will produce the same
effect on my dear little girl, and will keep her young and pretty too for
a long time.'

"This negress, unhappily, fell asleep one day under a wild pear-tree in
the Savannah, and a crocodile came out of the river hard by and devoured
her."

"I have heard tell," replied my sister, "that Mademoiselle d'Aubigne,
after the death of her mother, or husband, was bound by the ties of a
close friendship with Ninon de l'Enclos, whose beauty made such a
sensation among the gallants, and still occupies them.

"One was assured, you know, that Ninon possesses a potion, and that in
her generosity to her friend, the fair Indian, she lent her her phial of
elixir."

"No, no," said I to the Marquise, "that piece of gallantry of Ninon is
only a myth; it is the composition of Martinique, or of the negress,
which is the real recipe of Madame de Maintenon. She talked of it one
day, when I was present, in the King's carriage. His Majesty said to
her: 'I am astonished that, with your natural intelligence, you have not
kept in your mind the nature of this Indian shrub and herbs; with such a
secret you would be able to-day to make many happy, and there are some
kings, who, to grow young again, would give you half their empire.'

"'I am not a worshipper of riches,' said this mistress of talk; 'bad
kings might offer me all the treasures and crowns they liked, and I would
not make them young again.'

"'And me, madame,' said the prince, 'would you consent to make me young
again?'

"'You will not need it for a long time,' she replied, cleverly, with a
smile; 'but when the moment comes, or is near, I should set about it with
zeal.'

"The whole carriage applauded this reply, and the King took the hand of
the Marquise and insisted on kissing it."

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Casket of M. de Lauzun.--His Historical Gallery.--He Makes Some
Nuns.--M. de Lauzun in the Lottery.--The Loser Wins.--Queen out of
Pique.--Letter from the Queen of Portugal.--The Ingratitude of M. de
Lauzun.

Twice during the captivity of M. de Lauzun the Queen of Portugal had
charged her ambassador to carry to the King that young sovereign's
solicitations in favour of the disgraced gentleman. Each time the
negotiators had been answered with vague and ambiguous words; with those
promises which potentates are not chary of, even between themselves, and
which we poor mortals of the second rank call Court holy water. These
exertions of the Court of L