in joyous dances in
which the daughter of kings did not disdain to take part. On entering
every village she was greeted by the cures of the parish and the
neighboring parishes. Nearly all were old soldiers whose hands had
borne the sword before carrying the cross.

Near the boundaries of the department of La Loire-Inferieure Madame
alighted. "Here is a farm," she said; "let us knock and ask for some
milk." The doors were not closed. On entering the room of the
farm-wife,--who was absent,--the Princess found only a very little
infant asleep and swaddled in a cradle. Then she seated herself on a
stool, and after the fashion of the country, set herself to rocking,
with her foot, the babe of the poor peasant-woman. The 6th of July, at
nine in the evening, she reached Beaupreau. The city, built in the form
of an amphitheatre, was illuminated; an immense bonfire had been
lighted. The next day Madame laid the corner-stone of a monument in
honor of d'Elbee, and saluted at Pinen-Mauges, the statue of
Cathelineau. The 8th of July, she was at the Chateau of Maulevrier,
whose owner, M. de Colbert, had erected a monument to the memory of
Stofflet, the heroic huntsman. The same day, at Saint Aubin, she laid
the first stone of another monument raised to the four heroes of La
Vendee,--Dornissan, Lescure, Henry and Louis de La Rochejaquelein.

The 10th of July, the Princess was at Lucon, the 11th at La Rochelle,
the 12th at Rochefort, the 13th at Blaye, the 14th at Bordeaux. The
"faithful city," as the capital of the Gironde was then named,
distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. A little girl of eight years,
Mademoiselle du Hamel, surrounded by her young companions, daughters of
members of the municipal government read a welcome to the mother of the
Duke of Bordeaux as follows:--

"Madame, while our fathers have the honor to offer you their hearts and
their arms, permit us, children, to offer to you the flowers and the
prayers of innocence. In choosing me as their interpreter, my young
companions have doubtless wished to recall to you an angel who is dear
to you; but if alone of them all I have the fortune to count the same
number of years as Mademoiselle, we all rival each other in cherishing
you, we all repeat with an enthusiasm rendered purer and more simple by
our age, Long live the King! Long live Madame!"

In the evening the "Mother of the Little Duke," as the Bordelais called
the Princess, went to the chief theatre, where s