238 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



knew nothing at all about a cheese from Fiybourg, 

 for Bombyx. 



Now, there was a long passage up to M. P — t's 

 door, and Jean called rather loudly, " Le fromage 

 que Monsieur P — t a fait venir de Frybourg !' ' 

 Upon this, a number of idle coachmen and grooms 

 from an adjoining mews, hearing the loud voice of 

 Jean, came to see what was the matter. At 

 last, Mrs. P — t tout en deshabille, and sans stock- 

 ings, made her appearance ; and again declared 

 that her husband had not brought home any 

 cheese whatsoever. 



" Cest lien embetant" said Jean, "Monsieur 

 lui a paye pourtant hier matin, quand il est venu 

 donner ces lecons pour un fromage de Q8lbs. a 

 5 btz. et 1 Jcreutz; et vous allez me dire de 

 retourner sans fromage. Je rCen sais rien, je 

 vous assure, mon bon Jiomme. J'itrai encore voir 

 monmari." 



As she returned down the passage, a sudden 

 gust of wind compelled her to gather her dressing- 

 gown tightly around her; whilst her cap was 

 carried some yards before her, en guise d'avant- 

 courier ; and her loose grey locks floated before 

 her in anything but graceful curls. She half 

 opened M. P — t's door. He, however, was still 

 in bed. 



" Auguste ! Auguste ! qu'y a tfil done ?" mut- 

 tered old P— t. 



" Et le fromage de Bombyx, ou Vas tu 

 plage V 



" Le quoi f que veux tu f" 

 " Le fromage!" calls out Jean, loudly. "II 

 fait diablement froid ici. Mons. P — t, ayez la com- 

 plaisance, sHl vous plait, de me faire donner le 

 fromage." 



" Je n'ai point de fromage. Morbleu! ma 

 femme, tu reaves." 



Seeing the door open, my impudent brother led 

 the way ; and in half a moment he was upon M. 

 P — t's bed, and I was sniffing about the room. 



" Morbleu ! Oui da. Sortez ces chiens," then 

 began Jean. "Carlo! Carlo! Fino! Fino ! 

 allons, il faut bien que je retourne et je dirai a 

 Bombyx que vous ne savez pas ou est le fromage, 

 ce nest pas tant joli pourtant. Nous pourrions 

 bien avoir encore un mot d dire, car Monsieur a 

 bien pay e passe dix pieces." 



Jean left, not in a very good humor ; and had 

 just got as far as the little cake-shop by the 

 theatre, when he heard somebody calling, " Jean ! 

 Jean !" and, looking round, there was M. P — t, 

 all shivering and shaking. He had just slipped on 

 an old, long, rusty-brown coat, and a pair of pan- 

 taloons and slippers, equally fashionable. 



" Jean, vous direz a Bombyx, que je ne sais 



rien de tout de ce qu 1 il demande. II ne rt£a 



jamais donne la commission pour un fromage. 



Je n'en sais rien." 



" Ah, oui /" replied Jean. " Nous allons voir." 



Just then, a tremendous storm of hail came 



suddenly on, and punished poor little P — t's bare 



ankles most severely. Also, at the same moment, 



some friend of Jean's, who had witnessed part of 



the fun, whispered to him, " Ne sais tu pas que 



e'est aujourdhuile lr. AvrilV 



A general burst of laughter followed, in which 

 M. P — t joined most cordially, and begged Jean 

 to come in ani partake of a second dejeun€ after 

 his cold visit, — not forgetting to put some 



" kirschenwasser " in the coffee, as well as a nice 

 warm soup for mj self and my brother. 



When Bombyx spied Jean walking slowly up 

 the road, stroking his nose and regaling it with 

 an extra supply de tabac, you may imagine what 

 a laugh he had ; and on meeting M. P — t in the 

 market, it really was fine fun. He absolutely 

 appeared to enter into the joke more than even 

 Bombyx himself. Entre nous, I have remarked 

 that my old master can never enjoy any of these 

 kinds of humorous mirth in this country. No ; 

 everything here is too formal, — too unyield- 

 ing, too artificial. People now are too "re- 

 fined," — too "polished." I have often heard 

 Bombyx express the wish, that nature (not art) 

 should polish the manners of mankind ; and that 

 acts of mutual kindness and beneficence should 

 polish their hearts to the total exclusion of the 

 cold hypocritical forms of society, as now pretty 

 generally constituted. How different would 

 everything then be ! and truly, speaking for my- 

 self, I think we poor dogs should very much bene- 

 fit by such a happy change. "When I say we, I 

 speak of my race in general; for my dear old 

 master has always got a friendly eye over all Ms 

 pets, and I promise you I am in no way the least 

 on the list. 



Somehow or other, my dear friend, my pen 

 moves slowly this month ; but I have suffered 

 from the toothache caught during the last frosty 

 days ; and then I was so much excited when I 

 heard yourself and Bombyx talk all about those 

 anticipated doings at the "Peahen." This, by-the- 

 bye, made the recollection of a certain Peacock 

 strike my conscience so forcibly (you shall know 

 all about it one of these days) that I did not sleep 

 for three whole nights ! 



Just tell me, do ; is it true ? Is the day de- 

 cided upon, to be the first of May ? Oh, what a 

 glorious day we shall have ! Hurrah ! for the 

 " Peahen !" St. Albans ! Epping Forest ! &c, 

 &c, &c. Always your faithful old dog, 



Fino. 



Tottenham, April 17. 



[Fino ! you are a trump card; and we will keep 

 nothing from you. Yes ; our Journal will see 

 the light on May 1 ; and when we see the light 

 of that day, we shall be, D.V., stretching far ahead 

 towards St. Alban's, with yourself, your good old 

 master, and one of the rising branches of his 

 family tree, — all of us happy, "jolly fellows." 

 Then, we shall go to Epping Forest; and we 

 know not where. As for the " Peahen," — 

 taisez vous encore une fois. There will be some- 

 thing there awaiting us, that you little dream of; 

 but you shall share both the surprise and the de- 

 light.] 



POULTRY. 



To keep poultry has now become a fashion ; 

 some find pleasure; in it, others look more 

 for profit. In either case, however, it is well 

 to know as much as can be known about the 

 best breeds. 



The following, by a practical man, will be 

 read with interest : — I hardly need tell you, 

 sir, that most of the essays and books upon 



