Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

14 TUB GOLDEN PffKASANf.
" Dear Gerald, Bhow us what yon have got
there. Look !
look ut the bountiful plume. No, it is the tale of a bird. Oh!
how large and handsome it must be !" Such were the excla-
iis ou all sides.
The poor man, stupefied with the noise, vainly sought to stop
both his ears with one baud, the other 1 being oocupie with the
burden that caused such excitement.
"Silence! don't clatter like so many magpies," said he;
" it is a surprise I have contrived for my master. So let me
go on my way. "
"
No, indeed, no one passes thus over our ground without
paying a fine. We sentence you to show us your treasure.
The fine ! the fine ! or you shall not pass here. "
And twenty little hands, like crab-claws, seized the legs and
arms of the unfortunate keeper, who saw at once that he was
caught in a trap, from which there would be no release but by
concession.
" Well, children, since you will have it so," replied he, " if
you will promise to restrain your tongues until supper, for
there my present will "
shiue, I will gratify your curiosity.
' We all promise, good Gerald you may be satisfied we
will swear it,
if you like on "
your head.
The keeper drew from beneath his blouse a bird nearly as
l:irge as a cock, the magnificent plumage of which elicited loud
bursts of admiration. Its head, of a shining ash color, was
surmounted by a little helmet of feathers, its neck was covered
with beautiful green feathers, and the rest of the body with
silky brown. The tail of the bird shone like a water-spout
gilded by the sun.
" What a beautiful parrot !" exclaimed the little girl, who
had before displayed her simplicity.
"Foolish child," replied a little boy, who, quite as ignorant,
had better have remained
"
silent it is a ;
peacock."
" You don't know what you are talking about," added a
third, " I have seen one before in the Duke's park."
" Well, then, what is the name of the bird ?"
Every eye turned instinctively towards George.
The latter went to the keeper with affected indifference, took
the bird, and examined it for some time with great attention ;
he said :
at length
" If the engravings in my book are correct, this bird is a
golden phe$sant. It was first seen on the banks of the Phasis,*
from whence it derives its name."
"
Bravo !" exclaimed Gerald, " my young master has at once
told you the right name of the bird. I don't, however, know
whether the first pheasant was found on a vase I never heard
;
so before. However, be this as it may, I have killed this bird
with my own hands to surprise my master ; game is scarce
here, and to-morrow is the feast of St. Lawrence, so I shall
take it to Martha, who will, I hope, make a beautiful roast
of it."
The children followed him into the kitchen, that they might
continue to admire the beautiful bird, so mercilessly condemned
to the spit."
Great was the joy of Martha at the sight of such a delicate
morsel. It was a delightful opportunity for her to practise
all the secrets of the culinary art, secrets which she flattered
herself she thoroughly possessed. In her joy she embraced
old Gerald, and even the pheasant, who was utterly
unconscious of the honor.
" Well," said the keeper, delighted at his first success, " I
killed the bird at the first shot; you must now cook it in your
best style, and our master will be satisfied. But I say, Martha,
do you remember the pike last year ?"
" Ah ! my poor pike," sighed Martha. " I have regretted it
r since. I should have made a capital dish of it. Only
imagine, children, to keep it fresh I put it in ice. When I
"
wanted to cook it, I found the ice broken
" And the pike also," said Gerald, laughing.
The children joined in his merriment.
" Yes,' 1
replied M;ir;ha, " broken, gone, anything you like,
and I h:ive never heard anything of it to this day."
i/l. Min.lr*.li
And the poor cook mournfully took an enormous pinch of
snuff.
"Well, take good care this time," said the keeper, "that my
pheasant does not fly away. Ha !
ha I"
" Be quite easy, Gerald, the devil is very sly and malicious,
but he shan't trick me to-day. This lock will answer for your
game, and the key shall never leave my pocket. "
After laughing heartily at the adventure, the children resumed
their games.
The day appeared as if it would terminate without any other
incident, when, towards the end of the afternoon, Martha made
a sudden irruption into the room, where all wera assembled.
Exclamations of surprise welcomed this apparition, and
truly the appearance of the good woman justified the universal
astonishment.
Her cap only covered one side of her head, over which it
was entirely flattened. Her eyes rolled like billiard balls, and
her long chin shook like the pendulum of a clock. In one
hand she held a basting spoon, and in the other her empty
snuff-box.
"Madam," said she, in an agitated voice, to the mistress of
the house, " I am come to take my leave of you."
"What ! leave us, Martha, after being with us fifteen years?
What has happened ?"
" Ah ! Madam, during the whole fifteen years I have lived
in your house, I have never seen such a thing."
"
Well, what have you seen ?"
" I have seen why, I have seen nothing at all ! so that
makes the thing so frightful, so incredible, I can't understand
it."
This scene, although so ridiculous, excited pity; everyone
thought poor Martha deranged.
"Come, come, my poor Martha," said Madame Leclerc,
"
try to recollect yourself, and tell me clearly what has happened.
"
"Nothing has happened to me, Madam, but something happens
to everything that comes into my kitchen, and I warn you
that your house is bewitched."
" What nonsense you are talking."
"
Madam, was the disappearance of the pike last year non-
sense ?"
" Well ! has it come back again?"
"No, but the pheasant has gone to join it."
"The pheasant !"
"Yes, Madam, a pheasant which old Gerald shot; and as
the bird was intended to be sent to table, in honor of Saint
Lawrence, I prudently shut it up in the large closet. When I
wanted to cook the bird, I unlocked the door, and it was
gone."
" Oh, is that all?" said Madame Leclerc, "what a noise
about a trifle ! A dog has carried off the game; there is the
"
end of the mystery.
" But to do that," said Martha, drawing an imaginary pinch
from her empty box, "the dog must have got through the
key-hole, for the closet was locked, the key has been in my
pocket, and I have never left the kitchen."
If the children had not seen Martha lock up the bird and
take the key, no one would have believed her tale; but as it
was, everyone went to look at the mysterious closet.
The door was opened and shut twenty times, the lock care-
fully examined, every corner of the kitchen rigidly investi-
gated, all the dogs summoned, but without the slightest sign
or trace of the truth being discovered.
" It must be the devil," said "
Martha, God protect us !"
Madame Leclerc had great difficulty in reassuring her old
cook; everyone explained the matter according to his own
idea; no one believed the opinion of his neighbor, and all separated
in the evening completely puzzled.
The mystery was not explained until thirty years had
elapsed. During that time George had seen the doors of the
French Academy unfold before his genius. The oration which
he pronounced on his entrance has been, and ever will be, remarkable
amouest academical harangues.