sts be found than Philippe de
St. Gre and Madame la Vicomtesse? And there was the happiness of that
strange but lovable young man, Monsieur Temple, to contemplate. He was
in luck, ce beau garcon, for he was getting an angel for his wife. Did
Monsieur know that Mademoiselle Antoinette was an angel?

At last I was ready, arrayed in my best, on the gallery, when Monsieur de
St. Gre came. Andre and another servant carried me down into the court,
and there stood a painted sedan-chair with the St. Gre arms on the
panels.

"My father imported it, David," said Monsieur de St. Gre. "It has not
been used for many years. You are to be carried in it to the levee, and
there I have a boat for you."

Overwhelmed by this kindness, I could not find words to thank him as I
got into the chair. My legs were too long for it, I remember. I had a
quaint feeling of unreality as I sank back on the red satin cushions and
was borne out of the gate between the lions. Monsieur de St. Gre and
Nick walked in front, the faithful Lindy followed, and people paused to
stare at us as we passed. We crossed the Place d'Armes, the Royal Road,
gained the willow-bordered promenade on the levee's crown, and a wide
barge was waiting, manned by six negro oarsmen. They lifted me into its
stern under the awning, the barge was cast off, the oars dipped, and we
were gliding silently past the line of keel boats on the swift current of
the Mississippi. The spars of the shipping were inky black, and the
setting sun had struck a red band across the waters. For a while the
three of us sat gazing at the green shore, each wrapped in his own
reflections,--Philippe de St. Gre thinking, perchance, of the wayward son
he had lost; Nick of the woman who awaited him; and I of one whom fate
had set beyond me. It was Monsieur de St. Gre who broke the silence at
last.

"You feel no ill effects from your moving, David?" he asked, with an
anxious glance at me.

"None, sir," I said.

"The country air will do you good," he said kindly.

"And Madame la Vicomtesse will put him on a diet," added Nick, rousing
himself.

"Helene will take care of him," answered Monsieur de St. Gre.

He fell to musing again. "Madame la Vicomtesse has seen more in seven
years than most of us see in a lifetime," he said. "She has beheld the
glory of France, and the dishonor and pollution of her country. Had the
old order lasted her salon would have been famous, and she would have
been a power in poli