Shawl-Straps | Page 7

up two steep
flights in the most marvellous way. But best of all was her surprise and
gratitude on receiving a larger fee than usual, for the ladies were much
interested in this dear old Hercules in a cap of seven gables.
When she had blessed them all round, and trotted briskly away with her
carts, Madame C. informed the new-comers that the worthy soul was a
widow with many children, whom she brought up excellently,
supporting them by acting as porter at the hotel. Her strength was
wonderful, and she was very proud of it--finding no work too hard, yet
always neat, cheery, and active; asking no help, and literally earning
her daily bread by the sweat of her brow. The ladies often saw her
afterward, always trotting and tugging, smiling and content, as if some
unseen hands kept well greased the wheels of her own diligence, which
carried such a heavy load and never broke down.
Miss Lavinia being interested in Woman's Rights and Wrongs, was
much impressed by the new revelations of the capabilities of her sex,
and soon ceased to be surprised at any demonstration of feminine
strength, skill, and independence, for everywhere the women took the
lead.
They not only kept house, reared children, and knit every imaginable
garment the human frame can wear, but kept the shops and the markets,
tilled the gardens, cleaned the streets, and bought and sold cattle,
leaving the men free to enjoy the only pursuits they seemed inclined to
follow--breaking horses, mending roads, and getting drunk.
The markets seemed entirely in the hands of the women, and lively
scenes they presented to unaccustomed eyes, especially the pig-market,
held every week, in the square before Madame C.'s house. At dawn the
squealing began, and was kept up till sunset. The carts came in from all
the neighbouring hamlets, with tubs full of infant pigs, over which the
women watched with maternal care till they were safely deposited
among the rows of tubs that stood along the walk facing Anne of

Bretaigne's grey old tower, and the pleasant promenade which was
once the fosse about the city walls.
Here Madame would seat herself and knit briskly till a purchaser
applied, when she would drop her work, dive among the pink innocents,
and hold one up by its unhappy leg, undisturbed by its doleful cries,
while she settled its price with a blue-gowned, white-capped neighbour
as sharp-witted and shrill-tongued as herself. If the bargain was struck,
they slapped their hands together in a peculiar way, and the new owner
clapped her purchase into a meal-bag, slung it over her shoulder, and
departed with her squirming, squealing treasure as calmly as a Boston
lady with a satchel full of ribbons and gloves.
More mature pigs came to market on their own legs, and very long,
feeble legs they were, for a more unsightly beast than a Breton pig was
never seen out of a toy Noah's ark. Tall, thin, high-backed, and
sharp-nosed, these porcine victims tottered to their doom, with dismal
wailings, and not a vestige of spirit till the trials and excitement of the
day goaded them to rebellion, when their antics furnished fun for the
public. Miss Livy observed that the women could manage the pigs
when men failed entirely. The latter hustled, lugged, or lashed,
unmercifully and unsuccessfully; the former, with that fine tact which
helps them to lead nobler animals than pigs, would soothe, sympathise,
coax, and gently beguile the poor beasts, or devise ways of mitigating
their bewilderment and woe, which did honour to the sex, and
triumphantly illustrated the power of moral suasion.
One amiable lady, who had purchased two small pigs and a coop full of
fowls, attempted to carry them all on one donkey. But the piggies
rebelled lustily in the bags, the ducks remonstrated against their unquiet
neighbours, and the donkey indignantly refused to stir a step till the
unseemly uproar was calmed. But the Bretonne was equal to the
occasion; for, after a pause of meditation, she solved the problem by
tying the bags round the necks of the pigs, so that they could enjoy the
prospect. This appeased them at once, and produced a general lull; for
when the pigs stopped squealing, the ducks stopped quacking, the
donkey ceased his bray, and the party moved on in dignified silence,

with the youthful pigs, one black, one white, serenely regarding life
from their bags.
Another time, a woman leading a newly-bought cow came through the
square, where the noise alarmed the beast so much that she became
unruly, and pranced in a most dangerous manner. Miss Livy hung out
of the window, breathless with interest, and ready to fly with brandy
and bandages at a minute's notice, for it seemed inevitable that the
woman would