Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-26

as though they would fly away with
them. They went thus, belly to the
ground, breaking through the thickets,
crossing the ravines, climbing the hills,
descending the glens and sounding the
horn with full lungs to attract the at
tention Of their companions and their
dogs.
"All of u sudden, in this wild run, my
neutrality-suspicious. dashed his fore
head against an enormous branch, which
split his skull, and he fell to the ground
stone dead. His horse, mad with fright,
disappeared in the shadows that en-
veloped the wood.
"The younger dArville stopped short,
jumped to the ground, seized his brother
in his arms and saw that his brains
were pouring from the wound, with his
blood. Then he seated himself beside
the body, took the red and disfigured
head upon his knee and contemplated
the immobile face of his elder brother.
Little by little fear invaded him, a
singular fear which he had never felt
before; the fear of the shadow, the fear
of the solitude, fear of the deserted
wood, also fear of the fantastic wolf
which had killed his brother to venge it.
self upon them.
Darkness was falling rapidly, and the
sharp cold made the trees crackie. Fran
co.'s rose up shivering, incapable of re-
naming there longer, feeling himself
almost fainting. One could hear moth
ing, neither the voices Of the dogs, nor
the sound of horns; all was silent. And
this gloomy silence of freezing night had
in it something horrible and strange.
"He seized the colossal frame of Jean
in his hands, lifted it up and laid it across
the saddle, in order to carry it back to-
the chateau. Then he slowly started to
return, his mind wandering as if he
were tipsy and pursued by horrible and
startlingsimages. Suddenly in his path
way through the night a monstrous form
passed.
"It was the beast.
ga shock of fright agitated the hunt
er; something cold, like dropof water,
glided along his loins, and, like a friar
haunted by the devil, he made the sign
of the cross. He was distracted by this
sudden temperance Of the frightful
wanderer. But his eyes fell upon the
inert corpse lying before him, and his
fear Immediately changing into choler,
he shook with rage. Then he spurred his
horse and dashed after the wolf. He
followed it through the copse, through
ravines and through the forest, travers-
ing woods which he no longer recog-
nized, his eye fixed upon the gray spot
which flew before him in the night. His
horse also seemed animated by an un-
known force and ardor. He galloped
straight ahead with outstretched neck,
the head and feet of the dead man across
the saddle dashing against trees and
rocks. The brambles tore the hair of
the corpse, the forehead battered the
enormous tree trunks, scattering them
with blood, the spurs ripped the bark to
tatters.
Suddenly the animal and its pursuer
emerged from the forest and rushed into
a valley just as the moon appeared above
the mountains. This valley was closed
on all sides by immense rocks, without
possible egress, and the wolf found it.
self driven into corner. Francois then
emitted howl Of joy, the echoes of
which were repeated like roll of thun-
der, and jumped from his horse, cutlass
in hand. The bristling beast waited
with rounded back, its eyes cleaning
like two stars. But before Offering bat
tie the hunter lifted his brother down,
seated him on rock, and supporting by
means of stones his head, which was
hardly more than a patch Of blood, he
cried into his ears, as though he was
speaking to deaf person:
".Look, Jean; look therep"
o"Then he threw himself upon the
monster. He felt strong enough to
overthrow a mountain, to grind the
stones in his hands. The beast would
have bitten him and tried to dash at his
stomach, but Francois had seized it by
the throat, without even the aid of his
weapon, and slowly strangled it, listen
ing to the stoppage of the breathing in
its throat and the beating Of its heart.
And he laughed wildly, closing tighter
and tighter his powerful grip and cry.
ing in delirium of joy:
"'Look, Jean; look! ,s
"All resistance ceased; the body of
the wolf became limp. 1t was dead.
Then Francois took it up in his arms,
carried it and threw it at his brothers
feet, repeating in tender voice:
"'Thine, thine, thine, my little Jean;
there isl!
"Then placing the two cadavers across
his saddle, one upon the other, he set
out on his way back. He returned to
the chateau laughing and crying like
Gargantua at the birth of Bantagruel,
emitting cries of triumph, stamping with
joy in recounting the death Of the ami
NAL, groaning and tearing his beard in
telling that of his brother. And often
in after years, when he spoke of that
day, he declared with tears in his eyes:
"'f only poor Jean could have seen me
strangle the brute, am sure he would
have died contented.'
"The widow of my great-great-grand-
father inspired her orphan son with a
horror of the chase which has been
transmitted from father to son down to
myself"
The Marquis dArville was silent.
Some one asked:
"This history is legend, is it nota'