The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-12-11

of yourself, little jade, and for fear you
should break your cord, / shall shut
you up in the stable, and there you
shall stay"
And thereupon M. Seg,iin carried the
goatinto dark stable, and shut the
door and locked it. Unfortunately he
forgot the windows, and as soon as his
back was turned the little goat made
her escape.
You laugh, Gringoiree 1 dare say!
You are on the side of the goats,
against good NJ. Seguin. We shall see
whether you will laugh presently.
When the white goat reached it, the
mountain was filled with delight. The
old fir trees had never seen any thing
SO lovely. They received her like
little queen. The chestnut trees bent
down to the ground to caress her with
the tips of their branches. The golden
broom parted before her to let her pass,
and sent out its sweetest smell. The
whole mountain rejoiced over her.
You may imagine, Gringoire, wheth-
er our goat was happy. No more
tether, no more stake. Nothing to pre-
vent her gamboling about and brows-
ing at her own sweet will. What
grass there was there! Over the tops
Of her horns. Such grasses, thousands
of different kinds, fine and scented and
delicate, very different from the grass
of that field. And what flowers! Great
blue harebells and purple fox-gloves
with long calixes, whole forest of
wild flowers overlooking with intoxi-
eating juices! The white goat, half
drunk, reveled among them, and rolled
down the slopes pell- mell with the fallen
leaves and the chestnuts. Then all at
once she would spring to her feet.
Hop! She was off again, through the
bushes and the underwood. now on the
top of point. now at the bottom of a
ravine, up, down, everywhere; you
would have said there were ten NJ
Seguin's goats on the mountain.
And she was afraid of nothing. Blan-
quette. With one bound she sprang
across wide torrents that sprinkled her
with their spray and foam as she
passed. Then streaming wet, she would
lie down to dry herself in the sun upon
some fiat rock. Once leaning over the
edge of a plateau, with a cystisus
flower in her mouth, she caught sight
of M. Seguin's house with the field
behind it, far, far down in the plain.
And she laughed till she cried at the
sight of it.
s'How small it is!'' cried she; ..how
could ever have lived in it?"
Poor little thing! Up there so high.
she fancied she was as big as the whole
world. 1t was splendid day. on the
whole. for NJ. Seguin's goat! Toward
the middle of the day as she was rum
ming about from one place to another,
she came upon herd of channels who
were RECALLING themselves with wild
vine. Our little rover in her white
dress created quite a sensation. They
gave her the best place in the vine,
and the gentlemen were all very polite.
1t seems even-but this is between our
selves, Gringoire that young black
haired channels was lucky enough to
please Blanquette. The lovers strolled
away into the woods for an hour or
two, and if you want to know what
they said to each other, ask the chat
tering spring that run hidden under
the moss.
All at once the wind began to fresh
en-. The mountain turned violet; the
evening had come. Already" said
the little goat, and she stood still in
surprise. Down below the meadows
were bathed in mist. NJ. Seguin' field
was lost in the fog and there was moth
ing to be seen of the house but the roof
and little smoke; she listened to tho
bells of the herds that were being driv-
en- home, and her soul grew sad. A
falcon flying home brushed her with
his wings as he passed She trembled.
Then she heard a long howl upon the
'.How! HOWL
She thought of the wolf; all day long
the foolish creature had never thought
Of him. At the same moment trumpet
sounded far away in the valley. Kind
NJ. Seguin was making last attempt.
"How! howl" howled the wolf.
''Come back! come backr cried the
trumpet.
Blanquette had half a mind to go
home; but when she remembered the
stake, and the cord, and the hedge of
the Enclosure, she thought that she
should never be able to bear that life
now, and that she had better stay
where she was. The trumpet no longer
sounded. The goat heard a rustling in
the leaves behind her. She turned. and
In the shadow she saw two short erect
sars. and two eyes that glittered. 1t
was the wolf
There he was. large. motionless.
sitting on his launches, watching the
little white goat and relishing her al |
ready. As he knew that he should eat
her, the wolf was not in any hurry;
only when she turned round, be began
to laugh cruelty: "Ha! ha! NJ Seguin's
little goat!' and he licked his flabby
chops with his great red tongue.
Blanquette gave herself up for lost.
For one moment, when she remem-
!