Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1873-02-21


young lord; "you know the old hunter
is yours to the last drop of his blood
81 never doubted it, my old friend.
| Did you receive my letter from Paris? %
II eyes, sir; and those gentlemen, your
comrades, will have some work before
them"
care there bears already on the
heights then?" asked Villetreton, ex-
tending his hand in the direction of
one of the lofty peaks, whose summit,
lowered with snow, glittered in the
morning sun.
Give in ala complete me,aage-
father, mother, and children; besides
an old bachelor, whom the Spaniards
had driven to this side.'
Gin less than a week we shall 60 in
pursuit of them. Do you know, par
eur, some of my comrades are rather
rough sportsmen; therei is one of them
who is able to snuff a candle with a
pistol at twenty paces.'
easier, perhaps, than to snuff bear
at four" replied the old man laughing.
'"That is what I said also. But as |
should wish to Judge for myself of his
IproWess, you must place us together at
the same postal the bridge of Mature,
for instance.
"Humw said the pareur, scratching
his ear; cit would better please me to
have you elsewhere"
"Why?"
Because to guard this post, a man
ought to be in a state of grace, for he
will be between two deaths-the bears
and the precipiee."
81 know the one, and do not fear the
other; thanks to your lessons"
81 am sure of that. But, with your
leave, should like to guard the bridge
myself
"You are sure then, that the bears
will pass that Way?' -.-. .-.. III
"Sure-yes; but quite sure-no. Re-
collect that they aresullen and prudent
beasts, which never confde their plan
of route to any one" -....
cit is agreed on. I shall guard the
bridge with my comrade. Now, go
and have the crackers ready"
every well, very WE'LL" murmured
the pareur as he retired; 81 shall have
my eye on him."
Eight days afterwards, all those in
tour-who, despite the delicate atten-
tons Of the host, preserved a cold re-
serve--were assembled at the chateau.
The magnificent grandeur of the Pyr-
enees, their shining SUBMITS relieved
against the blue sky of Spain, was an
unlooked-for pleasure to the greater
number Of the guests, who for the most
part belonged to the rich and fertile
plains of the interior.
The morning following their arrival,
a body Of crackers and scouts, provid-
ed with all manner Of discordant in
stuments-trumpets, saucepans, drums,
etc., were assembled under the walls of
the chateau, with the pareur at their
head; while by his side stood the man
drin, who proudly guarded a dozen
large mastifs, held in leash by his Wig
orous helpers. The young baron and
his friends, armed with carabines and
hunting-kniyes, had scarcely appeared,
when, by sign from the pareur, the
whole troop moved silently forward
The dogs themselves seemed to under
stand theimportance of this movement;
and nothing was heard but the confus-
ed tramp Of feet, blending with the
noise of the distant torrent, or, at in
tervals, the cry of some belated night
bird flying heavily homeward in the
doubtful glimmer of the unopened
day.
AS the party reached the crest OF
the mountain which Immediately over
hung the chateau, the first rays of the
sun breaking from the east glanced on
the summit of the Pyrenees, and sud-
denly Illuminating the landscape, dis
covered beneath them deep valley,
covered with majestic pine-trees, which
murmured in the fresh breeze of the
morning.
Opposite to them, the foaming wa
tiers of a cascade fell for some hun
dreds of feet through cleft which di-
vided the mountain from the summit
to the base. By one of those caprices
of nature which testify the primitive
commissions of our globe, the chasm
was surmounted by a natural bridge
the piles of granite at each side be-
ing joined by one immense flat rock,
almost seeming to verify the fable of
the Titans; for it appeared i'm posi-
bic that these enormous blocks of stone
conld have ever been raised to such an
elevation by human agency. Sinister
legends were attached to the place; and
the mountaineers recounted with ter
ror that no hunter, with the exception
of the pareur, had ever been posted at
the bridge Of Mature without becoming
the prey of either the bears or the pre-
cipice. But the pareur was too good
a Christian to partake of this ridicu-
lous prejudice; he attributed the fatal
ity to its real cause.-the dizziness a.
rising from the sight of the bears and
the precipice combined, by destroying
the hunters presence of mind, made
his aim unsteady, and his death the
inevitable consequence. He could not,