Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/19

Rh looked gay, brilliant and strange. At the gates of the city our baggage was examined, according to custom, and we proceeded to the Maurice Hotel, the rendezvous of nobility and fashionable travelers. We were all glad to take an early sleep; but morning usually opens the eyes of the most fatigued sleepers, and a natural desire to take a peep at the strange world I had landed in, roused me earlier than usual from my slumbers.

I dressed myself and my little responsibility in double-quick time, and we sauntered forth into the area of the hotel to see how things looked. Order prevailed everywhere. All the world seemed to be doing just what it ought to do, and to have just enough time for its duties, and no more. We did not venture into the streets far, but nevertheless returned laden with news of the little which had already engaged our attention. The next day the American Minister to France called with his daughters upon my lady and gentleman. The young ladies were perfectly French in manner and accent, very agreeable, and altogether pleasing. In a few days more, through the polite invitation of General Cass, we found ourselves inmates of his own delightful residence, where, the servants being all French, it was with difficulty I could make myself at home among them. Gradually, however, I acquired a sufficient knowledge of the language to understand what was going on around me, and to make myself understood. They were very kind to me, and I accompanied them to church on Sabbath mornings, where, instead of pews, chairs are made use of, for which each occupant pays a few sous. The