repeated; his windows were pointed out in the middle of the principal
front, and one thought himself lucky if he saw the curtains moving.
Many families of poor people detached themselves from their quarters in
the evenings to take up positions before the wall behind which he was.

Marie and I, we were close to him twice.

One evening after dinner, we met him as one meets any passer-by among
the rest. He was walking alone, covered by a great gray waterproof.
His felt hat was adorned with a short feather. He displayed the
characteristic features of his race--a long turned-down nose and a
receding chin.

When he had gone by, Marie and I said, both at the same time, and a
little dazzled, "An eagle!"

We saw him again at the end of a stag-hunt. They had driven a stag
into the Morteuil forest. The _mort_ took place in a clearing in the
park, near the outer wall. The Baroness, who always thought of the
townsfolk, had ordered the little gate to be opened which gives into
this part of the demesne, so that the public could be present at the
spectacle.

It was imperious and pompous. The scene one entered, on leaving the
sunny fields and passing through the gate, was a huge circle of dark
foliage in the heart of the ancient forest. At first, one saw only the
majestic summits of mountainous trees, like peaks and globes lost amid
the heavens, which on all sides overhung the clearing and bathed it in
twilight almost green.

In this lordly solemnity of nature, down among the grass, moss and dead
wood, there flowed a contracted but brilliant concourse around the
final preparations for the execution of the stag.

The animal was kneeling on the ground, weak and overwhelmed. We
pressed round, and eyes were thrust forward between heads and shoulders
to see him. One could make out the gray thicket of his antlers, his
great lolling tongue, and the enormous throb of his heart, agitating
his exhausted body. A little wounded fawn clung to him, bleeding
abundantly, flowing like a spring.

Round about it the ceremony was arranged in several circles. The
beaters, in ranks, made a glaring red patch in the moist green
atmosphere. The hunters, men and women, all dismounted, in scarlet
coats and black hats, crowded together. Apart, the saddle and tackle
horses snorted, with creaking of leather and jingle of metal. Kept at
a respectful distance by a rope extended hastily on posts, the
inquisitive crowd flowed and increased every