o pass
almost unnoticed before the eyes of gallants. She scarcely spoke
besides, save on well-known, suitable, and respectable topics, her ideas
being proper, methodical, well ordered, and void of all extravagance.

Her daughter, Susan, in pink, looked like a newly-varnished Watteau,
while her elder sister seemed the governess entrusted with the care of
this pretty doll of a girl.

Before Rival's door a line of carriages were drawn up. Du Roy offered
Madame Walter his arm, and they went in.

The assault-at-arms was given under the patronage of the wives of all
the senators and deputies connected with the _Vie Francaise_, for the
benefit of the orphans of the Sixth Arrondissement of Paris. Madame
Walter had promised to come with her daughters, while refusing the
position of lady patroness, for she only aided with her name works
undertaken by the clergy. Not that she was very devout, but her marriage
with a Jew obliged her, in her own opinion, to observe a certain
religious attitude, and the gathering organized by the journalist had a
species of Republican import that might be construed as anti-clerical.

In papers of every shade of opinion, during the past three weeks,
paragraphs had appeared such as: "Our eminent colleague, Jacques Rival,
has conceived the idea, as ingenious as it is generous, of organizing
for the benefit of the orphans of the Sixth Arrondissement of Paris a
grand assault-at-arms in the pretty fencing-room attached to his
apartments. The invitations will be sent out by Mesdames Laloigue,
Remontel, and Rissolin, wives of the senators bearing these names, and
by Mesdames Laroche-Mathieu, Percerol, and Firmin, wives of the
well-known deputies. A collection will take place during the interval,
and the amount will at once be placed in the hands of the mayor of the
Sixth Arrondissement, or of his representative."

It was a gigantic advertisement that the clever journalist had devised
to his own advantage.

Jacques Rival received all-comers in the hall of his dwelling, where a
refreshment buffet had been fitted up, the cost of which was to be
deducted from the receipts. He indicated with an amiable gesture the
little staircase leading to the cellar, saying: "Downstairs, ladies,
downstairs; the assault will take place in the basement."

He darted forward to meet the wife of the manager, and then shaking Du
Roy by the hand, said: "How are you, Pretty-boy?"

His friend was surprised, and exclaimed: "Who