Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1895-03-23

| his sllspecting it-oh, yes. without that.
And one night l went to bed before
he went out, then L followed him. He
| could not follow as noiselessly as |,
monsieur And there | came upon
| him, YES. Marius, setting traps on
/ your ,und, sir-he, my nephew,
| your keeper.
MY blood rushed to my head, and
I nearly killed him on the spot, |
! beat him so. Yes, l beat him and
| promised him that when you came |
should correct him with my own hands
in your presence. This Is why l have
nearly persisted with sorrow. What
would you have cone, tell me? He has
neither father nor mother this boy he
has no relative but me. l have kept
him. | could note asst him of, could
| II"
"But II he should do so again. there
I is an end of it, an end of pity Have
done right, STRIP
held out ny hand. You have done
well. Cavalier; you are a brave man. ;"
He rose.
THANK you sir. Now | will 20 to
fetch him He needs punishment"
knew it would be useless to try
TO dissuade the old man. | let him
follow out his own humor He went
to seek the rascal and led him in by
the ear. | was seated upon a straw
chair, with the grave face of q judge.
MariuS had grown and seemed uglier
to me than ever, with his shy, sullen
manner His great hands seemed
monstrous. His uncle pushed him be-
fore me. with his military air.
ASK pardon of the landlord"
The boy would not utter word.
Then the old gendarme seized him I'M
der the arm, and. throwing him to the
earth. began to fiog him so violently
that | arose TO interfere. The child
howled: Pardon! pardon! pardon!
promised"
Cavalier raised him from the ground
and. forcing him to his knees before
me. said: ASK pardon" The rascal
murmured. with lowered eyes:
Il ask pardon"
Then his uncle dealt him a parting
slap that sent him flying. He ran ont
and | saw him no more that evening.
Cavalier came back trembling.
"He has a bad nature" he said,
and during dinner he repeated
"Oh. | am so sorry. sir: you don't
know how sorry | am. ("
| tried to console him bnt in vain.
| went to bed early that might start
hunting in time. My dog was sleeping
on the floor at the foot of my bed when
| eXtinguiShed my candle. | was
awakened in the middle of the night
by Books furious barking. and | saw
instantly that my room was full Of
smoke. | sprung from my bed. light
ed my candle, ran to the door and
opened it, A whirlwind of flames en-
tered. The house was on fire. | closed
the heavy oak door quickly, and. put
ting on my coat, let my dog out Of the
window, by means Of rope frmed by
my bedclothes. Then throwing my
garments. ont, followed by my game
bag and gun, / escaped in the same
manner. | cried at the top Of my
voice:
Cavalier! Cavalier. Cavalier but
the keeper did not awake. He slept
Through the windows | saw the lower
the heavy sleep Of an old gendarme.
part Of the house was a fiery furnace.
and | saw that il had been filed with
straw TO favor the flames. Who
could have set it on fire? / commenced
to call furiously:
Cavalier" Then the thought occur
red to me that he was suffocated with
the smoke.
| had an inspiration, and. slipping
cartridge in my gun, ! fired a yolley
through his window. The six panes Of
glass fell inside In fragments. This
time the old man beard, and he appear
ed in his shirt, daZed by the light that
blazed before his house. | cried: Your
house is on fire. Jump out of the win
dow Quickw The flames burst out Of
the door and window and threatened
to swallow him. He sprung out and
lit on his feet like a cat, and just in
time The matched roof broke in the
middle and the stairway made draft
for the fire that rOared below. An inn
mense red sheaf Of fire rose in the
air 1t spread out like a column Of
water and scattered a shower Of
sparks all around the cottage and in
a few moments there was nothing but
a mass Of flames. Cavalier asked in
alright:
How did it happen?"
replied: "They set FIRE in the kitch.
en-"
"Who could have done it?"
And cried out lnstinctively.
"Mariusw the old man understood
He faltered: "Oh, mother Of God. was
it for that he did not come imp
Then a horrible thought struck me.
/ cried:
Celeste, Celeste"' He said nothing,
but the house lay crumbling before us.
nothing now but fiery furnace, brill
liant. dazzling. bloody. a formidable
funeral pile, where the poor woman
now lay, nothing but a red-charred
mass, mass OF human flesh.
The fire reached the neighborlng
shed. I thought Of my horse and Cav
alier ran to let him out. He had hard
ly opened the stable door before a rap
i'd nimble body rushed out, passing be-
tween his legs and knocking him in
the face. 1t was Marius. fleeing with
all his strength. The old man was up
in a minute. He wanted to run and
catch the miserable wretch, but know
ing he could not, he was seized with
irresistible fury, and yielding to one
of those sudden, irrational impulses
that no one can foresee or hinder. he
took my gun that lay near him,
shouldered II and before / could pre-
vent he fired, without knowing whcth-
er or not 1t was loaded. One barrel
was nOt discha rpnd whau I hrpd