Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-11-02
NBLLA, The GIPSIES' GIRL.
Translated by Isabel SDifth8On from
the French Of Pierre Duo.

Up the steep road a dilapidated
covered wagon was slowly toiling,
drawn bya long stumbling horse. The
latter was assisted by a large, thin dog.
which, fastened under the wagon,
walked with It's head down and it i,
tongue lolling, but W tn It's nails
clutching the ground. and pulling 1t
with all ITS might.
The road ran past a wide expanse of
heath, on which was seen series Of
round holes in the grass, showing that
no spot could be more favorable Tor
snaring rabbits. The AIR was heavy,
the sky dappled with light, motionless
clouds, and in another hour the sun
would be setting.
At the little window of the van, with
its dirty green blinds, hnng a bird cage
IN which a jay, without a iuiI, was hop
ping about, aud near it sat Antonio
Valencie, the proprietor OF the vehicle,
smoking his pipe comfortably and gaZ-
ing at the landscape as he rode along.
He was huge, muscular fellow whose
ostensiDle occupation was the exhibI-
ton of juggling feats in market places,
but as a general rule he did nothing at
at all; at least, nothing that he would
own TO doing.
While he sat at his ease, with broad
sash of scarlet flannel around his waist,
and his shjrt-sleeves rolled up to dis
play the tattooing on his brawny arms,
his wife walked beside the wagon on
the dusty road. She was little wo-
man, hardly thirty years of age, with
dark face, which must have been very
pretty once; cad in rags, barefooted,
her hair dishevelled, with sleeping
infant on one arm, she toiled along in
perfect silence. About hundred
yards behind came a girl, twelve years
of age. She ad mop of tangled
blonde hair curling over her head and
almost in her eyes; she was barefOOted,
as light and agile as wild goat, and
ever and anon she would leave the road
and scaling the side of the deep ditch,
would gather mushrooms and put them
into one OF the baskets which hung
from her shoulders. The mushrooms
picked by Nella could be eaten with
as much safety as if they had been Sc
lected by a learned professor of Natural
History. The girl was also an adept in
the art of basket making, and her
graceful work generally found a ready
sale, the proceeds always being suffi-
cleut to keep the master, Antonia, in
brandy and tobacco.
"Stopr cried the leader of the little
caravan suddenly, 'here is a good
place to camp, under these oaks. I'm
harness Isidcre, and make fire. while
l go and inspect the woods. They
look very promising, and l should like
10 have a rabbit for dinner"
Look out for the keepers" said his
wife.
al always have my eyes OPEN" re-
pied the colossus, getting of the
wagon, Il know how to talk to keep
ers if they interfere with me-" and he
made a significant motion with his
clenched fist.
He soon found that there was an
abundance of game in the woods.
Rabbits we're seen boldly nibbling at
the grass-blades, but with ears erect
ready to dart back under the brush
wood at the least alarm; pheasant
strutted proudly across a clearing and
disappeared under the ;arze; two
leiUed over the road ditch after col
Letting their tithes in a neighboring
beet-feld, and all this within a lew
minutes. A large flock of woOd-pigeons
aighted at the summit of a chump of
piue trees, after prudently describing
several circles in the air by way of in
Sp-ctlng the surroundings; turtle doves
we're cooling on all sides, especially
choosing the ends of dead bougbs
which still caught the fast fading sun
beams, and the stiffness of the forest
was rudely broken by magpies, which
Sere chattering hsrshly like a group
oi qu9rrelsOme market women.
Antonio Valencia, the juggler and
poacher, was not aware that the land
ne vas trespassing upon belonged to
tue B'ron de Sanity, former Colonel
OF Cavalry, who devoted his days to
sport living indeed for nothing else.
lie was known in the neighborhood as
the old wild boar" for some secret
sorrow carefully concealed but more
ulllcult to heal than the wounds re-
celVed IN Algeria, the Crimea or Mex
ico' had made him misanthropical and
ieToclous. He was the possessor of
ROBUST health in spite of his advanced
years, and every day from sunrise to
sunset he was out of doors with his
gun under his arm, roaming about in
us woods and fields, and along the
uores Of his lakes, or stopping ct
keepers ttege or farmhouse to par
he oi some game of his own shooting.
sometimes the days exertions and fa-
H. ues were not sufficient to satisfy his
restless moods, and he would spend
me night IN the open air, wandering
none eX ept fer his dogs, whose com
Rany indeed, he generally preferred to
that Of man.
More than satisfied with his tours of
Inspection, Antonio. the poacher, re-
.u6hed 90 his camp. Nella had made
hfe OF broom and piDc-cones, placed
Two pieces Of wood to serve as q crane
slter the fashion of the Gipsies, and
the flames.
Shiess, the devil himself prevents,
s eL@H nave something for dinner to-
morrow that will taste better than no