assemblages of my harassed and frenzied fellow country people; from
railroad terminal to booking office and back again, or vice versa, as
the case might be and frequently was; from money changer's to tourist
agency; from tourist agency to hotel, there to offer hurried words of
comfort to my eight charges; and then to dart forth again, hither and
yon, on some well-intentioned but entirely fruitless errand.

To my ministrations I ascribe the cheerfulness and light-heartedness the
young ladies continued to evince throughout this trying period. From
their demeanour one actually might have imagined that they lacked
totally in appreciation of the gravity of the situation.

Not soon, if ever, shall I cease to recall my inward misgivings when,
late in the afternoon of this distracting day, I returned from my third
or fourth unsuccessful call at the booking office to learn they had
disobeyed my express admonition that they remain securely indoors during
my absences. The manager led me to the door of his establishment and
pointed to a spot on the sidewalk some number of paces distant. There I
beheld all eight of them standing at the curbing, giving vent to signs
and sounds of approval as a column of troops passed along the boulevard.
I started toward them, being minded to chide them severely for their
foolhardiness in venturing forth from the confines of the hotel without
male protection; but, at this juncture, I was caught unawares in a dense
mass of boisterous and excited resident Parisians, who swept up suddenly
from behind, enveloping me in their midst.

Thus entangled and surrounded, I was borne on and onward, protesting as
I went and endeavouring by every polite means within my power to
extricate myself from the press. Yet, so far as one might observe, none
paid the slightest heed to one's request for room and air until suddenly
the crowd parted, with cheers, and through the opening my wards appeared
led by the Misses Flora Canbee and Evelyn Maud Peacher, the latter of
Peoria, Illinois. These two accepted my outstretched hands and, with
their aid and the aid of the remaining six, I managed to attain the
comparatively safe refuge of a near-by shop doorway, but in a sadly
jostled state as to one's nerves and much disordered as to one's
wardrobe. Hearing my voice uplifted in entreaty as I was carried by
them, they had nobly responded; and, because of the impulse of the
throng, which accorded to frail maidenhood what was denie