IN AUDUBON'S LABRADOR 



who gave us this information, admitted that 

 in passing through a room he had often given 

 the boughs a slight twist to aid fate. 



That evening, while I was skinning a bird 

 surrounded by all the party at Richard Jon- 

 cas's house, there came a sharp knock at the 

 door. The captain's son Paul cried, "Entrez," 

 and went out to the kitchen to return with a 

 telegram — the daily news of the war. M. 

 Beetz opened the envelope and his face fell. 

 He then read it aloud. It began, "Nouvelles 

 trhs sinenses aujourd'hui. Les £,tats Vnis ont 

 diclari la guerre d. V Allemagne," and went on 

 to say that the harbor of New York was block- 

 aded by German submarines that had already 

 sunk eight steamers; that an uprising of Ger- 

 mans in Chicago and other cities was immi- 

 nent, and so on. I kept on skinning the bird, 

 but did a good deal of thinking, and finally 

 said, "I suppose I had better go back by the 

 next steamer." At this they all burst out 

 laughing and said it was a fake. The relief 

 was great, and I gave vent to my feelings by 

 pursuing the prime conspirator with an up- 

 lifted chair. M. Beetz was in his element; he 

 is famous for his practical jokes, and this one 



58 



