ur letters.
She clapped her hands and exclaimed:--
"We have been looking everywhere for that!"
Then she eagerly seized the package and opened the envelope, saying as she did so:--
"Dieu de Dieu! how my sister and I have hunted!
And it was you who found it!
On the boulevard, was it not?
It must have been on the boulevard?
You see, we let it fall when we were running. It was that brat of a sister of mine who was so stupid.
When we got home, we could not find it anywhere.
As we did not wish to be beaten, as that is useless, as that is entirely useless, as that is absolutely useless, we said that we had carried the letters to the proper persons, and that they had said to us: `Nix.'' So here they are, those poor letters!
And how did you find out that they belonged to me?
Ah! yes, the writing.
So it was you that we jostled as we passed last night.
We couldn''t see. I said to my sister:
`Is it a gentleman?''
My sister said to me: `I think it is a gentleman.''"
In the meanwhile she had unfolded the petition addressed to "the benevolent gentleman of the church of Saint-Jacquesdu-Haut-Pas."
"Here!" said she, "this is for that old fellow who goes to mass. By the way, this is his hour.
I''ll go and carry it to him. Perhaps he will give us something to breakfast on."
Then she began to laugh again, and added:--