The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-02-15

was certalnl y mOmentOf reflection, he
stood straight up in the air, not on his
hind, but on his fore-feet, and that, too,
with as much calmness and address as
4 clown walks on his hands. " Of course
| slid over his head into the sand, which,
fortunately, was tOlerably deep.
l tried to rise, but one Of my legs re-
fused to do me service; | uttered a cry
of pain, and fell forward into the sand.
L had ruptured one of the smaller
tendOns of my right leg, which, although
not Il very serious matter, caused me
great pain whenever I attempted to
stir. Nevertheless, | succeeded in nturn-
ing over and sitting up, but themoment
when | began to rub my eyes, which
were full of sand, and to wonder what
had become OF my rascally dapple- gray,
| saw q horses foot descend on my head,
then, the foot was placed gently against
my breast, and | was stretched out
again on the sand; this time on my
back.
| was now, and very naturally too.
think, exceedingly frightened, and,
more, l felt that it would be useless to
make. any further effort. l therefore
remained quietly on my back, asking
myself, once more, what manner of beast
this was that [ had bought from Cheri;
at the same time | closed my eyes and
awaited death, for | expected to be
killed. But, instead of receiving nv
coup de grace, l suddenly heard a
strange stamping in the sand, and at
the same time, a quantity of dirt and
gravel-stOnes struck me in the face, I
opened my eyes, and 10! there was Bru-
tus, using all four feet with wonderful
address, endeaVOrlng to cover me up i'll
the sand. He was doing his best, the
dear fellow, and every now and then he
would pause to see what progress he
was making then he would raise his
head, give expression to his self salts
faction in a low whinny, and resume his
work. Thls continued four or five
minutes, when, thinking me, doubtless,
sufficiently covered, he approached res
pectfully and knelt-gOt down on both
knees, and seemed actually to be utter
ing prayer-while looked on in won
der and amaZement.
His prayer being finished, Brutus
bowed his head slightly, rose, walked
away a few steps, stopped, looked toward
me, and then began to gOllOp round
the open space in the centre of which I
was lying. This he did some twenty
times--rOund--rOu nd--rOund-unti1 +
began TO be dizzy from watching him,
when cried out, "Halt haiti" He
obeyed, but seemed embarrassed to
know what he should do next. At this
moment he noticed my hat, which had
fallen off when was dumped so uncere-
moniOusly into the sand, and lay q few
feet from me. At sight of it. Brutus
seemed to be relieved of his embarass-
ment. He Immediately went toward it,
picked it up with his teeth, and started
off at a brisk gallOp down one of the
six alleys that have mentioned.
Brutus disappeared, and I remained
alone. Never was a man more puzzled
-confounded. What the strange con-
duct OF the horse meant, was more than
| could devlne. l shook Off the sand
that partially covered me, and eraWled
on my hands to little spot of grass at
the corner of one of the alleys. Arrived
there, I made myself as comfortable as
possible, and then cried at the ton Of
my voice, in the hope of making nv
self heard by some one; but cot no
response. The park, at least the park
where was, seemed to be entirely de-
serted. There was only one thing to
do-tO wait until some one came that
way.
[ had been full half-hour in this un-
enviable. position, when ] espied Brutus
n long distance off, at the end of the
alley by which he had disappeared, gal
loping toward me in q big cloud ofdust.
little by little, as he came nearer, I dis
covered a p0ny-chaise in the cloud :
then, in the ehaise, q woman, who was
driving herself, and, behind the lady, a
little groom. @st
A few minutes after making this well
come discovery, Brutus, covered with
foam, stopped before me and let nv
hat fall at my feet, saluting me with a
sympathetic whinny, which seemed to
say: T went for help, sir; and here it
is" But l had no eyes for Brutus, or
ears for his explanations. My senses
were occupied with the ministering fai-
ry, who sprang lightly from her little
carriage and hastened toward me. She,
too, on her part, looked at me very in
out in one breath, respectively; - :
+" Madame de Norio1is ~
Monsieur de La Roche large ~
Now, / have an aunt, and for years,
between her and me, there has been q
continued battle.
Get married !" she hasinsisted.
| | don't want to ma1Tyw
DO you want a young girl? have
neen'Sfsd4 Msdenoiselle c Mseoe@91Sslie eto.S D
t'I don't want to marry p we f..
"Do You want a widow? I have
Madame D, Madame F., Ma
dame F., and so On.n -.
"T don't want to maPry!n ..-r'
Madame de Noriolis always figured
among the first of my aunt's widows.
and I noticed that she never failed to
dwell at length on all the advantages
saw in this union. 1t was Unnecessary
for her to tell me that Madame de No
riolis was pretty-any one could see
that without prOInpdng-or that she
| was rich. She chose, rather, to remind
me ever and again that the late Mon
sieur de NOriolis was a fool, who was
never so happy as when he had sue
ceed in making his wife exceptionally
miserable. and that consequently moth
| ing would be easier than for her second
| husband to make himself adOred.
Then, after a lengthy eulogy of Ma
dame de NoTiolis's virtues, graces, and
merits, my aunt, who was very adrOit.
and knew my vulnerable points, would
take from her secretary a map Of the
neighbOrhOOd and spread it out ON the
| table. The map was very exact and
complete, and had been bought for the
sole purpose of convincing me that, if
Ihad any sense at all, I would marry
Madame de NoriOlis. The ehateQa of
NoriOlis and of La Roche large fig
nred on the map, and were hardly five
leagues apart. My aunt, having artfnl-
" drawn a red line around the two do
mains, would obfige me to look at it,
saying:
1.-TWO thousand ono hundred acres,
good measure, and not q single division
hedge, il Noriolis were united to La
Roche large! Eli, isn't that sufficient
to persuade my hrlntsman nephew9n ~
The temDtatian was SO great that I