He walked up to
her, lifted his broad hat, and said "Mademoiselle, I am an artist. My
name is Goude. I have an academy for painting, and I need a model. The
work is not hard, it is but to sit or stand for two or three hours of a
morning, and the remuneration I should offer would be five francs a day
for this. Have I your permission to speak to your parents?"

There was an angry glitter in her eye--a change in her pose that,
slight as it was, reminded the artist of a cat about to spring.

"A model for a painter, monsieur? Is it that you dare to propose that I
shall sit without clothes to be stared at by young men? I have heard of
such things. Is this what monsieur wishes?"

"Not at all, not at all," Mr. Goude said hastily. "Mademoiselle would
always be dressed. She would be sometimes a Roman lady, sometimes a
Spanish peasant, a Moorish girl, a Breton, or other maiden. You would
always be free to refuse any costume that you considered unsuitable."

Her expression changed again. "If that is all, I might do it," she said;
"it is an easy way of earning money. How often would you want me?"

"I should say three times a week, and on the other three days you would
have no difficulty in obtaining similar work among artists of my own
acquaintance. Here is my card and address."

The girl took it carelessly.

"I will speak to my father about it this evening when he comes home from
work. You are quite sure that I shall not have to undress at all?"

"I have assured mademoiselle already that nothing of the sort will be
required of her. There are models indeed who pose for figure, but these
are a class apart, and I can assure mademoiselle that her feelings of
delicacy will be absolutely respected."

The next day Minette Dufaure appeared at the studio and had ever since
sat for all the female figures required. The air of disdain and defiance
she had first shown soon passed away, and she entered with zest and
eagerness upon her work. She delighted in being prettily and becomingly
dressed. She listened intelligently to the master's descriptions of the
characters that she was to assume, and delighted him with the readiness
with which she assumed suitable poses, and the steadiness with which she
maintained them.

There was nothing of the stiffness of the model in her attitudes. They
had the charm of being unstudied and natural, and whether as a
bacchanal, a peasant girl, or a Gaulish amazon, she looked the part
equally well; her