Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-05-24
TIE TROUT.
4" Scholastique !! ("

Monsieur Sourdat."
"Take the utmost pains in cooking
the trout--short boil, parsley, thyme,
laurel, oil and onions in full strength. -
"Are you not afraid to use all the
herbs of st. John, Monsieur?"
"No-and above all no vinegar
Just sprinkling of lemon juice. Let
the cover be laid at 1890, and let the
dinner be ready at IL precisely-not
ct five minutes past Il. Do you
hear?"
After having uttered these last in
functions to his cook Judge Sourdat
crossed the chief street of Marville
with alert steps and gained the Palais
de Justice, which was situated back
of the Sous Prefecture. Judge Sour
dat was about As years of age; very
active, Notwithstanding tendency
to stoutness; square of shoulders
short in stature, with q squeaking
voice and round, close shaven head |;
eyes gray, clear and hard under
bushy eyhrows; mouth closely shut,
with thin and irritable lips; Drowned
cheeks, surrounded with whiskers
badly trimmed; in fact, one of these
mastiff faces of which one says: HE
can't be good every day." And sure
ly he was not very kind, and he
boosted of it. A despot, he used all
of his little realm in the Palais. Hard
as stone toward the guilty, rough
with the witnesses, aggressive with
the advocates, he was veritable
furnace who famed himself constan-
ly into glow. He was feared like
the fire, and he was loved very little.
However, this man of iron had two
vulnerable sides. Firstly, he respond
cd to the pastoral name of Nemorin,
which exposed him to ridicule, and
secondly he was gourmand. His
gastronomy, which was profound,
had become mania.
Living in this little, narrow, sleepy
city on the frontier of the Belgian
Ardennes. where the pleasures OF the
table constituted the only diversion
Of the easy-going burgomasters, the
culinary accomplishments OF the
Judge were cited for ten leagues
around. 1t was said that he ate only
fish caught at break Of day, because
the repose of the night and the abb
sence of emotion rendered the flesh
more delicate at that time.
1t was he who imagined that to
plunge shell fish into boiling milk be-
fore cooking them in their ordinary
dressing, gave them a richness and a
velvety flavor particularly exquisite.
On the day that he taught that latest
refinement to the priest of st. Victor,
the latter could not help blushing,
and raising his hands to Heaven he
cried: 100 much This is too much,
Judge Sourdat! Surely it is permit
ted to taste with discretion the good
things which divine wisdom has pro-
vided, but such gluttony as this bord-
ers upon mortal sin, and you will
have to render account for it to the
good God"
To the scruples of the excellent
priest the Judge responded with a
misanthropic laugh. 1t was one Of
his malign joys to expose his neigh
bors to temptation, and this very
morning the priest was to breakfast
with him, the recorder being the only
other guest. Judge Sourdat had re-
oeived, the evening before, two
pound salmon trout, taken from the
beautiful clear water Of the rocky
Semeis. It was his favorite fish, and
had fully occupied the first hours of
his morning. He had demonstrated
to the cook the superiority of quick
boil to the slow cooking In Geneva or
Holland sauce of the books. The
trout must be served cold, and in the
seasoning in which it was cooked.
This was with him principle as
we'll as dogma, as indispensable as
an article Of the penal code. He con-
tinued to repeat it to himself even
after having clothed himself in his
robe and taken his seat, though he
was turning over the leaves of doc
umene bearing upon an important
case now pending.
This was criminal affair, the dra-
matte details of which contrasted
with the epicurcan specu-
lations which persisted in haunting
the Uranium Of Judge Sourdat-
The case was thus: During the
previous week, at sunrise, there had
been founo in O thicket of the forest
the body of a game-keeper, who had
evidently been assassinated, and then
concealed among the brambles of q
ditch. 1t was supposed that the
crime had been committed by some
strolling poacher, but up to the
present time there had been elected
no precise evidence, and the wit
nesses examined had only made the
mystery deeper.
The murder had taken place near
the frontier, where charcoal burners
were at work. The suspicious of the
Judge had therefore been directed to-
ward them. The dispositions thus
far had revealed that on the night of
the murder these people had been alb
sent from their shanty, and the fur
mace had remained in the care of
young daughter Of the charcoal burn
Or.
Nevertheless, Judge Sourdat had
given the order to re-examine one of
the men, q stolid boy of twenty, who
had once had falling out with the
murdered guard and the Judge had
also cited the charcoal burners
daughter to appear before him. Just
n a