2i 4 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



Eponine, with her sea-green eyes, her narrow 

 face, her impertinent nose, her small and delicate 

 limbs, had an air of distinction which charmed 

 Gautier's appreciative friends. She was a polite 

 little cat, rather fond of company, and would re- 

 ceive his guests with cordial pleasure, purring 

 as she stepped from one chair to another, as though 

 to say : " Don't be impatient. Look at the pictures, 

 or talk to me, if I amuse you. My master is coming 

 down." On his appearance, she would retire dis- 

 creetly to an armchair, or to a corner of the piano, 

 and listen to the conversation without interrupting 

 it, being French, and accustomed to good society. 



If Gautier dined alone, Eponine's place was laid 

 opposite to his ; and, when he came into the dining- 

 room, he found her always in her chair, waiting 

 serenely for his arrival. She would place her fore- 

 paws daintily on the edge of the table, and present 

 her smooth forehead to be kissed, " like a well-bred 

 little girl who is affable and affectionate to relatives 

 and old people." Even the best trained children, 

 however, have their likes and dislikes in the matter 

 of food, and Eponine sometimes found it a hard 

 task to eat everything that was placed before her. 

 Soup was her particular aversion, and once in a 

 while she tried to omit that course from her dinner. 

 Then Gautier would say to her courteously but 

 firmly : " Mademoiselle, a young lady who is not 



