Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-03-30
THE JuDGE AND HIS TROUT.
Translated from the French of Andre Theuriet
for the SUNDAY UNION, by Mrs. y. Z. White.
II say Scolasfinne n

~N-N~>~N~ >->AN-ss
Il say, Scolastique~
"Well, Monsieur Sourdat ?''
"Pay particular attention to the trout.
Be extremely careful in preparing the
cout-bouillon-white wine, parsley, thyme,
a bay leaf, garlic, and, above all, plenty of
onion"
"Have no fear, Monsieur Sourdat 1
will omit nothing; the sauce will be per-
feet"
Remember, not drop of vinegar in it,
only slice of lemon. Do not fail to have
the table set at halfpast 10, and the break
fast ready at IL o'clock precisely; not five
minutes past IL, but II sharp. Do you
hear?n
Having launched these final iniunctions
at his cook in brief, commanding tone OF
voice, Monsieur Sourdat, Judge of the
Marville Court, crossed the square at a
brisk but methodically regular pace, and
entered the Courthouse, situated just be-
hind the subprefecture.
Monsieur Sourdat was bachelor, As
years of age, and very active, notwith-
standing marked tendency to obesity
He was square-shouldered, thick-set, with
round, closely-cropped head, in which
shone two keen,. light-gray eyes. His
voice was brusque and imperious, his mouth
large, with thin, irascible-looking lips,
and his bronzed cheeks were encircled by
pair of sparse, wiry whiskers. In fine,
he had one of those bulldog faces which
caused one involuntarily to exclaim: 81
| would not care to provoke him."
Certainly Monsieur Sourdat had not a
gentle disposition, and he boasted of the
fact. Despotic and morose, he treated
every one at the Courthouse with unvary-
ing rudeness. Hard as stone toward the
accused, boorish with the witnesses, ag.
gressive with the lawyers, he was a veri.
table thistle, and whoever came in con.
tact with him was sure to feel the thorn
He was dreaded like fire, and naturally
very unpopular with those under his juris.
diction.
However, this iron-elad man had two
weak spots in his armor. In the first
place, he answered to the pastoral prenom
of Nemorin. which occasioned many a
laugh at his expense. Secondly, he was
gourmand enough to shame even Brillat
Savarin himself. His extreme and learned
fastidiousness concerning the delights Of
the appetite approached the verge of q
mania. In that sleepy little village or
the border of the Belgian Ardennes, where
the pleasures of the table constitute the
sole distraction of the wealthy class, the
culinary exactIons of the Judge were
quoted for ten leagues around. 1t was re.
lated of him that he would eat no fish
but those caught at break Of day, because
he held that repose and the absence Of
any emotion rendered their flesh more
delicate. He it was who first conceived
the idea of plunging crabs into boiling
milk before cooking them with their usual
seasoning. 1t gave them, he maintained
a melting and velvety taste which was ex,
| quisite in the extreme
The day he mentioned this new freak Of
fastidiousness to the vicar of Saint-Victor
that worthy ecclesiastic, although he was
himself very partial to whatever would
| tickle the palate, could not help blushine
and raising his plump white hands tc
heaven, exclaiming:
ooh! that is too much, too much
Monsieur Sourdat! Certainly we are al.
lowed to partake of palatabe things in
moderation, but such excessive gratifca
ton of the taste borders upon mortal sin
and you will be called to an account before
the good God"
To the pious scruples of his priestly
friend the Judge replied with a Mephisto.
| phellan laugh. 1t was one of his malicious
amusements to lead his venerable neigh.
Dor into temptation, and that very morn.
ing he was expecting him TO breakfast in
company with the Court Clerk. On
the preceding night he had received
a trout from the Semois, a two.
pound salmon-trout, caught in a clear
rocky stream. 1t was his favorite fish, and
the cooking of that delicious morsel occu
pied the first hours of the morning. He
wanted to demonstrate by incontrovertible
evidence the superiority of his court-bouH
lon over the sauces of the Geneva or Hol
land cook-books. Trout should be served
cold in the seasoning in which it wa:
cooked. That was to him principle a:
absolute as an article of the Penal Code
He was still repeating it to himself in hi:
office, after putting on his robe, at the
same time turning over the leaves of the
brief of recent case of which he had ius
begun the trial.
1t was a grave, criminal affair, which
had put the entire bar into futter of ex
element, and the dramatic details of the
case contrasted singularly with the preoc
cupation which engrossed the mind O.
Monsieur Sourdat.
At sunrise one morning in the preced
ing week there was found in clearing in
the forest the hody of forester, quite
dead, lying among the brambles in a
ditch. 1t was supposed that the crime
must have been committed by some
poacher caught in the act Of bagging his
game, but up to that time no positive in.
dications had been found, and the deposi.
tions of the witnesses had served only tc
deepen the mystery. The murder had
taken place near border where some
chareoal-burners had taken up their quar-
ters and that fact had awakened the sus.
picions of the Judge. Still, it appeared
from the evidence that the very night Of
the murder, those people were absent from
their wood yard, and that the furnaces had
been left in charge of the daughter of the
head chdr5onnier.
Nevertheless, Monsieur Sourdat had
sent out summons for one of them. a
lusty lad Of %, who had once had an
alteration with the assasslnated man
Besides, he had ordered the daughter O.
the charcoal-burner to appear before him
And this was the point at which matters
began to look suspicious. The girl had
not complied with the summons she was
hiding, no one knew where. The Judge
had just put the police on her track, and
he was then awaiting the result of their
authorized search. Toward 10 o'clock the
door of the Courtroom opened, disclosing
the cooked hat and yellow stripes of the
| Sergeant of Police
Well" growled Monsieur sourdat i'm.
patiently.
"Well, your Honor, the nest was empty
We have searched the forest since day.
break, but the girl is nowhere to be found
| and the charcoal.burners themselves are
very anxious about her, and cannot under.
stand her disappearance"
Comedy, pure and simpler exclaimed
Monsieur Sourdat in a tone of mingled
vexation and disappointment. "Those
people are making game of you! They
should have been arrested, all of them
| Get out you are blockhead p
The Judge looked at his watch-a quar-.
ter past ten. The case could not be tried
that day, and he wanted to give a final
careful inspection of the dining-room be.