What a fine presence that man had! His lesson, which we all took
together, like a little corps de ballet, was a great amusement to us,
especially because of the theatrical stories we used to make him tell
us. One day he arrived in a great state of excitement, and addressing
the governesses he said, "Ladies, you see before you a man who had a
remarkable escape yesterday. The ballet called Les Filets de Vulcain was
being danced, I was playing Jupiter, and I was just going to ascend in
my glory, with Mercury beside me, when I felt that same glory was out of
order, and I had only just time to jump off, and to shout to Mercury, '
Jump, my friend, jump, don't lose an instant!' Well, well!" During the
pauses in the lesson, when his fiddle ceased, and while he wiped the
perspiration from his brow, we used to crowd round him and ask him
questions. The elder ones always tried to get him on the subject of a
danseuse named Mademoiselle Legallois, one on which he would descant
unendingly. This was the lady who on one occasion appeared in a ballet
as the allegorical representative of Religion, which fact caused it to
be said of a certain [Illustration: Man and woman dancing.] Marshal of
France "qu'il s'etait eteint dans les bras de la religion" (that he had
passed away peacefully in the arms of religion). But the moment we were
seen crowding round and whispering with the old dancer, the governesses
would charge down upon us with their "What is it? What is it?" and we
began our BATTEMENTS and our steps again. Personally I owed one of the
earliest successes in my life to old Seuriot. I had profited so much by
his lessons, that I appear to have danced the minuet in a quite
remarkable way, so much so that my parents had a complete crimson velvet
dress in the style of the last century made for me, with the
indispensable three-cornered hat and a sword with knots of ribbon. Thus
accoutred, with powdered head and pigtail, I had to give several
performances of my minuet, which I danced with my sister Clementine,
both of us displaying all the airs and graces of bygone times. My