Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-06
JIM NO. 1 AND JIM NO. 2.

'.It is true, NJ. Roger, if ever you should do anything evil to Jim I should hate you, and I'd never forgive you, never, neverp And Mile. Armande Plagnolles nonchalantly threw herself back in her chair and passed her taper finger with caressing gentleness across the lustrous and downy skin of Mas ter Jim.
 The cat-a superb cat, jet black from head to tail, so black that in certain lights his fur gave out metallic rehections-purred louder and louder, stretched out his paws, of pearlish white, and blinked at Roger in way that seemed to say: "Try it, my friend; try it; you'll get the worst of it certain"
 Not at all alarmed by the threat and the wicked look in Jim's eyes, M. Roger de Gramont responded hypocritically:
 "Evil to Jim2 Never! What made you think itg" And he, too, advanced his hand to stroke the cat, perfdiously hoping, of course, to touch instead the fingers of its beautiful mistress.
 And she was pretty, truly, adorably pretty, this Mile Armande de Plagnolles; a demi- blonde with red-brown hair, curling and twisting into the most enchanting waves; rather tall, neither fat nor lean, and with eyes of astonishing depth and color
 Roger de Gramont, on his side, was good 
 shouldered, with limbs supple and vigorous. Roger advanced his hand, as I've told you, and Jim received it, not with the dignity you would expect from the throne he occupied, but with masterly stroke of his claw that opened the flesh to the bono and made the blood fly.
 ''The miserable beastr' cried the young man indignantly, for once unable to repress the truth.
 
 The property of the De Gramont family was considerably larger than the chateau, or villa, rather, of the Plagnolles estate, and stood in a vast park rolling and wooded, and with an extended view of the Seine. Roger was wrong in laughing at Armande on ac- count of her passion for Jim, for he himself was bringing up with jealous care, in a dis tant corner of this same park, inclosed with high trellises, colony of pheasants of every country, form and tint. It was mania with him and which he had taken to his heart with all a collectors ardent passion, and 9 veritable delight it was to him to conceal himself behind thicket of juniper trees in that we'll hedged corner and watch the move ments of his beautiful lady Hamersts with their variegated ruffs, or his Veneres with their brilliant colors. And there is nothing to laugh at, assure you, in this little craze of my hero, Roger, for I, as well as every one else, knew that the rest of his manias were not 0 whit less respectable than this
 The morning following his visit to Plag- nolles and Jim, as he was preparing to make his usual call on his pheasants, the keeper stood before him, cap in hand.
 Monsieur Roger" be said, ''they got another one last night; found the feathers along the paling!"
 "What!" cried Roger angrily Fianother of ).z4 che, this won't do! Whom do you suspect now?"
 The keeper shook his head. ''Nobody, sir, but Pichou," said he; Git couldn't be any one else. Pichou's the worst and the most suc- cessful poacher in the country"
 "But three of them-three of them ill four days!" continued De Gramont.
 ''Thanks to Pichou, sir," persisted the guard; ''Pichou's got lem certain, sir; he always has"
 The evening of the same day peace was de- clared between the two lovers Roger re- turned in an excellent humor, only to find himself the next morning in a violent rage they had gotten fourth pheasant; more than that, two of his handsome cocks were wounded in the wing and left behind them as they walked a trail of blood.
 Happen again? Not much, if he could help it; and though it was as dark as Egypt, as it had been for four nights past, Roger installed himself in ambush with his gun charged with the heaviest balls
 The wait was long; two hours rolled them selves into three, then three into four, and the young man was beginning to consign to the devil all the pheasants as we'll as all the poachers ill the world, when a singular noise, a soft metallic clicking, set him trembling. Something" he said to himself, ''some-
  and as well as he could for the darkness, he aimed and fired, and was answered by a cat erwauling, fierce, prolonged, lugubrious, sue | ceeded by the rattle of death "Goodr' he muttered; Git wasa't Pichou | at all, but thievish cat He's done for, at any rate!" and he continued to waiti not | long, however, for summer nights are short and feeting, and already bluish haze upon phe horizon announced the dawn, A few minutes later clear light penetrated the leaves, and there in the middle of a thicket l of rose trees Roger perceived the body of his victim. It was big, it was black-very black his heart beat quickly; he foresaw, he di | vined, the catastrophe. He approached hastily. No more doubt about it; it was Jim, the adored Jim, the "cherished pet, shot in the middle of the head-cold and life less.
 "Well, " murmured Roger, contemplating him ruefully, "a beautiful mess I've made oi iti" and to run to the tool house, seize and re turn with a spade was the work of an in stant; five minutes more and Jim reposed al peace beneath the earth forever.
 When M. de Gramont made his usual even ing call at Plagnolles the house was in com motion, everybody from cook to chamber maid, valet and stable boy vainly seeking Jim; and the parents were wild with fright for Armande herself was dissolved in hyster ical tears
 "Ahr' she cried at sight of Roger, happy to hold in her hand at last one whom sht could make into a fellow sufferer; Git is you is it9 You, who will be delighted to hear O it-you, who have never been able to endur, himl' And immediately there was a new quarrel on the carpet, in which, as Roge1 was decidedly epres and guiltily unhappy he got tue worst of it. Armande worried him ferociously, going to the length of declar ing that till Jim-always Jim-was found sh did not even care to see him-that is, unless h. would promise to hunt for Jim, in which cas she would promise to recompense him.
 After morning visit, more unfortunat ) still than the evening one, Roger told himsel that something must be done; the situation was simply uncomfortable. He ran to the sta tion, boarded train, arrived at Paris, an, | af1 hour. lata shon of M M-