The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-18

swered. ~ Shall oSTo you more than life
itself!' ~.
A beautiful fame, brilliant as q dia-
| mond, escaped from the summit of the
rock, which became dark and gray once
more.
1T is the fairy who has gone away"
thought Lohier, full of hope, and he
turned over and slept again.
The next day when the sun had arisen
he was afraid he had simply dreamed.
But scarcely had he loaded his rife to
begin the hunt when from every point
of the moorland there came toward him
in crowds rabbits, cartridges, pheasants,
quail and snipe. Soon the little open
space in the midst Of which the gray
rock rose was so filled that Lohier had
scarcely room to stand.
Crazy with JOY, he began firing into
this crowd of animals. Every one of his
shots brought down five or six pieces of
game. But Lohier, who had never seen
such luck, shot without firing himself
until Pataud was the only living being
near him. He left the brave dog to
guard his treasure and ran home out Of
breath.
1--WE are saved, he cried to Paulette.
Give me our donkey, with our biggest
panniers."
The morning was hardly long enough
for him to carry away his booty, al
though the poor donkey went back and
forth each time with a heavier load.
When William and his friends came
into the yard, Lohier was finishing the
unloading Of the last pannier. At the
sight of this great heap Of game, the
mischievous smiles which had been Oh
their lips changed to open mouthed as
tonishment. They stood there, their
arms hanging down, looking at each
other and not knowing what to say.
Lohier, beside himself with JOY,
rubbed his hands and laughed with all
his heart. He felt himself happier than
a king, when his friends, recovering
from their establishment, gave him their
warmest compliments. The hares were
SO fine! The cartridges SO fat! The
p~heasants and small game in such good
state! They all began feeling Of the
game with the1f hands.
Oh, what a surprise! The little dwell
ers Of the moorland all jumped to their
feet at once. The hares began to rum,
the cartridges and the other birds to fly
in every direction and in such confusion
that the witnesses of the scene knew
not what had become of them. At last
the game had all disappeared, and the
voice of crystal, which Lohier had al
ready heard, pronounced these words:
Friend Lohier, remember that by
the gray rock you asked me only for six
hares and IL cartridges. You have
killed without mercy all these poor
guests of my moorland. l give them
back their life and leave you q counsel
You must not abuse your opportuni-
ties" A light, rosy cloud, followed by
a bright fame, showed the departure :
the fairy.
1t was now the turn of William an
his companions to laugh long and loud.
But finally, seeing the pitiful air OF
poor Lohier, William came forward
with outstretched hand.
Cousin, he said, I'VE give you
back your word. Our bet was only q
joke. None Of us would take his proper
ty away from a brave fellow like you.
But let me add q counsel to the one you
have already received: You must never
promise to do what is above your
strength"
Thanks, William, to yourself AND
to all of You, my friends, answered
Lohier. II have been an imprudent and
a vain man.. I shall probably be all my
life long the clumsiest hunter of the
country. But I now know q way Of get
ting good from it. From today you may
hunt freely on my ground. I shall be al
pleased with your luck a. If it were my
own" "
Strange to say, from the day when
Lohier showed himself so generous and
simple in acknowledging where he was
wrong, he had good luck in hunting.
He seldom went through the moorland
in the company of his friends without
bringing back q we'll filed gamebag.-
Philadelphia Press.