the care of the Abbe Pernot, the curate of Vivey, who prepared the little
Claudet for his first communion, at the same time that he instructed him
in reading, writing, and the first four rules of arithmetic. As soon as
the lad reached his fifteenth year, Claude put a gun into his hands, and
took him hunting with him. Under the teaching of M. de Buxieres, Claudet
did honor to his master, and soon became such an expert that he could
give points to all the huntsmen of the canton. None could equal him in
tracing a dog; he knew all the passes, by-paths, and enclosures of the
forest; swooped down upon the game with the keen scent and the velocity
of a bird of prey, and never was known to miss his mark. Thus it was
that the country people surnamed him the 'grand chasserot', the term
which we here apply to the sparrow-hawk. Besides all these advantages,
he was handsome, alert, straight, and well made, dark-haired and olive-
skinned, like all the Buxieres; he had his mother's caressing glance, but
also the overhanging eyelids and somewhat stern expression of his father,
from whom he inherited also a passionate temperament, and a spirit averse
to all kinds of restraint. They were fond of him throughout the country,
and M. de Buxieres, who felt his youth renewed in him, was very proud of
his adroitness and his good looks. He would invite him to his pleasure
parties, and make him sit at his own table, and confided unhesitatingly
all his secrets to him. In short, Claudet, finding himself quite at home
at the chateau, naturally considered himself as one of the family. There
was but one formality wanting to that end: recognizance according to law.
At certain favorable times, Manette Sejournant would gently urge M. de
Buxieres to have the situation legally authorized, to which he would
invariably reply, from a natural dislike to taking legal advisers into
his confidence:

"Don't worry about anything; I have no direct heir, and Claudet will have
all my fortune; my will and testament will be worth more to him than a