The Major and I had always been _particularly_ attached to
the Gardens of the Luxembourg, and there I went and sat
musing many hours on end. One morning as I sat watching the
children and their _bonnes_, my ear was caught by a shrill
scream and I turned and saw a very handsome young woman,
beautifully dressed, dragging a cup and ball away from an
angry little French boy. I supposed, of course, that she was
his mother or his aunt, and only regretted that she should
be so rough and undignified in her manner to him, but when
his nurse rushed up and angrily questioned the young woman,
who fought her off, still clinging to the toy, I realised
that something was wrong, and went over to them. Hardly had
I got there when a neat-looking lady's maid ran up, chid the
young woman severely, and apologised in a rapid flood of
French, that I could not follow, to the nurse. Then it was
clear (or so I thought) that the poor creature was _not
responsible_ and I tried to soothe her, in a quiet way, till
her attendant should leave the _bonne_.

To make a long story short, imagine my surprise when I found
that she was not insane at all, only strangely undeveloped.
Her maid explained this to me while the curious young thing
(a _bride_, too!) actually made friends with the child and
begged the cup and ball away successfully!

She took quite a fancy to me and we talked together in
English, as soon as I found out that she was an American.
What an _extraordinary_ nation! It quite makes one giddy to
think of them. Fancy a child that had never been taught of
the God who made her nor the Saviour who died for her, in a
civilised _Christian_ country! And yet she was naturally
very sweet, I found, though high-tempered. She spoke
beautiful French (they tell me Americans often do) but she
seemed to know very little about her native country and had
never seen a red Indian nor a buffalo. The Major always
regretted so _deeply_ that he had never hunted in North
America.

During our conversation, which I should hardly dare to
repeat, it was so _very_ odd, she told me that she was very
glad to have found another friend, for now she had three,
besides her husband.

"And who are the other two, my dear?" I asked her.

"One is Sue, that is a woman," she