Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1866-01-03

the service, Chourineur !? said Rod
olphe. Three years; but we will
come to that presently. The pave
ment Of the Louvre, the plaster kilns
of Clichy, and the quarries of Mont
rouge, these were the hotels of my
youth-you see | had town house and
country house.. 'Ha! ha what trade
did you follow?' MY faith my mas
ter | have an mdistinct recollection
Of having lived in my childhood with
an old Ch0onier, (rag nioker) who
knocked me down with his iron hook ::
this must be so, for [ never met one
OF these cupids, with their rag baskets,
that do not feel the greatest desire
to pounce on them; proof enough that
they beat me whom [ was q child
My hrst occupation was to help the
horse killers, cut the throats of the
horses at MOnttaucon. | was about
ten or twelve years old when [ first
began to slaughter the poor beasts
At first felt badly, but at the end of
month that was all gone, and then,
on the contrary, | liked the business.
There was no one who had such sharp
knives as | had, so | was ALWAYS in de-
mand. After | had cut the throats of
the beasts, they threw me a piece of
the rump Of a horse, which had died
from some complaint, for my pay; for
those which we killed were sold to the
soup makers Of the Medical School.
who made beef, lamb, veal, or game of
1t, Just to suit any ones taste. All
when l got my piece Of horse flesh, the
king was not my master; flew to my
kiln like q wolf to his den. and there.
with the permission Of the lime burn
ers, | roasted my meat on the Goals.
When the workmen We're not there,
went and gathered some sticks at Ro-
mainyille, struck fire, and made nv
roast by the walls Of the slaughter
house. 'Ah! it was raw and bloody
but for all that, I did not eat the less.
And your name? ? what did they call
you? said Rodoiphe.
My hair was still more the color of
flax then than it is now, and the blood
was always rushing to my eyes; on
that account they called me Albino-
/ (the albinoes are the white rabbits
luptn Jianc-among men, and they
have red eyes, } added the Chourincm
gravely, speaking by way of physio-
logical parenthesis. And your pa
rents? your family My family ?
Oh, they lodged at the same number
as those of La Goualeuse. The place
of my birth? The first corner Of nc
matter what street, the curbStone al
the right or left as you 90 down to the
gutter You cursed your father and
mother, then, for having abandoned
you? oh! that would have done me
a great deal of good However. they
did play poor farce in bringing me
into the world. Iwould not complain
if had been made as the good God
ought to make poor folks; that is to
say, without feeling hunger and thirst.
then it would not cost them so muci
to be honest. You have been hun
gry and cold, and vet you have not
stolen, Chourinem ? No. no; vet
have seen much miSery-much misery
/ have tasted sometimes more than two
days, more than my turn; but, | have
never stolen. For fear of the pris
!? oh! what a farcer said the
Ch0urineur. i would not then have
stolen bread, for fear of getting bread
Honest, | was starving, Thief, the,
would have fed me in prison. No
no! | did not steal hecause-becaus,
observation-disclosures it is not in my ma
ture to steal 7 This truly great an
swer, Of which the Chourimeur himsel
did not comprehend the bearing, pro
toundly astonished ROdolphe, He fel
that a poor wretch who could thus re
main honest amid the most cruel pri
vations, was doubly TO be respected
since the punishment Of the erin
would have offered him certain ref
uge; and. he extended his hand to thi
unfortunate, whom misery had no
, completely lost. The Chourineur re
garded him with astOnishment and re
spect; hardly cared he touch the han,
offered to him; he felt that between
the two there was an impenetrabl
abyss.
well, WE'LL said Rodolphe, 'yo
! have yet heart and honor
: MY faith know nothing about 1t
said the Chourineur, much affected
what do you say-now see-I neve
: felt 50 before; what is sure is this
> no matter Tor the blows of the fis
which you might have repeated unit
; tomorrow; instead Of which you civ
> me to eat and drink, and say sue
/. things to me-no matter, in life o
t death [ am yours; you can alway
count on the Chourineur.'
t Rodolphe answered coldly, not wisE
ing him to see his emotion And di
G you long time remain horse butcl
| erY Il guess so. At first it mad
/ me sick to kill these poor old cres
5 lures; afterward it amused me; bu
t when [ became sixteen it became
t rage, perfect passion to kill them.-
e | forgot to eat and drink-I only tho
: Of that. You ought to have seen IN
: in the midst of my work-except a
|, old cotton pantaloon, | was entirel
: naked-when, with my nife, wei
), sharpened, in my hand, | had aroun,
= me Il don't magnify from fifteen t.
/ twenty horses all waiting their turn
e Thunder when | began to cut thei
throats, | don't know what got int
!, me; it was like madness: | had
n buzzing in my ears-my head wen
/ round-the blood was in my eyes, an
+ | saw all red-red; and | stabbed
: and | stabbed, and | stabbed until tn
L Il Il