San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-12-22
III was q mama WIN

JluJ ~ WIS u l2leLlld WIN
him and which he had taken TO his heart
with all collectors ardent passion, and
veritable delight it was to him to conceal
himself behind thicset Of juniper trees in
that well hedged corner and watch the move
ments of his beautiful lady Hameysts with
their variegated rufus, 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 !, as well as every one
else, knew that the rest Of his manias were
not 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" he said, "they got
another one last night; found the feathers
along the palingp
"Whatr cried Roger angrily, ''another of
my pheasants last night See here, La Bran
che, this won't dol Whom do you suspect
nowf'
The keeper shook his head. Nobody, sir,
but Pichou," said he; sit couldn't be any one
else. Pichou's the worst and the most sue
cessful poacher in the country"
"But three Of them-three of them in four
days!' continued De Gramont.
Thanks to Pichou, sir" persisted the
guard "Pichou's got 'em 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 trail of blood.
Happen againl Not much, II he could help
it; and though 1t 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 well as all the
poachers in the world, when singular noise,
a soft metallic clicking, set him trembling.
Something" be said to himself, "some-
thing light as sylph is climbing the trellis"
and, as well as he could for the darkness, he
aimed and fired, and was answered by cat
erwauling, fierce, prolonged, lugubrious, sue
ceeded by the rattle of death
"Good" he muttered; sit wasa't Pichou
at all, but thievish cat He's done for, at
any rater' and he continued to waitl not
long, however, for summer nights are short
and leeting, and already blush haze upon
the horizon announced the dawn A few
minutes later a clear light penetrated the
leaves, and there in the middle of thicket
of rose trees Roger perceived the body of his
victim. 1t was big, it was black-very black;
his heart beat quickly; he foresaw, he di-
lined, the catastrophe. He approached
LASTLY. No more doubt about it; it was
Jim, the adored Jim, the cherished pet"
,hot in the middle of the head-cold and life
less.
"Well," murmured Roger, contemplating
him ruefully, "a beautiful mess I've made of
itm and to run to the tool house, seize and re-
turn with spade was the work of an in
slant; five minutes more and Jim reposed at
peace beneath the earth forever.
When Il. de Gramont made his usual even
ing cab 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.
"Ah!" she cried at sight of Roger, happy
to hold in her hand at last one whom she
could make into a fellow sufferer; sit is you,
Is lUf Ou, WIZ WILL Dc dchSuutu W uetiI vi
it-you, who have never been able to endure
him!" And Immediately there was a new
quarrel ON the carpet, in which, as Roger
was decidedly epres and guilty unhappy,
he got the worst of it Arnande worried
him ferociously, going to the length Of declar-
ing that till Jim-always Jim-was found she
did not even care to see him-that is, unless he
would promise to hunt for Jim, in which case
she would promise to recompense him.
After a morning visit, more unfortunate
! still than the evening one, Roger told himself
that something must be done; the situation
was simply uncomfortable. He ran to the sta
ton, boarded a train, arrived at Paris, and
an hour later at the shop of NJ. NJ, a
merchant who dealt in birds, dogs and divers
other animals, among them q cat-a superb
cat, black all over, claws white, eyes yellow;
in short, Jim's twin in every particular,
Roger had no time to waste in explanations.
"How muchP said he, standing before it
delightedly.
lone hundred francs, monsieur" replied
the mernbeNt>
he carried away his purchase, regained the
train, and thep Maissons as soon as possible
Truly, he had done welli Jim was re-
stored-Jim No. q; everything would be right
now with that pretty creature, Armande,
whom, truly, he adoredl and thinking thus
as night had come, he approached the villa
Not q soul was 30 be seen. He seized his
burden by the neck and with vigorous hand
launched it across the wall that surrounded
the Plasnolles garden.
Jim was foundI Jim had returnedl"
Such was the salutation of his beautiful
sweetheart at the usual morning visit