street.

"Palikare, do come! Do come, dear Palikare," Perrine said, imploringly.

But he sat there as though he did not understand a word of what she was
saying. A crowd gathered round and began to jeer.

"Set fire to his tail," cried one.

Grain-of-Salt was furious, Perrine in despair.

"You see he won't go in," cried La Rouquerie. "I'll give thirty francs,
that's ten more'n I said, 'cause his cunning shows that this donkey is a
good boy, but hurry up and take the money or I'll buy another."

Grain-of-Salt consulted Perrine with a glance; he made her a sign that
she ought to accept the offer. But she seemed stunned at such a fraud.
She was standing there undecided when a policeman told her roughly that
she was blocking up the street and that she must move on.

"Go forward, or go back, but don't stand there," he ordered.

She could not go forward, for Palikare had no intention of doing so. As
soon as he understood that she had given up all hope of getting him into
the Market, he got up and followed her docilely, agitating his long ears
with satisfaction.

"Now," said La Rouquerie, after she had put thirty francs into poor
Perrine's hand, "you must take him to my place, for I'm beginning to
know him and he's quite capable of refusing to come with me. I don't
live far from here."

But Grain-of-Salt would not consent to do this; he declared that the
distance was too far for him.

"You go with the lady alone," he said to Perrine, "and don't be too cut
up about your donkey. He'll be all right with her. She's a good woman."

"But how shall I find my way back to Charonne?" asked Perrine,
bewildered. She dreaded to be lost in the great city.

"You follow the fortifications ... nothing easier."

As it happened, the street where La Rouquerie lived was not far from the
Horse Market, and it did not take them long to get there. There were
heaps of garbage before her place, just like in Guillot Field.

The moment of parting had come. As she tied Palikare up in a little
stable, her tears fell on his head.

"Don't take on so," said the woman; "I'll take care of him, I promise
you."

"We loved him so much," said little Perrine. Then she went on her way.

CHAPTER III

"POOR LITTLE GIRL"

What was she to do with thirty francs when she had calculated that they
must at least have one hundred? She turned this question over in her
mind sadly as she walked along by the fortifications. She found her way
back e