Later she was the banker of her family, and would never lend any of her
children a sou except on excellent security. However, this was all to
happen in after years.

When the child who was destined to be famous had reached her tenth year
she and her sisters made their way to Paris. For four years the
second-hand clothing-shop was continued; the father still taught
German; and the elder sister, Sarah, who had a golden voice, made the
rounds of the cafes in the lowest quarters of the capital, while Rachel
passed the wooden plate for coppers.

One evening in the year 1834 a gentleman named Morin, having been taken
out of his usual course by a matter of business, entered a BRASSERIE
for a cup of coffee. There he noted two girls, one of them singing with
remarkable sweetness, and the other silently following with the wooden
plate. M. Morin called to him the girl who sang and asked her why she
did not make her voice more profitable than by haunting the cafes at
night, where she was sure to meet with insults of the grossest kind.

"Why," said Sarah, "I haven't anybody to advise me what to do."

M. Morin gave her his address and said that he would arrange to have
her meet a friend who would be of great service to her. On the
following day he sent the two girls to a M. Choron, who was the head of
the Conservatory of Sacred Music. Choron had Sarah sing, and instantly
admitted her as a pupil, which meant that she would soon be enrolled
among the regular choristers. The beauty of her voice made a deep
impression on him.

Then he happened to notice the puny, meager child who was standing near
her sister. Turning to her, he said:

"And what can you do, little one?"

"I can recite poetry," was the reply.

"Oh, can you?" said he. "Please let me hear you."

Rachel readily consented. She had a peculiarly harsh, grating voice, so
that any but a very competent judge would have turned her away. But M.
Choron, whose experience was great, noted the correctness of her accent
and the feeling which made itself felt in every line. He accepted her
as well as her sister, but urged her to study elocution rather than
music.

She must, indeed, have had an extraordinary power even at the age of
fourteen, since not merely her voice but her whole appearance was
against her. She was dressed in a short calico frock of a pattern in
which red was spotted with white. Her shoes were of coarse black
leather. Her hair was parted at the back of her