LOTTIE IN PARIS.
"At last we reached the hotel--a great, grand house, that frightens one
by its size; it must cover acres and acres; you could not count the
number of lights, and crowds of people going up and down the stairs.
"They took me into a room half-way up to the sky, and there I sat down
with my head aching and clear tired out. You didn't know, I suppose,
that I have learned a good many French words from the mistress: such as
_du pain_, which means bread; and _le the_, for tea; and _sucre_, which
a'n't much different from our sugar, only you mumble it up in your mouth
before speaking, and let it all out at once.
"Well, I was dying with thirst, and my head throbbed terribly. The man
called me _madmoiselle_, and looked polite and sorry; so I said:
"'_Donna moia_ a cup of _the_, if you please, _mousheu_.'
"He looked bewildered a minute, and then brightened up so pleasant:
"'_Ah! le the! We, we!_'
"'No,' said I, thinking how improper it would be for that strange man to
sit down to tea with a young girl in her room that time of night; 'only
for myself; one cup will do. Excuse me.'
"He did not stop to hear, but went off and came back with a china cup
and saucer on a little silver tray, as if I had been a born lady. I
stirred up the tea and tasted it.
"'_Donna moia un petite_ more _sucre_, if _vous_ please,' said I.
"'_We, madmoiselle, toot sweet,_' says he.
"The fellow pronounced 'too' as if it had a _t_ in it; but then, how
could he understand good English?
"'No, no--not too sweet' said I; 'the contrary way. I want more _la
sucre_, sugar, you know.'
"The fellow really did not understand his own language, but stood there
looking wild as a fish-hawk. All at once he brightened up and ran out of
the room. Directly he came back with another man. The moment I saw his
face I jumped up, ready to scream with joy, and--and--yes, Miss Hyde,
don't blush! but I sprang right into his arms and gave him a kiss.
"Who was it? Why, James, Mr. Lee's own man--a person--well, Miss Hyde,
we all have secrets; but if ever a girl had a right to kiss a friend in
a strange place, I had--that's all.
"'Oh! James, James Grant! It's Providence that sent you here!'
"'No,' he said, holding me tight and stopping my mouth while choke-full
of words, 'I rather think it was your bad French, Lottie.'
"I would have struck him; only he held me so near and so tight it was
impossible.
"The waiter went out softly. What sensible people these Frenchmen are!
Then I forgot my headache and everything but the business in hand. James
is a good scholar, you know, and understands French like a book. If ever
Providence sent a friend at the right time, He did it that night. First
I began asking questions.
"Mr. Lee had been away down East in Jerusalem, Palestine, across
deserts, and over pyramids, for almost the whole time since he left
home. Sorrowful as a man could be, but always going ahead, as if comfort
lay in sharp work. Then he had come back into Italy, and so into France,
which is Paris, you know.
"Mrs. Dennison was in the hotel when Mr. Lee got there; James thinks,
unexpectedly to his master, but is not certain. He knows that she wrote
letters to him, any way.
"'She is here, then--she has been setting her traps,' I said. 'Tell me
everything, James, if you ever loved the sweet lady who is dead, or her
child, who is pining herself to death at our own dear home. Tell me
everything!'
"'Yes,' he said, 'it's no use going over the tracks; but she's got him,
and to-morrow they will be married at the American Embassy.'
"'To-morrow! Married, to-morrow!' I almost screamed.
"'Yes,' he answered; 'nothing can stop it. I passed a woman who brought
home the wedding-dress as I came up-stairs.'
"I caught hold of James and held his arms down tight.
"'Nothing can stop it, James? Yes, sir, you and I can stop it; you and I
_will_ stop it! I never promised right out before, James; but if you'll
help me to expose this woman, I'll--I'll--yes, you and I'll take their
place, and be married at the American Embassy right off ourselves.'
"He--well, Miss Hyde, I won't worry you by telling what he said or did
just then; but my face burned like fire half an hour after.
"Now comes the hardest part of my story. Don't clasp your hands and pray
for me, as the worst sinner that ever was; for I a'n't quite that!
Still, you think so much of a little fib, and listening, and breaking
open seals, that I'd rather not write it if a great deep ocean of water
wasn't rolling between you and me. Miss Hyde, I own it, lies a'n't my
delight; but I can tell 'em. Peeping through keyholes and windows isn't
my nature; but, anyhow, I did it. More than that: I never let one of
Mrs. Dennison's letters leave our house without reading it. One or two
letters I kept back altogether, because they were written in French, and
I couldn't read that. They are with me here. It was to give them into
Mr. Lee's hand that I came across the wide ocean. She suspected me--or
her girl Cora did--and hired one of the men to mail them safely; but I
knew a better way of bribing him to give them up. True, it made James
jealous to see how thick I was with the man; but I couldn't help that.
"Babylon was cute, though; she wrote carefully. It was to some old
friend--who was as bad as herself--to whom the letters were sent. I have
some of her answers, too, as well as the journal; these were the papers
that I laid before James Grant that night.
"I could only make out a word here and there in the French letters. If
you hadn't been so crank about honor and all that, I would have brought
them to you; I couldn't make up my mind to take the preaching. But I
watched. You know, Miss Hyde, no dog ever kept watch as I did over that
angel!
"She died. The worst came while I was wondering what to do. There was no
use in telling what I had done. She was dead; and I thought then that
the woman would go away and leave us to our mourning. If she came back
again, I meant to give the journal up and have you read the French
letters. You know how she left, and why it was Mr. Lee went off in that
strange way; I could only guess. You wouldn't trust me; so I wouldn't
trust you. But when I found that Babylon had gone chasing after Mr. Lee,
just as his year of mourning was over, I followed her.
"I gave the journal and letters to James, and we read them over
together. James reads French, and can turn it into English as easy as
talking. So he gave me the English, which was a good deal like her
journal, full of sin and iniquity."