The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1885-03-11

And he.caressed her, and he spoke gent
~ to her as to young lady: "Come
here, my jewel, my treasure, my fine
pearl" And the good Pope, greatly
pleased, said to himself: ssWhat good
little fellow How nice he is with my
mule" And then do you know what hap
pened the next day? Tistet Vedene ex-
changed his old yellow jacket for beau
tiful surplice of lace, cape of violet silk
and buckled shoes, and he entered the
household of the Pope, into which no
one had been received before but the
sons of noblemens and the nephews OF
Cardinals.
Once in the service of the Pope, the
scamp continued the game which had
succeeded SO well. Insolent to every one
else, he had attentions and services for
the mule alone, and he was always to be
met in the courtyard of the palace with
handful of oats or bundle of clover,
whose pink clusters Ne shook gently as
he looked up at the balcony of the Holy
Father as much as to say "Ha! who is
that fof?" So that at last the good Pope,
who felt himself growing old, ended by
intrusting to him the duty of watching
over the stable, and carrying to the mule
her bowl of wine prepared in French
fashion, which did not make the Cardi-
nails laugh at all. Nor the mule For,
when the time for her wine came she al
ways saw five or six little clerks of the
household assemble among the straw
with their capes and their laces then,
after moment, nice warm smell of
burnt sugar and spices filled the stable,
and Tistet Vedene appeared, carefully
carrying the bowl of spiced wine. Then
the torture of the poor beast began.
This perfumed wine which she so
loved, which warmed her, which gave
her wings, they had the cruelty to bring
it to her there in the manager, to make
her small it; then when her nostrils were
full of it-presto ! the beautiful liquor,
with its pink flame, all went down the
Threats of these rogues. If only they had
done nothing worse than steal her wine !!
But they were like devils, all these little
clerks, when they had taken drink.
One pulled her ears. another her tail !;
Quiquet climbed on her back; Beluquet
tried his cap on her, and not one of these
rascals thought that, with jerk of her
back or fling of her heels, the brave
beast could have sent them all to the
North Star, or even farther. But 10 one
is not the Pope's mule for nothing-the
mule of the benedictions and indulgen-
cies. The children must amuse them
selves; she did not trouble herself about
them. 1t was only against Tistet Vedene
that she bore a grudge. When she felt
him behind her her foot itched, and
truly there was good reason for it.
After drinking he was full of cruel in
ventions.
Did he not think one day of making
her mount with him into the belfry Of
the palace Imagine thaIterror of the
unhappy mule, when, after having
wound about for an hour, cropping up
circular staircase, and climbing | know
not how many steps, she found herself
suddenly on platform, dazzling with
light, and saw, thousand feet below
her, fantastic Avignon, the market
sheds no bigger than hazel nuts, the
Pope's soldiers like red ants, and farther
down, over a thread of silver, micro
scopic little bridge, where they were
dancing. All the window panes shook
with the scream which she sent forth.
"What is the matter? What are they
doing to herr" cried the good Pope,
rushing out on his balcony.
Tistet Vedene was already in the court
yard, pretending to weep and tear his
hair. "Ah! Most Holy Father, the
matter is-it is that your mule has climb
ed into the belfry."
"All alone?"
eyes, Most Holy Father, all alone.
See, look at her up there. Did you see
the ends Of her ears move? You might
think they were two swallows"
"Bless me ~ said the poor Pope, rails
ing his eyes; "she has gone crazy! She
will kill herself! Will you come down,
unhappy creature ?"
She would have asked nothing better
than to come down but how? The stair
case? 1t was not to'be thought of The
poor mule was desperate, and while her
big eyes were rowing over the platform
she thought of Tistet Vedene.
"Ah, vagabond, if l escape, what
kick tomorrow morningW
At last they came to take her down,
but it was necessary to lower her by
great machine with cords. Think what
a humiliation for the mule of Pope to
see herself suspended at this height,
swimming with her feet in the empty air
like beetle at the end of thread And
all Avignon looking at her!
The unhappy beast did not sleep all
night. She seemed to be always turning
round on that accursed platform, with
the laughter of the people below. Then
she thought of the wicked Tistet Vedene
and of the lovely blow with her heel that
she was going to fling at him tomorrow.
They should see the dust from Pampa-
luna. While this reception was prepar-
ing for him Tistet Vedene was descending
the Rhone on Papal galley, on his way
to Naples, with the young mobiles sent
every year to be under the influence of
Queen Joan for practice in diplomacy
and good manners. Tistet was not of
noble birth, but the Pope wished to re-
ward him for the care that he had be-
slowed upon his mule, and especially for
the activity which he had exhibited on
the day of the rescue.
All, how disappointed the mule was
the naxt da1.l % h tho William He