rably by talking very loud and fast, and saying, '_Oui, oui, oui_,'
on all occasions with much gesticulation, and bows and smiles of great
suavity and sweetness.

'Clear out this rabble, or come back to the hotel and wait for the bus.
We shall have the whole town round us soon, and I can't stand it,' said
Amanda, who had no romantic admiration for the Great Unwashed.

'You think I can't do it? _Voila!_' and, rising suddenly to an
unexpected height, Matilda waved the umbrella like a _baton_, cried
'_Allez!_' in a stern voice, and the children fled like chaff before the
wind.

'You see how little is needed, so don't vex me with learning your old
verbs any more!' and Matilda closed her book with an air of calm
satisfaction.

'Come home and rest. It is so warm here I am fairly melted,' prayed
Lavinia, who had been longing for summer, and of course was not suited
when she got it.

'Now, do remember one thing: don't let us be gregarious. We never know
who we may pick up if we talk to people; and stray acquaintances are sad
bores sometimes. Granny is such a cross old dear she won't say a word to
any one if she can help it; but you, Mat, can't be trusted if we meet
any one who talks English. So be on your guard, or the peace of this
party is lost,' said Amanda, impressively.

'We are not likely to meet any but natives in this wilderness; so don't
excite yourself, Mandy, dear,' replied Matilda, who, being of a social
turn and an attractive presence, was continually making friends, to the
great annoyance of her more prudent comrades.

In the flowery courtyard sat the group that one meets everywhere on the
Continent,--even in the wilds of Brittany. The father and mother stout,
tired, and rather subdued by the newness of things; the son, Young
America personified, loud, important, and inquisitive; the daughter,
pretty, affected, and over-dressed; all on the lookout for adventures
and titles, fellow-countrymen to impress, and foreigners eager to get
the better of them.

Seeing the peril from afar, Amanda buried herself in Murray, to read up
the tomb of Chateaubriand, the tides, population, and any other useful
bit of history; for Amanda was a thrifty soul, and

'Gathered honey all the day
From every opening flower.'

Lavinia, finding the court damp, shrouded herself in the grey cloud, put
her feet on the red bundle, and fortified herself with a Turner's pill.

But Matilda, guileless girl, roamed to and fr