CHAPTER VIII
AN OLD LADY AND A LIMP
Nearly a week passed, with the utmost constraint,
upon the little family in the Rue de l'Echelle, except
Fifi. Nothing could equal the airy insouciance
of that young woman. She was no more
the dumb, docile creature whose soul and spirit
seemed frozen, whose will was benumbed, but
Mademoiselle Fifi of the Imperial Theater. Fifi
delighted in acting—and she was now acting in
her own drama, and with the most exquisite enjoyment
of the situation.
At intervals, during the week, Italians with monkeys appeared; but Angéline adopted with these gentry a simple, but effective, method of her own, which was secretly approved by Fifi. This was to appear suddenly on the scene with a kettle of boiling water, which she threatened to distribute impartially upon the monkeys and their owners. This never failed to stampede the enemy. Fifi scolded and complained bitterly of this, but Angéline took
