The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-03-26

family, to be complete, should consist Of a
father and mother, q son and a daughter,
and o dog. There was a time, indeed,
when he never would have said 1t, but that
was when he was q bachelor for ne was
the crnstiest, most growing old pacneior
that I ever knew. He lived by himself IN
the country. where he smoked his pipe and
read his books. and took care OF his gar
den, or walked over the fields with his dog.
Yes, he had q dog, a perfect one, named
Medor, and In those days he thought . per
feet family consisted Of q man ana ms aos.
indeed, he said once, when was 'neis
too. that Medora was his best friend , anu
vet n was / that rave him the dog. Meoor
had helonoed 70 a widow lady living OIL 81.
Cermain en- Lave, who thought the world Of
him. but was In constant fear lest he should
be shot. for Medor was a born hunter, and
the forest park at st. GERMAN was an in
yiting field for our-footed as well as two
footed hunters. The keepers Of the park
said they would shoot Medor IL they caught
him there again, so his mistress begged me
to save his life by finding for him a new
master. ] thought at once of Cabassol,
and l could not have found a Better mas
ter. He and Medor became at once fast
friends, and understood each other per-
fectly. They were made for one another,
and were always together. lfCabassol went
TO walk, Medor went with him. II the
master ate dinner, his dog had it at the
same time: and it really seemed ASH Ca
bassol was right, and that they made a per-
feet family.
But one day when Medor's nose was IN
his plate, and he seemed to be thinkingo OF
nothing but his dinner, be suddenly raised
his head, and trembling from head to foot,
began 70 howl and whine in the most pite-
ous and rnaccountable manner. The door,
hell rang; Medor sprang forward, and
when Cabassol Joined him he found him
rolling in an ecstacy of joy at the feet OF a
stranger, and leaping up and down as if be-
side himself. 1t was, as you have guessed,
his old mistress, who had moved from St.
German to Paris, and had taken this jour-
new for the sake Of seeing her old friend
Medor. She cried at the welcome her dog
had given her. She had come, she said, to
ask him back again; for now that she lived
in Paris, there was no longer any danger of
his life from the foresters. Would not
Monsieur Cabassol permit her to have Me-
dor again? She would gladly pay what
ever he chose to ask for Medor's board
during the three years he had been absent
from her, and a round sum besides.
Cabassol looked ather in a furious man.
ner. Give up his dog! Never! 81 will
not sell my friend at any price," and gave
a rude shrug Of his shoulders, which said
rs plainly as words, "Go about your bust
ness, madam" The lady bitterly reproach-
ed him and grew very angry, not because
he had treated her so rudely, which was
reason enough-she did not mind that
but because he was likely to make Medor
die Of grief by refusing to give him up to
her.
"See!" she cried "he has never ceased
to regret me. He still loves me, and no
one else"
These last words enraged Cabassol !;
they aroused his pride, and, determined to
show her that Medor loved him best, he
said:
"Come ] have a plan which will soon
show you whether Medor loves you more
than me. We will go together to yonder
hill which lies between my house and
Paris. There we will separate. You shall
go down the southern path, and l will
take the northern, that comes back tony
house. Medor shall belong to whichever
one of us he chooses to follow"
every WELL" she said, " am agreed" y;
for she was confident that the dog would
follow her.
Medor did not quite understand the
agreement, but he saw that the two peo-
pie whom he loved best had shaken hands
and stopped quarrelling, and were now
talking politely together. He was full of
delight, gamboling about them, and petted
by both. Cabassol, though a crusty bache-
lor, as | said, was, after all, a pleasant
companion when he chose and now, feel
ing some pity for the lady, who must be
disappointed, he began to talk and to
make himself quite agreeable, for she was
his and Medor's guest and the widow
lady, sorry for the loss which she was to
cause him, and feeling happy at recover
ing Medor, was in high spirits, and made
herself quite entertaining.
When the time came for her to 60, the
three walked slowly together to the top of
the hill-the two, j mean, for Medor was
friSking about them in great glee. AT the
top they separated, and Cabassol went at
once down the northern slope, while the
lady went down the southern, and Medor
bounded after her. But in a moment he
perceived that his master was not with
them. He ran back to him then he saw
his mistress was not following, but was
keeping on in her path; he ran back to
her then to CabaSsol, who was still keep
ing on his path; then to his mistress;
then-and so up and down, backward and
forward, the road becoming longer and
sleeper each time. He could not make
up his mind which to leave; he could not
understand it all he went first to one,
then to another, ten times, and then ten
times more. while thew. without turning
about or saying q word, kept straight on
in their separate paths. At last poor
Medor, out of breath, the sweat pouring
from him, his tongue hanging out of his
mouth, fell down, completely exhausted,
on the very top of the hill where they had
separated and there, turning his head
first to the right and then to the left, he
tried to follow with his eyes, at least, the
two beings to each of whom he had given
half his heart.
Cabassol mean while saw how the poor
dog Jared, for each time he returned to him
he was painting harder. He was seized
with pity for him he resolved to give back
Medor to the lady, else he saw that Medor
would surely die. He turned up the hill
and came to the top.
At the same moment the lady came up
the hill from the other side she, too, out
of pity for Medor, had resolved to sacrifice
her own feelings and suffer Cabassol to
keep the beloved dog. They met at the
top over the poor fellow, who was now
wagging his tail in a feeble manner to ex-
press his delight.
But how could they make the poor ami
NAL submit to a new separation? If he
were to 60 with either alone ii would break