.

This Augustine was a peasant woman, and when a little girl she had tended
the sheep in the mountains of Auvergne, wearing the picturesque
peasant-costume and carrying her distaff with her. She now had two
children of her own, and every morning early before they were up she would
kiss them good-bye, leaving them in her sister's charge while she went to
take care of the little American boy, of whom she became very fond. She
would often tell stories to him and sing funny songs.

As we have said, Puck was leaning against the little gate which had been
placed across the door to keep him from running away, though it was of no
use now, for he was big enough to climb over it. Augustine, to punish him
for his naughtiness, as well as to guard against such a thing happening
again that morning, had undressed him, knowing that he would not be likely
to run away with nothing on but his little shirt.

At first, Puck was at a loss for amusement, and so wandered disconsolately
upstairs into his mamma's room. She was seated at his papa's writing-desk,
while in front of her lay lots of little cards, like this, "Mr. and Mrs.
Franklin Parker, P.P.C."

Some of these she put into small envelopes, directed to people that she
knew, and the rest she shut up in her card-case.

"What are those?" asked Puck.

"These are cards," said his mother, "which your papa and I are sending to
our friends, to let them know that we are going away from the city. The
letters 'P.P.C.' in the corner stand for '_Pour prendre conge_,' which is
French for 'To take leave.'"

"Is oo doin away," asked Puck, "an' me too?"

"Yes, you are going with us," replied his mother.

"Den me wants some tards, too," said the little fellow; and Mrs. Parker,
taking a number of blank cards, wrote upon them, "Puck Parker, P.P.C."

[Illustration: "UP IN A BALLOON."]

Cramming his mother's work-basket upon his comical little head, he seized
his cards and trudged away to distribute them among his friends. If he
could only have gone out-of-doors, he could have found friends enough to
have given them to; but he knew that Augustine would not relent so soon,
and so contented himself with carrying them down to Snarlyou and Kiyi. But
they were both out in the court, and would not come to him, even when he
dropped porridge on the steps to tempt them.

Puck did not have many opportunities to distribute his cards, for the next
day, while he was at dinner with his father and mother, t