Oh, so much the better, so much the better, we shall have fine sport!"

I hope so."

This is the way then you spoil the boy," said my mother, who at this moment appeared upon the threshold of the door. Instead of helping me to cure him of this unhappy passion for the chase, which leads to so many accidents, you do every thing to increase his taste for it. Listen, I will trust him with you, only upon condition that he shall not quit your side." "Be tranquil; I will keep him near me."

Upon this condition, then, I consent," said my poor mother, who could refuse me nothing, "but, remember, if any accident befall him, I should die of grief."

We will add, besides, that almost all the rangers of the forest had hunted with my father, and preserved a vivid remembrance of his liberality. Some of them were retired soldiers, who had served under him, and for whom he had, by his influence, obtained posts as rangers. In fine, these brave fellows, who seemed to think that I promised to be, one day, as generous as the General, (it was thus they always named my father) had conceived a great friendship for me.

Among the number of these rangers, there was one called Bernard, and, as he lived on the road to Soissions, a league and a half from Villers-Cotterets, in a small house which M. de Violaine, the superintendent, had erected for his predecessor, they called him Bernard of the New House.

At the time to which I refer, that is to say, in 1818 or 1819, he was a handsome fellow of about thirtytwo years of age, with a frank and open countenance, auburn hair, blue eyes and large whiskers, which admirably set off his jovial countenance; for the rest, he was perfectly well proportioned, and endowed with a herculian strength which was noted for ten leagues around.

One Friday evening, as I was busied before the door of our house, in giving supper to two hawks, which I was rearing, and which I was bent upon training to fly at larks, M. de Violaine passed by. "Well, my lad," he said, "have you worked hard this week?"

"I have been the second in the class."

"Indeed!"

ing."

"Thank you, cousin, thank you! I will not keep you waiting. Good bye!"

And I replaced my hawks upon their perch, to make preparations for the morrow's hunt.

These preparations consisted in washing the barrel of my fowling piece, in oiling the lock, and in casting balls.

At six in the morning we started. All along the way our numbers were increased by the rangers, who were waiting for us on their respective grounds; at last, we reached a turn in the road, and perceived Bernard at a distance, with his hunting horn in his hand.

He blew a blast so joyous, and welcomed us with notes so clear and sonorous, that we felt sure that he had found game. When we reached the New House, we learned indeed, that Bernard had turned a magnificent tieran in the neighbourhood of the mountain of Dampleux, that is to say about a league distant. A tieran, in hunting phrase, is a boar which has eached one third of his age.

After having eaten a crust of bread, and drank a glass of white wine, we set out, not with the usual craques,-my readers will pardon me the word, it is consecrated among hunters each one knew his neighbour too well, and was too well known by him, to try to impose upon him by any of those innocent falsehoods, but acknowledging, on the contrary, with perfect readiness, the address of the most skilful. Now, the most skilful were Berthelin, Bernard's uncle; Mona, an old ranger, who, some time before had blown off his left hand, and who shot all the better for that; and one named Mildet, who, with the ball, particularly, did surprising feats.

We need not say that the unskilful, on their side, were rallied without mercy.

Among the latter was an honest fellow, named Niguet, and surnamed, I do not know why, Bobino, who enjoyed the fame of being a man of the greatest caution, which was true, indeed, but who, with this reputation, combined that of being one of the worst Ishots of the party, which was also true.

When we reached the spot where the boar had couched, Bernard, by a sign, directed us to keep silence. From this moment not a whisper was heard. Bernard then imparted his plan to the superintendent, who gave us his orders in a low tone, and we took our places around the thicket which Bernard prepared to beat with the lyme hound that he held in a leash.

M. de Violaine kept the promise which he had give my mother; he placed me between himself and Mona, admonishing me to keep myself protected behind an oak then, if I fired at the boar, and he turned upon me, to cling to a stout branch, and lift myself up by my hands, that the animal might pass beneath me. Every hunter of any experience, knows that this is the manœuvre which is generally practised in such cases.

In the course of ten minutes every man was at his post, and the signal was, at once, given. In a moment, the baying of Bernard's dog, who had fallen upon the scent, resounded with a fulness and frequency which convinced us that he was approaching the animal. Suddenly, a crackling was heard in the trees of the thicket. I, for my part, saw something, but before I had raised my gun to my shoulder, this something had disappeared. Mona fired at hazard, but he shook his head as if to signify that he did not think he had hit the beast. Then, at a little distance, a second shot was heard, and then a third, which was at once followed by the cry of hallali, sent from the bottom of his lungs, by the well known voice of Bobino.

All hastened up at the call, although upon recognizing the voice, each thought to himself that he was the dupe of some trick on the part of the humourous fellow.

But to the great astonishment of all, when we reached the high road, we beheld Bobino, seated tranquilly upon the boar, with a stump of a pipe in his mouth, striking flint and steel to obtain a light. At his shot the animal had rolled over like a rabbit, and had not stirred from the spot where he had fallen.

The reader can divine what a concert of congratulations rose around the vanquisher, who, assuming his most modest air, and still seated upon his trophy, contented himself with replying between his puffs of smoke

Ah, ha! by St. Hubert, this is the way we tumble over these little beasts, we lads of Provence!" And, in fact, there was no denying it; the tumble was perfect; the ball had entered behind the ear; Mona, Berthelin, or Mildet could not have done better. Bernard came up the last.

"What the d-1 is the song, Bobino?" he cried, as far off as he could be heard; "they tell me that the boar threw himself upon your shot like a booby?" "Whether he threw himself upon my shot, or my shot threw itself upon him," said the triumphant hunter, it is not the less true that this poor Bobino will have grilled steaks all the winter, and none but those who can do the same, shall be invited to eat them-always excepting Monsieur the superintendent," added Bobino, taking off his cap, "who will confer infinite pleasure and honour upon his humble servant, whenever he condescends to taste the cookery of mother Bobine.”

It was thus that Niguet called his wife, seeing that according to his idea, Bobine was naturally the feminine of Bobino.

And Bobino continued to smoke, with the most comical gravity, while Bernard, drawing his hunting knife from his pocket, approached the posterior part of the animal, took it by the tail, which, with a single stroke, he severed from the body. The boar uttered a low grunt.

Well, then! what is the matter, my pet?" said Bobino, while Bernard fastened the animal's tail in the button hole of his vanquisher."

The boar uttered a second grunt, and moved one of his paws.

"Good!" said Bobino, "good! we are trying to revive, my little fellow; well, mordieu! let us do so then; let us see, it would be droll!"

Bobino had scarcely uttered these words, when he rolled to a distance of ten paces, with his nose ploughing up the dust, and his pipe broken between his teeth.

The boar, who had only been stunned, had risen, recalled to life by the operation which Bernard had performed upon him, and after having rid himself of his burden, stood erect, but staggering, upon his four paws.

"Ah, pardieu," said M. de Violaine," let him alone awhile; it would be curious if he should recover."

"Fire" cried Bernard, looking about after his fowling piece, which he had placed against the slope of a ditch, in order that he might proceed more conveniently to the amputation which he had just performed with such dexterity; "fire! I know these fellows, they are tough as a cat, and better two shots than one, or he will escape us."

But it was already too late; the dogs, seeing the boar rise, had rushed upon him; some held him by the ears, some by the thighs; all, in fine, covered him so completely, that there was not a part of the animal's body left exposed to a ball.

During this while the boar had gradually reached the ditch, dragging with him the entire pack; then he plunged into the thicket, and disappeared, followed by Bobino, who had risen from the ground, and who, furious at the affront which he had received, seemed resolved upon having satisfaction.

'Stop him! stop him!" cried Bernard, "stop him by the tail, Bobino. Stop him! stop him!" All present were convulsed with laughter. Two shots were now heard.

Then, after a moment's interval, we saw Bobino return quite chop-fallen; he had missed him with both his shots, and the boar had taken to flight, pursued by all the dogs, whose cries were soon lost in the distance.

We hunted him during the whole day; he led us six leagues from the spot where we had roused him; we did not give up the chase until evening, but we never heard of him again, although Bernard informed not only the rangers of the forest of Villers-Cotterets, but also those of the neighbouring forests, that if, by chance, any one killed a boar without a tail, and wished to have him complete, he would find this member at Bobino's button hole.

Accordingly, when he separated from his rangers, the superintendent appointed a hunt for the following Thursday, giving directions at the same time, that, in the interval, they should turn as many boars as possible. Now, as Thursday was a holiday, I obtained permission from M. de Violaine to accompany him, not only to the next hunt, but to all those which took place on Thursdays and Saturdays.

The rendezvous for this day was appointed at the Regard-Saint-Hubert.

M. de Violaine and myself arrived there with military punctuality; three animals had been turnedtwo tierans and an old boar.

We need not say, that not a ranger present failed to inquire of Bobino respecting his boar. But with the exception of the tail, which he had the good sense to preserve at his button hole, Bobino had heard nothing from him.

On this day, as we have said, there were three boars to dispatch; one upon Berthelin's grounds, one upon Bernard's, and one upon Mona's.

We commenced with the nearest; it was one of the tieran's which had been turned by Berthelin; he had scarcely left the thicket, when he was slain by Mildet, who sent a ball through his heart.

We passed to the second, which, as we have said, was upon Bernard's ground. This was not quite a league from the spot where the first had been killed. Bernard, according to his custom, led us to the New House, to drink a cup and eat a morsel; then

we set out.

We took our posts around the thicket. M. de Violaine, mindful of the promise which he had given my mother, had placed me between himself and his private ranger, named François. Next to François stood Mona, next to Mona, I know not who. This time we had to deal with the old boar.

Bernard entered the thicket with his lyme hound; a moment after the boar was roused. We heard him coming, grinding his tusks against each other. M. de Violaine, whom he passed first, fired his two barrels without hitting him. I sent him the contents of mine, but as it was the first boar that I had ever fired at, I, of course, missed him also. Lastly, François fired in his turn, and struck him full in the body; the boar at once turned short, and rushed with the rapidity of lightning upon the aggressor. The latter gave him a second shot almost at arm's length; but at the same moment François and the boar formed but one indistinct group. We heard a cry of distress, the poor fellow was thrown upon his back, and the boar, exasperated by his wound, assailed him furiously with his tusks. We rushed forward to his assistance; but, at this moment a voice cried in a peremptory tone, "Do not stir!" Each one paused, motionless in his place. We saw Mona level his fowling piece in the direction of the fearful group. For an instant the hunter stood motionless as a statue, then the trigger clicked, and the animal, struck in the hollow of the shoulder, went rolling to a distance of four paces from the prostrate ranger.

"Thank you," said François, rising to his feet,

"The affair is not worth the trouble," said Mona.

We all now hurried up to François, who had been bitten in the arm, that was all; but this was nothing, in comparison, with what might have happened to him; accordingly, when we were assured that his wound was not serious, all our exclamations were changed into congratulations to Mona. But as this was not the first time that such a thing had occurred to him, he received our compliments like a man, who cannot see how one can find any thing extraordinary in a thing so simple, and, according to his opinion, so easy of performance.

After having occupied ourselves with the men, we then turned our attention to the beast. He had received Françios' two balls, but one had been flattened against his thigh, almost without penetrating the skin; the other had grazed his head, leaving a bloody furrow in its course. As to Mona's it had entered the hollow of the shoulder, as we have said, and had killed him outright.

We now disembowelled and quartered the boar, and then resumed the hunt, as if nothing had occurred, or as if we could not foresee, that before the close of the day, an accident much more terrible would happen, than that which we had just witnessed.

The third attack was to take place upon Mona's grounds. The same precautions were observed as in the preceding instances; the circle was formed. This time I was placed between M. de Violaine and Berthelin; then, Mona, in his turn, entered the thicket to beat it. Five minutes afterwards the cries of the dogs told us that the boar was roused.

Suddenly a carabine shot was heard, and, at the same moment, I saw a piece of brown freestone, which stood about forty paces from me, fly in pieces; then I heard at my right a cry of pain. I turned, and beheld Berthelin staggering and clinging with one hand to the branch of a tree, while he held the other against his side.

In a moment he drooped forward, bending upon himself; then he fell to the ground, uttering a deep groan.

"Help!" I cried, "help! Berthelin is wounded." I ran towards him, followed by M. de Violaine, while the whole line of hunters hurried to the spot.

Berthelin lay senseless, we raised him; the blood flowed in streams from a wound which he had received above his left hip; the ball had remained in his body.

We were all standing around the dying man, casting inquiring glances upon one another, to learn who among us had fired this fatal shot, when we saw Bernard rush from the thicket, bare headed, pale as a ghost, his carabine, still smoking, in his hand, crying-" Wounded! wounded! who says that my uncle is wounded?"

Not a soul replied; but we pointed to the dying man, who was vomiting blood by mouthfuls.

Bernard approached with haggard eyes, his forehead bathed in sweat, his hair standing erect upon his head; when he had reached the wounded man, he uttered a kind of repressed roar, broke the stock of his carabine against a tree, and hurled the barrel to a distance of fifty paces.

Then he fell upon his knees, and prayed the dying

man to forgive him; but Berthelin lay with closed eyes, and did not appear to hear him.

A litter was, at once, constructed of limbs of trees; they placed the wounded man upon it, and carried him to Mona's house, which was only about three or four hundred paces from the spot where the accident had happened. Bernard walked by the side of the litter, without uttering a word, without shedding a tear, holding his uncle's hand in his own. During this, while one of the rangers had mounted the superintendent's horse, and galloped off, at full speed, to bring a physician from the city.

In about a half an hour, the physician arrived, and announced to us, what each one already suspected, that is to say, that the wound was mortal.

It was necessary to carry this news to the wife of the wounded man. The superintendent took this sad duty upon himself, and prepared to leave the house. Bernard then rose, and approaching him, said—

"M. de Violaine, it is a matter of course, that as long as Bernard lives, she will want for nothing, the poor dear woman! and if she is willing to live in my house, she shall be received there like a mother."

Yes, Bernard, yes," said M. de Violaine," yes, I know you are a brave lad; come, come, it was not your fault."

"Oh, sir! oh, M. de Violaine, repeat to me words like those again. Ah, I feel as if I could weep!"

Weep, my poor fellow, weep!" said M. de Violaine," it will relieve your heart."

"Oh, my God! my God!" cried the unhappy man, bursting out, at last, into sobs, and falling upon an arm chair.

Come, Bernard! come, take courage!"

"Oh, as for courage, I have it, M. de Violaine. I have it, but--do you see-I wish that he had forgiven me!" Then bending toward the superintendent's ear, he added

"Some misfortune will happen to me. And that-and that because he has not forgiven me." "You are mad, Bernard !"

"It may be so, but that is my idea."

Very well, be silent, or let us speak of something else. Why have you not brought a musket or a carabine ?"

"Because, never in all my life-never in all my life, M. de Violaine, will I touch a carabine or a musket again."

"And with what will you kill the boar, if he turns upon the dogs?"

"With what will I kill him ?" said Bernard," with what? Stay, I will kill him with this." And he drew his hunting knife from his pocket.

M. de Violaine shrugged his shoulders.

Shrug your shoulders as much as you please, M. de Violaine, it shall be so. Besides, it was these accursed boars which were the cause of my murdering my uncle. Well, then, with my musket, I should not feel that I killed them; but with my knife, it will be another thing, and then, with what do they butcher hogs? with a knife. Well, what is a wild boar but a hog?"

"Well, since you will not listen to reason, I must let you do as you please."

"Yes, let me do as I please."

'Forward, my men! forward!" said the superintendent.

One after the other, we left this chamber of death, where the physician, Mona, and Bernard alone remained.

During the night Berthelin expired.

On the following Saturday there was a hunt. The rendezvous was at the Bruyère au Loup. The superintendent had summoned all the rangers except Bernard, but summoned or not, Bernard, was not the man to fail at the hour of duty. He arrived at the spot, at the same time with the rest, but he had neither carabine nor musket.

Every hunter knows how quickly, whatever his fatigue, it at once vanishes at the moment of the hallali: what with our windings and turnings we had traversed more than ten leagues, and still, as soon as we heard, from the cries of the dogs, that they were engaged with the animal, each found his strength again, and ran towards the part of the forest whence the sound proceeded.

noise grew louder, and from time to time, we could

"But as I have not summoned you-" "Yes, yes, I understand, and I thank you; but the service before every thing. God knows that I would give my life, if that which has happened could be recalled. But if I should remain weeping at home, he would have not the less six feet of earth upon his body. Poor dear man! Oh, there is but one thing that torments me, M. de Violaine; it is that he died without forgiving me."

un

"How could you expect him to forgive you? He did not even know that it was you who fired that lucky shot."

"

air, by a stroke of the animal's snout, his four paws uppermost, howling with pain, but falling upon the ground, only to dart anew upon the enemy. We, at last, reached a kind of clearing; the animal had backed against the roots of a fallen tree, twenty-five or thirty dogs were assailing him at once, ten or twelve were wounded, some had their flanks laid open, yet these noble beasts did not feel the pain, but returned to the combat, trampling upon their dragging entrails; it was a spectacle at once magnificent and horrible. "Come, come, Mona," said M. de Violaine, " give a musket shot to that fellow there; there are dogs enough killed; despatch him!"

ready levelled. "A musket shot, a musket shot for