154 A DOSE OF MEDICINE. 



the horse carried him away in the direction of his stable, 

 where he not unreasonably hoped to find a more tranquil 

 condition of affairs. 



"A prosperous journey, Judge Daniel ! Don't break 

 your neck, and we will continue our sport without you ! " 



Patatras ! Behold him dismounted ! The untamed 

 and victorious horse saved himself at full gallop ; but the 

 judge, far from paying any attention to our sarcasms, 

 coolly mounted the outrider's animal. 



Bang ! another detonation ! 



" It is the doctor," cried a voice, " giving Master Tom a 

 dose of medicine ! The rascal, however, won't die of it ! 

 I begin to think the beast has a talisman under his tail." 



All of us laughed at the mild joke, and the doctor 

 himself found no fault with it. 



The dogs renewed the attack ; their voice was louder 

 and more vehement. At this moment, between the 

 branches of a tulip-tree, I caught sight of a hairy body 

 hoisting itself along with every precaution. I fired in 

 great haste; a stifled mew was heard; Tom was dead. 

 I had given him the coup de grace. 



The huntsman, with his bowie-knife, soon cut a path 

 into the thicket, and seizing the cat, deposited him at my 

 feet. 



The gigantic animal weighed fourteen pounds ; and 

 while we were examining him, and preventing the dogs 

 from tearing his splendid fur, Judge Daniel approached, 

 and exclaimed, 



" This is not the cat I fired at ! This is a leopard, 

 while the other was much larger and much blacker ; I 

 saw it clearly at the moment it rolled on the ground, 

 after the discharge of my fowling-piece." 



