Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-03-08
THE GRAY WOLF.

L Nutt NdS ittoNuhtu W "
the old Marquis d'Arville after dinner
al tho house Of the Baron des Rnvels
Saint-Hubert.
We had started stag during the day
| The marquis was tho only ono of tho
guests who had not taken part in the
| pursuit. He never indulged in the chase
During the entire time of tho repast we
| had talked OF little else than the massa-
ere Of animals. Even the women inter
ested themselves in tho sanguinary and
often incredible tales, and the speakers
mimicked the attacks and the combats
between men and beasts, gesticulating
with their arms and conversing in ex.
cited tones.
NJ. dArville spoke WELL with a Ger.
tain air Of poetry, trife sonorous, but
full of effect. He had often repeated
this history, therefore he spoke fluently
not hesitating to find choice words In
which to depict his images.
"Messieurs," he said. Il have never
hunted. nor did my father my grand.
father or my great-grandfather This
last was the son Of man who hunted
more than all of you. He died in 1854
will tell You how.
"Ho was named Jean, was married
| and was the father of this child, who
was my great-grandfather, and he lived
| with his younger brother, Francois
d'Aryille. in our chateau in the midst Of
forest In Lorraine. Francois d'Ar-
| Vile had remained bachelor through
love Of tho chase. These two hunted
from one years end 10 the other. with
out rcpose. without stop, without lassi1
tudc They loved nothing else, under
stood nothing else, talked OF nothing
else, lived for nothing else than the
chase This terrible. inexorable passion
| possessed them to the heart, had invaded
them entirely. leaving no place for any.
thing else.
They had prohibited any ono from
interruptins them during tho chase
for any purpose whatever. My great
grandfather was born while his father
was following fox, and Jean d'Arville.
instead Of interrupting the run. swore,
In the name OF the saints, the rascal
might better have waited until after the
hunt!
Ills brother Francois was oven more
carried away by this passion than him
self. From the time he arose In the
morning he went 10 see the dogs, then
the horses, then the shot birds in the im-
mediate vicinity of the chateau, mp to the
time Of leaving 10 start some larger
game. They were known throughout
the neighboring country as NJ. le Mar
qui1 and NJ. le Cadet. the mobiles Of that
day not endeavoring like those OF our
own time TO establish descending hier
archy in titles; because the son of mar
quis is no more count, nor the son of 4
viscount a baron than the son Of a gen.
cral is colonel by birth; but the shah.
by vanity Of our day finds profit in this
arrangement. return to my ancestors
They We're, it appears, huge, long,
hairy, violent and vigorous. Tho young
er, even taller than the elder, had O
voice 20 strong that, according to q
legend Of which he was the hero, all the
leaves Of the forest trembled when he
shouted. And when they leaped into
the saddle TO depart for the chase it was
a superb spectacle to sec these two
giants bcstriding their great horses.
"Now, toward tho depth of the win
ter Of this year, 1894, the cold was exces-
sivc and the wolves became ferocious.
They attacked the belated country peo.
pie. wandered around tho houses at
night, bowling from the setting to the
rising Of the sun, and depopulating the
stables.
"And soon weird rumor circulated.
They talked OF q colossal Wolf, with
gray hair. almost white, who had eaten
two children, devCured n woman's arm,
strangled all tho watchdogs Of the
country, and who penetrated without
fear into the enclosures TO sniff under
the doors. All the inhabitants declared
that they had heard his shuttle, and tina;
il had made the flames Of the lamp'
flicker. And soon panic ran through
all the province. Nobody dared go out
after nightfall. The darkness seemed
TO bo haunted by images of the beast.
"The d'Arville brothers resolved to
find this animal and kill 1t, and they ac-
cordngly summoned all the gentlemen
Of the country to grand chase. 1t was
in vain. They hunted the forest over
and searched the thickets, but did not
encounter it. They killed plenty Of
wolves, but not this one. And each
night. after the chase, the animal, aa
though to avenge itself, attacked some
traveller or devoured some cattle, alwaya
far from the place where they had been
searching for it. At last ono night 1t
penetrated the pig stable Of tho Chateau
dArville and ate the two finest porkers
The two brothers wero inhamed with
anger, considering this attack rs n bra.
vado from the monster. n direct injury, n
defiance. They took all their strong
bloodhounds, accustomed to tho pursuit
Of redoubtable beasts, and entered the
chase, their hearts provoked to fury.
From dawn until the hour when th.'
purple sun descended behind the great.
bare trees, they beat tho thickets with
ont finding anything. Finally, both
furious and desolate, and astonished that
all their skill had been baiiled by this
wolf, they were walking their horses
along path bordercd by bushes, when
they were suddenly seized by u sort of
mysterious fear.
This beast Is hot an ordinary one
| said tho oldest. One would almost say
,h,, he rod human nttrib.,tna'