ed from the carts
to the pavement. But on Sundays the factories do not work, and the
district then falls into death-like silence. In summer time there is but
bright sunshine heating the pavement, in winter some icy snow-laden wind
rushing down the lonely streets. The population of Grenelle is said to
be the worst of Paris, both the most vicious and the most wretched.
The neighborhood of the Ecole Militaire attracts thither a swarm of
worthless women, who bring in their train all the scum of the populace.
In contrast to all this the gay bourgeois district of Passy rises up
across the Seine; while the rich aristocratic quarters of the Invalides
and the Faubourg St. Germain spread out close by. Thus the Beauchene
works on the quay, as their owner laughingly said, turned their back
upon misery and looked towards all the prosperity and gayety of this
world.

Mathieu was very partial to the avenues, planted with fine trees,
which radiate from the Champ de Mars and the Esplanade des Invalides,
supplying great gaps for air and sunlight. But he was particularly fond
of that long diversified Quai d'Orsay, which starts from the Rue du
Bac in the very centre of the city, passes before the Palais Bourbon,
crosses first the Esplanade des Invalides, and then the Champ de Mars,
to end at the Boulevard de Grenelle, in the black factory region. How
majestically it spread out, what fine old leafy trees there were round
that bend of the Seine from the State Tobacco Works to the garden of
the Eiffel Tower! The river winds along with sovereign gracefulness; the
avenue stretches out under superb foliage. You can really saunter there
amid delicious quietude, instinct as it were with all the charm and
power of Paris.

It was thither that Mathieu wished to take his wife and the little ones
that Sunday. But the distance was considerable, and some anxiety was
felt respecting Rose's little legs. She was intrusted to Ambroise, who,
although the youngest of the boys, was already energetic and determined.
These two opened the march; then came Blaise and Denis, the twins, the
parents bringing up the rear. Everything at first went remarkably well:
they strolled on slowly in the gay sunshine. That beautiful winter
afternoon was exquisitely pure and clear, and though it was very cold
in the shade, all seemed golden and velvety in the stretches of bright
light. There were a great many people out of doors--all the idle folks,
clad in their Sunday best, wh