CHAPTEE XXIV 



THE DOG OF MONTARGIS 



THE dog is much attached to its master; if it 

 loses him it remembers him for a long time. 

 I am going to give you an example so striking that it 

 has been recorded in history. 



1 ' In the year 1371 there lived at the court of King 

 Charles V a nobleman, the Chevalier Macaire, who, 

 envious of the favor one of his companions, Aubry 

 de Montdidier, enjoyed with the king, one day came 

 upon his rival by surprise, when the latter was ac- 

 companied only by his dog, in a deserted corner of 

 the forest of Montargis. Finding the occasion op- 

 portune for gratifying his odious rancor, he sud- 

 denly threw himself upon Aubry, killed him, and 

 buried his body in the forest. The ill deed accom- 

 plished, he returned to court, where he bore himself 

 as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. ' ' 



"Oh, the hateful wretch !" cried Jules. 



"In the meantime the dog couched on its master's 

 grave, where night and day it -howled with grief. 

 When the pangs of hunger pressed too hard it re- 

 turned to Paris, scratched at the door of its master's 

 friends, hastily ate what was given it, and immedi- 

 ately went back to the wood to lie down again on the 

 grave. Seeing it thus come and go alone, always 



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