The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-17
A FRENCH SOLDIERS MOTHER
Rv ROWL AND STRONG
 y Harper &a5

gether blind to some of his failings still she under
 stood him, and knew at least, that she herself had
 nothing fear from the primtvely savage nature
 whose attachment her that of wild beast to its
 mate She had been his feminine counterpart, with
 this difference: that her ideals were poetized Her
 patriotism was than his, but 1t was
 of the lyrical order. Often she said she wished she
 had been born that She might have been a
 soldier. is likely enough that she would not have
 been deterred by the hardshps of soldiers life. for
 hard work from early morning till late at night was
 what Jeanne reve1led in Her little flat model ot
 orderIiness; furniture and floors highly polished
 as a soldiers buttons. She was small, blue eyed with ravenblack hair reaching, when she let it down. almost feet, and bright and active as bird. It is uncornmon to find French women in whom there is strain of pure herosrnhero1sm ot the most romantic order and Jeanne one of these Daughters the Revolution, Granddaughters of Joan of Arc great granddaughters of Eve, whatever may be their rank h life they charming girls, faith full wives and incompatible as mothers 1t IS 1n poverty sickness and danger indeed all the complex difficulties of ife that their best qualities come out
 eSSieMys les m1lbe~ys, yes les Prensser they seem to say.-liLe the French Guard at Fontenoy In the presence of almost catastrophe their ternpers re- main high and brave; when they succunb then indeed is the all things. And d<6ro~iElGrdes and resourcefuE-they are, too
 eDebroui1arde" Jeanne needed to be, for the ex- penses of the Sergeants funeral swept away most of his little savings-ust hundred francs. It Fwas duite ceremonious aar. A detachment of infantry. commanded by lieutenant (this due to his rank Knight Of the Legion E1OnOr), rOAOFV6o III procession, together with delegation of the Veterans Society, to which Duvernoy belonged, with banner band and buster. The banner bore the words ern broidered in gold "Ioneur, Patrie" In spite of her condition the widow followed as chief rnourner, and General (the Sergeants former captain, whose life
 he saved) in civilian clothes, supported her respect fully his the coffin was lowered into the grave.
 Then came the dreary fortnight at the Maternity Hospital with the misery of its prison-e walls and gratuitous nursing, through which Jeanne Duvernos retained if cheerfulness at least unconplaning resignation As soon as she could get about she trpped the shops in the neighborhood where she had been accustomed to deal and told the shop keepers wives that she wanted work as femme de fsfnage.
 The fenpnse de pnSssoge is an institution many respects pecuarao France To translate the term into English "charwoman' would be insult to good femme de 4nSndge, and not disparaging enough to a bad A frst-class housekeeper, excellent cook, to whom the purchase of the provisions may be en- trusted in all security admirable needlewoan, such is the best type of fense de pnSmdge and she will do the work of staff of servants for charge of only forty centimes Cor eight cents) per hour.
 Jeannes reputation high in the quarter" for she had always paid what she owed Soon all her morning disposed of Before going to her work she took little Emile the Municipal cyeche paying
 five centimes for him be fed and cared for till she fetched him in the afternoon She could easily have found enough nfHoges to occupy all her tnle but she preferred to do embroidery home, so that the presence of little Emile might brighten at least portion of her day.
 JeanneS special talent the ernbrO1der1ng tals upon fine linen, and she paid twenty-five
 times for each letter, poor remuneration, considering how fine and elaborate her workmanship. To earn this eye-straining task she had toi1 far into the night; but she sang gay lullaby little Emile her needle, and to tend and love him unfai1ng of courage and happiness Her
 pension, after fifteen years loyal the award of the MSddiHe AiIitcire LIDO francs per annum, $22o. His of the Legion of Honor brought him in $50 year, which ceased, however his death Of the original pension the widow received just one-third, $7o odd. Thanks to the influence of General x, she had been accorded barrow-hawll- CTS medal. To understand the meaning. of this the reader must know that in Paris the costermongers privileged corporation or put it accurately, they may exercise their calling without special license from the Prefect of Police Those to whom the license has been granted for this they pay five francs year-are obliged to brass medal bear ing the and address of the holder which worn suspended round the neck by a chain. Jeanne farned her medal for fifteen francs montt-n breach, must be added of the city regulations but the police were good enough to wink it, for her deputy was an=oId= lady of unimpeachable virtue who never ob- structed the traffic, and always on when she was told Thus a monthly of hum dred and twenty francs, six dollars week. Jeanne by prodiges of hard work and economy managed to make two ends meet, and maintain the same digr- fled appearance in her late husbands lifetime, and this in Paris, where the of living s-even Montmartre-at least one-thrd higher than in London constant if not her greatest, preoccupation the rent For two rooms and a very diminutive kit the sixth floor in the Rue Baudeique she paid one hundred and twenty francs a year.
 In Paris rents under five hundred francs are pay able quarterly the eighth day of the month before