56 February The Weasel. 



in which we discovered with some difficulty several 

 slowly-moving objects, that seemed to be emerging 

 from the blackness of the wood. They came out into 

 the moonlight, half-a-dozen of them, all fine wild boars, 

 and Alexis was just going to fetch his rifle when a shot 

 was fired from the wood on the opposite side of the valley, 

 and the largest boar rolled over on the snow. The others 

 were lost immediately in the recesses of the forest. 



Soon a dark human figure became visible as it 

 crossed the narrow open space before us. We quitted 

 our post of observation, and went towards the boa? as 

 quickly as the depth of the snow would let us. It 

 was a noble beast, weighing more than three hundred 

 pounds ; and the successful chasseur, perceiving that 

 his exploit had not been without witnesses, made no 

 attempt to avoid us, but came up with perfect assur- 

 ance. It was our new acquaintance, the Weasel, and he 

 saluted us with an ease of manner like that of some 

 considerable landowner, who finds himself by accident 

 a trespasser on his neighbor's domain. He begged par- 

 don for having yielded to an irresistible temptation, and 

 said that he would ask of my generosity a pound or two 

 of boar's flesh for himself. I had resolved before to 

 keep on good terms with this active and enterprising 

 neighbor, whose depredations it was impossible to pre- 

 vent ; so, instead of wasting words in ineffectual anger, 

 I simply observed that he would have done better to 

 ask my permission, which would have been freely given, 

 and added that he might remove the beast whenever he 

 chose to fetch it. 



