At about eight o'clock, when I recognized their ring, I jumped for joy, and I could not restrain myself from running to the street door to meet them, for Lucette, my dear friend, always came with her parents.
Alas! how sad is my reverie when I think of the beloved and venerated forms of those who surrounded me upon those happy Sunday evenings; the majority of them have passed away, and their faces, when I seek to recall them, are dim and misty--some are altogether lost from memory.
Then friends and relatives would begin to play, for the purpose of giving me pleasure, the little games of which I was so fond; they played "Marriage," "My Lady's Toilet," "The Horned Knight," and "The Lovely Shepherdess." Everybody took part in them, even the old people, and my grand aunt Bertha, the eldest of all, was irresistibly droll.
The refrain became louder rapidly, for the singer trotted along with short, quick steps, and very soon she was under our window, where she kept repeating her song in a shrill, cracked voice.
When they would allow me to do so, it was my greatest pleasure to run to the door, followed by an indulgent aunt, not so much for the purpose of buying the cakes, however, for they were coarse and unpalatable, as to stop the old woman and talk with her.
The poor old peddler would approach with a courtesy, proud of being called, and standing with one foot upon the threshold she would present her basket for our inspection.

Her neat dress was set off by the white linen sleeves that she always wore.

While she uncovered her basket I would look longingly, like a caged wild-bird, far down the cold and deserted streets.
I liked to breathe in great draughts of the icy air, to look hastily into the black night lying beyond the door, and then to run back into the warm and comfortable parlor,--meantime, the monotonous refrain grew fainter and fainter as it died away into the mean streets that lay close to the ramparts and the harbor.

The old woman's route was always the same, and my thoughts followed her with a singular interest as long as the song continued.
I felt a great pity for the poor old woman still wandering about in the cold night, while we were snug and warm at home; but mingled with that feeling there was another sentiment so confused and vague that I give it too much importance, even though I touch upon it never so lightly.
It was this: I had a sort of restless curiosity to see those squalid streets through which the old peddler went so bravely, and to which I had never been taken.

These streets, that I saw from the distance, were deserted in the day time, but there in the evening, from time immemorial, sailors made merry; sometimes the sound of their singing was so loud that we could hear it as we sat in our parlor.
What could be going on there?
What was the nature of that fun, the echo of whose din we heard so distinctly?
How did they amuse themselves, these sailors, who had but newly come over the sea from distant countries where the sun was always hot?
What life was careless and simple and free as theirs! My emotions lose their force when I endeavor to interpret them, and my words seem very inept.