b passed from the Rue St. Sulpice
through the gates into the city. Miss Britton, finding that a friend
of the Belvoirs was going almost the whole way to St. Servan, had
arranged for Barbara to go under her care. But it was with very
regretful eyes that the girl watched the train, bearing her aunt away,
leave the station, and she was rather a silent traveller when, later in
the morning, she was herself _en route_ for St. Servan.

Not so her companion, however, a most talkative personage, who was
hardly quiet five minutes consecutively. She poured forth all sorts of
confidences about her family and friends, and seemed quite satisfied if
Barbara merely nodded and murmured, "_Comme c'est interessant!_" though
she did not understand nearly all her companion said. The latter
pointed out places of interest in passing, and finally, with an
effusive good-bye, got out at the station before St. Servan.

As the train neared its destination, Barbara looked anxiously to see
what the town was like, and her disappointment was great at the first
glimpse of the place. When the family had looked up the Encyclopaedia
for a description of St. Servan, it seemed to be that of a small,
old-fashioned place, and Barbara had pictured it little more than a
village with a picturesque beach. Instead of that, she saw many
houses, some tall chimneys, and quays with ships lying alongside. It
would have cheered her had she known that the station was really a
considerable distance from the town, and in the ugliest part of it; but
that she did not find out till later.

Outside the station were many vociferous cab-drivers offering to take
her anywhere she liked, and, choosing the one whose horse seemed best
cared for, she inquired if he knew where the house of Mademoiselle
Loire, Rue Calvados, was. Grinning broadly he bade her step in, and
presently they were rolling and bumping along rough cobble-stoned
streets. Barbara had further imagined, from the description of the
house that Mademoiselle Loire had sent them, that it was a villa
standing by itself, and was rather surprised when the _fiacre_, after
climbing a very steep street, stopped at a door and deposited herself
and her trunks before it. Almost before she rang the bell she heard
hurried steps, and the door was opened by some one whom she imagined
might be the housekeeper.

"Is Mademoiselle Loire in?" she inquired of the thin and severe-looking
woman with hair parted tightly in the mi