ommon
soldier--of a cannibal! My head is split open; I am sure to have
an awful neuralgia in a quarter of an hour. It is the conduct of a
herdsman."

"Do not think of your neuralgia, my dear aunt," replied Christian, whose
good-humor seemed aroused by the day's sport; "you are as fresh as a
rosebud--and Constance shall have some hares' heads roasted for her
supper."

At this moment a second uproar was heard in the courtyard; a horn was
evidently being played by an amateur, accompanied by the confused yelps
and barks of a numerous pack of hounds; the whole was mingled with
shouts of laughter, the cracking of whips, and clamors of all kinds.
In the midst of this racket, a cry, more piercing than the others, rang
out, a cry of agony and despair.

"Constance!" exclaimed Mademoiselle de Corandeuil, in a falsetto voice
full of terror; she rushed to one of the windows and all followed her.

The spectacle in the courtyard was as noisy as it was picturesque.
Marillac, seated upon a bench, was blowing upon a trumpet, trying to
play the waltz from Robert-le-Diable in a true infernal manner. At his
feet were seven or eight hunters and as many servants encouraging him
by their shouts. The Baron's pack of hounds, of great renown in the
country, was composed of about forty dogs, all branded upon their right
thighs with the Bergenheim coat-of-arms. From time immemorial, the
chateau's dogs had been branded thus with their master's crest, and
Christian, who was a great stickler for old customs, had taken care not
to drop this one. This feudal sign had probably acted upon the morals
of the pack, for it was impossible to find, within twenty leagues, a
collection of more snarly terriers, dissolute hounds, ugly bloodhounds,
or more quarrelsome greyhounds. They were perfect hunters, but it
seemed as if, on account of their being dogs of quality, all vices were
permitted them.

In the midst of this horde, without respect for law or order, the
unfortunate Constance had found herself after crossing the ante-chamber,
vestibule, and outside steps, still pursued by the sounds from
Christian's huge horn. An honest merchant surprised at the turn of the
road by a band of robbers would not have been greeted any better than
the poodle was at the moment she darted into the yard. It may have been
that the quarrel between the Bergenheims and Corandeuils had reached the
canine species; it may have been at the instigation of the footmen,
who all cordi