The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-12-16
THE GRAY WOLF.

ut the house Of the Baron DIES Rayels
Saint Hubert.
We had started stag during the day
The marquis was the only one of tn
guests who had not taken part in tn
pursuit. He never INDUCED in the chase
During the entire time of the repast w
had talked of little else than the massa
ere OF animals Even the women inter
ested themselves in the sanguinary an,
often Incredible tales. and the speaker
mimicked the attacks and the combat
between men and beasts. gesticulatin.
with their arms and conversing in ex
cited tones.
NJ. dArville spoke well, with a Ger
tam AIR OF poetry. a tritie sonorous. bu
full of effect. He had often repeate,
this history, therefore he spoke tluentlv
not hesitating to find choice words i,
which to depict his images.
! "Messieurs," he said, Il have neye,
hunted, nor did my father. my grand
father or my great-grandfather. Thi
last was the son Of a man who huntet
more than all Of You. He died in 1864
will tell you how.
HE was named Jean, was married
and was the father of this child, wht
was my great-grandfather and he livet
with his younger brother, Francoi:
d Awhile, in our chateau in the midst OF
forest In Lorraine. Francois dAr
vile had remained bachelor through
love of the chase. These two hunted
from one years end to the other, with
ST. xx-,tt.
tude. They loved nothing else. under.
stood nothing else, talked of nothing
else, lived for nothing else than the
chase. This terrible, memorable passion
possessed them to the heart, had invaded
them entirely, leaving no place for any,
thing else.
They had prohibited any one from
interruptins them during the chase
for any purpose whatever. NV 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,
His brother Francois was even more
carried away by this passion than him
self. From the time he arose in the
morning be went to see the dogs, then
the horses, then the shot birds in the i'm
mediate vicinity of the chateau. up To the
time of leaving to start some llr-er
game They were known throughout
the nelghborius country as Nj. IL Ma.
gus and VI. lie Cadet, the mobiles OF that
day not endeavoring like those OF our
own time to establish u descending bier
archy in titles; because the son of a mar
gus Is no more u count. nor the son of a
vlScount baron than the son Of "a gen
eral Is colonel by birth: but the shah
by vanity Of our day finds profit in this
arrangement. | return To nv ancestors
They were, it appears, huge, long
hairy, violent and vigorous The Young
er, even taller than the elder. had a
voice So strong that, according 10 a
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
superb spectacle to see these two
giants bestridins their great horses.
Now, toward the depth Of the win
ter Of this year. 1854. the cold was exces-
sive and the wolves became ferociog4.
They attacked the belated country pe,,-
pie, wandered around the houses at
night, bowling from the setting 10 the
rising Of the sun, and depopulatiny the
stables.
And soon weird rurnor circulated
They talked Of colossal WOLF, with
gray hair, almost white, who had eaten
two children, devoured a womans arm.
strangled all the watchdogs of the
country, and who penetrated withou.
fear into the Enclosures to sniff under
the doors All the inhabitants declared
that they had heard his shuttle, and tina.
1t had made the flames Of the lamp.
thicker. And soon panic ran through
all the province. Nobody dared go out
after nightfall. The darkness seemed
to be haunted by images of the beast.
The Arville brothers resolved t..
find this animal aud kill it, and they &c
cordinsly 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, bat not this one. And each
night. after the chase, the animal ~
though to avenge itself, attack some
traveller or devOured some cattle. always
tar from the place where they had been
searching for it. At last one night it
penetrated the pig stable of the Chateau
d Arvllle and ate the two finest porkers
The two brothers were infamed with
anger, considering this attack as 4 bra
vado from the monster, a direct injury. a
defiance. They took all their strong
bloodhonnds, accustomed to the pursuit
Of redoubtable beasts. and entered the
chase, their hearts provoked to fury.
From dawn until the hour when ia
purple sun descended behind the great
bare trees, they beat the thickets with
out finding anything Finally. both
furious and desolate, and astonished that
all their skill had been bafIled By TIL,
wolf, they were walking their horses
along path bordered by bushes. when
they were suddenly seized by sort Of
mysterious fear.
This beast is not an ordinary one.
said the oldest. One would almost say
that he had human attributes
1--WE should have a ball blessed b. |
our cousin, the bishop said the younger |
or have some priest pronounce the neces |
sary words. He ceased speaking.
See how red the sun is. replied |
Jean. The big wolf will do som.
wickedness this night.
HE had hardly spoken these wor
when his horse reared, that Of Francois
began kicking. A large clnmp Of bushes
covered with dead leaves opened in fro.t