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anhewholookson；andknowswhatpasses；dootherthantakepart？
ignorancealonecankeepusstrangerstothelifearoundus：selfishnessitselfwillnotsufficeforthat。
thesereflectionsimadetomyselfinmyattic；intheintervalsofthevarioushouseholdworkstowhichabachelorisforcedwhenhehasnootherservantthanhisownreadywill。whileiwaspursuingmydeductions；ihadblackedmyboots；brushedmycoat；andtiedmycravat；ihadatlastarrivedattheimportantmomentwhenwepronounceplacentlythatallisfinished；andthatwell。
agrandresolvehadjustdecidedmetodepartfrommyusualhabits。
theeveningbefore；ihadseenbytheadvertisementsthatthenextdaywasaholidayatsevres；andthatthechinamanufactorywouldbeopentothepublic。iwastemptedbythebeautyofthemorning；andsuddenlydecidedtogothere。
onmyarrivalatthestationontheleftbank；inoticedthecrowdhurryingoninthefearofbeinglate。railroads；besidesmanyotheradvantages；possessthatofteachingthefrenchpunctuality。theywillsubmittotheclockwhentheyareconvincedthatitistheirmaster；theywilllearntowaitwhentheyfindtheywillnotbewaitedfor。
socialvirtues；are；inagreatdegree；goodhabits。howmanygreatqualitiesaregraftedintonationsbytheirgeographicalposition；bypoliticalnecessity；andbyinstitutions！avaricewasdestroyedforatimeamongthelacedaemoniansbythecreationofanironcoinage；tooheavyandtoobulkytobeconvenientlyhoarded。
ifoundmyselfinacarriagewithtwomiddle…agedwomenbelongingtothedomesticandretiredclassofparisiansihavespokenofabove。afewcivilitiesweresufficienttogainmetheirconfidence；andaftersomeminutesiwasacquaintedwiththeirwholehistory。
theyweretwopoorsisters；leftorphansatfifteen；andhadlivedeversince；asthosewhoworkfortheirlivelihoodmustlive；byeconomyandprivation。forthelasttwentyorthirtyyearstheyhadworkedinjewelryinthesamehouse；theyhadseentenmasterssucceedoneanother；andmaketheirfortunesinit；withoutanychangeintheirownlot。theyhadalwayslivedinthesameroom；attheendofoneofthepassagesintheruest。denis；wheretheairandthesunareunknown。theybegantheirworkbeforedaylight；wentonwithittillafternightfall；andsawyearsucceedtoyearwithouttheirlivesbeingmarkedbyanyothereventsthanthesundayservice；awalk；oranillness。
theyoungeroftheseworthywork…womenwasforty；andobeyedhersisterasshedidwhenachild。theelderlookedafterher；tookcareofher；andscoldedherwithamotherstenderness。atfirstitwasamusing；afterwardonecouldnothelpseeingsomethingaffectinginthesetwogray…hairedchildren；oneunabletoleaveoffthehabitofobeying；theotherthatofprotecting。
anditwasnotinthatalonethatmytwopanionsseemedyoungerthantheiryears；theyknewsolittlethattheirwonderneverceased。wehadhardlyarrivedatclamartbeforetheyinvoluntarilyexclaimed；likethekinginthechildrensgame；thatthey〃didnotthinktheworldwassogreat〃！
itwasthefirsttimetheyhadtrustedthemselvesonarailroad；anditwasamusingtoseetheirsuddenshocks；theiralarms；andtheircourageousdeterminations：everythingwasamarveltothem！theyhadremainsofyouthwithinthem；whichmadethemsensibletothingswhichusuallyonlystrikeusinchildhood。poorcreatures！theyhadstillthefeelingsofanotherage；thoughtheyhadlostitscharms。
butwastherenotsomethingholyinthissimplicity；whichhadbeenpreservedtothembyabstinencefromallthejoysoflife？ah！accursedbehewhofirsthadthehadcouragetoattachridiculetothatnameof〃oldmaid；〃whichrecallssomanyimagesofgrievousdeception；ofdreariness；andofabandonment！accursedbehewhocanfindasubjectforsarcasmininvoluntarymisfortune；andwhocancrowngrayhairswiththorns！
thetwosisterswerecalledfrancesandmadeleine。thisdaysjourneywasafeatofcouragewithoutexampleintheirlives。thefeverofthetimeshadinfectedthemunawares。yesterdaymadeleinehadsuddenlyproposedtheideaoftheexpedition；andfranceshadaccepteditimmediately。perhapsitwouldhavebeenbetternottoyieldtothegreattemptationofferedbyheryoungersister；but〃wehaveourfolliesatallages；〃astheprudentfrancesphilosophicallyremarked。asformadeleine；therearenoregretsordoubtsforher；sheisthelife…guardsmanoftheestablishment。
〃wereallymustamuseourselves；〃saidshe；〃welivebutonce。〃
andtheeldersistersmiledatthisepicureanmaxim。itwasevidentthatthefeverofindependencewasatitscrisisinbothofthem。
andintruthitwouldhavebeenagreatpityifanyscruplehadinterferedwiththeirhappiness；itwassofrankandgenial！thesightofthetrees；whichseemedtoflyonbothsidesoftheroad；causedthemunceasingadmiration。themeetingatrainpassinginthecontrarydirection；withthenoiseandrapidityofathunderbolt；madethemshuttheireyesandutteracry；butithadalreadydisappeared！theylookaround；takecourageagain；andexpressthemselvesfullofastonishmentatthemarvel。
madeleinedeclaresthatsuchasightisworththeexpenseofthejourney；andfranceswouldhaveagreedwithherifshehadnotrecollected；withsomelittlealarm；thedeficitwhichsuchanexpensemustmakeintheirbudget。thethreefrancsspentuponthissingleexpeditionwerethesavingsofawholeweekofwork。thusthejoyoftheelderofthetwosisterswasmixedwithremorse；theprodigalchildnowandthenturneditseyestowardthebackstreetofst。denis。
butthemotionandthesuccessionofobjectsdistracther。seethebridgeofthevalsurroundedbyitslovelylandscape：ontheright；pariswithitsgrandmonuments；whichrisethroughthefog；orsparkleinthesun；ontheleft；meudon；withitsvillas；itswoods；itsvines；anditsroyalcastle！thetwowork…womenlookfromonewindowtotheotherwithexclamationsofdelight。onefellow…passengerlaughsattheirchildishwonder；buttomeitisdeeplytouching；foriseeinitthesignofalongandmonotonousseclusion：theyaretheprisonersofwork；whohaverecoveredlibertyandfreshairforafewhours。
atlastthetrainstops；andwegetout。ishowthetwosistersthepaththatleadstosevres；betweentherailwayandthegardens；andtheygoonbefore；whileiinquireaboutthetimeofreturning。
isoonjointhemagainatthenextstation；wheretheyhavestoppedatthelittlegardenbelongingtothegatekeeper；botharealreadyindeepconversationwithhimwhilehedigshisgarden…borders；andmarksouttheplacesforflower…seeds。heinformsthemthatitisthetimeforhoeingoutweeds；formakinggraftsandlayers；forsowingannuals；andfordestroyingtheinsectsontherose…trees。madeleinehasonthesillofherwindowtwowoodenboxes；inwhich；forwantofairandsun；shehasneverbeenabletomakeanythinggrowbutmustardandcress；butshepersuadesherselfthat；thankstothisinformation；allotherplantsmayhenceforththriveinthem。atlastthegatekeeper；whoissowingaborderwithmignonette；giveshertherestoftheseedswhichhedoesnotwant；andtheoldmaidgoesoffdelighted；andb