The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-06-28

droDes, butterflies, poor insects flying wildly from all sides, even to little bee tie with scarlet wings, who placed him. self close to my beak but l was too frightened myself to take advantage of his fear.
 The old cock remained calm. Very attentive to the barking and the sounds of the guns, when they approached, he made me sign, and we went a little fur ther, beyond the reach of the dogs, and well hidden by the foliage. Neverthe- less, thought at one time we were lost. The path which we had to cross was guarded at each end by a sportsman in ambush. On one side was big jolly fellow with black whiskers, who made a whole arsenal jingle at each movement, hunting-knife, cartridge-box, powder flask without counting gai,ers buckled to the knee, which made him look still taller |: at the other end little old man leaned against the tree, smoked his pipe tran quilly, winking his eyes as If sleeping. Of the latter was not afraid but the big fellow beyond.
 iou know nothing, Rouget,' said my eomrade laughing: and fearlessly, with his wings spread wide, he flew almos, against the legs of the terrible whiskered huntsman.
 And the truth IS that the poor man was so entangied in all his hunting apparel. SO occupied in admiring himself from head to foot, that when he got his gun to his shoulder we were already out of shot. Ah if sportsmen knew, when they be- lieve themselves alone in some corner of the woods, how many steady little eyes watch them from the thieket, how many restrain laugh at their awkwardness.
 We kept moving, always moving. Be- ing able to do nothing better than fol- low my ancient companion, my wings kept stroke with his in order to fold themselves motionless as soon as he stopped. have still before my eyes all the places which we passed: the war ren pink with heather, full of burrows at the foot of yellow. trees, with green cur tain of oaks, where seemed to see death hidden everywhere; the little green path where my mother partridge had so many times taken her brood to walk in the May sun, where we all hoped about. pecking al the red ants which swarmed on our claws, where we met conceited little pheasants, heavy as chickens, that would not play with us.
 saw |, as in a dream. my little pathway just as hind crossed il, high on her slender hoofs, her great eyes wide open and ready for leap. Then the pool where they go in parties of fifteen or thirty, all of the same cover, rising ts- gether from the plain to drink water from the spring and splatter about the little drops which roll over their lustrous. plumes. In the midst of this pool there was clump of bushy alders; it was on this isles that we took refuge The dogs would have needed famous nose to seek us there. We had been there for a moment when roe-buck arrived, drag gng himself on three feet and leaving a red track on the moses behind him. IL was so sad to see that 1 hid my head under the leaves, but heard the wounded animal drink at the pool, pant ing, burning with fever.
 The day declined. The reports of the guns were more distant. became ra.er. Then all was still. It was finished. We returned slowly toward the plain to ge, news of our companions. Passing the little house in the woods l saw something horrible. q
 On the edge of a ditch hares with red fur and little gray rabbits with white tails lay side by side. Here were little paws joined by death, which locked as if beg ging for mercy, and closed eyes which seemed to weep then red cartridges, gray cartridges. which had the horseshoe like my comrade, and young ones of this uA ar'c t.k r..l L. down under their feathers. Do you know anything sadder than a dead bird ? Wings are so full of lite. To see them folded and cold makes one shudder. A great deer, stately and still, appeared asleep, his little pink tongue hanging out of his mouth as if to lap once more.
 And the huntsmen were, bent over this slaughter, counting and drawing toward their gaEe-bags the bloody paws, the mangled wings, careless ot all these fresh- made wounds. The dogs, coupled for the journey. wrinkled their lips and pointed, as if making ready to throw themselves anew into the underbrush.
 Oh. while the great sun sank and they all departed, weary, their shadows grow ing long over the hillocks of earth, and the pathways damp with evening dew. how detested them, men and beasts, the whole troop. Neither my ccmpan- ion nor had courage to throw, as usual little farewell note to this day as it ended.
 On our way we met unfortunate little creatures, struck by a chance shot, and lying there, abandoned to the ants and feld-miee, their muzzles full of dust magpies, swallows. lightning struck in their flight, lying on their backs and stretching their little stiff claws toward the night, which descended quickly, as it always does in the autumn, clear, cold and damp. But the most grievous of all was to hear, along the wocdside, at the edge of the meadow and below in the utiflnv fhs~tn&e kx, ,b r.,->~