30 November — The Weasel. 



name, but was known in the forest and its outskirts as 

 ' the Weasel/ and by this sobriquet we will speak of him 

 in the present narrative. 



There is an instinct in the boyish nature by which 

 it is strongly attracted to whatever is primitive in man, 

 and I observed without surprise that Alexis fraternized 

 almost immediately with the Weasel, even before he 

 became aware of the man's remarkable talents and ac- 

 complishments. It immediately occurred to me, that 

 if Jean Bouleau were guilty of no greater crime than 

 supplying the larders of rich citizens with game, which 

 they offered him the strongest temptations to procure 

 for them, merely because they had not skill and en- 

 durance enough to procure it for themselves, I need not 

 throw any hindrance in the way of an intimacy of this 

 kind, which would be an education for Alexis in habits 

 of self-reliance and observation, and the best possible 

 introduction to the study of natural history. 



The Weasel was an excellent specimen of the race 

 of men that he belonged to, as pure a Celt as any in 

 all France. We, who belong to the taller races of man- 

 kind, are rather apt to undervalue the qualities of the 

 Celt. His superiorities may be summed up in rapidity 

 of intelligence and of action. The Weasel was in 

 stature even below the low standard of his race, but 

 he was beautifully built, with legs and arms fit for a 

 painter's model, and, notwithstanding his labor as a 

 woodcutter, the hands retained an almost feminine 

 delicacy. The hair on his head was richly abundant, 

 black, and curly ; but the beard was scanty, like that 



