THE RAG MARKET Al BRUGES.

O* a fair July morning, four very cheerful pilgrims

sallied forth from the Hotel der Commerce, at
Bruges, to explore the wonders of the “ quaint old
Flemish City.”

Pretty, fat Madame Van der Berghe, nicest and
kindest of landladies, smiled at us from the door of
; her little office among her vines and canary

~ S birds. Monsieur, her husband, bowed to us
from the door of his little salon among his
Delft plates, jars and bowls. Charles, the
fuzzy-haired waiter, watched our start
with acourtly greeting from the dining-
room — his white napkin tucked under
hisarm. Marie, the chamber-maid, and
even the stolid ‘“ Boots,” had a pleasant
word for us as we went through the
courtyard, for they were all old friends. And if you had searched Belgium
over you could not have found a cheerier quartet than were we, or four people
more bent on having a good time.

Would you like to make our acquaintance? First, there was H., commonly
known as “Mrs. Jack’? —a dainty person who always contrived to look neat,
and fresh, and cool at the end of the longest and dustiest journey. She was-our
only matron, and pretended it was her business to keep us all in great order —
though she was by no means the eldest of the party, nor the tallest either — and
occasionally I must confess poor “ Mrs. Jack” got most unmercifully teased by
her rebellious seniors. Next comes G., who was never
addressed by any other name than “ Her-
cules.” She, as you may guess, was
the tallest and strongest, and had
an unpleasant habit of going ont 1 f soe
at five A.M. every day, and walk- i le eS
ing for miles all over the country C
and town, appearing at our Mh inv SF i
bedsides at half-past seven Fas ne a svn cite
to tell us how much we had ou Ne eee
missed by our laziness, and hurry-
ing us to get into our baths as she
was so hungry and wanted her breakfast. Hercules was never tired and never
cross. She always seized upon everybody’s traveling bags in addition to her

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“WAVE YOU ANY OLD LACE?”

  
 
  

od

IN THE FLOWER MARKET,