ve his gun to his servant. I
asked what was the matter. He showed me the man next, evidently not
used to shooting, who was walking up and down, shooting in every
direction, and as fast as he could cram the cartridges into his gun.
So he stepped back into the alley and waited until the battue was
over.

The party was much smaller that night at dinner. Every one went away
but W. and me. The talk was most interesting--all about the war, the
first days of the Assemblee Nationale at Bordeaux, and the famous
visit of the Comte de Chambord to Versailles, when the Marechal de
MacMahon, President of the Republic, refused to see him. I told them
of my first evening visit to Mme. Thiers, the year I was married. Mme.
Thiers lived in a big gloomy house in the Place St. Georges, and
received every evening. M. Thiers, who was a great worker all his life
and a very early riser, always took a nap at the end of the day. The
ladies (Mlle. Dosne, a sister of Mme. Thiers, lived with them)
unfortunately had not that good habit. They took their little sleep
after dinner. We arrived there (it was a long way from us, we lived
near the Arc de l'Etoile) one evening a little before ten. There were
already four or five men, no ladies. We were shown into a large
drawing-room, M. Thiers standing with his back to the fireplace, the
centre of a group of black coats. He was very amiable, said I would
find Mme. Thiers in a small salon just at the end of the big one; told
W. to join their group, he had something to say to him, and I passed
on. I did find Mme. Thiers and Mlle. Dosne in the small salon at the
other end, both asleep, each in an arm-chair. I was really
embarrassed. They didn't hear me coming in, and were sleeping quite
happily and comfortably. I didn't like to go back to the other salon,
where there were only men, so I sat down on a sofa and looked about
me, and tried to feel as if it was quite a natural occurrence to be
invited to come in the evening and to find my hostess asleep. After a
few minutes I heard the swish of a satin dress coming down the big
salon and a lady appeared, very handsome and well dressed, whom I
didn't know at all. She evidently was accustomed to the state of
things; she looked about her smilingly, then came up to me, called me
by name, and introduced herself, Mme. A. the wife of an admiral whom I
often met afterward. She told me not to mind, there wasn't the
slightest intention of rudeness, that both ladies would wa