; that
they can put faith in their old grandmother's story and take their part in
her pleasures, her friendships, and her emotions.

FOOTNOTES:
[22] See "HOW I GOT THEM," page 14.

[Illustration: PART OF FIRST PAGE, "ALIX MS."]

ALIX DE MORAINVILLE

1773-95.

_Written in Louisiana this 22d of August, 1795, for my dear friends
Suzanne and Francoise Bossier_.

I have promised you the story of my life, my very dear and good friends
with whom I have had so much pleasure on board the flatboat which has
brought us all to Attakapas. I now make good my promise.

And first I must speak of the place where I was born, of the beautiful
Chateau de Morainville, built above the little village named Morainville
in honor of its lords. This village, situated in Normandy on the margin of
the sea, was peopled only and entirely by fishermen, who gained a
livelihood openly by sardine-fishing, and secretly, it was said, by
smuggling. The chateau was built on a cliff, which it completely occupied.
This cliff was formed of several terraces that rose in a stair one above
another. On the topmost one sat the chateau, like an eagle in its nest. It
had four dentilated turrets, with great casements and immense galleries,
that gave it the grandest possible aspect. On the second terrace you found
yourself in the midst of delightful gardens adorned with statues and
fountains after the fashion of the times. Then came the avenue, entirely
overshaded with trees as old as Noah, and everywhere on the hill, forming
the background of the picture, an immense park. How my Suzanne would have
loved to hunt in that beautiful park full of deer, hare, and all sorts of
feathered game!

And yet no one inhabited that beautiful domain. Its lord and mistress, the
Count Gaston and Countess Aurelie, my father and mother, resided in Paris,
and came to their chateau only during the hunting season, their sojourn
never exceeding six weeks.

Already they had been five years married. The countess, a lady of honor to
the young dauphine, Marie Antoinette, bore the well-merited reputation of
being the most charming woman at the court of the king, Louis the
Fifteenth. Count and countess, wealthy as they were and happy as they
seemed to be, were not overmuch so, because of their desire for a son; for
one thing, which is not seen in this country, you will not doubt, dear
girls, exists in France and other countries of Europe: it is the eldest
son, and never the daughte