When mother lets us travel in France

Front matter

When Mother Lets Us Travel

FRANCE

CONSTANCE JOHNSON

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Landing — Havre — Change of Plan . i II French Trains — Mers-Rouen and Some

French History.io

CHAPTER i

XVI Mr. Carter and Jack Go to Paris — Langeais — Alice and Mr. Carter Visit a Baroness. XVII The Chateau de Riviere — THe Ghost Room

— Uncle Henri’s History.

-XVIII Alice and Ryan Discover the Ghost — Letter from Uncle Henri — The Carters Return

to Tours ..

XIX The Fight in tfie Air - - Jack at School —

“ For Service Rendered ”.

XX Loches — Unde Henri Again — The Jour¬ ney South.

XXI Provence — Monsieur Jean’s Family — Pont

au Gard . ..

XXII Christmas in Provence — A Letter from the Baroness — Au Revoir.

PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Statue of Joan of Arc — Rheims . . . Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

A beautiful stone tracery — Rouen . . . . 16

He was not flying to amuse spectators .... 36

The Cathedral of Notre Dame.50

Wonderfully hideous.. .60 \/

Where the Queen played.72'

From the mainland to the island.92

A really old town — Lannion.96

In honor of Joan of Arc.102 V

The winding staircase.114 ^

Emblem of Louis XII — Blois.128^

Tomb of the children of Charles VIII . . . 128

The bed of Catherine de Medici.136

Emblem of Francis I.142

“As she goes from day to day ” . . . . . 166 7

Where the sun never shone.176^

He goes from house to house with a tub . . . 202

CHAPTER I

The steamer from Southampton was almost within sight of Havre, after a somewhat tempestuous night. The passengers, more or less disheveled, had come on deck and were waiting in the cold morning air for the steamer to reach port. Some had breakfasted, some had felt no inclination to do so. Others had nibbled on sandwiches or sweet chocolate with which they had prudently provided themselves. A boy of twelve sat curled up in a steamer chair, writing to a chum at home.

“ Dear Dick:

“ We’re most there. I haven’t been seasick at all. But Alice has been awful all night. Poor mother had to sit up with her. I slept like a top. So did father. We’ve got a French governess, and she’s a wonder. But she can’t talk much English. She hasn’t come up yet. She has 4 mal-de mer.’ The twins are with her. Father is looking for our bag¬ gage.

“ It’s great to think of going to France. I have been reading a book called ‘ The White Company it’s dandy. It starts in England and goes to France, just like us.

“ How are all the fellows in school? You ought to hear me trying to talk French. But wait till I’ve been there a few months!

“ Here comes father. Jinks I’m hungry. Good-by.

“ Jack.”

Jack’s father, Mr. Carter, a tall, broad-shouldered man came up to find his family.

“ Where are they all, Jack? ” he asked.

“ I don’t know, I haven’t seen them since I got up. Are we nearly there ? ”

“We will be there in a little while. We were delayed by the rough weather. But we ought to collect our things. There’s your mother now.”

An attractive, pleasant-faced woman, brown-haired and brown-eyed, joined them, followed by a steward carrying bouillon and crackers.

“ We have all been having some,” she said. “ I thought perhaps you would enjoy it.”

“ Sure, Mother, it is fine.”

“ We are always ready for something good,” was the equally enthusiastic reply of Mr. Carter. “ Where are the rest? ”

“ Mademoiselle is getting them in order; poor Alice has been really sick, and Mademoiselle felt ill herself and had hard w’ork with Bob and Katherine.”

t

“ Those kids are always into everything,” re¬ marked Jack.

“ You would have thought so if you had seen them collide with the steward, who was carrying coffee and crackers to some hungry passengers.”

“ Here they come at last! ” cried Jack, and Made¬ moiselle appeared upon deck, preceded by a rosy-faced boy and girl, who looked enough alike to be unmistakably twins. Following them came Alice, a brown-haired girl of ten, who was unusually pale as a result of her late unpleasant experience. The twins managed to run into a half a dozen people be¬ fore they reached their father and mother. Made¬ moiselle, scolding in broken English, picked them up or put their clothes to rights as the occasion de¬ manded.

“Hurrah! we’re almost there! We had a fine time downstairs,” chorused the two. They were apt to speak at the same moment.

“ Yes, I am glad to say. Robert, do take them for a walk on deck and show them something, and don’t let them get dirty again. Mademoiselle has made them look so clean.”

“ Tell us a story, Daddie,” begged Jack, “ and I’ll come, too. We will have just time for one.”

“ No use trying, Jack. Bob and Katherine have got to behave and I cannot tell a story and keep all my attention on them. We will be there very soon anyway.”

Almost before the twins had time to get dirty again they were in sight of Havre, with its many white stone docks, its water front cut by frequent inlets, its bays filled with shipping. There were steamers, transatlantic and coastwise, there were gallant sail¬ ing crafts and whalers, and the sky was lined with masts.

The passengers all crowded to the side of the boat and Mr. Carter had difficulty in keeping his little party together. The Captain roared his orders through a speaking trumpet, and the beautiful Grand Quai or dock was full of red-capped men, running to and fro to assist in docking the boat.

Mr. Carter armed with Baedeker, explained to the children where the fortifications were; in which direction they could look for the light house and the beach. Over to the right was the great lock where the transatlantic steamers enter.

“ What is a lock anyway, Daddie? ” asked Jack.

“ It is a method of making a boat sail through a canal up hill. The boat enters a lock, a short sec¬ tion of the canal shut off by gates that can be opened. As soon as the boat is safely inside, the high gate by which she enters is closed. This dams the running water, which accordingly rises in the lock and floats the boat up to a higher level, the level of the water above. Then the boat proceeds on her way, perhaps going into another lock to reach a still higher level.”

They were to spend that day at Havre and go on to Trouville the next morning. They had very little trouble with the courteous French Custom House offi¬ cer, and after a short delay left the wharf. Mr. Carter took them over to the hotel, a somewhat sub¬ dued family, even the twins being awed.

“ Everywhere are mademoiselles,” said Kather¬ ine.

“They talk too fast; why can’t they talk so as I can understand,” grieved Bob.

By the time they reached the hotel however, the twins had recovered themselves sufficiently to call out their one carefully prepared joke.

“ Cochon, cochon (pig),” they called in unison, as their cocher (driver) stood collecting his fare. Mademoiselle had to remove them forcibly.

Later Mr. Carter and Jack went out for a walk to see the town. Mr. Carter had been sent over to Europe by his native State of Texas to study munic¬ ipalities and construction and government of towns. Havre was especially interesting to him on that ac¬ count, and he was glad that the long August day gave them time to look about. Jack, boy like, was always glad to be with his father, though it was the history of the place rather than its construction that interested him. He liked to moon along and im¬ agine himself back in the olden time. They re¬ turned for a late dinner, and Mrs. Carter expressed her disapproval:

“ Robert, do remember that the French dine early.”

“ It won’t hurt them for once, Kate, and we have had a great time. This is a wonderful old town. Those fortifications and quais are remarkable,” and

Mr. Carter launched forth on an enthusiastic de¬ scription.

“ We saw a lot of soldiers, too,” Jack broke in at last. “ Queer fellows with short baggy trousers and little hats and lots of gold braid. What did you call them, Daddie?”

“ Zouaves; there are some regiments dressed like them, who fought in our Civil War. These French regiments are mostly used for service in Africa.”

“ And, Mother, you ought to have seen all the queer birds and monkeys and things in the shops along the water front, and queer sailors with little red tasseled tammies,” added Jack.

“ Robert, when do you suppose Miss Ford will come? ” began Mrs. Carter, at the first pause of the conversation.

“ I fully expect her to-morrow morning. She was to come from Paris this evening and join us in the morning.”

“ That will be fine,” said Alice, who was sitting back in a comfortable chair and appeared to have re¬ covered her usual good spirits. “ If only I could stay on with them instead of traveling around. Miss Ford is such fun.”

“ Another time, honey. This time we can’t spare you. Your father is trying to make a con¬ struction expert out of Jack, and I must have some¬ one to go to the shops and be frivolous with me.”

Mr. Carter said: “Jack and Alice, listen to me; I am going to give you each a twenty-franc piece and I want to see what you will buy with it. That will be enough for you to have, and you can spend it just as you like. You mustn’t ask your mother either. Twenty francs, that is a good deal of money; it must last through your stay in France. How much is it? ”

“ Five dollars,” answered Jack after a moment.

“ Right; now remember a franc is about twenty cents, and each franc is made up of one hundred centimes.”

“ I am going to pretend each franc is a dollar made up of one hundred cents, then I will be awfully care¬ ful,” said Alice reflectively.

“ Don’t say awfully all the time, Alice,” inter¬ rupted Mr. Carter. “ I’ll tell you what to do. Every time you want to say it, say “ affreusement ” which is very much the same thing in French.”

“ That would be funny,” said Jack.' “ Thanks awfully for the money.”

“ It’s “ affreusement ” nice of you,” cried Alice, and they all laughed and rushed over to kiss their father.

The next morning Miss Ford appeared as they were finishing their cafe au lait or first breakfast, which usually consists of coffee and rolls and some¬ times marmalade or honey.

Jack and Alice ran to greet her. She was a little slim person, with grayish-brown hair and jolly blue eyes, an English lady they had met and fallen in love with in London.

“ It certainly is good to see you again,” said Mr. Carter, shaking her hand.

“ I do not know that you will think so when I tell you how I am making changes in your plans.”

“ You are not going to forsake us, are you? ”

“ No, indeed, to be sure not. But I am going to run off with your babies to Mers, instead of staying here in dull, expensive Trouville.”

“ Where is Mers, and what is it like? ” cried the twins.

“ It is a little village between Dieppe and Calais, near Treport, and it is charming. I have just come from there. I have been staying at a pretty cottage with some French friends from Neuilly and they are so anxious for me to bring the twins and Mademoi¬ selle. Madame Roulet’s two little boys are about your age, master Bobbie, but they talk nothing but French.”

“ O dear,” said Katherine.

“ It sounds fine,” said Mr. Carter.

“ If we only had known,” said Mrs. Carter, in the same moment, “ we could have crossed to Dieppe in¬ stead of taking this horrid trip from Southampton.”

“ There are wonderful chalk cliffs at Mers, like the ones at Dover. And such a beach! and you will be there just in time for the sand carnival which takes place next week. O, I have it all planned and my French friends are expecting us.”

“ Goody, goody.”

“ You certainly are a dear,” said Mrs. Carter. “ It sounds delightful. Only it’s too bad that you had to come all the way down here to meet us.”

“ O, I don’t mind. It was no trouble, I assure you.

I thought perhaps you would permit me to escort them back.”

“ That would be a sensible plan,” said Mr. Car¬ ter. But Mrs. Carter wanted to see the place where her “ babies ” were to be left, and so it was decided that they should all go up to Mers and from thence the travelers should proceed to Rouen.

Mr. Carter then left them to repack while he went out to change the tickets.

Chapter II French Trains — Mers — Rouen And Some French History

The trip from Havre to Treport and from thence to Mers took almost six hours. They found the French compartment trains very strange and the three classes into which these were divided appealed to Mrs. Carter more than to the others. They were surprised to find that one could not get from one com¬ partment to the other. A long narrow piazza, as Alice called it, was attached to the side of the car, and on this the guard (conductor) passed to and fro on his duties.

The railroad followed the sea for some time and then branched off into the rolling Norman country. The children sat with their eyes fairly glued to the windows. The towns they passed, the little stations they went through, were all so different from places at home.

“ The train sounds like a rooster,” said Alice, when they stopped at the first station, accompanied by the peculiar, inhuman shriek of the French en¬ gine.

“ It certainly does,” said her father. “ But look at all those nice blue-frocked peasants there; and Jack, just see those splendid big Norman horses.”

“ .Where are all the men ? ” asked Alice, after they 10 ii had traveled for some distance. “ There are women working in the fields, and women working in the rivers, but I don’t see the men.”

“ Those women are washing their clothes in the streams,” said Miss Ford. “ So, of course, the men would not be there. But it is quite surprising really not to have seen more men. The French are very odd, you know, but so lovable.”

At Dieppe they had to change, and again at Treport, and it was a tired party that finally arrived at Mers in time for a late supper. They drove through the village towards the chalk cliffs standing out white and perpendicular, like a great wall. Then their road turned sharply up the hill, and they stopped in front of a gray house, one of a little group.

Monsieur and Madame Roulet received them with great hospitality, and seemed delighted with the twins. The two French boys, Louis and Leon, were a bit shy, but soon were won over by the joyous good nature of Bob and Katherine. They all had dinner together and discussed the details of the next two months. The Roulets were delighted to have someone to share the expense of the cottage, and especially glad to have Louis and Leon make some American friends.

After dinner Mr. and Mrs. Carter went down to a near-by hotel, taking Jack and Alice, for there was not room for all at the cottage.

They spent the evening in consulting guide books and railway guides. They were to start early the next afternoon, and hoped to spend the morning on iz WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE the beach. Mr. Carter wanted to go to the larger cities for his business, but also wished to take in the smaller places of interest on the way.

“ We will go to Rouen, Rheims, Paris, Chartres, Mont St. .Michel, Orleans, then down to Touraine. The rest can be decided later.”

“ It really is lovely here,” said Mrs. Carter. “ I am sure Trouville would not have been so nice. We surely must try to see all we can to-morrow before we go.”

“ I wish I were going to stay here, too,” said Alice.

“ You will have a good time, never fear,” an¬ swered her father.

The next morning Alice rushed to her window to look out at the white beach and blue water. She could see many quaint-looking fishing boats drawn up on the sand in the distance, and a number of bare¬ legged men were wandering about.

She and Jack could hardly wait to go on the beach. But they were to breakfast at the cottage, so they did not have much time to linger. They were immensely interested in a man who was driving a herd of black goats over the sand.

“Where are they going, Daddy?” asked Alice.

“ I think he is probably selling fresh goat’s milk. Would you like to taste some?”

“ Ugh! ” said Jack.

“ I would, Daddy,” said. Alice.

“ We haven’t time, Robert,” said Mrs. Carter.

Mr. Carter thought they had, so he called to the goat-man and they all went to the beach, where the man milked one of the goats, and filled a cup for the children. It did not prove popular, how¬ ever, and they quickly proceeded on their way, wish¬ ing they had not been so enterprising.

Such good things as they had for breakfast! the creamiest milk, the most delicious hot rolls and fresh butter! It made Alice wish more than ever that she were going to stay.

Mrs. Carter, also, was getting depressed at the idea of leaving the babies, as she called them.

“ I think I ought to stay with them,” she said to her husband.

“ And leave me to travel with Miss Ford and Alice and Jack? ” asked that gentleman. “ No, in¬ deed, honey. This is our trip and the kids are to stay right here.”

“ I am afraid they will be very homesick, poor babies.”

“Homesick! Just look at them.”

They had wandered down to the beach, whither Mademoiselle and the four children had preceded them, under Miss Ford’s guidance. At the moment Mr. Carter pointed them out to his wife, shrieks of joy came from their direction. The twins, each mounted on a donkey, were racing together, Alice urging on Bob and Jack urging on Katherine. In the distance Mademoiselle and Miss Ford, sur¬ rounded by a little group of people, were waving their hands in despair.

On came the donkeys. Apparently the race was i 4 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE to end near where Mr. and Mrs. Carter were stand¬ ing. But it ended before; Bob’s donkey suddenly stopped, planted its forefeet in the sand, and Bob himself flew over the long ears and landed in a squealing mass in a little pool of water. Kather¬ ine’s donkey continued his career, although the two older children ceased their efforts and ran to Bob’s assistance. Mr. Carter brought the triumphant win¬ ner to a stop.

“What are you children doing?” he asked a little sternly.

“ Racing, Dad; Jack said boys could always go faster than girls, but I beat.”

Bob had picked himself up and was now running towards them.

“It don’t prove anything, Father, does it?” he called breathlessly. “ My donkey stopped ’cause Alice didn’t play fair — she made him. Girls don’t play fair.”

“Where are Miss Ford and Mademoiselle?” asked their mother gravely.

“ Over there,” pointed Katherine. “ They can’t run as fast as donkeys.”

“ Did they tell you you could ride on the don¬ keys? ”

“ Well, they didn’t say not to,” said Alice.

“We didn’t ask ’em,” chorused the twins.

“ I suppose you kiddies will pay for your ride, then,” observed Mr. Carter as the man who owned the donkies appeared on the scene.

“ Oh, Daddy, it’s our last day together,” said

Alice. “ We had such a good time. Maybe if you let Mademoiselle and Miss Ford ride they wouldn’t mind.” Miss Ford and Mademoiselle sig¬ nified their desire to remain on foot, but Mr. Carter finally consented to pay the donkey driver. Then they all sat down on the sand, and Mr. Carter, with Jack and Alice to help, and the twins doing their best to hinder, made a wonderful sand city, and he sent the twins to find shells and pebbles and anything that was interesting to put in it.

Mrs. Carter watched them a little sadly as she thought of the long days of separation. She gave new instructions to Mademoiselle and Miss Ford.

When the time for departure came the twins bade a somewhat tearful farewell to the rest of the party. They were consoled, however, by the two French boys, who went to the station with them.

“ It will be a fine way for them to learn French,” said Mr. Carter, likewise rejoicing over Louis and Leon.

“ If only Miss Ford will not spend too much time in the company of their parents,” thought Mrs. Carter, giving added instructions to Mademoiselle to watch them carefully.

They rode third class, as the distance was so short and Mr. Carter wanted to know what it was like. The car seemed like a trolley, with its wooden seats, and low partitions. An old peasant woman sat near them, holding a large basket containing live geese, and a couple of somewhat dirty soldiers were talking energetically two seats away. Also two jolly, fat priests were sleeping and snoring peacefully.

“ Altogether,” as Jack said, “ it’s a mighty queer bunch.”

They were rather glad on the whole to arrive at Rouen, although it was in a driving rain. Mr. Car¬ ter saw them to a hotel, and left them to settle down for the afternoon, while he went out to take a con¬ stitutional, as he called it, and see what he could see.

He came back later with a formidable bundle of books under his arm and a regular Niagara Falls running from his hat brim down his mackintosh.

After he had changed his wet clothes, he sat down beside the table and announced that he was ready to enter the first class in French history. The children groaned, but he was firm.

“ Jack, you shall be teacher, because you are the oldest, and you may ask any question you want, of anyone present. If you can ask a question which no one can answer, Alice shall be teacher. Now, begin.

“ Haven’t we read something about Rouen? ” Jack asked of Alice. “ What do you know about Rouen? ”

“ Why, wasn’t that the place where the little Duke lived? That’s a true story, isn’t it, Father?”

“ I think so. What did he do here? ”

“ Well, the men all did homage to him, when his father was killed, and I think the king imprisoned him here. And wasn’t it where the two little French princes were held as hostages?”

mm

A beautiful stone tracery — Cathedral at Rouen

“ No, Alice,” said Jack, “ not in Rouen.”

“ Do you know who the little Duke was? ” asked Mr. Carter.

“ Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, all he ever feared was doing wrong! ” quoted Alice.

“ That’s all very well as far as it goes. Did you know that he was the great-grandfather of William the Conqueror?”

“ Then he was a truly person? ”

“ Surely. Of course I do not know just how many of Miss Yonge’s stories of him are true, but he was a very fine fellow. He took a hand in the building of St. Michel, too. Normandy is just north of Brittany, you know. Rouen is one of the largest of his cities. It was at Falaise, however, that his grandson, William the Conqueror, was born.”

“ His mother was a beautiful tanner’s daughter,” interrupted Alice. 44 1 read about her in the His¬ toric Boys, and about him, William, the Boy Con¬ queror.”

44 I wish we could have gone to Dives which was the place he sailed for when he started for England in —”

44 1066,” came the chorus.

44 Good for you. It was this same William and his knights who furnished the ancestry for most of the so-called French families in England, the fellows with French names, who claim to have had forefathers who came over in the Conquest. Some¬ thing like the way our numberless New England cousins have their Mayflower ancestors. But the x8 WHEN MOTHER LETS US TRAVEL IN FRANCE

Normans were not French, they were Northmen, and much more like the English themselves.”

“ This is all old history, Daddy, there must be newer history.”

“ Of course, but we must begin at the beginning. And it’s not the very beginning, either, for France has history in Roman times. Normandy and Brit¬ tany are mostly full of mediaeval history. Though, Kate, I never see the word Brittany without think¬ ing of * Matelot,* and ‘ Pecheur d’lsland.’ But of course the children are too young to read Loti. But how about Herve Riel, the simple Breton sailor?”

“Who was he, Father?”

“ You must read Browning’s poem about him, one of the finest ballads in the language. He lived at the end of the Seventeenth Century and as the poem has it,— Saved the fleet, honored France, loved his wife, the Belle Aurore. It was after the sea fight off LaHogue between France and England. The French fleet was trying to escape after a defeat, and the French commander feared that his enemy would get possession of what was left of the fleet. He was just going to beach his ships and set them on fire, when the common sailor, Herve Riel, begged for permission to pilot them through the bay of St. Malo into a channel and safety. It was a forlorn hope, but the French commander, Dammfreville, like a brave man, trusted his sailors and took the chance, and Herve Riel made good. He found the channel, and from the deck of the largest vessel led the rest to safety. And all the reward

*9 he asked for, according to Browning, was shore leave to go to see his wife.”

“ Say, he was fine,” murmured Jack.

“ Is there anything interesting about Havre?” asked Alice.

“ Yes, but not particularly so to you. It is very interesting to me, since its construction is remark¬ ably good. But that isn’t what you want to know. Who knows anything about Harfleur, right next door to it? ”

“ Didn’t Henry Fifth besiege it? ”

“ Yes, Kate, and one William Shakespeare put into his mouth a very fine speech, ‘ Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.* Well, madam, you have helped us out again, and this is the end of the rain and of the history for to-night. It is too late to begin on modern France. Who wants to take a run before dinner? ”

Both the children declared themselves delighted, and speedily followed their father and mother out into the wet, dimly lit streets.

Chapter III Seeing Rouen — Arrival In Paris — An Adventure

The next day Mr. and Mrs. Carter and the two children started bright and early to “ do ” their first French town.

Their hotel stood close by the old clock tower which Alice had at once admired. “ See, there’s a cow on the face of it,” she cried in delight. She was fascinated by the small shops in the narrow streets. She wanted to go into all of them, in which desire she was encouraged by the proprietors who stood in their doorways with smiles of welcome, but she was restrained by her mother.

Jack liked the big horses, high carts, and the peasants with their blue frocks. Mr. Carter was distressed to find that he could not always under¬ stand the French gentlemen of whom he asked di¬ rections ; nor could they always understand him. But on the whole they got on very well, as they walked through the gray old streets, and safely reached the Place de vieil Marche, where Joan of Arc was burned by the English in 1431.

“ You didn’t mention her, Daddy, yesterday in our history class,” said Jack reproachfully.

“ Right, Jack; I usually think of her in connec¬ tion with Orleans and Rheims. But after all, I

SEEING ROUEN — PARIS — AN ADVENTURE u don’t know but this is as intimately connected with her as any place. I didn’t mention, either, that Arthur of Brittany was murdered here by his old reprobate of an uncle, John, King of England.”

Lunch time found them far from the hotel. They were very hungry, but fortunately discovered a de¬ lightful little restaurant, with a fat white-aproned proprietor who bade them welcome. This meal, they were told, was a “ fork breakfast,” in con¬ trast to the more liquid breakfast already con¬ sumed.

The children faced the necessity of translating the names of the French dishes on the menu. Mr. Carter refused to allow them to eat until they had discovered for themselves what dishes they pre¬ ferred. Alice chose boldly, and presently found herself gazing wild-eyed at a plate of fried snails, while Jack, more cautious, ordered Chocolat, pain and beurre. These words he was sure of.