When her friends, learning her increasing difficulties, which they didfrom the best authority (herself), complimented her, as they wereforced to do, upon her still handsome appearance, beautiful laces,feathers, jewelry, silks, "Fat," she would answer--"fat. I am livingoff my fat, as bears do in winter. In truth, I remind myself of ananimal in more ways than one."

And so every one had something to contribute to the conversation abouther--bits which, they exclaimed, affection and admiration had kept alive intheir memory.

Each city has its own roads to certain ends, its ways of Calvary, soto speak. In New 0rleans the victim seems ever to walk down Royalstreet and up Chartres, or _vice versa_. 0ne would infer so, at least,from the display in the shops and windows of those thorough-fares.0ld furniture, cut glass, pictures, books, jewelry, lace, china--thefleece (sometimes the flesh still sticking to it) left on thebrambles by the driven herd. If there should some day be a trump ofresurrection for defunct fortunes, those shops would be emptied inthe same twinkling of the eye allowed to tombs for their rendition ofproperty.