The Portland daily press., 1869-09-18
Selected story.
THE PEARL OF CAMPAN.


One fine morning in Autumn, l was ram
bling through the secluded Valley OF camp
in the Pyrenees, accompanied by tne :, tI,a
lent curate of the district, with wIoii' IL W.
course of nv pereorinatioDs had pecUiile eo
ouainted and beneath whose hospltaole Iooi
/ had promised to spend the nlsnl; Inc
scenery was wild and lovely oeyolu descrlp
ton and having expressed lhy auinlfatioh OF
II. 7 added wish to know something of the
inhabitants.
"They have hearts of gold and wills Of
iron," said my friend. MANY touching and
noble instance of generosity and selEdenial
have met with amongst them. And. for ex-
ample, look at this man approaching u.s."
He was fine-looking fellow. of five or six
and twenty, with military air, and dressed
III uniform. The lower part of his face was
very handsome, and his dark, suuburnt com
piexlop suited wellwith the long moustaches.
could not see his eyes, for the visor OF his
cap was drawn down so as completely 10
shade them from the light. Having eXchanS-
ed cordial salutation with the culate, lie.
passed on, followed by huge white dog, with
thick fur and enormous paws. The animal
belonged to a breed peculiar to the Pyrenees
and remarkable for their sagacity and faith
fulnesS. s. .
snow" said my companion, as soon as the
soldier bad passed out of heating. "wbile we
pass along, will tell you true story. of
which you have just seen two of the PRINCIPAL
characters. 3gE =
Juan Ir'soyen was born in the heart of
tnese mountains, where the peasant has his
cnolce OF following one of two occupations
that OF shepherd, or a hunter. Juan chose
the latter, as his father had done before nm;
and hazardous pursuit 1t is. Not merely
has the mountSin hunter to scale all but in
accessible precipices, and to brave the fury Of
famished bears and wolves, but he is con-
stantly exposed to be swept away by tor
rent, or buried beneath an avalanche. To
this latter peril Juan's father had fallen VIC
tim. Crushed beneath a mass of snow, he
persisted, leaving his son no other heritage
than his dog, his gun, and his grandmother
Gertrude, an aged woman, unequal to the
task OF supporting herself Juan, at this time
a line lad OF eighteen, loved his grandmother
tenderly; she had always supplied to him the
place of his mother, who had died in giving
him birth, and he now, with courage and
resolution beyond his years, undertook the
sole charge of their maintenance. He had
been early trained TO the chase, and success
now crowned his efforts. The number of liz
ards, eagles and bears struck down by bis
hand, testified the sureness of his foot and the
certainty of his aim.
Thanks to the value of these spois. Ger
trude knew ne prvation; but she trembled
for the safety of her beloved child, and often
said to him, with tears in her eyes, Stay at
home to-day, Juan; you will perish some
TIME or other, like your poor father ;and what
should l do left alone, without any one to
love in the world?'
Then the lad would answer: Calm YOUR
sell, mother; Providence will watch over me
for your sake'
Thus did Juan work hard during the week
for his own and his parents support and on
Sunday loved to see them entering my little
church. Gertrude leaning on the arm of her
handsome boy, and both joining in the pray
ers with the utmost devotion
Two years passed en-, and Juan was re
turning from Bagneres, whittier he had gone
to dispose OF some game. 1t was winter, anG
the north wind blew piercingly cold but The
young hunter stepped on briskly, whistine
lively tune. Suddenly cry of distress
struck his ear, but he knew not whence il
came.
On, Caesar! he cried, trusting TO his dogs
sagacity; seek it out, dogp
The docile creature set off in the direction
Of thick pine grove, and his master follow
ed; the cries became founder, and Juan rec
ognized the voice of female in distress. HI
redoubled his speed, still preceded by the dog
At length he reached an open space. anC
there was Caesar struggling with a wolf while
on the ground lay woman with huge she
wolf in the act of fastening on her neck
With shout Juan rushed forward, and a
the sound, the fierce creature raised her head
and fixed on him two eyebalIs glowing will
rage and hunger. Without moments hest
tation, the intrepid hunter seized the wolf b,
the throat with one hand, and thrusting the
other into her mouth, grasped her tongue
AMI dragged it as with an iron vice. After a
fearful struggle, he succeeded in dashing the
straneled beast on the ground This done
Juan looked round TO see if his faithful ally
had need of assistance. No; his antagonis
also lay dead, and the hunter had time to at
tend to the woman, who lay motionless OF
the ground, having tainted from excess of ter
ryr. Her deiverer raised her gently in hi
arms, put back the rich brown hair that hat
fallen over her face, and perceived that sh,
was a young and very lovely girl. Taking {
handful OF the snow which lay ON the ground
he rubbed 1t on her temples, and then sue
ceeded in putting some small bits of ice int
her mouth. By degrees she revived, her eve
lids Enclosed, and she drew deep sigh.
Where am IT she murmured.