yrant arrived, accompanied
by one of Bellombre's farm-hands, leading the horse that was to take
the chariot back with them, he was naturally astonished to find only the
skeleton, with the harness and trappings, still intact, about it, for
neither birds nor beasts had interfered with them, and his surprise was
increased when he discovered the half-devoured carcass of the wolf lying
under the chariot wheels. There also, scattered on the road, were the
sham louis-d'or that did duty upon the stage when largesses were to be
distributed; and upon the snow were the traces, clearly defined, of the
footsteps of a man, approaching the chariot from the way it had come,
and of those of the same man, and also of a child, going on beyond it.

"It would appear," said Herode to himself, "that the chariot of Thespis
has received visitors, since we abandoned it, of more than one sort,
and for my part I am very thankful to have missed them all. Oh, happy
accident! that, when it happened, seemed to us so great a misfortune,
yet is proven now to have been a blessing in disguise. And you, my poor
old horse, you could not have done us a greater service than to die
just when and where you did. Thanks to you we have escaped the
wolves--two-legged ones, which are perhaps the most to be dreaded of
all, as well as the ravenous brethren of this worthy lying here. What
a dainty feast the sweet, tender flesh of those plump little pullets,
Isabelle and Serafina, would have been for them, to say nothing of
the tougher stuff the rest of us are made of. What a bountiful meal we
should have furnished them--the murderous brutes!" While the tyrant was
indulging in this soliloquy Bellombre's servant had detached the chariot
from the skeleton of the poor old horse, and had harnessed to it, with
considerable difficulty, the animal he had been leading, which was
terrified at sight of the bleeding, mutilated carcass of the wolf lying
on the snow, and the ghastly skeleton of its predecessor. Arrived at
the farm, the chariot was safely stowed away under a shed, and upon
examination it was found that nothing was missing. Indeed, something had
been left there, for a small clasp-knife was picked up in it, which had
fallen out of Chiquita's pocket, and excited a great deal of curiosity
and conjecture. It was of Spanish make, and bore upon its sharp, pointed
blade, a sinister inscription in that language, to this effect--

"When this viper bites you, make sure