS ELYSÉES
When Margot left Jeanne at the door of Auntie Sue's Shop, she wanted to know when they should be together again. She asked when they should play more of Jeanne's stories with Pierrot.
Jeanne did not tell Margot that she would not be able to play again for many days. Work would interfere. Work was always there to stop play.
But Jeanne did not say this to Margot. Margot would not have understood. Jeanne only told her that she hoped they would meet soon again.
So with her puppet in her arms, she stepped out of the car. She stepped out of the car and out of a different world from her own.
And Margot planned all the way home to repeat to-day's pleasures to-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow. Little, spoiled Margot!
Margot's to-morrow and again to-morrow with Jeanne did not come to pass.
Margot discovered she could not disturb the little girl's workaday life. It greatly annoyed Margot that, for the first time in her life, she could not wave her wand and command what she wished.
"I want her! I want to play with her!" exclaimed the pouting Margot, stamping her foot.
She had just called Jeanne on the telephone. Jeanne had told her that itwould be impossible to go to the Guignol or play.
To-day was a week day, and from school Jeanne was obliged to hurry home to help Auntie Sue in the shop.
"Come, Margot, child," pleadedGrandmother. "Do not fret. We shall take another child to-day. Grandmother will telephone for you."
"They are all stupid! I want Jeanne!" insisted the little girl.
So Margot went to the Guignol with her nurse. She went again and again. All the time, she thought of the happy day she had spent there with Jeanne and Pierrot.
While Margot was watching the puppets one day, she noticed a child standing outside the gate looking in. It was Jeanne.
Jeanne was coming home from school and, as she often did, was watching Guignol's antics for a few brief moments.
Margot jumped up and, to the astonishment of her nurse, she ran over to Jeanne.
"Jeanne, how happy I am to see you! Come in. Come! We shall see the Guignol together," she cried.
"COME, JEANNE, WE SHALL SEE THE GUIGNOL TOGETHER""COME, JEANNE, WE SHALL SEE THE GUIGNOL TOGETHER"
But Jeanne shook her head, and her eyes were sad.
"I should like to, Margot," she answered. "But Auntie is waiting. I must go."
They stood there together for several moments. During those moments, Margot caught once more the spell of Jeanne's play magic.
For Jeanne played always. She played while she talked or dressed or walked. And while she watched theGuignol, her playing was always splendid. Margot caught the spell.
Long after Jeanne had left she sat and played her own dream plays, while the play of the Guignol went on in front of her. Often after that day, Margot saw Jeanne hurrying home. But Jeanne never stopped again.
Jeanne often saw Margot after that day, but she hardly turned her head toward the park. She kept hurrying on because she was afraid of the tears that lived just behind her eyes when she passed the Guignol.
Those tears might at any moment break through the doors of her eyes. And Margot must not see that!
As Margot watched Jeanne, she wonderedwhether, after all, the little puppet was such a lucky little girl. She began to think of a really lucky little girl whose name was Margot!
One day when Margot came home, she said to Grandmother, "Grandmother dear, I have at last thought what you may give me on my birthday."
Grandmother took her hand.
"I am glad, chérie," she answered, "because the day is drawing near."
"If I may take Jeanne with me to the Bois and spend the day there, that is all I wish," said Margot.
"And no party?" Grandmother looked surprised.
"No. I prefer that," said Margot.
Grandmother telephoned to Auntie Sue. It was arranged that Jeanne was to be spared for that one day—Margot's birthday.
A day in the woods was planned with a picnic and a boat ride, but, best of all, with Jeanne and Pierrot.
The morning of Margot's birthday arrived. As the little girl opened her eyes, a dismal sight met them.
The gray sky was pouring down bucketsful of rain. The morning was as gray and dark as a rainy morning can be. Margot saw her day in the woods spoiled, and she started to cry.
But Grandmother arranged that Jeanne was to come to the apartment.
Margot's pout did not make of her avery happy looking birthday girl. But she had to be satisfied with these plans.
"It would have been so nice to play in the Bois," she sulked.
"Yes, chérie," said Grandmother, "but we cannot change the weather."
And so in front of a crackling fire in Margot's toy stuffed nursery, the two little girls spent the day.
Margot met Jeanne with, "Isn't it too bad?"
But Jeanne could find nothing to feel sorry about.
"Oh, what a beautiful fire!" she exclaimed.
And after a little while, Margot began to be glad that the day was rainy, because Jeanne was glad.
Auntie Sue worked very hard. She now had several large orders to fill.
She was finishing Madame Villard's order to-day, and she hoped to bring the little dresses to the apartment that evening.
Jeanne was spending Margot's birthday at the Villard apartment. So Suzanne determined to deliver the dresses and fetch Jeanne when the day was over.
She worked steadily and tried to banish thoughts and voices inside of her. Since Madame Villard's visit to theshop, Suzanne had not had a moment's peace from Conscience.
It was only the thought that Jeanne really loved to show the pretty clothes that kept Suzanne the least bit happy.
She answered Conscience thus: "But see how happy the child is when I giveher a new frock to show! She knows, too, that she is the envy of every child in Paris!"
And Conscience always replied, "Perhaps. But maybe she is telling you that. Maybe she is really like any other child who wants and needs to play!"
This was the thing that always caused Auntie Sue to shudder. If she had thought that Jeanne cared, she could never have gone on asking her to work. She hoped that Jeanne did not like to play and did not mind being different from other children.
Always this hope made Auntie Sue argue with the voice. You see, Auntie Sue tried to believe that Jeanne was glad to be a live puppet!
Two little girls played and chatted before a crackling fire. While they sat in Margot's cheerful, rosy room, they made journeys throughout the land of France.
Stories and stories and stories!
Once Pierrot was a soldier, and they played the Great War. Margot and Jeanne were nurses. Through battlefields of France they took their fancies.
Margot had motored many times with Grandmother throughout the valley of the war. She had passed villages, gray and ruined. She had passed villages, new and shiny, with American flags flying beside the French.
AMERICAN FLAGS FLYING BESIDE THE FRENCHAMERICAN FLAGS FLYING BESIDE THE FRENCH
She had passed American cemeteries, with thousands of little white crosses like snow upon the ground. There were brown crosses, too, and huge stone monuments to soldiers.
AMERICAN CEMETERY NEAR ROMAGNEAMERICAN CEMETERY NEAR ROMAGNE
There was one monument built around a line of bayonets where a company of soldiers had been buried aliveby an enemy bomb. Their bayonets still show above the ground.
HUGE STONE MONUMENT TO SOLDIERSHUGE STONE MONUMENT TO SOLDIERS
She had seen great tanks along the roadside—barbed wire and trenches.
SHE HAD SEEN GREAT TANKS ALONG THE ROADSIDESHE HAD SEEN GREAT TANKS ALONG THE ROADSIDE
Through beautiful France the little girl had journeyed with Grandmother.Through the famous wine country—the lands of Burgundy (bûr´-gŭn-dĭ), Champagne (shăm-pān´), and Dijon (dē-zhôn´), the city of churches, palaces, and famous mustard they journeyed!
AN OLD WOMAN CLEANING THE COTTON OF A MATTRESSAN OLD WOMAN CLEANING THE COTTON OF A MATTRESS
Along the road sat women knitting or sorting and cleaning the cotton of their mattresses. They were washing in little outdoor water troughs along the roadway.
WASHING IN OUTDOOR WATER TROUGHSWASHING IN OUTDOOR WATER TROUGHS
The children made a play for every part of France. They made one for every French character they had ever heard about. Jeanne could weave a play about anything, and Margot could not help saying, "What a pity you do not have more time to play!"
At this moment the doorbell rang. Auntie Sue was ushered into the hall by the Villard maid. Auntie Sue had come to deliver her parcel and to fetch Jeanne.
"Madame Villard is not in," said the maid, "but the children are in the nursery.Would you like to go to them?"
Thus it happened that Auntie Sue arrived at the nursery door in time to hear the two little girls discussing a serious question.
Auntie Sue did not want to eavesdrop. She would not have listened to the children if she could have helped herself. But the fact of the matter was that Auntie Sue became rooted to the floor, and she could not move.
For the first thing she heard was Jeanne's voice saying, "Oh, Margot! I hate all those silly clothes! I hate being a model. I want to be just a little girl."
Jeanne's voice was bitter. Is it any wonder that Auntie Sue could not move from the spot on which she wasstanding? She grasped the door knob to keep herself from falling.
CHAMPAGNE VINEYARDS NEAR EPERNAYCHAMPAGNE VINEYARDS NEAR EPERNAY
Then the conversation went on.
"Then why do you do it?" asked Margot's voice.
"Because," came Jeanne's, "I dare not tell Auntie. She works so hard andtakes such good care of me. You see, I have no mother and father."
There was silence, and then Jeanne's voice went on, "My papa was a soldier. But Auntie does not know where he fell."
Again silence and then Margot said, "I think your aunt would let you play if you would ask her to."
"No," Jeanne replied, "I would not ask her. I must show the clothes. She could not sell them if I did not show them first."
There was a short silence and then again came Jeanne's voice, "I just want to be a little girl. I want to play!" The last word ended in a sob.
For the next few moments AuntieSue did not hear anything. Indeed she hardly knew anything, so stunned and shocked was she.
Auntie Sue did not know how it was that she ever opened the door. She did not know how she ever came to leave that apartment.
It was fortunate that Madame Villard and Margot's mother were out. Children do not always notice things the way grown people do.
But Margot wondered, after Jeanne and her aunt had left, why Auntie Sue's eyes had been so big and frightened and why she had hardly said good-bye.
Major d'Artrot called to his wife, "Come; see! A letter has arrived which calls me to Paris. I must leave at once."
Madame d'Artrot read the letter.
"Dear, dear Major d'Artrot," it said, "You are my only friend, and I must ask you to come to my aid. I am in trouble. I need help and I am ill. Please come to me.
Suzanne Moreau."
"Why, that is Auntie Sue," said Madame d'Artrot, a surprised note in her voice. "She has such a successful shop, I am told. What can be the matter?"
A DIJON MUSTARD SHOPA DIJON MUSTARD SHOP
"That is what I shall find out soon," answered the Major. And he made hasty preparations to leave for Paris.
When Major d'Artrot returned to his farm two days later, he brought with him a little girl.
Jeanne was a very white-faced little girl.
Major d'Artrot said, "I have brought little Jeanne to be our guest until her aunt is better."
And all the little d'Artrots flocked about Jeanne and tried to make her feel at home.
It was all so strange to little Jeanne from the city. She had been taken away from Auntie—Auntie, who lay ill and needed her.
But the Major told her to come. He told her that Auntie wished her to come with him. If Auntie wished it, Jeanne must go. But otherwise she would never—could never—have left poor sick Auntie Sue.
Once outside in the fresh, pure country air, Jeanne began to forget a little. With rabbits and dogs and cats about her and the merry chattering of the Major's children, she could not help it.
Jeanne's eyes were alive, and herheart was gay. She was one of the little fairies of play, and that kind of fairy cannot remain sad for long.
Besides, the Major's children had games and playthings of which Jeanne had never before heard. Even Pierrot was excited. It was all Jeanne could do to hold him from jumping into the little stream.
Jeanne soon had the young d'Artrots acquainted with Pierrot. Indeed, the young d'Artrots fell quite in love with sprightly Pierrot.
In the meantime the Major recounted to his wife the happenings which had befallen him in Paris.
"Poor woman!" he told Madame d'Artrot, as he described Suzanne'splight. "She is ill because of the wrong she committed so many years ago. She could tell nobody about it.
"But she finally discovered that Jeanne was unhappy, and that was too much for her to bear. She realized then that she was being punished for herwrong. And so she decided that before it was too late she would confess!"
"So she told you this terrible story?" asked Madame d'Artrot.
"Yes, and asked me to see Madame Villard," replied the Major.
"And when will you break this news to Madame?" the Major's wife inquired.
"I have already done so," he answered quietly. "That is, I called upon Madame Villard before leaving Paris. I told her that I had traced her lost grandchild. I told her that I wished her to come to our home to-morrow. But I did not tell her any more."
"Ah, poor Madame Villard! How happy I am for her! What a joy this willbe for her!" sighed Madame d'Artrot.
The Major smiled and agreed with his wife.
"And what a joy for this poor little play-starved child!" he said, looking out of the window at the happy band of children.
They were romping and making the air ring with glad sounds.
The next morning Jeanne aroseearly. Being on a farm was something so different and thrilling to this child of the city that every noise outside her window seemed to call her.
She put on her little black apron and went out into the brisk country air.
The farm animals greeted her, and the little stream gurgled good morning. This was the most beautiful feeling that life had ever given Jeanne.
She skipped about the farm, seeing and feeling and smelling the country, freshness, and morning. It was beautiful.
And then she thought of Auntie Sue. Ah, poor Auntie Sue! If only she could be here with Jeanne! If only they could forget that shop and come to a placelike this! Why hadn't Auntie Sue ever told her about places like this?
THIS WAS A SOLDIERS' BURYING GROUNDTHIS WAS A SOLDIERS' BURYING GROUND
As Jeanne's thoughts flew, her little feet flew, too. Soon she found herself walking along the country road. New wonders met her eyes and ears and nose with every step. Her sadness was nearly forgotten, until she stopped.
There, in front of Jeanne, were countless crosses—crossed of white, crosses of brown, all in rows.
Margot had told her about the soldiers' burying grounds in the Argonne and in other places of France. This was a soldiers' burying ground.
The little girl stood and wondered.
She wondered about her own soldier father.
Just then, a big motor car stopped not far away, and Jeanne watched a black-gowned lady and child step out. They carried flowers in their arms. They went to a little brown cross and they knelt.
The tears welled up in Jeanne's eyes. Ah, how she, too needed to pray! How she needed a little brown cross to kneel to—to talk to!
Everything was making Jeanne cry. She was wondering again about Auntie Sue. How strangely Auntie had acted! And she had sent Jeanne away!
"Come. Tell me. Quick!" Madame Villard breezed into the Major's house with Margot following. They were both breathless, excited. "What have you found out, dear Major? Tell me."
Major d'Artrot bade the eager grandmother be seated and rest herself. Then he asked one of his own little girls to take Margot outside.
"We can't find the little girl," said the Major's eldest to Margot, when they were outside in the garden. "When we came out this morning she was gone."
"What little girl?" asked Margot.
"Why, Jeanne," said the Major's daughter. "That little girl from the city. Papa brought her here last night."
When Margot learned that it was Jeanne—Auntie Sue's Jeanne, "the little model"—she rushed into the house.
"Oh, Grandmother, Jeanne was here. But now she is gone," she cried.
The Major looked astonished.
Grandmother had been crying.
"What is that you say, my dear?" asked the Major. "She is gone?"
"Yes. The children cannot find her."
Then the Major left Grandmother and Margot alone, while he went out to search for Jeanne.
And Grandmother held Margot veryclose, while she repeated the tale that the Major had just told her.
"And so, my dear little Margot," she added, "Jeanne is your own cousin."
Margot could not speak. Her heart was too full. She only hugged Grandmother like a little bear. Then, more like a swift jack rabbit, she flew out of the house. She flew out insearch of Jeanne, her own cousin.
JEANNE WAS KNEELING BESIDE A CROOKED LITTLE BROWN CROSSJEANNE WAS KNEELING BESIDE A CROOKED LITTLE BROWN CROSS
All the d'Artrots were looking for Jeanne, but Margot came upon her first.
Jeanne was kneeling beside a crooked little brown cross. There were flowers on it.
Jeanne had made the crooked little brown cross herself, and she was praying. She had made it for her soldier daddy.
Margot came up behind Jeanne.
"What are you doing, Jeanne?" she asked.
Jeanne thought she had never before seen Margot's face this way. It seemed that Margot was about to cry, but not the usual Margot cry.
She was not acting spoiled. She was not commanding anything. She seemed so sweet and kind and sympathetic.
"I—I was praying," said Jeanne. "But what are you doing here, Margot?"
Margot sat down beside the little, black-aproned figure and took Jeanne's hand.
"I came to play with you, Jeanne," she said. "I came to tell you about a new play."
Jeanne could not understand it at all.
With head bent, she whispered, "But Margot dear, I have not brought Pierrot. We cannot play without Pierrot."
THEN MARGOT TOLD A STORY TO JEANNETHEN MARGOT TOLD A STORY TO JEANNE
Margot answered, "We do not needPierrot for this play. You see there is only one heroine, and that is you."
Then Margot told a story to Jeanne—a curious story of a little baby who was kept away from her grandmother and her cousin. Yes; the baby was really kept for a number of years from a home of love and protection and made to work. She had very little time to play. She did not evenknow her real name. How could she? It had never been told to her.
She told Jeanne of another little girl who lived in that home and had everything. The other little girl could have played always but didn't know how. She didn't know how to play until the first little girl came and showed her how.
Then Margot told about a kind man who received a letter from a sick lady telling what a terrible deed she had done.
The lady begged the kind man to take the little girl to his home in the country and then to send for her grandmother and little cousin.
So he did. And when the grandmotherand little cousin arrived, they found that the child was Jeanne!
Jeanne started, and her eyes grew big and round.
Margot put her arm about Jeanne's shoulders. Just then they heard a step.
SHE TOOK JEANNE IN HER ARMSSHE TOOK JEANNE IN HER ARMS
There was Grandmother Villard standing among a group of young d'Artrots. Grandmother left the group and came over to the two little girls.
She took Jeanne in her arms. She cried.
And then she said, "Jeanne, my little one! My own little grandchild!"
The d'Artrots left, and Jeanne and Margot and Grandmother sat together for a long time. They sat silently.
But suddenly Jeanne exclaimed, "Oh, poor Auntie Sue! I must go to her. I must go."
Grandmother held her back.
"No," she said. "Auntie Sue is all right, Jeanne. She only wants you to be happy."
"Ah, but how can poor Auntie Sue sell the dresses now, when I am not there to show them for her?" asked Jeanne.
"She will not have to sell dresses any more," said Grandmother. "Grandmother will ask Auntie Sue to live with us always, Jeanne, if—"
"If what, Grandmother?"
"If you want her to," continued Madame Villard.
"Oh, poor dear Auntie Sue!" cried Jeanne. "She has been kind and good to me. She could not help doing what she did. I love Auntie Sue, and I want her to live with us always and always!"
"LET US GO HOME NOW AND PLAY""LET US GO HOME NOW AND PLAY"
"You are a good little girl, Jeanne. Your father would have been proud of you," said Grandmother softly.
Then Grandmother continued, and her voice was husky, "You have been as brave a soldier as he, Jeanne."
Grandmother arose. The two little girls followed her to the white dotted graveyard. They knelt before one of the white slabs. Jeanne saw her own father's name in letters before her. She tried to pray and to keep her eyes on those words, "Paul Villard." But the letters ran together.
A little breeze seemed to be whispering over and over to her, "JeanneVillard, Jeanne Villard—that is your name."
Grandmother and Margot at last arose. Margot put her arm lovingly about Jeanne's shoulder.
"Come, Jeanne, little cousin," she said. "Let us go home now and play."
Transcriber's NotePunctuation, diacritical and formatting markup have been normalized.Apparent printer's errors have been retained.Missing page numbers are attributed to blank pages, unnumbered pages and illustrations moved to match their mention in the original text.On pages43and191, an alternative diacritic mark was used in the word, "är-gō̍n´". Please note that the original diacritic mark, believed to be a short up tack, is unable to be represented in html.
Punctuation, diacritical and formatting markup have been normalized.
Apparent printer's errors have been retained.
Missing page numbers are attributed to blank pages, unnumbered pages and illustrations moved to match their mention in the original text.
On pages43and191, an alternative diacritic mark was used in the word, "är-gō̍n´". Please note that the original diacritic mark, believed to be a short up tack, is unable to be represented in html.