he said. "There was a fair of
some sort in the village, and I got an old frame for half a mark in a
pawnshop, borrowed a coat from Fritz, the stableman, squeezed Fiddles
into it, stuck a student's cap on his head, made it look a hundred years
old--the frame was all of that--and tried to sell it as a portrait of a
'Gentleman of the Last Century,' but it wouldn't work. Fiddles's
laugh gave it away. 'Looks like you,' the old man said. 'Yes, it's my
brother,' he blurted out, slapping the dealer on the back."

"Where did you pick Fiddles up?" I asked.

"Nowhere," answered Marny; "he picked me up. That is, the gendarme did
who had him by the coat collar."

"'This fellow insists you know him,' said the officer of the law. 'He
says that he is honest and that this rabbit'--here he pointed to a pair
of long ears sticking out of a game bag--'is one he shot with the Mayor
this morning. Is this true?'

"Now if there is one thing, old man," continued Marny, "that gets me hot
around the collar, it is to see a brother sportsman arrested for killing
anything that can fly, run, or swim. So I rose from my sketching stool
and looked him over: his eyes--not a bit of harm in 'em; his loose
necktie thrown over one shoulder; trim waist, and so on down to the
leather leggings buttoned to his knees. If he was a poacher and subject
to the law, he certainly was the most picturesque specimen I had met in
many a day. I had, of course, never laid eyes on him before, having been
but a few days in the village, but that made the situation all the
more interesting. To rescue a friend would be commonplace, to rescue a
stranger smacked of adventure.

"I uncovered my head and bowed to the ground. 'His Honor shoots almost
every day, your Excellency,' I said to the gendarme. 'I have seen
him frequently with his friends--this young man is no doubt one of
them--Let--me--think--was it this morning, or yesterday, I met the
Mayor? It is at best a very small rabbit'--here I fingered the head and
ears--'and would probably have died of hunger anyway. However, if any
claim should be made by the farmer I will pay the damages'--this with a
lordly air, and I with only a week's board in my pocket.

"The gendarme released his hold and stood looking at the young fellow.
The day was hot and the village lock-up two miles away. That the rabbit
was small and the Mayor an inveterate sportsman were also undeniable
facts.

"'Next time,' he said sententiously, with a scowl,