The Washington herald., 1918-02-26

When Sun shines.
On a day when there Is a lifting OF
the mists which envelop Paris in the
winter, and the sun comes out, and
the very air glows as II 1t were full
Of fine spun gold. 1t is q Joy to walk
on the Champs-Elysees, for the chill
dren are laughing there.
That walk is like turning over the
pages of a brightly colored picture
book
The luminous lacework Of the trees,
on that beautiful broad avenue, the
quantity mingled traffic, the throngs
of queerly assorted people on bench
and pave the vendors, the park
swings and merry-go-rounds, form the
border embellishments; but the pic
lures, those bright spIashes of vivid
color here and there and everywhere,
are the children.
There's a wee girl in a yellow coat!
a tawny yellow, but as warm as the
sun itself just before it turns GRIM
son in the Western sky.
Absurdly short is that coat. and the
skirts beneath 1t, ending we'll above
the knees. and revealing two long,
lean little legs in smart white leg
gings.
On the top Of her head, right in
the midst of her glossy black curls, a
round patch of a skull cap, with a
saucy tassel bobbing about one ear.
Prim and sedate, she stands on a
big SNOWFALL, and forms about all the
tableau which could be put in so small
a space.
Only an instant OF that wonderful
pose, then there's a flash of yellow
through the air, and she's racing up
the avenue after a diminutive boy in
red military pants, his toy gun in one
hand and her doll in the other,
There are tiny blobs OF darting color
in all the shades of pink and blue;
there are violets and grays and glor-
ious green's.
Like All Children.
And there's a little girl in scarlet!
There's another one! No, there are
three Of them, all exactly the same
size, all dressed exactly alike, all with
absurdly long, lean legs stretching far
down from absurdly short skirts, all
pink-cheeked, red-lipped, sparkling
eyed, and each with a small dog led
by a scarlet strap.
Deep in the delights of Follow my
leader" are these three; but it's q
slow game, because each of the dogs,
in his turn, must get up on the bench
and circle twice and get down
again, without exactly understand
ing why. Sometimes dogs are more
or less dumb.
There's another youngster with
a wooden gun Oh. yes, rather a
cheap wooden gun, for even the
kiddies are doing without things
on behalf of the big war; but
they're not being deprived; they're
making sacrifices, and know that
they're doing it. and are proud
of 1t!
Guns are especially popular these
past few years with small boys.
This one has on the velvet tam"
Of a Poilu, and he walks with quite
an air of responsibility for a person
who is only 5. He's one of the fu-
ture men Of France, and seems to
know 1t, somehow or other.
1t gives rise to rather sober re-
Election to note that his mother is
in deep mourning. One might
think that the cause of that
mourning would make her object
" q sun do q NOy tOE nCT DdDyB anu
that there might be pain to her in
the martial stride with which he
carries it, but nothing of the sort
is apparent, for as he says some
thing to her he looks up with a
laugh, and she answers with a
smile.
Skating in the Bois de Boulogne!
There, with gay knitted caps and
warm mittens and skates over their
shoulders, marches a group of kid
dies, the biggest ones in the lead
and the littlest ones stretching their
legs almost straight out to keep up
with the procession. Strange, there
are no sleds. 1t scarcely SHOWS often
enough for that, however.
Here are a couple Of gamins! No
change in them anywhere in the
world. Battered shoes, and tattered
caps like Ounce caps Jammed down
over their ears, the tassel half of
Of one cap and entirely off the other,
and the invariable knitted mufrler
wrapped around the neck, and
streaming over a shoulder or be-
meath an arm or somewhere. but
Haunting with French jauntiness
wherever the ends may be.
Fire-red cheeks, they have, and
wide grins, and dancing devil in
each eye; and they are fndulging
In the perhaps unrenned but uni
versally known Joy of humping each
other OF the sidewalk.
All Classes AIIngIe.
The poor as well as the rich have
a right to the Champs-Elysees, and
while there may be a difference I'm
the quality of their clothes and a
difference IN the making, there Il
small difference In the way they
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