Manchurian Books

I know one, and if I were not afraid of grieving
you--for it is a very sad one--I would relate it."
"Oh! tell it, by all means, Mr. Manoel," exclaimed Lina; "I like
stories which make you cry!"
"What, do you cry, Lina?" said Benito.
"Yes, Mr. Benito; but I cry when laughing."
"Oh, well! let us save it, Manoel!"
"It is the history of a Frenchwoman whose sorrows rendered these
banks memorable in the eighteenth century."
"We are listening," said Minha.
"Here goes, then," said Manoel. "In 1741, at the time of the
expedition of the two Frenchmen, Bouguer and La Condamine, who were
sent to measure a terrestrial degree on the equator, they were
accompanied by a very distinguished astronomer, Godin des Odonais.
Godin des Odonais set out then, but he did not set out alone, for the
New World; he took with him his young wife, his children, his
father-in-law, and his brother-in-law. The travelers arrived at Quito
in good health. There commenced a series of misfortunes for Madame
Odonais; in a few months she lost some of her children.


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