en million dollars. Under the markets are twelve
hundred cellars for storage. The sales to wholesale dealers are made by
auction early in the day, and they average about a hundred thousand
dollars. Then the retail traffic begins. The supplies, some of which
come from great distances along the Mediterranean, include meat, fish,
poultry, game, oysters, vegetables, fruit, flowers, butters, cream
cheese, etc. Great throngs of people, mostly in blue dresses and blouses,
with baskets and bundles constantly surge past you. The whole scene is
enjoyable. Everything they offer is fresh, and the prices usually are
reasonable. When you make a purchase, you are made to feel that you
have conferred a favor and are repeatedly thanked for it.

The few days that followed in Paris were days of rest, or were spent
in planning for the future. The art galleries and the shops on the
boulevards were repeatedly visited, theaters and rides were enjoyed,
and on Friday morning, the ladies went to the railway station to take
leave of Alfonso and Leo, who left Paris for the study of art in the
Netherlands. Colonel Harris and George Ingram were expected to arrive
in Paris on Saturday evening.

CHAPTER XVIII

IN BELGIUM AND HOLLAND

Reluctantly Alfonso and Leo left Lucille and May in Paris. Both were well
educated and beautiful women. It is possible that Alfonso might have
loved May Ingram had he been thrown more into her company, and so known
her better in early life, but the Harrises and Ingrams rarely met each
other in society. As for Leo, he loved Lucille, but she had erected an
impassable barrier in her utterance on the steamer, "First love or none."

Leo in a thousand ways had been kind to her, because he hoped eventually
to win her favor, and possibly because he fully appreciated the value of
money. Fortunes in Europe are not so easily made, but once won, the rich
of the old world as a rule husband their resources better then they of
the new world. On the whole Alfonso and Leo were glad to cut loose from
society obligations and be free to absorb what generations of art
development in the Netherlands had to offer.

Leaving Paris they took the express via Rheims for Brussels. Entering
this beautiful capital of the Belgians in the northern part of the city,
they took a cab that drove past the Botanic Garden down the Rue Royale to
the Hotel Bellevue which is near the Royal Palace and overlooks a park,
embellished with sculptures, tre