Through beautiful France the little girl had journeyed with Grandmother. Through the famous wine country--the lands of Burgundy (bûr´-gŭn-dĭ), Champagne (shăm-pān´), and Dijon (dē-zhôn´), the city of churches, palaces, and famous mustard they journeyed! Along the road sat women knitting or sorting and cleaning the cotton of their mattresses. They were washing in little outdoor water troughs along the roadway. [Illustration: AN OLD WOMAN CLEANING THE COTTON OF A MATTRESS] The children made a play for every part of France. They made one for every French character they had ever heard about. Jeanne could weave a play about anything, and Margot could not help saying, "What a pity you do not have more time to play!" At this moment the doorbell rang. Auntie Sue was ushered into the hall by the Villard maid. Auntie Sue had come to deliver her parcel and to fetch Jeanne. "Madame Villard is not in," said the maid, "but the children are in the nursery. Would you like to go to them?" Thus it happened that Auntie Sue arrived at the nursery door in time to hear the two little girls discussing a serious question. Auntie Sue did not want to eavesdrop. She would not have listened to the children if she could have helped herself. But the fact of the matter was that Auntie Sue became rooted to the floor, and she could not move. For the first thing she heard was Jeanne's voice saying, "Oh, Margot! I hate all those silly clothes! I hate being a model. I want to be just a little girl." Jeanne's voice was bitter. Is it any wonder that Auntie Sue could not move from the spot on which she was standing? She grasped the door knob to keep herself from falling. [Illustration: CHAMPAGNE VINEYARDS NEAR EPERNAY] Then the conversation went on. "Then why do you do it?" asked Margot's voice. "Because," came Jeanne's, "I dare not tell Auntie. She works so hard and takes such good care of me. You see, I have no mother and father." There was silence, and then Jeanne's voice went on, "My papa was a soldier. But Auntie does not know where he fell." Again silence and then Margot said, "I think your aunt would let you play if you would ask her to." "No," Jeanne replied, "I would not ask her. I must show the clothes. She could not sell them if I did not show them first." There was a short silence and then again came Jeanne's voice, "I just want to be a little girl. I want to play!" The last word ended in a sob. For the next few moments Auntie Sue did not hear anything. Indeed she hardly knew anything, so stunned and shocked was she. Auntie Sue did not know how it was that she ever opened the door. She did not know how she ever came to leave that apartment. It was fortunate that Madame Villard and Margot's mother were out. Children do not always notice things the way grown people do. But Margot wondered, after Jeanne and her aunt had left, why Auntie Sue's eyes had been so big and frightened and why she had hardly said good-bye. CHAPTER XVII A CALL FOR HELP