"Listen, Paula," my father said; "will you leave the Breton and his friends and his sons in my hands for the present?" Paula looked at him searchingly for a moment, as if trying to find out what was in his mind. "Of course!" she finally said. "Well, then, just rest content. I'll try to see the thing through somehow. If I'm not very much mistaken, these protegés of yours will have very little to complain of." "Oh, uncle dear!" shouted Paula, delighted, "what are you planning to do?" "I don't know yet exactly, but I've thought of something. No! No! Don't try to thank me for anything, for I don't know how it will come out. But," he smiled as he laid his hand on Paula's head, "you certainly have a method of asking for things that I don't seem to find any way to refuse you." CHAPTER FIVE THE NIGHT SCHOOL For the first time in my life a great secret had been confided to me. Of course, I felt quite proud that they had considered me important enough to be a sharer of the secret. But my! What a struggle it was not to tell Paula! In a few days it would be Paula's fifteenth birthday, and the whole family seemed endued with the same idea, to make it an especially happy and unforgettable occasion. Paula must have suspected something with all the coming and going; the whispering and smothered giggles in corners, etc., but she wasn't the kind to pry into other people's affairs, and so, no matter what she may have thought, she kept her own counsel. On the morning of the great day, which to our great satisfaction, came on a Sunday, Paula was quite a bit surprised to find that Mlle. Virtud and Gabriel had been invited over to breakfast; but aside from that occurrence there was nothing unusual as yet to indicate that we were celebrating Paula's birthday. When the meal was finished, however, my father folded up his napkin, and with an air of mock gravity said, "Why, let me see, this is Paula's birthday; isn't it? I suppose Paula's been wondering why there were no gifts piled up on her plate. You see, Paula, we've all combined on the one gift, but it's too big to put on the dining-table. However, it's not far away. Let's all go and have a look at it together." He led the way out of the house and across the road, and we all followed. I presume the neighborhood received quite a shock of surprise to see such a procession of folks coming out of the big house. Many came and stood in their front door-yards to view the unusual sight, for instance, of Louis with his arm linked in that of our old servant Teresa, and Paula herself on our father's arm, and the rest of us strung out behind. We finally stopped in front of Mlle. Virtud's newly-painted little house, with its tiny garden in front in all the splendor of its spring dress. "Come in, Paula," said our teacher of former days. "Your present is in here in this front room." We all followed after Paula, eager to see the result of her inspection of the "present."