"Pardon! Madame does not know that this is a smoking-carriage?" "But yes. Monsieur is very good. It is that my husband would smoke. He is an old soldier. He smokes all the time. Ciel! They are like chimneys, these old soldiers. This man of mine regrets that he cannot smoke when he is asleep!" While Madame delivered this address she continued also to mount the steps, and as she finished... more...

The Christmas Kalendsof Provence IFancy you've journeyed down the Rhône,Fancy you've passed Vienne, Valence,Fancy you've skirted Avignon—And so are comeen pleineProvence.Fancy a mistral cutting keenAcross the sunlit wintry fields,Fancy brown vines, and olives green,And blustered, swaying, cypress shields.Fancy a widely opened door,Fancy an eager outstretched hand,Fancy—nor need you... more...