Madame Tina

Origin
Leontine Grogrande and her husband, Jules, were the proprietors of the Grogrande Bakery. They were originally from Paris, France, but had emigrated to America. Leontine was commonly known as Madame Tina by the children who visited the bakery.

Madame Grogrand was quite short and quite fat, but she had a round, pleasant face. She was fond of children and very generous to the smallest of them. She generally ran the storefront while her husband did all of the baking.

Madame Tina suffered from rheumatism, and moved very slowly. She was also color-blind.

One night, after the shop was closed, Madame Tina was sitting up late. An Arab named Ali Dubh, who was an occasional customer, entered the store. He told her of the Great Elixir and claimed that some of his countrymen were planning to steal it from him. He asked her to protect it and left the Golden Flask in her care, giving her as payment for her trouble an identical Silver Flask containing a rheumatism cure.

After Ali Dubh had left, Madame Tina confused the two flasks, poured the Great Elixir in a bowl of water, and rubbed it on her rheumatic limbs. She immediately began to feel light and airy as a fairy, and wanted to dance and caper like a young girl. She went to bed and slept more soundly than she had in many years.

Public Domain Appearances

 * John Dough and the Cherub