France -- History -- 15th century -- Juvenile fiction
But these ladies in their elegant fur-trimmed gowns and their dainty
little ways,--would anything that the inn afforded be half good enough
for them? The landlord soon found, however, that the greatest lady among
them, the princess herself, was sweet and gracious, and she even kissed
the dimpled face of the baby, an act on her part which never was
forgotten, and which the child herself lived to tell to her
grandchildren, always pointing to the exact spot which her good mother
had informed her had been brushed by the rosy lips of her Highness, the
Lady Marguerite of Hapsburg. And the other ladies were obliged to unbend
in imitation of their young mistress, and so they were far less
awe-inspiring than had been expected.
The ladies accompanied the hunters a little way up the mountain, until
the ascent became steep and tiresome, and then they returned to the inn.
There the princess, who was very fond of pets, was greatly attracted by
a baby chamois, a little kid, which had been adopted by the landlord's
children. He was a cunning little fellow, with bright eyes that seemed
to sparkle with fun when she stroked his foolish little face and soft
velvety ears. When she spoke to him he would turn his head to one side
as if reflecting upon what the lady had said, seeming to be thinking
very hard with a view of giving a suitable reply, and then he would
double himself up and roll about like a kitten.
In the meantime the emperor's party were climbing higher, an ascent
which grew more and more difficult as they continued. Le Glorieux, who
had hunted the chamois in the company of his late master, was acquainted
with the ways of this elusive animal, which is one of the most difficult
in the world to hunt. But to Philibert and Antoine the experience was
new and strange. These three were a little behind the others when Le
Glorieux said, pointing to the right, "There is one!"
"Oh, that," said Philibert, "is nothing but a rock. You are prepared to
see a chamois in every distant object."
"I am very much mistaken," said the other, "if that is not a sentinel
sent out to watch for danger, while the others may take their breakfast
in peace. You have no idea what a very clever animal the chamois is. If
a good many kings and emperors were half as keen to scent danger it
would be a great deal better for the countries they rule."
"What is the good of a chamois being a sentinel?" asked Antoine. "If
that is one he is too far away from the others to call their attention
to danger."
"Not a bit of it," was the reply. "He is too clever to get too far away
to give the signal; trust him to look out for that. If he should see us
he would say in his way, which would be to stamp his forefeet and give
a shrill kind of a whistle, 'Here are some of those disgusting human
beings with their bows and arrows. Get out of their way as fast as you
can, every one of you!'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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