THE DAY OF BASTILLE
MADAME LEMERCIER smiled indulgently when the afternoon's celebration
was described to her. "Ah, but you will be here on our great day," she
said. "And then, my friends, you will see. Paris is gay like that upon
our holiday. If you have your Forrs July, and your great Vashington,
we have our Fourteen July, our day of Bastille. We must zen see ze
city, ze illumination, ze dance, ze pyrotechnic at night. You will
allow, madame," she turned to Mrs. Corner, "that your demoiselles have
ze freedom not encouraged at ozzer time. Ve are a free peoples more
as before, upon zat day. Each does as he will, but we do not abuse,
no, we do not take advantage of ze liberte, for zough we rejoice we do
not forget our native politeness. It will be perfectly safe, zough a
gentleman escort or two will not be of objection."
"What does Bastille mean, anyway?" whispered Jack to Jean as they left
the dining-room together. "Is it anything like pastilles, those funny
sweet-smelling things we had in California? Maybe she said Pastille,
though it sounded more like Bas than Pas."
"I don't know which it was," confessed Jean. "I wasn't thinking much
about anything she was saying. You'd better ask Nan; she'll know."
"Did Madame say Bas or Pas?" Jack put her question.
"She said Bastille," Nan told her, "and it isn't a bit like the
pastilles you have in mind. In fact there isn't any more Bastille at
all. Do you remember when we went to Mt. Vernon that we saw the big key
there?"
"I believe I do remember something like a big key. What was it the key
of? I forget."
"The Bastille was a great big fortress or castle, and was where
they used to imprison nobles and other people who had offended the
government or whom the kings wanted to get rid of. It was a very
massive and strong place. Its walls were ten feet thick, and it had
eight great towers. It was a terrible place, and when the Revolution
began one of the first things the Revolutionists wanted to destroy
was the great fortress, so they cried, 'Down with the Bastille!' Then
they had a tremendous fight over it, for to the mass of people it
represented the power of the monarchy, and to the monarchy and the
nobles it meant their greatest stronghold. At last the Revolutionists
got in, and it was destroyed, blown to pieces. The fight took place on
the fourteenth of July and that is why they celebrate the day as we do
our Fourth. It will be good fun to see what they do, I think."
"But it is ten days off. What are we going to do till then?"
"Lawsee, you silly child, there will be plenty to do. We're going to
Versailles and to St. Cloud, to the Museé de Cluny, to Père le Chaise,
to the Louvre, and dozens of other places."
"I want to go up the tour Eiffel," said Jack, who delighted in such
performances, the higher up the better.
"I suppose you'll not rest till you get there," returned Nan laughing.
Indeed, there was enough to do in the next ten days to keep every one
busy, for each had some special wish to be fulfilled and where there
were five youngsters to satisfy, there was little danger of time
hanging heavily on their hands. Mary Lee loved the Jardin des Plantes,
Jo never tired of the boulevards, and delighted in riding on the tops
of the omnibuses. Nan reveled in the Louvre and the Museé de Cluny,
Jean liked the Luxembourg gardens, the Tuilleries and the river, Jack
wanted to climb to the top of every accessible steeple and tower in
the city. Whenever a church was being discussed her first inquiry was
always, "Has it a tower?"
Paris was too full of opportunities for Jack to miss anything that was
in the least feasible, and she was always so innocently unconscious
of doing anything out of the way that it was hard to make her realize
that she must be censured. As Miss Helen said, it was all the point of
view, and from Jack's standpoint, if you did but tell the truth, did
no one harm, and pursued what seemed a rational and agreeable course,
why stand on the manner of doing it? She and Jean were allowed to
play in the Bois within certain limits, for it was very near to their
_pension_, and they could be found readily by one of their elders if
they were wanted.
"But," said Mrs. Corner, "you must not go further without some older
person with you." This order the children always fulfilled to the
letter and Mrs. Corner felt perfectly safe about them.
But one morning, Jean chose to go back to the house for something
she wanted, and on her return Jack was nowhere in sight. Jean waited
patiently for a while, and then not daring to go beyond bounds, she
returned to the house to report. Nan immediately left her practicing to
go in search of her little sister. She ventured, herself, further than
ever before, but after a long and fruitless hunt came back to where
Jean had been left as sentry, this being the spot where she had parted
from her twin.
Nan was not easily scared about Jack, but this time she felt there
was cause for anxiety. Suppose she had fallen into the lake; suppose
she had been beguiled away by some beggar who would strip her of her
clothes and hold her for a ransom. Nan had heard of such things. "I
hate to go back and tell mother," she murmured.
Jean began to cry. "Oh, Nan, do you think she could have been run over
by an automobile?" she asked.
Nan shook her head gravely. "I'm sure I don't know, Jean. She always
manages to turn up all right, and has the most plausible reasons for
doing as she does, but this time I cannot imagine where she could have
gone. Mother and Aunt Helen are both at home and so are Jo and Mary
Lee, so she could not have gone anywhere with one of them." She again
looked anxiously up the road.
"Oh, there she is," suddenly cried Jean in joyful tones.
"Where? Where?" cried Nan grasping Jean's shoulder.
"In that cab coming this way. Don't you see her?"
Nan waited till the cab stopped, then she rushed forward to see Jack
clamber down from the side of the red-faced _cocher_, shake hands with
two gaudily dressed women of the bourgeois class, and walk calmly off
while the cab drove on.
"Jack Corner!" cried Nan, not refraining from giving the child a little
shake, "where have you been? Do you know you have scared Jean and me
nearly to death? Poor little Jean has been crying her eyes out about
you."
"What for?" asked Jack with a look of surprise.
"Because she was afraid you had been run over or had fallen in the
lake. Where have you been?"
"Just taking a ride around," said Jack nonchalantly. "You might have
known, Nan," she went on in a tone of injured innocence, "that I
wouldn't go anywhere without an older person when mother said we were
not to, and there were three older persons with me."
"But didn't you realize that Jean wouldn't know where you had gone, and
that she would be frightened about you?"
"I didn't think we would be gone so long," returned Jack. "You see I
know the _cocher_ quite well. He has a dear little dog he lets me play
with sometimes. Aunt Helen always tries to have this man when she can,
so to-day when he asked me if I didn't want to ride back with him, he
was going back to the stand, you see, I said, _Oui, monsieur, de tout
mon c[oe]ur_, and so I got up. Then just as we were going to start
those two ladies came along."
"Ladies!" exclaimed Nan contemptuously.
"One of them had beautiful feathers in her hat," returned Jack
defiantly.
"Well, never mind. Go on."
"They wanted to take a drive, but they wanted to pay very little for
it, and finally the _cocher_ said if I could go, too, he would take
them for a franc and a half. So they went and they stopped quite a
time; we had to wait, the _cocher_ and I."
"Where was the place?"
"I don't know. It was somewhere that you get things to eat and drink.
They didn't ask me to take any of what they were having."
"I should hope not. So then you waited, and the _cocher_ brought you
back?"
Jack nodded. "Hm, hm. He was going to take the ladies further, so when
I saw you and Jean I said I would get down, and here I am all safe and
sound," she added cheerfully.
"You ought to be spanked and put to bed," said Nan severely.
Jack looked at her with wide-eyed reproach. "Why, Nan," she said, "I
didn't do a thing to make you say that. He is a very nice _cocher_; his
name is François, and I am sure I minded mother. It would have been
quite different if I had gone off anywhere alone. Mother said an older
person, and François is very old; he must be forty."
"Well," returned Nan, "mother will tell you that you are not to go
anywhere with strange _cochers_, or strange any other persons, and that
will be the last of that sort of performance."
Jack gave a deep sigh, as of one misunderstood. It was very hard to
keep up with the exactions of her family who were continually hedging
her about with some new condition.
After this the days passed quietly till the fourteenth came around.
Madame Lemercier pronounced the city deserted, while Miss Joyce
declared it might be by Parisians, but was taken possession of by
American tourists. The Corners, however, wondered whether it could be
possible that it ever held any more than those who crowded the streets
that evening when they all set out to see the sights. Along the Seine
they concluded they would be able to see more than elsewhere, so they
made the Louvre and the Palais Royal their destination. The streets
were full of a good-natured, jostling throng. Every now and then the
party would come upon some dancers footing it gaily in some "place" or
at some street corner. The cafés were thronged, and there were venders
of all sorts driving a thriving trade. From the bridges ascended
splendid fireworks which were continually cheered by the gaping
spectators. Illuminations brightened the entire way. No one forbade
joking, singing students to walk abreast so they would take up the
entire sidewalk, for no one minded walking around them.
"One can scarcely imagine what it must have been during that dreadful
Reign of Terror," said Nan to her aunt when they reached the "Place de
la Concorde." "This jolly, contented crowd of people is very different
from the bloodthirsty mob that gloried in the guillotine then. Just
over there the guillotine was set up, wasn't it? And, somewhere near,
those horrible fishwives sat knitting and telling of the number of the
poor victims. I think this 'Place de la Concorde' is one of the most
splendid spots in Paris, but I can never pass it without a shudder."
"Too much imagination on this occasion, Nan," said her aunt. "You must
not let your mind dwell upon such things when you are trying to have a
good time. One could be miserable anywhere, remembering past history.
I am sure to-night doesn't suggest an angry mob. Don't let us lose our
party. We must keep an eye on them. I thought I saw Jack wriggle ahead,
through the crowd, by herself."
"I'll dash on and get her," said Nan, "and stand still till you all
come up." She managed to get hold of Jack before the child was wholly
swallowed up in the crowd, and cautioned her to keep close to the
others if she would not lose them.
But Jack was always resourceful and independent. "It wouldn't make any
difference if I did lose you all," she declared. "I could find my way
back, and the _concierge_ would let me in."
"That cross old creature? I shouldn't like to bother him," returned
Nan. "He is an old beast."
"Oh, no, he isn't always. If you call him _monsieur_ often enough he
gets quite pleasant," Jack assured her.
"I'll be bound for you," Nan answered. "We must stand here, Jack, till
the others come up. Don't you think it is fun? I can't imagine where so
many people came from, all sorts and conditions."
"I think it is very nice," returned Jack, "but I wish Carter were here
with his automobile, and I wish he were here anyhow, so he could dance
with me. I'd love to go dance out in the street with the rest of the
people. Won't you come dance with me, Nan?"
"I'd look pretty, a great long-legged girl like me in a crowd of French
'_bonnes_' and '_blanchisseuse_,' wouldn't I? Suppose we should be seen
by some of our friends, what would they think to see me twirling around
in the midst of such a gang as this?"
But in spite of this scoffing on Nan's part, Jack was not easily rid of
her desire, and looked with longing eyes upon each company of dancers
they passed. Nan managed to keep a pretty strict lookout for her
little sister, but finally she escaped in an unguarded moment, and was
suddenly missed.
"She is the most trying child," said Mary Lee, who had experienced no
difficulty in keeping the tractable Jean in tow.
"Jack gets so carried away by things of the moment," said Nan, always
ready to make excuses for her little sister. "She gets perfectly lost
to everything but what is interesting her at the time, and forgets to
keep her mind on anything else. I'll go ahead as I did before, and
probably I shall find her."
But no Jack was to be discovered. Mary Lee scolded, Jean began to cry
and Mrs. Corner looked worried.
"We can't leave the child by herself in the streets of Paris on such
a night as this," she said anxiously. "There is no telling what might
happen to her."
"Don't bother, mother dear," said Nan. "I'm sure she can't be a great
way off. You and some of the others stand here, and I'll go ahead with
Aunt Helen. We'll come back to you in a few minutes."
"I verily believe I caught a glimpse of her," suddenly exclaimed Jo.
"Where?" asked Nan, craning her neck.
"Over there where you hear the music."
"She's possessed about the dancing in the streets, and very likely she
is watching the dancing."
They all moved over in the direction from which the music came, and
there, sure enough, in the centre of a company of dancers, was Jack
with a round black-whiskered Frenchman, whirling merrily to the strains
of a violin.
Nan and her Aunt Helen edged their way to the outskirts of the circle
of onlookers, and then Nan forced herself nearer. "Jack," she called.
"Jack, come right here."
Jack cast a glance over her shoulder, gave several more twirls, and was
finally surrendered to her proper guardians by the rotund Frenchman
who made a low bow with heels together as he bade adieu to his little
partner.
"I did it, Nan, I did it," announced Jack joyfully. "He was a nice man
and he called me _la petite Americaine_. He has a brother in New York
and was so pleased when I told him I had been there. He is a barber and
he gave me a flower." She produced a rose proudly.
"Come right over here to mother," said Nan, paying small attention to
what Jack was saying. "She is worried to death about you."
"Why?" asked Jack in her usual tone of surprise when such a condition
of affairs was mentioned. "Madame Lemercier said on Bastille day every
one could do just what she wanted, and I am sure I was only doing what
dozens and hundreds of other people were doing. What was there wrong
about it, Aunt Helen?"
She looked so aggrieved and innocent, that Miss Helen, between smiles
and frowns, could only ejaculate, "Oh, Jack, Jack, there is no doing
anything with you."
Even after she had joined her mother and had been told how alarmed Mrs.
Corner had been, Jack could not see the least indiscretion in joining
in the dance. "Anybody could do it," she said, "and you didn't have to
pay a cent."
"It is the question of Jack's point of view again," said Miss Helen to
Mrs. Corner. "Jack has been told that every one in Paris does as he or
she chooses upon the fourteenth of July, and why not she with the rest?
She could understand Nan's not caring to dance because she objected to
being conspicuous; as to any other reason, it never entered the child's
head." So, as usual, Jack got off with a mild reproof, and the party
went on their way without further trouble, Miss Helen and Nan keeping
Jack between them, and Nan never letting go for one instant her hold
upon Jack's arm.
To the two youngest of the company there was a great excitement in
being up so late in the Paris streets, and when they stopped at a
café, less crowded than most, and in a quiet street, to have _limonade
gaseuze_, their satisfaction was complete.
After this there was less sightseeing, for Miss Helen and Mrs. Corner
had shopping to do, and Nan had an object in making the most of her
time in Paris, as she was anxious to add to her knowledge of French,
intending to specialize in languages when she entered college. Mary
Lee, with not so correct an ear, acquired facility less easily, and Jo
declared that it would be impossible for herself ever to get rid of
her American accent. But it was Jack who soon picked up a surprising
vocabulary which she used to the utmost advantage, jabbering away with
whomsoever she came in contact, be it some _cocher_ or the learned
professor who sat next her at table, the chambermaids or Madame
Lemercier herself, with whom the girls had lessons. Jack had not the
least self-consciousness, and never feared ridicule. Jean, more timid,
would have learned little, if her twin had not urged her to exert
herself, forcing her to speak when they encountered some little French
girls in the Bois.
These little girls came every day for an orderly walk with their
governess, and for a discreet hour of play. Jack liked their looks,
and was determined to make their acquaintance. She accordingly smiled
most beguilingly upon them but for some time could win no more than shy
smiles in return.
"I mean to make them speak to me," she told Jean.
"How are you going to do it?" asked Jean. "Maybe their governess won't
let them speak to strangers. She looks very prim."
"I reckon she only looks that way because she is French," returned
Jack, nothing daunted. "I saw her watch me playing Diabolo, and I know
she thinks I do it well."
"You're awfully stuck up about it," replied Jean, herself less expert.
"No, I'm not. I can play much better than some of those great big
girls, and I know I can, so what is the use of pretending I don't?"
However, it was not this which won the response Jack hoped for, but
it was because chance gave her the opportunity of returning a book
which the governess left on a bench one day. Jack saw it after the
demure little girls had gone, and she pounced upon it, carrying it
triumphantly home and presenting it the next day to the owner with a
polite little speech. The thanks she received made a sufficient wedge
for Jack and she was soon talking affably to the little girls as well
as to the governess. Jack could be the most entertaining of persons,
and it was no time before she had an absorbed audience. After this it
was a common occurrence for the twins to meet Paulette and Clemence in
the Bois, and the little French girls were never refused permission to
play with the two Americans.
[Illustration: CHAPTER III
HOUSEKEEPING]