CHAPTER VIII
THE AMERICANS ARE MADE WELCOME IN PARIS
As Mr. Morris had predicted, Calvert's skill in skating and the accident
to Monsieur de St. Aulaire became the topic of conversation in all
salons. Accounts of the young American's success on the ice came like a
breath of fresh air into the stagnant gossip of the drawing-rooms, and
were repeated until the affair had become a notable exploit, and Mr.
Calvert could have posed as a conquering hero had he cared to profit by
his small adventure. But the young gentleman was not only entirely
indifferent to such success, but scarcely cognizant of it, for he was
greatly occupied, and threw himself so heartily into his work that Mr.
Jefferson could never sufficiently congratulate himself on having with
him so efficient and willing a secretary. There was an enormous amount
of business to be attended to at the Legation, and not even a copying
clerk or an accountant to aid in dispatching it. Indeed, the labor put
upon our foreign representatives was wellnigh inconceivable, and could
those who cavilled at Dr. Franklin's lax business methods but have
imagined the tenth of what he had to attend to, they would have been
heartily ashamed of their complaints.
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