for there the adherents of Falcon, suddenly gathering
strength, descended pitilessly on the party of Bobtail. Mighty was the
strife; they had not yet eaten the last courses; standing up and drinking,
the two factions wrangled. But most terribly was the Notary ruffled--just
like a blackcock; when he had once begun, he poured forth his speech
without a pause, and adorned it most effectively by his gestures. (The
Notary, Pan Bolesta, had once been a lawyer; they called him the preacher,
because he was over fond of gestures.) Now he had placed his hands on his
sides, extending his elbows backward, and from under his armpits he was
thrusting forward his fingers and long nails, thereby representing two
leashes of hounds. He was just concluding his speech:--

"Hurrah! The Assessor and I let them go at once, at the very same time, as
if the two triggers on a double-barrelled gun had been pressed by one
finger. Hurrah! They started, and the hare like an arrow shot into the
field; the dogs after him----" (Here as he spoke he ran his hands over the
table and with his fingers marvellously imitated the movement of the dogs)
"the dogs after him, and they headed him off a bit from the wood. Falcon
rushed forward, a fleet dog, but with a poor head; he got the start of
Bobtail by so much, a finger's breadth; I knew that he would miss. The
hare was no common rogue; he made as if straight for the field, and after
him the pack of hounds. The rogue of a hare I Once he knew that the dogs
were in a bunch, pst! he went to the right, with a somersault, and after
him the stupid hounds; but again, zip! to the left, in just two jumps. The
dogs after him, zip! to the left, and my Bobtail, whack!"

Shouting thus the Notary leaned over the table and ran his fingers clear
to the other side, and screamed "whack" just over the ear of Thaddeus.
Thaddeus and his neighbour, suddenly startled right in the middle of a
conversation by this outburst, involuntarily withdrew their heads from
each other, like treetops tied together, when the storm parts them; their
hands, which had been lying close together under the table, quickly drew
apart, and their two faces were clothed with a single blush.

"It is true, my dear Notary," said Thaddeus, in order not to betray his
embarrassment, "it is true, without doubt; Bobtail is a finely built
hound--if he is equally good at seizing the game."

"Good at seizing!" cried the Notary, "my favourite dog; the idea of his
no