CHAPTER TWO

MEMORIES

That night I could not study my lessons. In fact, I could do nothing but
think about Paula! I was not a student and was always at the bottom of the
class. Louis, in the matter of study, was no better than I; but in the
school, thanks to his brilliancy of mind, he always seemed to skin through
somehow. Rosa was not a bit like her brother and sister; being a model of
patience, application and obedience. I was very proud of my sister Rosa,
and I loved and admired her, but I never had the slightest desire to
imitate her.

After my father had gone, nothing was talked of except our cousin Paula.
When would she come? What would she be like? Would she be content to be
here among us? All these were questions which we could not answer as we
knew very little about her. They had told me that Paula lived in the
Waldensian Valley--a country where the inhabitants fed on black bread and
lived in homes that were like stables. I had no idea just exactly where the
mountains of Piedmont were. I had searched the map without being able to
find the region, but I supposed it must be somewhere between France, Italy
and Switzerland.

There was another thing I had found out; namely, that Paula was about my
own age. What happiness! This fact I repeated over and over until Louis
told me to keep quiet. This attitude on his part I put down as discontent
because Paula wasn't a boy, so I kept repeating, "Paula's the same as me!"

"For mercy's sake, will you keep quiet, Lisita? Besides you have your