“What she called thus was a sort of cellar, at least twelve inches lower than the street, receiving its only light through the glass door, in which several broken panes had been replaced by sheets of paper. It was revoltingly filthy, and filled with a sickening odor. On all sides were heaps of vegetables,--cabbages, potatoes, onions. In one corner a nameless heap of decaying rags, which she called her bed; in the centre, a small cast-iron stove, the worn-out pipe of which allowed the smoke to escape in the room. “‘Anyway,’ she said to me, ‘you have a home now!’ “I helped her to unload the cart. She filled the stove with coal, and at once declared that she wanted to inspect my things. “My trunks were opened; and it was with exclamations of surprise that the woman handled my dresses, my skirts, my stockings. “‘The mischief!’ she exclaimed, ‘you dressed well, didn’t you?’ “Her eyes sparkled so, that a strong feeling of mistrust arose in my mind. She seemed to consider all my property as an unexpected godsend to herself. Her hands trembled as she handled some piece of jewelry; and she took me to the light that she might better estimate the value of my ear-rings. “And so, when she asked me if I had any money, determined to hide at least my twenty-franc-piece, which was my sole fortune, I replied boldly, ‘No.’ “‘That’s a pity,’ she grumbled. “But she wished to know my history, and I was compelled to tell it to her. One thing only surprised her,--my age; and in fact, though only thirteen, I looked fully sixteen. “When I had done, “‘Never mind!’ she said. ‘It was lucky for you that you met me. You are at least certain now of eating every day; for I am going to take charge of you. I am getting old: you’ll help me to drag my cart. If you are as smart as you are pretty, we’ll make money.’ “Nothing could suit me less. But how could I resist? She threw a few rags upon the floor; and on them I had to sleep. The next day, wearing my meanest dress, and a pair of wooden shoes which she had bought for me, and which bruised my feet horribly, I had to harness myself to the cart by means of a leather strap, which cut my shoulders and my chest. She was an abominable creature, that woman; and I soon found out that her repulsive features indicated but too well her ignoble instincts. After leading a life of vice and shame, she had, with the approach of old age, fallen into the most abject poverty, and had adopted the trade of vegetable-vender, which she carried on just enough to escape absolute starvation. Enraged at her fate, she found a detestable pleasure in ill-treating me, or in endeavoring to stain my imagination by the foulest speeches.