position to
understand all and several the statements in Exhibit A, my dear
Sir! 'The darling!'

"But what a woman,--what a woman!" he went on meditatively. "Sir,
if I were a single man, as I am a married man, I should offer to
her, upon the spot, a union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!"

CHAPTER XXIX

IN OLD ST. GENEVIEVE

It was the daily custom of Hector to be upon hand at the dock for
the landing of each and every steamer which touched at St.
Genevieve, bound either up or down the Mississippi, and his
business of cooperage never was allowed to infringe upon these more
important duties. Accordingly, on a certain day late in the
winter, although he had no special reason to be present, Hector was
among those who waited for the boat to land, with no purpose more
definite than that of giving a hand with her line at a snubbing
post. He was much surprised when he saw coming from the
gang-plank, and beckoning to him, a distinguished and handsomely
clad lady. For an instant, abashed, he could find no speech; then
suddenly he jerked off his cap, and stood smiling.

"It is Madame!" he exclaimed. "_Ah, bon jour! Bon jour! Ah,
c'est Madame_!"

"Yes," rejoined Josephine St. Auban, "it is I. And I am glad to
see St. Genevieve again, and you, Monsieur Hector. Tell me,--ah,
about that infant, that baby of ours!!

"Madame, believe me, there is none such in all the valley! Come!"

It was a proud and happy Jeanne who greeted her former mistress at
the little cottage with the green blinds, and the ivy, which lay
close upon the street of St. Genevieve,--Jeanne, perhaps a trifle
more fleshy, a shade more French and a touch less Parisian in look,
more mature and maternal, yet after all, Jeanne, her former maid.
Woman fashion, these two now met, not without feminine tears, and
forgetful of late difference in station, although Jeanne dutifully
kissed the hand held out to her. The first coherent speech, as in
the case of Hector, was regarding this most extraordinary infant,
whose arrival seemed to be thus far regarded as a matter of
national importance. In this view also shared Madame Fournier the
elder, mother of Hector, who also presently welcomed the new-comer
to the home.

[Illustration: Woman fashion, these two now met.]

A strange feeling of relief, of rest and calm, came over Josephine
St. Auban, a lady of rank in another world, where an incident such
as this could not have been conceived. Her