She usually took a complete scale of them，that is to say，seven，from ten to sixteen years of age，inclusive，of assorted voices and sizes，whom she made sing standing，drawn up in a line，side by side，according to age，from the smallest to the largest.
This presented to the eye，something in the nature of a reed-pipe of young girls，a sort of living Pan-pipe made of angels.
Those of the lay-sisters whom the scholars loved most were Sister Euphrasie，Sister Sainte-Marguerite，Sister Sainte-Marthe，who was in her dotage，and Sister Sainte-Michel，whose long nose made them laugh.
All these women were gentle with the children.
The nuns were severe only towards themselves.
No fire was lighted except in the school，and the food was choice compared to that in the convent.Moreover，they lavished a thousand cares on their scholars.
Only，when a child passed near a nun and addressed her，the nun never replied.
This rule of silence had had this effect，that throughout the whole convent，speech had been withdrawn from human creatures，and bestowed on inanimate objects.
Now it was the church-bell which spoke，now it was the gardener's bell.
A very sonorous bell，placed beside the portress，and which was audible throughout the house，indicated by its varied peals，which formed a sort of acoustic telegraph，all the actions of material life which were to be performed，and summoned to the parlor，in case of need，such or such an inhabitant of the house.
Each person and each thing had its own peal.
The prioress had one and one，the sub-prioress one and two.
Six-five announced lessons，so that the pupils never said'to go to lessons，'but'to go to six-five.'Four-four was Madame de Genlis's signal.
It was very often heard.
'C'est le diable a quatre，——it's the very deuce——said the uncharitable.Tennine strokes announced a great event.
It was the opening of the door of seclusion，a frightful sheet of iron bristling with bolts which only turned on its hinges in the presence of the archbishop.
With the exception of the archbishop and the gardener，no man entered the convent，as we have already said.
The schoolgirls saw two others：
one，the chaplain，the Abbe Banes，old and ugly，whom they were permitted to contemplate in the choir，through a grating；the other the drawing-master，M.Ansiaux，whom the letter，of which we have perused a few lines，calls M.Anciot，and describes as a frightful old hunchback.
It will be seen that all these men were carefully chosen.
Such was this curious house.
BOOK SIXTH.——LE PETIT-PICPUS
Ⅷ POST CORDA LAPIDES
After having sketched its moral face，it will not prove unprofitable to point out，in a few words，its material configuration.The reader already has some idea of it.
The convent of the Petit-Picpus-Sainte-Antoine filled almost the whole of the vast trapezium which resulted from the intersection of the Rue Polonceau，the Rue Droit-Mur，the Rue Petit-Picpus，and the unused lane，called Rue Aumarais on old plans.These four streets surrounded this trapezium like a moat.The convent was composed of several buildings and a garden.The principal building，taken in its entirety，was a juxtaposition of hybrid constructions which，viewed from a bird's-eye view，outlined，with considerable exactness，a gibbet laid flat on the ground.The main arm of the gibbet occupied the whole of the fragment of the Rue Droit-Mur comprised between the Rue Petit-Picpus and the Rue Polonceau；the lesser arm was a lofty，gray，severe grated facade which faced the Rue Petit-Picpus；the carriage entrance No.62 marked its extremity.
Towards the centre of this facade was a low，arched door，whitened with dust and ashes，where the spiders wove their webs，and which was open only for an hour or two on Sundays，and on rare occasions，when the coffin of a nun left the convent.This was the public entrance of the church.
The elbow of the gibbet was a square hall which was used as the servants'hall，and which the nuns called the buttery.
In the main arm were the cells of the mothers，the sisters，and the novices.
In the lesser arm lay the kitchens，the refectory，backed up by the cloisters and the church.
Between the door No.62 and the corner of the closed lane Aumarais，was the school，which was not visible from without.The remainder of the trapezium formed the garden，which was much lower than the level of the Rue Polonceau，which caused the walls to be very much higher on the inside than on the outside.The garden，which was slightly arched，had in its centre，on the summit of a hillock，a fine pointed and conical fir-tree，whence ran，as from the peaked boss of a shield，four grand alleys，and，ranged by twos in between the branchings of these，eight small ones，so that，if the enclosure had been circular，the geometrical plan of the alleys would have resembled a cross superposed on a wheel.As the alleys all ended in the very irregular walls of the garden，they were of unequal length.
They were bordered with currant bushes.At the bottom，an alley of tall poplars ran from the ruins of the old convent，which was at the angle of the Rue Droit-Mur to the house of the Little Convent，which was at the angle of the Aumarais lane.In front of the Little Convent was what was called the little garden.To this whole，let the reader add a courtyard，all sorts of varied angles formed by the interior buildings，prison walls，the long black line of roofs which bordered the other side of the Rue Polonceau for its sole perspective and neighborhood，and he will be able to form for himself a complete image of what the house of the Bernardines of the Petit-Picpus was forty years ago.This holy house had been built on the precise site of a famous tennis-ground of the fourteenth to the sixteenth century，which was called the'tennis-ground of the eleven thousand devils.'
All these streets，moreover，were more ancient than Paris.
These names，Droit-Mur and Aumarais，are very ancient；the streets which bear them are very much more ancient still.