ks spent at
this place I read more than forty novels. Even on Sunday, when I was
free, I sprawled out on the bed and read these sensational books. I
thought no more of my beloved dances, for I was living in a new world.
Here I was in a beautiful house, where I did almost nothing but loll in
the easiest chairs and feed my soul on stories about beautiful, innocent
maidens, who were wooed, and after almost insurmountable difficulties,
won by gallant, devoted heroes.

"But soon I became so absorbed that even the few duties I had, became
very irksome to me, for they interfered somewhat with my reading. Every
morning I had to bathe and dress the little ones, who, not seeing the
necessity for these operations, struggled and screamed and bit and
kicked. I had accepted this daily scene as a matter of course, but every
now and then it rather irritated me. One morning the hubbub was
unusually long and loud, so much so that the noise disturbed the mother,
who was breakfasting and reading in bed. She came to the room in a stew
and asked me what was the matter. When I told her, she angrily said:
'When I engage a nurse girl for my children, I do not expect to hear
them squealing every morning. Remember that, and do not let me hear them
again.'

"The little boy, who was precocious for his age, heard what his mother
had said, and seeing that he had not been scolded for his ill behaviour,
began to scream and struggle more than ever, and his little sister
imitated him, in a dutiful, feminine way. I then lost my patience,
seized the little boy, dragged him to his mother and said: 'Here's your
boy. Tend to him yourself; I cannot.'

"I was, of course, told to bundle up my belongings at once and go. I
did not forget to pack away among my things some of the novels, feeling
that since they had all been read by Madame, they were only in the way.
When I said 'good-bye' to the children, Madame came to me and said very
kindly, 'Marie, I'm really sorry this has occurred, for you are one of
the best nurse girls I have ever had, and the children seemed to get
along so nicely with you, too!' I was so surprised at this speech that I
could make no answer and so I lost my chance of remaining, for it is
quite certain she wanted me to stay. But it was fated to be otherwise,
and once more I returned to the home of my parents.

"My mother was not overjoyed to see me. It was a mystery to her why I
did not keep my jobs longer. I promised to get another plac