Little Jeanne of France
[Illustration: LITTLE JEANNE OF FRANCE]
LITTLE JEANNE
_of_ FRANCE
BY
MADELINE BRANDEIS
_Producer of the Motion Pictures_
"The Little Indian Weaver"
"The Wee Scotch Piper"
"The Little Dutch Tulip Girl"
"The Little Swiss Wood Carver"
Distributed by Pathé Exchange, Inc., New York City
_Photographic Illustrations made in France by the Author_
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
_by arrangement with the A. Flanagan Company_
COPYRIGHT, 1929, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
When I began to write these stories about children of all lands I had
just returned from Europe whither I journeyed with Marie and Ref. Maybe
you don't know Marie and Ref. I'll introduce them: Please meet Marie, my
very little daughter, and Ref, my very big reflex camera.
These two are my helpers. Marie helps by being a little girl who knows
what other little girls like and by telling me; and Ref helps by
snapping pictures of everything interesting that Marie and I see on our
travels. I couldn't get along without them.
Several years have gone by since we started our work together and Marie
is a bigger girl--but Ref hasn't changed one bit. Ref hasn't changed any
more than my interest in writing these books for you. And I hope that
_you_ hope that I'll never change, because I want to keep on writing
until we'll have no more countries to write about--unless, of course,
some one discovers a new country.
Even if a new country isn't discovered, we'll find foreign children to
talk about--maybe the children in Mars! Who knows? Nobody. Not even
Marie--and Marie usually knows about most things. That's the reason why,
you see, though I sign myself
[Illustration: Signature of Madeline Brandeis]
I am really only
Marie's Mother.
DEDICATION
To every child of every land,
Little sister, little brother,
As in this book your lives unfold,
May you learn to love each other.
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I
Madame Villard 11
Chapter II
Paul 18
Chapter III
To the Front! 25
Chapter IV
On to Paris 32
Chapter V
Suzanne 39
Chapter VI
Jeanne 52
Chapter VII
Major d'Artrot 64
Chapter VIII
The Guignol 78
Chapter IX
An Adventure in the Bois 90
Chapter X
The Live Puppet 101
Chapter XI
Little Spoiled Margot 108
Chapter XII
At Auntie Sue's Shop 114
Chapter XIII
Come and Play 127
Chapter XIV
A Drive Through Paris 135
Chapter XV
Jeanne and Margot 148
Chapter XVI
"I Want to Play" 156
Chapter XVII
A Call for Help 168
Chapter XVIII
Margot's Story 179
[Illustration: THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE (Page 90)]
Little Jeanne of France
CHAPTER I
MADAME VILLARD
"The baby is a dear little dark-haired girl, Madame Villard
(vē-lär´)," said the nurse.
Madame Villard came forward, and her face expressed the joy in her
heart.
It was the twilight hour. Paris was busily honking and tooting outside
the broad windows of Madame Villard's apartment.
The apartment looked out upon one of Paris' finest avenues. And Paris
has many fine avenues. This had been Madame Villard's home for many
years.
[Illustration: THE APARTMENT ON AVENUE CHAMPS ELYSÉES WHERE MADAME
VILLARD LIVED]
It was here she had raised her family--her boy and her girl. It was the
same girl whose "dear little, dark-haired baby" had just come into the
world.
"May I--may I see her?" asked Madame Villard softly.
The nurse led her into the room, and the grandmother looked with
tear-dimmed eyes upon this first grandchild.
Baby Margot (mär´-gō) was Madame's first grandchild. At least, that
is what Madame thought. Little did Madame Villard know that at this same
moment another grandchild of hers was opening wondering brown eyes upon
the same world!
The same world and the same country, France! Yet how different was
this other grandchild's world from the world of little Margot!
Little soft, comfy Margot in her billowy pink and lace down! Little
soft, cuddly Margot, whom Grandmother took into her arms that day! All
the while, she did not know about the other grandchild.
That other grandchild did not have soft billowy pink and lace pillows on
which to rest her head. That other grandchild did not have a
grandmother's loving arms into which she could cuddle down.
That other grandchild--but I must not talk of her. I must talk of
Margot. For Margot was all that Grandmother Villard could talk about or
even think of that day.
Her own little daughter's daughter! It was so wonderful to think of
Margot's being here. So wonderful for poor Madame Villard, whose only
son Paul was fighting at the front in the Great War.
When the war had started, Paul had gone to fight for France. Now it was
many months since Madame had heard from her soldier boy.
Soon after Paul had joined the army, he had met and married Jeanne
(jēn) in a tiny village of France. Paul had written to his mother in
Paris, telling her of his marriage.
[Illustration: A QUAINT STREET IN A LITTLE FRENCH VILLAGE FAR FROM THE
ROAR OF CITIES]
"You will love Jeanne," wrote Paul. "When this war is over, I shall
bring her to Paris."
But the war was not over, and Jeanne had never been brought to Paris.
Madame Villard did not hear from her boy again.
She did not know that on this happy day, while she held her little
grandchild Margot in her arms, Paul's little girl was opening her brown
eyes upon a different-looking world.
In a sad, war-stricken, bleak little village far from Paris, this other
grandchild was born.