c to
look at, brandishing temperament until the poor thing must have been
worn out before its harness of technique was ready--all was a perpetual
source of delight to me, and I used to let my mind dwell on Rosewater
for the sake of enjoying myself with the more wonder and gratitude.

"But of course in such a life I had to have a companion, I could not
long go to students' restaurants alone. I had taken a tiny flat in the
Latin Quarter at the top of a house, and overlooking a convent where the
nuns were always walking in the garden. A _femme de menage_ cooked my
breakfast and kept my rooms in order; but although I was quite
comfortable and never lonely, I had not been established a fortnight
before certain experiences at the restaurants and on the street, which
you can imagine for yourself, convinced me that I could not live alone.
So I looked hurriedly over the field, and decided that an American girl
in my class suggested fewest complications. Moreover, she interested me.
She had a pale tense face, rarely spoke to anybody, and worked as if her
life depended upon every stroke, although her talent was not
conspicuous. It was not easy to approach her, but one day, after I had
dined alone in my flat five times in succession, I noticed that she was
paler than usual, and that her hands were trembling. Then I felt certain
she was in trouble, and it would have been my instinct to help her in
any case. I joined her as we left the atelier, and asked her to walk a
bit. It was not long before she admitted that her money was practically
gone, and that her family would not send her any more; they had never
approved of her coming to Paris to study art. They were not at all well
off, and as she had a facility in trimming hats they had thought it her
duty to contribute more immediately to the support of the family. She
had not advanced as rapidly as she had hoped to do, and it would be
insupportable humiliation to return.

"Here was my opportunity. I exultingly invited her to share my
apartment, told her that my income was quite enough for two, that I was
merely studying life, and that her protection would more than compensate
me for the little extra outlay. She declined at first, hesitated for a
week; but in the end she came. I grew very fond of her, and she
interested me more and more. Her real bitterness taught me what a purely
youthful symptom mine had been, and she was rather a clever girl, often
entertaining. She was about twent