WO years ago, one beautiful April day, Mesdemoiselles Two Simone and Chantal, nine and eleven years of age, went, according to their custom, to breathe the air, more or less pure, of the Champs Elysées, accompanied by their governess, Miss Louisa. I shall say nothing of the first two, fearing to be partial, as I am their father. As to Miss Louisa, she is an Englishwoman, with terrible eyes, like Aimée Tessandier: an excellent person, but totally insensible to fear. I have always thought if she had been Judith the affair with Holofernes would have been managed in the main point with quite as much neatness and dispatch, but with far less charm of manner. I saw the caravan start off without suspecting the avalanche of catastrophies which were to result from that day's promenade. As they were eating their cakes in a little interval of rest from skipping the rope, the two little girls were accosted by a dog about the size of a hare, of an undefined color, and an air at once unhappy and intelligent, who demanded, without any false. timidity, his share of the brioche. He ate as much as he wanted of it, and liked it so well that he refused to leave his new friends, in whom he evidently discerned what the world calls useful acquaintances. Simone and Chantal returned home enchanted, dragging the frightful cur after them, who, after being washed, combed, and powdered, was found to be a little white dog of an absolutely indefinite breed, but not particularly ugly. They named him Pompon, and the rest of the day was spent in preparing his bedstead, a basket lined with an old satin dress, and trimmed with discarded laces. Pompon appeared to find his new lot extremely natural, and Translated by Miss Burnley, from the French, for Short Storics. Illustrations by Minna Brown-Copyrighted. pretended not to see that the servants, whose duties he complicated, were inwardly devoting him to the most dreadful fate, and us also, probably. Alas! their maledictions were to be only too well heeded-but we will not anticipate. It goes without saying that Pompon made one of the party in all their promenades. His young mistresses were economizing in order to buy him a collar with a plate and inscription, in the mean time temporarily substituting ribbons of different shades. This coquettish arrangement accorded better with the animal's style of beauty than with the police regulations. One day two sergeants de ville, who had been watching the party for some time, approached Miss Louisa, whose age seemed to make her responsible, and served an official process on her: "Whereas, her dog did not wear, as the law directs, a plate bearing the name and address of the owner Miss Louisa received them in fine style, and answered them so sharply that a ring of spectators was formed around them. She declared as a Louisa had confidently reckoned upon that. The crowd began to laugh; the children and the governess laughed louder than anybody. The agents, exasperated by these jeers, abandoned the chase, and, approaching the laughers, summoned them to disclose their identity. They were obliged to submit. For the first time the honorable name I bear went dragging down in the archives of the Pré fecture amongst robbers and assassins. The three culprits returned home in different moods. Miss Louisa was furious, Chantal wept over the absence of the dog which had disappeared, and Simone was afraid of being scolded. On opening the door the first thing they saw was Pompon. This unfortunate creature knew the police office only too well from having frequented it during his vagabond days. At the first hostile demonstration on the part of the authorities he had put his tail between his legs and returned home, hugging the walls. I was informed of the incident without delay. I was at first inclined to be angry, but the culprits were so droll I was seized with a fit of laughter. Besides, it is delightful to defy authority. I ranged myself resolutely on Pompon's side, but as certain proceedings might be anticipated, I called up the janitor, and putting ten francs in his hand: 'My friend," I said. "An official process has been served on these young ladies for a dog they picked up, as you know. If the police agents come to make inquiries, tell them we have no dog, which, after all, is the exact truth." The janitor retired swearing not to betray us. The next morning, indeed, he declared to an ill-looking personage, who presented himself, that I had no dog, that I paid my rent with perfect regularity, and that, taking me altogether, I was an estimable man. We now thought the storm was entirely dissipated. Once again Pompon, who had been carefully shut up for several days, was allowed to accompany them in walking, only they repaired to Monceau park, where they and their evil deeds were not known. But all this prudence did not prevent my receiving, some weeks later, a summons to appear before the tribunal of the police court in my arrondissement, charged with infraction of the regulations imposed on owners of dogs. The situation was becoming complicated. My first care was to send Pompon to the country to some reliable persons at some leagues distant from Paris. Then, on the day appointed, I presented myself before the court of justice of my country, amongst a collection of scoundrels. It may well be imagined that I was not accompanied by either Miss Louisa or the children. The judge proceeded to question me. I declared, with the easy grace of a man of the world and the calmness of innocence, that my only possession in the way of a dog was a very large mastiff habitually chained to the iron railing of my residence in Béorn. And I added, with a malicious smile at the two sergeants de ville who had been summoned as witnesses, "From the description given I imagine he is not the one in question." |