offered to let me stay; but I could not
let him go alone, for he is so old and feeble, and I was willing to
endure all for his sake."

"What part of France did you live in?" asked Claude.

"Versailles."

"That is where the court is," said Claude.

"Of course," said Mimi, with a smile. "But how funny it seems to hear
a Frenchman make such a remark, and in such an uncertain way, as
though he did not feel quite sure. Why, monsieur, in France
Versailles is everything; Versailles is the king and court. In a
word, monsieur, Versailles is France."

"I suppose you saw very much of the splendor and magnificence of the
court?" said Claude.

"I!" said Mimi; "splendor and magnificence! the court! _Ma foi_,
monsieur, I did not see any of it at all. In France young girls are
kept close-guarded. You have lived among the English, and among them
I have heard that young girls can go anywhere and do anything. But
for my part I have always lived most secluded--sometimes at school,
and afterwards at home."

"How strange it is," said Claude, "that your father should leave
France, when he is so old and feeble, and take you, too, and come to
this wild country!"

"O, it is very strange," said Mimi, "and very sad; and I don't know
why in the world it was, for he will never tell me. Sometimes I think
that something unfortunate has happened, which has made him go into
exile this way. But then, if that were so, I don't see why he should
remain in French possessions. If his political enemies have driven
him away, he would not be safe in French colonies; and so I don't
know why in the world he ever left home."

"Does he intend to remain at Louisbourg, or go farther?" asked
Claude, after a thoughtful pause.

"I'm sure I don't know," said Mimi; "but I don't think he has decided
yet. It is just as if he was looking for something, and as if he
would travel about till he found it; though what it is that he wants
I can hardly tell. And such, monsieur, is our mournful position. We
may remain at Louisbourg a short time or a long time: it depends upon
circumstances. We may go to Quebec, or even to New Orleans."

"New Orleans!" exclaimed Claude.

"Yes; I heard him hint as much. And he said, also, that if he did go
as far as that, he would leave me at Quebec or Louisbourg. But I will
never consent to that, and I will go with him wherever he goes."

"I should think that such a roving life would make you feel very
unhappy."

"O, no; I am not