A Voyage of Consolation

e might as well take the most distinguished. He was careful to explain that the mere grandeur of this method of transporta

f into aristocratic circles in foreign lands; but when an opportunity like this o

whole of the Parisian élite with the President thrown in wouldn't induce her to ride

said to me, "J.P. Wicks does hate to make a fool of himself, and this morning he's done it twice over. The best seats will go to the people who had the sense to stay at their hotel

ed a little hysterical; and it was packed, tight and warm and anticipant into every available seat. From its point of vantage, secured by waiting at the hotel for it, the tourist

uttons. The interpreter appeared to mention it to the guide, who wiped his perspiring brows under a soft brown felt hat. A fiacre crawled

a gesture of despair at the volume of tourist traffic, and the man wit

inutes ago," poppa replied.

pecial carriage, and be'ind you can follow up," and

en I buy four-in-hand tickets I don

go in ze pri

ill

s much ze

," said poppa, but at that moment the dif

s Bingham, beckoning with her f

ant ge

, dressed in black pongee silk, with sloping shoulders, and they each carried a black fan and a brocaded bag for odds and ends. They were not plain-looking, and yet it was readily seen why nobody had ever married them; they had that look of the

to exchange our seats in the coach for yours in th

e there is one other place if that fat ge

aid the fat gen

think of depri

iss Bingham, "it

y spoke with decision; one saw that they had not reached

ngham without the eye-glass in a low v

ke you, madam," said

rican," she

a daughter of the Stars and Stripes anywhe

went on. "My great grandfather was A.D.C. to General

een many such officers

't want the whole of the Un

ting back for you?" sugges

ericans," she continued. "It disturbs one's impressions so. And the tr

id the Senator, with intentional humo

said the other one, "you

giving to me and mine the privilege of visiting a very question

rspiring more and more

Bingham had been a little hasty. The fat gentleman, who wore a straw hat very far back, and meant to enjoy himself, was certainly our fellow-citizen. So was his wife, and brother-in-law. So were a bride and bridegroom on the box seat-nothing less than the best of everything for an American honeymoon-and so was a solitary man with a short cut bristly beard, a slouch hat, a pink cotton shirt, and a celluloid collar. But there was an

d the serious man, "but no

rs, if the Misses Bingham had only known; but as poppa afterwards said, they were probably not foreign enough. It may have been imagination, but I immediately thought I saw a certain meekness, a habit of deference-I wanted to incite them all to treat the Guelphs as we did. Just then we stopped before the church of St. Augustin, and the guide came swinging along the outside of the coach hoarsely emitting facts. Everybody listened intently, and I n

rom St. Paul or Kansas City. There was a condescension about him that was not explained by the state of his linen, and a familiarity that I had always supposed confined exclusively to the British aristocracy among

, doubtless with a certain chic, but it had a look of being put on for the occasion that was essentially Parisian. Also the trees grew up out of iron plates, which was uncomfortable, though, no doubt, highly finished, and the flowers had

os' locky. Tout Paris-all the folks-are still driving their 'orse an' carriage 'ere. One week more-the style will be all

person. It was humorously intended-certainly a li

em? Not if they k

still more serious, and sympathy

anxiously, balanced on one foot, for an expression of shocked opinion. It was after we had passed Mont Valerien, frowning on the horizon, that the man in the pink cotton shirt began to grow restive under so much instruction. He told the serious person that hi

ey get back to the United States they won' be able to tell their wives an' sweethearts anythin' about Mont Valerien! A

orth American kind, never, never would be slaves. Placing his black si

hood, nor the companion of my later years, except for this trip only, and I'd just as soon you realised it. As far as I know, yo

llen' group-fotograff. To appear in that fotograff, you will please all keep together with me. Afterwards, you will look at the fountains, at the magnificent panorama de Paris, and we go o

intend to clear his brow for action again. All might have gone well,

rican newspapers, sir," said Mr Hinkson of I

may have been some fancied

suit us bett

ulation figur

ertising agent, I

s. We were all listening now, and the guide had subsided upon the box seat. The Senator's face wore the judicial expression it always assumes when he ha

you folks get pretty tired of p

nd this amusing. The Americans look

much the richer for all she ge

over a pretty good lum

aid Mr. Pabbley decisive

tocrat that rules the

o save ourselves the trouble of electing a president. A president

elves called subjects? Don't you ever want to be free and equal

ind congratulating both our nations on the resemblance. But I'm bound to add that, while I would wish to imitate the America

, when it was necessary to walk anywhere, always became pathetic and offered to stay behind alone. She declared on this occasion that she would be perfectly happy in the coach with the dear horses, and poppa had to

nce. "What a dreadful idea! I thi

protect them from intimate association with the democracy in any form. We saw the guide approach them in gingerly inquiry, but, before simultaneous waves of their two black fans, he retired in disorder. The bride had slipped her hand upon her husband's shoulder, just to mark his identity; the fat gentleman had removed his hat and hurriedly put it on again, and the photographer had gone under his curtain for the third time, whe

bbley with vehemence, "does anyone happe

heir pockets,

aroused, "unless the gentleman from Iowa wil

" said a middle-aged woman from Toronto in a

mere wreck of a group clustering round the national emblem on the leg of Mr. Hinkson. The guide was expostulating himself speechless, the ph

tizens you've got already," said poppa, "that you want

ny one of 'em to touch that flag. Go along over there and join 'em if yo

The Republic rallied round Mr. Hinkson's leg, while the Dominion with much digni

kson and Mr. Hinkson only had to deal with, but momma and I felt the obloquy of it a good deal, though when we came to think of it we were no more responsible for Mr. Hinkson than the Misses Bingham were. After that, walking rapidly behind the guide, we covered centuries of French history, illustrated by chairs and tables and fire-irons and chandeliers and four-post beds. Momma told me afterwards that she was rather sorry she had taken me with the guide through Madame du Barry's fascinating Petit Trianon, the things he didn't say sounded so improper, but when I assured her that it was only contemporary scandal that had any effect on our morals, she said she supposed that was so, and somehow one never did expect people who wore curled wigs and knee-breeches to behave quite prettily. The rooms were dotted with

ith the cost of them. As momma said, it took so very little imagi

t have had them over!"

show! You are the five hundred American who has said that to me this summer! Number

ys," remarked Mr. Hinkson, "this

't see no more kings an' queens of France, but you do see a goo

t of the guide, and expressed its app

is she arranged that she should go on ahead and sit down and get the impression, while poppa and I caught up from ti

well to the fore, and it was to them in particular that he appeared to address himself when he said, "Take a good look at this picture, ladies and genelmen. There is a man wat lives in your '

s General