_.'
The servant we have is very anxious to please us, and I have finally
got her to the length of bringing the knives to the table cleaned; she
could hardly believe at first that I was serious in wanting clean
knives when there was no company."

It was very pleasant to her to be received everywhere in France with a
warm cordiality on the ground of her being an American, and she tells
a little story about this in one of her letters:

"When I went in search of doctors I arrived in town at an hour when
they all refused to see me, being at luncheon. One man, however, had
not yet come in, though his luncheon was waiting for him, so I waited
too and caught him in his own hall. He was quite furious and said the
most dreadful things to his servant because she had let me in. I sat
in a chair and waited till he had done abusing her, and then politely
explained my errand. After much beating about the bush, he gave me the
information that I wanted, and then, to the astonishment of his
servant, went downstairs with me and put me into my cab with the most
impressive politeness. Just as I left he told me he had allowed me to
break his rule and spoil his lunch because I was an American."

To their deep disappointment, Louis's health gained little or nothing
in this charming place, and for a time a heavy sadness fell upon his
wife, and in desperation her thoughts turned towards the frozen Alps,
which they both disliked and where she had suffered so much. She
writes: "I am sorry to say that Louis has had another hemorrhage. I
begin almost to think we had better go back to Davos and become
Symondses[21] and just stay there. Symonds himself, however, has taken
a cold and the weather there has not been good. I have news from Davos
that the well people that we knew are all dead and the hopeless cases
are all right."

[Footnote 21: Mr. Symonds never dared to leave Davos,
but remained there until his death.]

Trouble with drains now came to add to their fear that beautiful
Campagne Defli would not do for their permanent home. An epidemic
broke out in St. Marcel, and many died. Mrs. Stevenson, stricken with
fear for her husband, hurried him off to Nice, while she, armed with a
revolver, remained behind to keep guard over their effects, the
situation of their place being lonely, and reports of robberies and
even murder in the neighbourhood having reached them.

In the next week or two a series of distressing ev