"AVENUE GÉRARD, No. 9."
"One foot up and the other foot down,
For that is the way to London town.
And just the same, over dale and hill,
'Tis also the way to wherever you will."
OLD RHYME.
It was a very cold day, colder than is usual in Paris in November, where
the winter, though intense while it lasts, seldom sets in before the New
Year. But though cold, there had been sufficient brightness and
sunshine, though of a pale and feeble kind, to encourage the Mammas of
Paris either to take out their darlings themselves or to entrust them to
the nurses and maids, and nursery governesses of all nations who, on
every fairly fine day, may be seen with their little charges walking up
and down what Roger called "the pretty wide street," which had so taken
his fancy the day of the expedition with Monsieur Adolphe.
Among all the little groups walking up and down pretty steadily, for it
was too cold for loitering, or whipping tops, or skipping-ropes, as in
finer weather, two small figures hurrying along hand-in-hand, caught the
attention of several people. Had they been distinctly of the humbler
classes nobody would have noticed them much, for even in this
aristocratic part of the town one sometimes sees quite poor children
threading their way among or standing to admire the little
richly-dressed pets who, after all, are but children like themselves.
And sometimes a burst of innocent laughter, or bright smiles of
pleasure, will spread from the rich to the poor, at the sight of Henri's
top having triumphed over Xavier's, or at the solemn dignity of the
walking doll of five-year-old Yvonne.
But these two little people were evidently not of the lower classes. Not
only were they warmly and neatly dressed--though that, indeed, would
hardly have settled the question, as it is but very seldom in Paris that
one sees the children of even quite humble parents ill or insufficiently
clad--but even though their coats and hats were plain and
unfashionable, there was about them a decided look of refinement and
good-breeding. And yet they were alone!
"Who can they be?" said one lady to another. "Just see how
half-frightened and yet determined the little girl looks."
"And how the boy clings to her. They are English, I suppose--English
people are so eccentric, and let their children do all sorts of things
_we_ would never dream of."
"Not the English of the upper classes," replied the first lady, with a
slight shade of annoyance. "You forget I am half English myself by my
mother's side, so I should know. You take your ideas of the English from
anything but the upper classes. I am always impressing that on my
friends. How would you like if the English judged _us_ by the French
they see in Leicester Square, or by the dressmakers and ladies' maids
who go over and call themselves governesses?"
"I wouldn't _like_ it, but I daresay it is often done, nevertheless,"
said the other lady good-naturedly. "But very likely those children do
_not_ belong to the upper classes."
"I don't know," said the first lady. She stopped as she spoke and looked
after the children, who had now passed them, thoughtfully. "No," she
went on, "I don't think they are common children. I fancy there must be
something peculiar about them. Can they have lost their way?
Antoinette," she added suddenly, turning round. "You may think me very
foolish and eccentric--'English,' if you like, but I am going to run
after them and see if there is anything the matter. Look after Lili for
a moment for me, please."
Antoinette laughed.
"Do as you please, my dear," she said.
So off hastened, in her rich velvet and furs, the other lady. It was not
difficult to overtake the children, for the two pairs of legs had
trotted a long way and were growing weary. But when close behind them
their new friend slackened her pace. How was she to speak to them? She
did not know that they were English, or even strangers, and if they were
the former that did not much mend matters, for, alas! notwithstanding
the half British origin she was rather fond of talking about, the pretty
young mother had been an idle little girl in her time, and had
consistently declined to learn any language but her own. _Now_, she
wished for her Lili's sake to make up for lost time, and was looking
out for an English governess, but as yet she dared not venture on any
rash attempts. She summoned up her courage, however, and gently touched
the little girl on the shoulder, and all her suspicions that something
unusual was in question were awakened again by the start of terror the
child gave, and the pallid look of misery, quickly followed by an
expression of relief, with which she looked up in her face.
"I thought it was Anna," she half whispered, clutching her little
brother's hand more tightly than before.
"Mademoiselle--my child," said the lady, for the dignity on the little
face, white and frightened as it was, made her not sure how to address
her. "Can I do anything to help you? You are alone--have you perhaps
lost your way?"
The last few words Gladys, for she of course it was, did not follow. But
the offer of help, thanks to the kind eyes looking down on her, she
understood. She gazed for a moment into these same eyes, and then
seeming to gather confidence she carefully drew out from the pocket of
her ulster--the same new ulster she had so proudly put on for the first
time the day of the journey which was to have ended with "Papa" and
happiness--a little piece of paper, rather smudgy-looking, it must be
owned, which she unfolded and held up to the lady. On it were written
the words--
"9 Avenue Gérard."
"Avenue Gérard," repeated the lady; "is that where you want to go? It is
not far from here."
But seeing that the child did not take in the meaning of her words, she
changed her tactics. Taking Gladys by the hand she led her to one side
of the broad walk where they were standing, and pointing to a street at
right angles from the rows of houses bordering the Champs Elysées.
[Illustration: "Go along there," she said, "and then turn to the left
and you will see the name, 'Avenue Gérard,' at the corner."]
"Go along there," she said, "and then turn to the left and you will see
the name, 'Avenue Gérard,' at the corner."
She pointed as she spoke; then she stooped, and with the sharp point of
the tiny umbrella she carried, traced in lines the directions she had
given, in the gravel on which they were standing. Gladys considered for
a moment in silence, then she lifted her head and nodded brightly.
"I understand," she said, "and thank you _very_ much."
Then taking Roger's hand, which, while speaking to the lady she had
let go, she smiled again, and whispering something to her brother which
made him pluck off his little cap, the two small pilgrims set off again
on their journey. The lady stood for a moment looking after them, and I
think there were tears in her eyes.
"I wonder if I could have done more for them," she said to herself,
"Fancy Lili and Jean by themselves like that! But they know where they
have to go to--they are not lost."
"How kind she was," said Gladys, as she led her little brother in the
direction the lady had pointed out. "It is not far now, Roger, dear--are
you _very_ tired?"
Roger made a manful effort to step out more briskly.
"Not so _very_, Gladdie. But oh, Gladdie, I was so frightened when I
felt you stop and when I saw your face. Oh, Gladdie, I thought it was
_her_."
"So did I," said Gladys with a shiver.
"Would she have put us in prison?" he asked.
"I don't know," said Gladys. "I heard her say something to Françoise
about the police. I don't know if that means prison. But these ladies
won't let her, 'cos you know, Roger, they're _English_, like us."
"Is all French peoples naughty?" inquired Roger meekly.
"No, you silly little boy," giving him a small shake, "of course not.
Think of Mrs. Nest, and Françoise, and even that lady--oh, I didn't mean
to make you cry. You're not silly--I didn't mean it, dear."
But Roger could not at once stop his tears, for they were as much the
result of tiredness and excitement as of Gladys's words.
"Gladdie," he went on plaintively, "what will you do if those ladies
aren't kind to us?"
"They'll help me to send a tele--you know what I mean--a letter in that
quick way, to Miss Susan," replied Gladys confidently. "That's all I'm
going to ask them. They'd never refuse that."
"And could Miss Susan get here to-day, do you think?"
Gladys hesitated.
"I don't quite know. I don't know how long it takes _people_ to come
that way. But I'm afraid it costs a good deal. We must ask the ladies.
Perhaps they'll get us a little room somewhere, where Anna can't find
us, till Miss Susan sends for us."
"But," continued Roger, "what will you do if they're _out_, Gladdie?"
Gladys did not answer. Strange to say, practical as she was, this
possibility had never occurred to her. Her one idea had been to make her
way to the Avenue Gérard at once, then it had seemed to her that all
difficulties would be at an end.
"What's the good of saying that, Roger," she said at last. "If they're
out we'll----"
"What?"
"Wait till they come in, I suppose."
"It'll be very cold waiting in the street--like beggars," grumbled
Roger. But he said it in a low tone, not particularly wishing Gladys to
hear. Only he was so tired that he had to grumble a little.
Suddenly Gladys pulled up.
"There it is," she said. "Look up there, Roger; that's the name,
'Av-e-nue Gér-ard.' It's just a street. I thought an avenue would have
been all trees, like in the country. Nine--I wonder which is nine?"
Opposite to where they stood was No. 34. Gladys led Roger on a little
bit and looked at the number on the other side. It was 31, and the next
beyond that was 29.
"It's this way. They get littler this way," she exclaimed. "Come on,
Roger, darling--it's not far."
"But if we've to wait in the street," repeated Roger faintly, for he
was now possessed by this new idea.
Gladys said nothing--perhaps she did not hear.
"Twenty-seven, twenty-five, twenty-three," she said, as they passed each
house, so intent on reaching No. 9 that she did not even feel
frightened. Between seventeen and fifteen there was a long space of
hoardings shutting off unbuilt-upon ground--nine seemed a very long time
of coming. But at last--at last!
It was a large, very handsome house, and Gladys, young as she was, said
at once to herself that the English ladies, as she had got into the way
of calling them, must be _very_ very rich. For she did not understand
that in Paris one enormous house, such as the one she was standing
before, contains the dwellings of several families, each of which is
often as large as a good-sized English house, only without stairs once
you have entered, as all the rooms are on one floor.
"I wonder which is the front door," said Gladys. "There seem so many in
there." For the great doors of the entrance-court stood open, and,
peeping in, it seemed to her that there was nothing but doors on every
side to be seen.
"We must ask," she at last said resolutely, and foraging in her pocket
she again drew forth the crumpled piece of paper with "No. 9 Avenue
Gérard," and armed with this marched in.
A man started up from somewhere--indeed he had been already watching
them, though they had not seen him. He was the porter for the whole
house.
"What do you want--whom are you looking for?" he said. At first,
thinking they _were_ little beggars or something of the kind, for the
courtyard was not very light, he had come out meaning to drive them
away. But when he came nearer them he saw they were not what he had
thought, and he spoke therefore rather more civilly. Still, he never
thought of saying "Mademoiselle" to Gladys--no children of the upper
classes would be wandering about alone! Gladys's only answer was to hold
out the bit of paper.
"Avenue Gérard, No. 9," read the man. "Yes, it is quite right--it is
here. But there is no name. Who is it you want?"
"The English ladies," replied Gladys in her own tongue, which she still
seemed to think everybody should understand. She had gathered the
meaning of the man's words, helped thereto by his gesticulations.
"The English ladies--I don't know their name."
Only one word was comprehensible by the porter.
"English," he repeated, using of course the French word for "English."
"It must be the English ladies on the second floor they want. No doubt
they are some of the poor English those ladies are so kind to. And
yet--" he looked at them dubiously. They didn't quite suit his
description. Anyway, there was but one answer to give. "The ladies were
out; the children must come again another day."
Gladys and Roger, too, understood the first four words. Their worst
fears had come true!
If Gladys could have spoken French she would perhaps have found courage
to ask the man to let them come in and wait a little; for as,
speechless, still holding poor Roger by the hand, she slowly moved to
go, she caught sight of a cheerful little room where a bright fire was
burning, the glass door standing half open, and towards which the porter
turned.
"That must be his house," thought Gladys in a sort of half-stupid dreamy
way. It was no use trying to ask him to let them go in and wait there.
There was nowhere for them--he seemed to think they were beggars, and
would perhaps call the police if they didn't go away at once. So she
drew Roger out into the street again, out of the shelter of the court,
where the wind felt rather less piercing, and, without speaking,
wandered a few steps down the street they had two minutes ago toiled
along so hopefully.
"Where are you going, Gladdie? What are you going to do? I knew they'd
be out," said Roger, breaking into one of his piteous fits of crying.
Gladys's heart seemed as if it was going to stop. What _was_ she going
to do?
Wait in the street a little, she had said to Roger. But how could they?
The wind seemed to be getting colder and colder; the daylight even was
beginning to fade a little; they were not only cold, they were
desperately hungry, for they had had nothing to eat except the little
bowl of milk and crust of bread--that was all Françoise had been able to
give them early that morning. She had been out at the market when the
children ran away from Anna in one of her terrible tempers, so Gladys
had not even been able to ask her for a few sous with which to get
something to eat. Indeed, had Françoise been there, I daresay they would
have been persuaded by her to wait till Adolphe came home, for he was
expected that evening, though they did not know it!
"Roger, _darling_, try not to cry so," said Gladys, at last finding her
voice. "Wait a moment and I'll try to think. If only there was a shop
near, perhaps they'd let us go in; but there are no shops in this
street."
No shops and very few passers-by, at this time of day anyway. A step
sounded along the pavement just as Gladys had drawn Roger back to the
wall of the house they were passing, meaning to wipe his eyes and turn
up the collar of his coat to keep the wind from his throat. Gladys
looked up in hopes that possibly, in some wonderful way, the new-comer
might prove a friend in need. But no--it was only a man in a sort of
uniform, and with a black bag strapped in front. Gladys had seen one
like him at the Rue Verte; it was only the postman. He glanced at them
as he passed; he was a kind-hearted little man, and would have been
quite capable of taking the two forlorn "bébés" home to his good wife to
be clothed and fed--for there are many kind Samaritans even in careless,
selfish big towns like Paris--but how were they to guess that, or how
was he to know their trouble? So he passed on; but a house or two
farther on he stopped again, being accosted by a gentleman coming
quickly up the street in the other direction, just as he was turning in
to the courtyard of No. 9.
"There is only a paper for you, sir," he said to the young man, whom he
evidently knew, in answer to his inquiry. "Will you take it?"
"Certainly," was the reply; and both, after a civil good-evening, were
going on their way when a sound made them stop. It was Roger--all
Gladys's efforts had been useless, and his temper as well as his courage
giving way he burst into a loud roar. He was too worn out to have kept
it up for long at such a pitch, but while it lasted it was very
effective, for both the gentleman and the postman turned back.
"I noticed these children a moment ago," said the latter. "I wondered if
they had lost their way, but I dared not wait."
"I'll see what it is," said the young man good-naturedly. But the
postman lingered a moment.
"What's the matter?" asked the young man in French. "What's the little
boy crying for?" he went on, turning to Gladys.
But her answer astonished him not a little. She stared blankly up in his
face without speaking for a moment. Then with a sort of stifled scream
she rushed forward and caught his hands.
"Oh you're the nice gentleman we met--you are--_don't_ say you're not.
You're the English gentleman, aren't you? Oh, will you take care of
us--we're all alone--we've run away."
Walter kept her poor little hands in his, but for half a moment he did
not speak. I think there were tears in his eyes. He had so often thought
of the little pair he had met on the Boulevards, that somehow he did not
seem to feel surprised at this strange meeting.
"My little girl," he said kindly, "who are you? Where have you run away
from? Not from your home? I remember meeting you; but you must tell me
more--you must tell me everything before I can help you or take you
where you want to go."
"No. 9 Avenue Gérard; that's where we were going," replied Gladys
confusedly. "But they're out--the ladies are out."
"And we have to wait in the stre-eet," sobbed Roger.
Walter started.
"9 Avenue Gérard," he said; "how can that be? Whom do you know there?"
"Some ladies who'll be kind to us, and know what we say, for they're
English. I don't know their name," answered Gladys.
Walter saw there was but one thing to be done. He turned to the postman.
"I know who they are," he said rapidly in French, with the instinctive
wish to save this little lady, small as she was, from being made the
subject of a sensational paragraph in some penny paper. "I have seen
them before. They had come to see my aunt, who is very kind to her
country-people, and were crying because she was out. It will be all
right. Don't let yourself be late. I'll look after them."
And relieved in his mind the postman trotted off.
Walter turned to Gladys again.
"_I_ live at No. 9," he said. "Those ladies are my aunt and my sister.
So the best thing you can do is to come in with me and get warm. And
when my aunt comes home you shall tell us all your troubles, and we will
see what to do."
"And you won't give us to the police?" asked Gladys, with a sudden
misgiving. "We've _not_ done anything naughty. Will the ladies come
soon?"
For though on the first impulse she had flown to Walter with full
confidence, she now somehow felt a little frightened of him. Perhaps his
being on such good terms with the postman, whose uniform vaguely
recalled a policeman to her excited imagination, or his speaking French
so easily and quickly, had made her feel rather less sure of him. "_You_
won't give us to the police?" she repeated.
Walter could hardly help smiling.
"Of _course_ not," he answered. "Come now, you must trust me and not be
afraid. Give me your hand, my little man; or stay, he's very tired, I'll
carry him in."
And he lifted Roger in his arms, while Gladys, greatly to her
satisfaction, walked quietly beside them, her confidence completely
restored.
"He's very polite, and he sees I'm _big_," she said to herself as she
followed him into the court, past the porter's bright little room, from
whence that person put out his head to wish Walter a respectful
"good-evening," keeping to himself the reflection which explains so many
mysteries to our friends across the water, that "the English are really
very eccentric. One never knows what they will be doing next."