il to be impressed by the silent reverence of the
congregation. No service was in process, yet many believers knelt at
prayer. Here a pretty girl returned thanks for evident blessings
received; there an old spinster, the narrowness of whose means forbade
her expending a couple of sous on the hire of a chair, knelt on the
chilly flags and murmured words of gratitude for benefits whereof her
appearance bore no outward indication.

We had left the prisoners to the enjoyment of their newly acquired
property in the morning. At gloaming we again mounted the time-worn
outside stair leading to the chamber whose casement bore the ominous red
cross. The warm glow of firelight filled the room, scintillating in the
glittering facets of the baubles on the tree; and from their pillows two
pale-faced boys--boys who, despite their lengthening limbs were yet
happily children at heart--watched eager-eyed while the sweet-faced
Soeur, with reverential care, lit the candles that surrounded the Holy
_Bebe_.

CHAPTER V

LE JOUR DE L'ANNEE

The closing days of 1900 had been unusually mild. Versailles townsfolk,
watching the clear skies for sign of change, declared that it would be
outside all precedent if Christmas week passed without snow. But,
defiant of rule, sunshine continued, and the new century opened
cloudless and bright.

[Illustration: De L'eau Chaude]

Karl, entering with hot water, gave us seasonable greeting, and as we
descended the stair, pretty Rosine, brushing boots at the open window of
the landing, also wished us a smiling _bonne nouvelle annee_. But within
or without there was little token of gaiety. Sundry booths for the sale
of gingerbread and cheap _jouets_, which had been erected in the Avenue
de St. Cloud, found business languishing, though a stalwart countryman
in blouse and sabots, whose stock-in-trade consisted of whirligigs
fashioned in the semblance of _moulins rouges_ and grotesque blue
Chinamen which he carried stuck into a straw wreath fixed on a tall
pole, had no lack of custom.

The great food question never bulks so largely in the public interest as
at the close of a year, so perhaps it was but natural that the greatest
appreciation of the festive traditions of the season should be evinced
by the shops devoted to the sale of provender. Turkeys sported scarlet
bows on their toes as though anticipating a dance rather than the oven;
and by their sides sausages, their somewhat plethoric waists gi