dents what we wanted, and he gave us a very
intelligent boy, who followed us about with an enormous basket, into
which everything was put. When we finally became almost distracted with
the confusion and the crowd and our list, we asked the boy what he had
liked when he was eleven years old at school; and he assured us all boys
liked knives and guns.

When we had finished with the boys we had the decorations for the Tree
to get, and then to the Bon Marche for yards of flannel, calico, bas de
laine, tricots, etc. We had given W. rendezvous at five at Henrietta's.
He was going to cross at night. We found him there having his tea. He
had seen lots of people; been to the Elysee and had a long interview
with the President (Grevy); then to the Quai d'Orsay to get his last
instructions from the Minister; and he had still people coming to see
him. When we left (our train was before his) he was closeted with one of
his friends, a candidate for the Institute, very keen about his vote
which W. had promised him, and going over for about the twentieth time
the list of the members to see what his chances were. However, I suppose
all candidates are exactly alike, and W. says he is sure he was a
nuisance to all his friends when he presented himself at the Institute.
One or two people were waiting in the dining-room to speak to him, and
his servant was distracted over his valise, which wasn't begun then. I
promised him I would write him a faithful account of our fete once we
had decided our day. We took the five-o'clock train down, and a nice
cold drive we had going home. The roads were rather slippery, and the
forest black and weird. The trees which had been so beautiful in the
morning covered with rime, seemed a massive black wall hemming us in. It
is certainly a lonely bit of country, once we had left the lights of
Villers-Cotterets behind us, crossed the last railway, and were fairly
started in the forest. We didn't meet anything--neither cart, carriage,
bucheron, nor pedestrian of any kind.

Henrietta was rather nervous, and she breathed a sigh of relief when we
got out on the plains and trotted down the long hill that leads to La
Ferte. The chateau lights looked very warm and home-like as we drove in.
We gave a detailed account of all we had bought, and as we had brought
our lists with us we went to work at once, settling what each child
should have. I found a note from the Abbe Marechal, the cure of
Laferte-Milon, whom I wanted t