Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1899-01-11
NOLF- SOLANGE, y


Stick in hand. our bags slung over our
shoulders, we three had been walking all
the afternoon in the beautiful forest of
Tronsays, which covers half the Saint
Armand district and half the Nevers dis
trict. The end Of our tramp for that day
was the village of Ursay, near the bank
Of the Cher, a little place huddled up in an
arm of that valley which divides the for
est in two. There we dined with an old
friend of mine, doctor, whose small
connection was scattered over five or six
neighboring parishes. Dinner over, we
seated ourselves in the open, in front of
the house and meditatiyely smoked our
cherrywood pipes.
The shadows were gathering upon the
tai treetops all around US with the slow
ness of q June evening; here and there 4
crowd of swallows was to be seen; from
4 little steeple, just visible from the roofs
of the houses, rang out the 80 clock ange-
lus ID Sow measured tones, an interval of
silence between each stroke, and in the
distance could be heard the barking of the
farm dogs as they called to and answered
each other.
A youngish woman, dressed in 4 short
skirt of red material, with a white bodice,
came out OIL Il mousse clOSe ny anu went
towards the river; she was carrying ba-
by IN long clothes on her left arm and
holding with her right hand the chubby
fist of little boy, who in turn was grasp
ing the hand of Il younger brother. When
she reached the bank of the River Cher,
the young mother sat down on a big
stone and nursed the baby, while the two
boys quickly undresSed and tumbled into
the water, where they spleaShed about
and threw water over one another with
shouts of laughter.
There's picture which, would have a
tremendous success in the Salon" said
one of my companions. who was an art
''See how the light falls upon her! And
what q splendid pose! How we'll the red
skirt shows up on the dark background!
Are you looking at Wof-Solange.
young gentlemen" asked a voice behind
us.
It was our host, who had been detained
inside by the arrival of a patient, and
who now rejOined us. OF course, we
asked him who Wolf-Solange was, and
how she came by such strange name,
and in reply he told US the following
story:
Wolf Solange, whose proper name is
Solange Grillet. maiden name TOurnier,
was the prettiest girl all around Tronsays
ten years ago. Hard work in the fields
and maternal cares have left their mark
upon her, but she's still pretty for a wom
an OF 81, as you can see.
AT the time the adventure happened
which earned for her the nickname Of
Wolf-Solange she was still single. Her
parents were tenants of the small farm of
Reis-du-Bois, about eight or nine miles
from here, near Lurcey-Levy. AL
though poor, she had no lack OF suitOrs,
even among the weli-tO-dO young men of
the neighborhood; but the only one she
encouraged was certain Laurent Grill
let. to whom she had taken q fancy when
she was a mere girl and they used to tend
sheep together.
Laurent Grillet was a founding; his
fortune consisted of his strong arm only.
SOlange's parents, not seeing the adyisa
bility Of marrying their daughter to a
man just as poor as they were, especially
when she had several better chances, for
babe SOlange to meet her lover: but the
parents injunction was unheeded, and as
they lived in the same village and the
forest was close by. the opportunities of
meeting were numerous and easy. When
the IOurniers discovered that the lovers
still saw each other and perceived that
neither soft words nor blows had any eff
feet upon SOlange they came to q Weighty
decision; they would send her out to
service at Ursay, on the model farm of NJ.
Ruger DufiOs our deputy.
Perhaps you think that this step put a
stop to the lovers meeting? If so, you
are quite mistaken. The only difference
was that they had to see each other at
night As soon as it was quite dark
the young people slipped away from the
respective farms on which they worked,
and, taking a short cut to save time,
and to avoid the high road, met in the
forest, unknown to anyone
1T was in 1879. The summer and au-
tumn passed in this way, then came the
winter-and a terrible winter it was! The
Cher was full of pieces of floating ice.
and finally it froze right over; the high
trees of TrOnsays bent under the weight
of snow; the forest was deserted, the
roads having become almost impa ssa ble
and we saw what we had not seen for
many year-wolyesi
Yes, young gentlemen, wolves They
prowled about the outlying farms of Lur-
cey-Levy and Ursay alarming the good
people who lived on those farms. and
were even seen in the streets of Saint
Bonnet-le-Desert, an out-of-the-way little
place c.Ose to the forest. Wolf hunts
We're organized to kill them and so francs
were paid for VOLTS head. l myself
saw three-twO full-grown ones and
young one-On the opposite bank of the
Cher one morning when | was on my
way to Saint-Armand in my cart.
BUT neither the hard winter nor the
wolves prevented Laurent and SOlange
from meeting at night in the forest; In
spite of all dangers they continued their
nightly expeditions, Every evening Lau-
rent left Lurcey Levy, his gun under his
arm, and walking through the snow-cOy-
cred forest with q blithe fearless step:
Solange, en- her side, slipped away from
Crsay at 3 O'Clock. and they met at
and half from here.
ON Christmas evening they met as
usual, but Just as Laurent reached the