The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-08-29
AN AUTHORS PETS.

| er, was 1Ond, at proper times, OF soil
tude, but not solitary solitude. Hi
terrestrial paradise and his work-roem
must have goodly company of bird
and beasts for he adored animals. Ser
wants, being part of ones own individu
ality, hardly count as society; his he
gro lad, Alexis, spoiled and lazy, nigh
be taken as belonging to either one o
the other.
Dumas animals came into his posses
sion in all sorts of ways, the which t.
relate would be too long. Like Adam
he fitted them all with names. He hat
three monkeys; one called after cele
brated translator, the other after an il
lustrious novelist the third, female
ape, represented an actress then at tn
zenith of her popularity. French ju
rists hold that private life ought to b,
inclosed with a wall the exact sobri
quets cannot, therefore, be given, being
founded either on personal resemblanc,
or the details of personal history. W.
will call the translator Potich, the move
list the last of the Laidmanoirs, and the
lady ape Madamoiselle Desgarcins.
| All journeys, long or short, are Ger
tain to afford two pleasures, the plea
sure of starting, and the pleasure of get
ting home again. The pleasure of the
journey itself is much more precariOus
Dumas had returned from fatiguine
journey. His old friends, the furniture
gave him a welcome which he repaid
with smiles. But an easy-chair, close
to the fireplace, displayed an unwOnteG
occupant. The seat was filled with {
large white muff, whose purring an
nounced it to be cat.
"Madame Lamarque !'-she was
cook" Madame Lamarque !"
81 was aware that monsieur had ar.
rived" she said, "but was in the mid.
die of a white sauce and monsieur, who
is cook himself, knows how easily these
blanquetts turn. I ought also to intro
duce our little founding; 1 was sure
monsieur would consent to adopt him. d
"And where did you find the found
ling, Madame Lamarque ?"
d" In the cellar, crying MiaoU, mi
aou = exactly like a deserted child.
What name will monsieur please to give
| him p
"Mysouff the second, if that will suit
you. Only, Madame Lamarque, pray
take good care that he don't eat my Ja-
va sparrows, my widow birds, my tur-
| tle-doves, and all the rest"
" No fear of that ; he's as innocent as
lamb, vegetarian, in fact, preferring
bread and milk to cats meat. But with
mOnsieur's leave, what does Mysouff
mean ? Is it a cats name, like Puss or
Minet %
Certainly /; to make Mysouff the Sc
| cord, there must have been Mysouff
| the first" And Dumas fell into fit of
musing which Madame Lamarque did
not choose to disturb.
The mention of that name Mysouff
had carried his thoughts back full fif-
teen years. His mother was at that
time living. He had still the happiness
to be scolded, now and then, bya moth
er. He filed clerks place, under the
due d'Orleans Oouis Philippe), which
brought him in ], 800 francs a year, and
occupied his time from 10 till five. They
lived in the Rue de POuest, and they
had cat, called Mysouff, which ought
to have been a dog.
Every morning Dumas left home at
half-past 9 it was half an hours walk
from the Rue de POuest to the Office in
the Rue st. Honore, No. 216 and ev-
cry afternoon he returned home at half
past 5. Every morning Mysouff accom-
panied his master as far as the Rue de
Vanguard and every afternoon he went
and waited for him at the Rue de Vau-
girard. Those were his limits he new
er went an inch further. AS soon as he
caught sight of his master, he swept the
pavement with his tail at his nearer
approach, he rose on all-fours, with arch
ing back and tail erect. When Dumas
set foot in the Rue de POuest, the cat
jumped to his knees as a dog would
have done then, turning round every
ten PAGES, he led the way to the house.
At twenty PAGES from the house, he set
off at gallop, and two seconds after
ward, the expectant mother appeared
at the door. The most curious circum-
stance was, that whenever by chance
any temptation caused Dumas to neg
lect his mothers dinner hour, it was
useless for her to open the door My
souf would not stir from his cushion.
But on the days when Dumas was
punctual, good boy, if she forgot to
open the door, Mysouff scratched it till
she let him out. Consequently she
called MysOuff her barometer it was
set fair when Dumas came home to din
ner, rain or wind he was absent.
There was garden party of four or
five intimates, comprising Maqeut the
romance writer, Giraud the painter, and
Alexandra Dumas the son. Alexis, the
spoiled and lazy African, had conde-
scended to bring a tray with three or
four glasses, a bottle of chablis and
bottle of soda water.
ITEMS, said Alexandra, "I have an
idea"
"What may it be ?"
"To make Mademoiselle Desgarcins
uncork the soda-water"
And, without waiting for leave to be
given, he laid the bottle on the floor of
the monkeys cage, in the position of a
cannon resting on its carriage. "Curi-
GUS as anape, the saying goes. Nosooner
was the cage-doOr shut, than its three
occupants, headed by the lady, sat in
committee on the bottle. She immedi-
ately comprehended that the clew to the
secret lay in the four strings that crossed
the cork. She tugged at them with her
fingers. Fingers failing, she tried her
teeth, and in few minutes had bitten
through the two uppermost strings. To
get at the other two, POtich and the last
of the Laidmanoirs adroitly, turned the
bottle half round. The third string cut,
she attacked the fourth. As the opera
tion advanced, its interest increased. |
The spectators watched the approach
ing deDouement quite as attentively as
the actors.
At last came the terrible detonation. |
Madameoiselle Desgarcins was knocked |
heels overhead and drenched with eff |
fervescent water, while Potich and the
last of the Laidmanoirs bounded to the |
ceiling and chung to it with piercing
The tragiczcomic parody of |
human emotions was too laughable to
be believed without being seen.
"I give up my share of soda-water," !"
cried Alexandra, &C. to let Mademoiselle
Desgarcins open a second bottle"
Mademoiselle picked herself up,
shook herself, and joined her compa-