The record-union., 1891-01-10

/ II IS L, SalQ IrnPle, MS teetn now
chattering with the cold.
Who are your demanded the eau
| tious servant
"Tringle," replied he eurtly.
| Why, Monsieur! is it possible?" ex-
claimed the astonished domestic.
open the door, Therese!" said Tringle
imperiously.
did Monsieur only return now?,,
asked Therese suspiciously.
on see for yourself, do you not?''
said 1rlngie, Who pranced about with
| angry Impotence.
Where in the world can Monsieur
have been at this time of the nigfa?', So
liloquized the imperturbable Therese.
on! Iherese, open the door, quick, I
| beg your cried Fringle, this time en-
treatingly.
Then, with a grumBe OF discomfort,
the Old house}Seeper carefully closed tho
window and blinds, after which mo-
| Tringle bore his discomfort heroically,
consoling himself with the reflection that
! his trlbulatiOns would soon be at an end,
The outer door, which opened on the
street, was provided with big bolt,
which Therese always securely fastened
every night before retiring, and in fact so
| careful was she that often she went down
stairs again, after saying her prayers, to
make sure that the strong bolt was prop
erly pushed into place.
With what delight Tringle heard the
immense bolt grating in its socket! A
turn of the key in the inside lock and he
would at length enter into the enjoyment
of his downy couch; but the CAUTIOUS
Therese did not straightway give that
turn to the key. The entrance door
opened into narrow hallway adjoining
the kitchen, where soon light cleaned
! through the window. Then Therese,
| intrenched behind the iron bars which
tn6 fha Of bf
appeared with one hand shielding the
candle-hafne from the wind.
Quick! Therese, quick! open the
door"' cried poor Tringle, benumbed
with cold.
81 supposed you were in bed hours ago,
you out till2 o'clock in the morning?''
Open the door, Therese; will tell you
about it afterward," said Tringle per-
suasiyely.
''Ihis is the first time you have ever
acted in this way, Monsieur" remarked
Iherese, in some what reproachful tone.
And will be the last, Therese! Come,
open the door!'
Upon my word of honor, Monsieur, I
thought a band of robbers
will you open the door?" shrieked
Irlngle, eXasperated at the untimely gar
rulity. of his housokeeper.
What can you have been doing to keep
you in the streets SO late?'' queried
/ Therese.
''If you do not open the door immedi-
ately," cried the infuriated bachelor, IT
Will discharge youp' As he stood shiver-
ing he said to himself that, soon warmly
ensconced beneath his downy eiderdown,
the biting winds which We're now chilling
the very marrow of his bones would give
place to o delicious warmth and all this
horrible nightmare would change to pleas
ant dreams.
Instead of the downy eiderdown, how
ever, the unhappy 1'ringle received
| pailful OF water sQuarely on his upturned
face.
81 will pay you for that, you old hag %
cried he, gasping with fright and rage.
1t was one of those unexpected blows
that overthrow the most Courageous
natures. Tringle was so overcoI&e with
the cold and, the impoteney of his anger
| that he remained as silent and ashamed
as cat that has fallen into q tub of water
Decidedly the house was too wel1guarded! |!
! What was he to do? With q faint hope of
modifying the hard-hearted Cerberus, he
called once more:
! ''Therese! Theresew
| But the first floor had relapsed into
utter silence.
"Therese! Therese!" repeated Tringle
| supplicatingly.
| "There, demon, take thatr' cried the
obdurate old woman, and q second bucket
! ful of water splashed from the upper story
on the head Of the shivering Tringle, who,
in order to escape from these dreadful
shower baths, fled from his own door
step, followed by the maledictions of the
angry Therese, who had seen, by the dim
light Of the candle, a frightfu1, horned
being, initiating the voice of her master
In order to practice his witchcraft in q
house where, according to her belief, the
real Mons. Tringle was at that very time
peacefully sluInbering.
CHAPTER VIII.
Wet to the skin, and fearing that he
Would be covered with coating of ice if
he stood still, Trin$le galloped through
the town like runaway horse. Without
knowing whittier he was going, he soon
| found himself in the open country, on
! dry, clean, ringing highway, bordered
with sparse brushes which offered no
shelter. The silvery. light of the moon
was reflected from tie icy twigs of the
trees, and the icicles cracked beneath his
Il, In his despair he was crying, ''Must
| perish thus?'' when in the distance he
espied faint light, which seemed like an
answer from the Providence who wills
not the death of the sinner.
Upon drawing nearer he perceived that
I the light proceeded from q little hamlet
about league distant from the town,
and, as he was acquainted with the farm
ers who came to sell their produce at the
market, he said to himself that he could
at lest borrow from them suit of warm
homespun and return to Ilettes without
cutting too ridiculous figure.
When be arrived before the first house
of the hamlet he was greeted by the furi-
GUS barking of an immense dog which
was chained in the garden, This noisy
reception did not displease the weary
wanderer, for it would necessarily
| L fln Of fh1 I,fNi,
| from whom he could ask shelter. AS the
dog nearly strangled himself pulling upon
| his chain. while the pain, together with the
uneasinesS which he felt at finding himself
face to face with devil having q tail like
! his own, lent additional force to the fury
with which he bark ed at the intruder.
At first Mons. Tringle had regarded the
animals rage without the least anxiety.
However, tho clanking of the chain,
which the dog had finally succeeded in
breaking caused him little trepidation,
but the gate and the garden walls were so
| high that he did not think the brute could
| cross them. This illusion was soon dis
PEELED, for the barking, which for mo-
ment had died away, became once more
more audible and grew louder, showing
that the dog was coming back on the
outer side OF the wall, and soon Tringle
saw, only fifty PAGES away, the ferocious
| animal rushing toward him at full speed.
| He made leap for the branches of
tree, and so great was his fright that he
| climbed to the top without knowing how
he arrived there. Through the pure in
stinct of representation he who, but a
few hours before, deplored his lack of
agility, had coptrived to reach the top of
a tree at whose foot barl1ed savage dog,
which, rolling his blood-shot eyes and
opening his, enormous jaws, cleaning
with huge white fangs, circled round and
round the trunk, as if trying to discover
what road his enemy had taken.