To MADAM CHARLES BEAINNE.You, Madam, had the first hearing of this story. I related it to you three months ago, the day after your marriage, when I did not know it over well myself. Whether you will or no, you must remember, all your life, a recital the date of which will save it from being forgotten. In a quarter of a century, when the young woman that we admire in you shall have risen by degrees to the dignity of grandmother, if time, which devours all things, has not carried away the pages of this little book, you will read it again at the fireside, and the adventures of my old Pallicare will recall to you the happy day when you were twenty, with a future free from clouds, a present free from cares, and with disinterested friends.EDM. ABOUT.