at twenty napoleons were sometimes
paid by the wealthy for a single pocket-handkerchief, when thus
decorated, she saw a little treasure in reserve, before her mind's eye.

"I can do the work in two months," she said to herself, "by taking the
time I have used for exercise, and by severe economy; by eating less
myself, and working harder, we can make out to live that time on what
we have."

This was the secret of my purchase, and the true reason why this lovely
girl had literally expended her last sou in making it. The cost had
materially exceeded her expectations, and she could not return home
without disposing of some article she had in her reticule, to supply
the vacuum left in her purse. There would be nothing ready for the
milliner, under two or three days, and there was little in the lodgings
to meet the necessities of her grandmother. Adrienne had taken her way
along the quays, delighted with her acquisition, and was far from the
Mont de Piete before this indispensable duty occurred to her mind. She
then began to look about her for a shop in which she might dispose of
something for the moment. Luckily she was the mistress of a gold
thimble, that had been presented to her by her grandmother, as her very
last birth-day present. It was painful for her to part with it, but, as
it was to supply the wants of that very parent, the sacrifice cost her
less than might otherwise have been the case. Its price had been a
napoleon, and a napoleon, just then, was a mint of money in her eyes.
Besides, she had a silver thimble at home, and a brass one would do for
her work.

Adrienne's necessities had made her acquainted with several jewellers'
shops. To one of these she now proceeded, and, first observing through
the window that no person was in but one of her own sex, the
silversmith's wife, she entered with the greater confidence and
alacrity.

"Madame," she said, in timid tones, for want had not yet made Adrienne
bold or coarse, "I have a thimble to dispose of--could you be induced
to buy it?"

The woman took the thimble and examined it, weighed it, and submitted
its metal to the test of the touchstone. It was a pretty thimble,
though small, or it would not have fitted Adrienne's finger. This fact
struck the woman of the shop, and she cast a suspicious glance at
Adrienne's hand, the whiteness and size of which, however, satisfied
her that the thimble had not been stolen.

{touchstone = a variety of black stone used to