her hand-cart before her over the muddy pavement. She stopped when
she saw me; and, in the softest voice she could command,

"'What are you doing there, my darling?' she asked.

"In a few words I explained to her my situation. She seemed more
surprised than moved.

"'Such is life,' she remarked,--'sometimes up, sometimes down.'

"And, stepping up nearer,

"'What do you expect to do now?' she interrogated in a tone of voice
so different from that in which she had spoken at first, that I felt
more keenly the horror of my altered situation.

"'I have no idea,' I replied.

"After thinking for a moment,

"'You can't stay there,' she resumed: 'the gendarmes would arrest
you. Come with me. We will talk things over at the house; and
I'll give you my advice.'

"I was so completely crushed, that I had neither strength nor will.
Besides, what was the use of thinking? Had I any choice of
resolutions? Finally, the woman's offer seemed to me a last favor
of destiny.

"'I shall do as you say, madame,' I replied.

"She proceeded at once to load up my little baggage on her cart.
We started; and soon we arrived 'home.'

"What she called thus was a sort of cellar, at least twelve inches
lower than the street, receiving its only light through the glass
door, in which several broken panes had been replaced by sheets of
paper. It was revoltingly filthy, and filled with a sickening odor.
On all sides were heaps of vegetables,--cabbages, potatoes, onions.
In one corner a nameless heap of decaying rags, which she called
her bed; in the centre, a small cast-iron stove, the worn-out pipe
of which allowed the smoke to escape in the room.

"'Anyway,' she said to me, 'you have a home now!'

"I helped her to unload the cart. She filled the stove with coal,
and at once declared that she wanted to inspect my things.

"My trunks were opened; and it was with exclamations of surprise
that the woman handled my dresses, my skirts, my stockings.

"'The mischief!' she exclaimed, 'you dressed well, didn't you?'

"Her eyes sparkled so, that a strong feeling of mistrust arose in
my mind. She seemed to consider all my property as an unexpected
godsend to herself. Her hands trembled as she handled some piece
of jewelry; and she took me to the light that she might better
estimate the value of my ear-rings.

"And so, when she asked me if I had any money, determined to hide
at least my twenty-franc-piece, which was my sole fortune,