Chapter I: Preface

When I began to write these stories about children of all lands I had just returned from Europe whither I journeyed with Marie and Ref. Maybe you don't know Marie and Ref. I'll introduce them: Please meet Marie, my very little daughter, and Ref, my very big reflex camera.

These two are my helpers. Marie helps by being a little girl who knows what other little girls like and by telling me; and Ref helps by snapping pictures of everything interesting that Marie and I see on our travels. I couldn't get along without them.

Several years have gone by since we started our work together and Marie is a bigger girl--but Ref hasn't changed one bit. Ref hasn't changed any more than my interest in writing these books for you. And I hope that _you_ hope that I'll never change, because I want to keep on writing until we'll have no more countries to write about--unless, of course, some one discovers a new country.

Even if a new country isn't discovered, we'll find foreign children to talk about--maybe the children in Mars! Who knows? Nobody. Not even Marie--and Marie usually knows about most things. That's the reason why, you see, though I sign myself

I am really only
Marie's Mother.

DEDICATION

To every child of every land,
Little sister, little brother,
As in this book your lives unfold,
May you learn to love each other.

CONTENTS

Page
Chapter I
Madame Villard 11

Chapter II
Paul 18

Chapter III
To the Front! 25

Chapter IV
On to Paris 32

Chapter V
Suzanne 39

Chapter VI
Jeanne 52

Chapter VII
Major d'Artrot 64

Chapter VIII
The Guignol 78

Chapter IX
An Adventure in the Bois 90

Chapter X
The Live Puppet 101

Chapter XI
Little Spoiled Margot 108

Chapter XII
At Auntie Sue's Shop 114

Chapter XIII
Come and Play 127

Chapter XIV
A Drive Through Paris 135

Chapter XV
Jeanne and Margot 148

Chapter XVI
"I Want to Play" 156

Chapter XVII
A Call for Help 168

Chapter XVIII
Margot's Story 179

Little Jeanne of France