l vulgar
curiosity as to the number of years she may have lingered on this
planet. You see Madame d'Haussonville as she is and take not the
least interest in what she may have been during the years before you
happened to meet her.

Very tall and slender and round and straight, her figure could hardly
have been more perfect at the age of thirty. The poise of her head is
very haughty and the nostril of her fine French nose is arched and
thin. She wears no make-up whatever, and, however plainly she may feel
it her duty to dress in these days, her clothes are cut by a master
and an excessively modern one at that; there is none of the Victorian
built-up effect, to which our own grandes dames cling as to the rock
of ages, about Madame d'Haussonville. Her waist line is in its proper
place--she does not go to the opposite extreme and drag it down to her
knees--and one feels reasonably sure that it will be there at the age
of ninety--presupposing that the unthinkable amount of hard work she
accomplishes daily during this period of her country's crucifixion
shall not have devoured the last of her energies long before she is
able to enter the peaceful haven of old age.

She is in her offices at the Red Cross headquarters in the Rue
Francois I'er early and late, leaving them only to visit hospitals or
sit on some one of the innumerable committees where her advice is
imperative, during the organizing period at least.

Some time ago I wrote to Madame d'Haussonville, asking her if she
would dictate a few notes about her work in the Red Cross, and as she
wrote a very full letter in reply, I cannot do better than quote it,
particularly as it gives a far more comprehensive idea of her
personality than any words of mine.

"Paris, March 28th, 1917.

"DEAR MRS. ATHERTON:

"I am very much touched by your gracious letter and very happy if I
can serve you.

"Here are some notes about our work, and about what I have seen since
August, 1914. All our thoughts and all our strength are in the great
task, that of all French women, to aid the wounded, the ill, those who
remain invalids, the refugees of the invaded districts, all the
sufferings actually due to these cruel days.

"Some weeks before the war, I was called to the ministry, where they
asked me to have two hundred infirmaries ready for all possible
happenings. We had already established a great number, of which many
had gone to Morocco and into the Colonies. To-day there are fi