I  soon  knew,  without  intentional  indiscretion,  that  it  was  com-
posed of  three  persons,  the  father,  who  was  nearly  deaf  (he  was
the  only  deaf  thing  about  the  place),  and  who  was  cashier  in  a
large  banking-house ;  the  mother,  a  commonplace  person,  and
the  daughter, — oh !  that  girl !  What  a  disagreeable  creature  she
was!  The  servant's  name  was  Irma  at  the  outset.  But  they
changed  so  often  that  I  lost  all  track  of  the  name.  Neither
could  I  discover  the  real  name  of  the  ladies.  The  parents  ad-
dressed their  daughter  a.s  B^belle.  Evariste  christened  his  wife
as  "  Poulette  "  in  private.
