The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-04-16
when his horse reared; that Of Francois

when his horse reared; that Of Francois
began kicking. A large clump of bushes
covered with dead leaves opened in front
of them, and a colossal beast, all gray,
sprang up and ran off into the woods.
Both brothers emitted a sort of joyous
grunt, and bending over the chests of
their stupid horses they threw them for
ward with all their strength, rushing
them ahead at such a pace, exciting
them, urging them Oh with voice, ges-
ture and spur, that the powerful riders
seemed to carry their heavy beasts be-
tween their thighs, and to lift them up
as though they would fly away with
them. They went thus, belly to the
ground, breaking through the thickets,
crossing the r%avines, 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 In 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 d'Arville 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 a fear invaded him, u
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 crackle. 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
thes 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, i'll 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
startling images. Suddenly in his path
way through the night "A monstrous form
| passed.
1T was the beast.
"A shock of fright ngitated the huu'-
er; something cold. like a dropof water,
glided along his loins, and, like u friar
haunted by the devil, he made the sign
of the cross. He was distracted by this
sudden temperance of the frightful
inert corpse lying before him. and his
fear Immediately changing into chol,r.
he shook with rage. Then he spurrcd his
horse and dashed after the wolf. He
followed it through the copse. through
ravines and through the forest. travcra,
ing woods Which he no longer recos-
nized. his eye fixed upon the gray spot
which flew before him in the night. His
horse also seemed animated by an I'M
known force and artOr. He galloped
straight ahead with outstrctched neck,
NV iNr"t ihtt iCtt vi JIG tsttt iltll dCIoNS
the saddle dasling 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
Il valley just dis the moon appeared above
the mountains. This valley was closed
on all sides by immense rocks, without
possible cgrcss. and the wolf found it,
self driven into Il corner. Francois then
emitted "a howl of joy, the echoes of
which We're repeated like II roll of thun-
der, and jumped from his horse, cutlass
in hand. The bristling beast waited
with rounded back. its eyes cleaning
ike two stars. But before Offering bat
tie the hunter lifted his brother down,
seated him on IL rock, and supporting by
means OF stone his head, which was
hardly more than u patch of blood, he
cried into his ears, as though he was
speaking to II deaf person:
"'Look, Jean: look there"
Then he threw himself upon the
monster. He felt strong enough to
overthrow "A mountain, to grind the
stones i'll his hands. The beast would
have bitten him and tried to dash ut his
stomach, but Francois had seized it by
the throat, without even the aid of his
weapon, and slowly ~strangied 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 a delirium of joy:
look, Jean: look!'
"All resistance ceased: tho body of
the wolf became limp. 1t was dead.
Then Francois took it mp in his arms.