"Are there no--no men in the house--none at all?" enquired the girl,
peering into the surrounding gloom nervously. "There is no person at
all in the house, but you and I."

"And you will admit no one?"

The woman hesitated.

"Not to your apartment," she said firmly. "I promise it."

Louise gave a long, fluttering sigh. Somehow, she felt that she could
rely upon this promise.

"Then, if you please, Madame Cerise, I'd like to go to bed," she said.

The woman took the lamp and led the way upstairs, entering a large, airy
chamber in which a fire burned brightly in the grate. The furniture here
was dainty and feminine. In an alcove stood a snowy bed, the covers
invitingly turned down.

Madame Cerise set the lamp upon a table and without a word turned to
assist Louise. The beautiful Kermess costume, elaborately embroidered
with roses, which the girl still wore, evidently won the Frenchwoman's
approval. She unhooked and removed it carefully and hung it in a closet.
Very dextrous were her motions as she took down the girl's pretty hair
and braided it for the night. A dainty _robe de nuit_ was provided.

"It is my own," she said simply. "Ma'm'selle is not prepared." "But
there must be young ladies in your family," remarked Louise,
thoughtfully, for in spite of the stupor she felt from want of sleep the