San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-01-28
A TRUFFLED FRENCHMAN
"a few trnfi1es dnctorsii

mo, InanK you, replleu Df. PatesSon,
turning away with an air of unfeigned re-
pugnance. 81 have not tasted truffies for
the past fifteen years"
"But you used to be exceedingly fond
of them when ] knew you long ago,
doctor"
Every true, but cannot bear the sight
of them since / was 'truffied myself"
A look of puzzled surprise appeared on
every face.
at is melancholy story" resumed the
doctor sadly, land as have nothing more
important to talk about meantime, may
as well tell it TO you now"
After moments silence, during which
he seemed to recall deeply painful recol-
lections, the doctor began.
"You know that was attached to the
navy for many years as a physician.
was around the world several times, and
have experienced all sorts of curious and
dramatic adventures.
'But it was in 1872 that met with the
most tragic of them all l embarked at
that time OH board the new frigate the
Lessive, charged to make cruise in the
southern seas. We had q splendid voy-
age.
mot a single patient was OH board.
the days dragged heavily on me. The mo-
notony was almost unbearable. Ny only
diversions were at mess.
81 always made it a point to remain at
table as long as possible, first to kill time,
and second for the pleasure of the meal,
as our cook was a man of real genius in
an the cOncoction of mushroom sauce, such
l In oil, An
rent, spicy, delicious sauce.
HE was, besides, very proud of his
superior merit in this respect and treated
us to his sauces as often as possible.
With the sauces that he made one could
eat hen that had died of old age and
think it was spring chicken"
The doctor ceased speaking for an in
slant and smacked his lips in memory of
these past delicacies.
al ended by becoming a very intimate
friend of this talented cook" he con-
tinued. His name was Amedee, and he
had been favored with an education
greatly above his position. We often
talked over our voyages, science and the
art Of cookery, and we agreed with one
another on variety of matters.
AT length it happened that one fine
evening in August the Lessive cast anchor
before beautiful green island, not even
as yet explored, as it does not figure on
the maps. We had no sooner stopped
than Amedee, wishing to give the captain
a little agreeable surprise by serving up
soTe fresh fruits, told me that he was
going ashore in the little boat known as the
cabbage packet, and he invited ME to &C
company him. l accepted with pleasure,
and, without giving notice to any one,
we entered the boat and soon reached the
shore An hour afterward we were
prisoners among a tribe of savages,
hdeously painted and tattoed, and while
they led us away we had to witness the
agonizing sight of the Lessive weighing
anchor and proceeding on her way"
DIR. Patesson here emptied glass of
champagne to calm the emotions excited
by so painful a Renaissance.
1--WE were expecting every moment to
be mastered he went on, "but they
contented themselves with putting us in
the guard Of huge sort of devil savage,
armed with ponderous club:
'"This unwelcOme attendant did not
leave us for an instant during the night,
and we could see him at times smack his
chops and rub his stomach in a way that
but too clearly signified that he expected
to make toOthsome meal of both of u.s.
'But they did not roast us either the
next day or in the following few days
We afterwards learned that this respite
was solely due to the fact that owing to a
recent victory, the larder of the tribe was
abundantly supplied with prisoners of
war.
zone morning Amedee suddenly ut
tered Cry of joy. He had just spied at
the foot of big tree large number of
excellent mushrooms. He filled his
pockets with them, and that same even
ing after having gathered all the herbs
that he required, he cooked an opossum
with the famous sauce.
"We actually cried with Joy as we eat
them. Our iailer, after having tasted
them, uttered such cry Of pleased sur
prise, that the king, or chief, rushed to
our presence. In less than five minutes
be had devoured all that remained on the
plate.
"On the following day Amedee, despite
his horror and repugnance, was forced to
cook prisoners leg In the same manner.
while he was engaged in preparing
this horrible dish / was sitting sadly at
the foot of tree / was thinking that
my friend was certainly saved and that ]
was as certainly lost.
SIT was only question OF short time
until / should be fricasseed by the hand
of my friend Amedee and eaten in mush-
room sauce.
"While musing on this unpleasant idea
was mechanically digging the soil with
piece of stick which had In my hand.
An exclamation Of surprise burst from my
lips. / had just turned up a trufie, an
immense, sweet scented truffle, as fine as
any of those of Perigord.
81 called Amedee, and having shown
him my discovery, we set to work dig
ging the soil. We found that truffies
abounded on all sides. That same even
ing the king dined so sumptlously that
he wanted to pass a fish bone through
Amedee's nose as a compliment to his
culinary skill