The Black Poodle, and Other Tales

by F. Anstey

And yet his uneasiness was counterbalanced by a delicious relief: the State might disgrace, banish, put him to death even, but he had got rid of slow music for ever; and as he thought of this, the stately Duilius would snap his fingers and dance with secret delight.

All disposition to dance, however, was forgotten upon the arrival of lictors bearing an official missive. He looked at it for a long time before he dared to break the big seal and cut the cord which bound the tablets which might contain his doom.

He did it at last, and smiled with relief as he began to read; for the decree was courteously, almost affectionately, worded. The Senate, considering (or affecting to consider) the disappearance of the flute-player a mere accident, expressed their formal regret at the failure of the provision made in his honour.

Then, as he read on, Duilius dashed the tablets into small fragments, and rolled on the ground, and tore his hair, and howled: for the Senatorial decree concluded by a declaration that, in consideration of his brilliant exploits, the State thereby placed at his disposal two more flute-players, who, it was confidently hoped, would survive the wear and tear of their ministrations longer than the first.

Duilius retired to his room and made his will, taking care to have it properly signed and attested. Then he fastened himself in, and when they broke down the door next day, they found a lifeless corpse, with a strange sickly smile upon its pale lips.

No one in Rome quite made out the reason of this smile, but it was generally thought to denote the gratification of the deceased at the idea of leaving his beloved ones in comfort, if not luxury; for, though the bulk of his fortune was left to Carthaginian charities, he had had the forethought to bequeath a flute-player apiece to his wife and mother-in-law.

---

APPLETONS' TOWN AND COUNTRY LIBRARY.

PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY.

1. The Steel Hammer. By Louis Ulbach.
2. Eve. A Novel. By S. Baring-Gould.
3. For Fifteen Years. A Sequel to The Steel Hammer. By Louis Ulbach.
4. A Counsel of Perfection. A Novel. By Lucas Malet.
5. The Deemster. A Romance. By Hall Caine.
5-1/2. The Bondman. (New edition.) By Hall Caine.
6. A Virginia Inheritance. By Edmund Pendleton.
7. Ninette: An Idyll of Provence. By the author of Véra.
8. "The Right Honourable." By Justin Mccarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
9. The Silence of Dean Maitland. By Maxwell Gray.
10. Mrs. Lorimer: A Study in Black and White. By Lucas Malet.
11. The Elect Lady. By George MacDonald.
12. The Mystery of the "Ocean Star." By W. Clark Russell.
13. Aristocracy. A Novel.
14. A Recoiling Vengeance. By Frank Barrett. With Illustrations.
15. The Secret of Fontaine-la-Croix. By Margaret Field.
16. The Master of Rathkelly. By Hawley Smart.
17. Donovan: A Modern Englishman. By Edna Lyall.
18. This Mortal Coil. By Grant Allen.
19. A Fair Emigrant. By Rosa Mulholland.
20. The Apostate. By Ernest Daudet.
21. Raleigh Westgate; or, Epimenides in Maine. By Helen Kendrick Johnson.
22. Arius the Libyan;. A Romance of the Primitive Church.
23. Constance, and Calbot's Rival. By Julian Hawthorne.
24. We Two. By Edna Lyall.
25. A Dreamer of Dreams. By the author of Thoth.
26. The Ladies' Gallery. By Justin McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
27. The Reproach of Annesley. By Maxwell Gray.
28. Near to Happiness.
29. In the Wire Grass. By Louis Pendleton.
30. Lace. A Berlin Romance. By Paul Lindau.
30-1/2. The Black Poodle. By F. Anstey.
31. American Coin. A Novel. By the author of Aristocracy.
32. Won by Waiting. By Edna Lyall.
33. The Story of Helen Davenant. By Violet Fane.
34. The Light of Her Countenance. By H. H. Boyesen.
35. Mistress Beatrice Cope. By M. E. Le Clerc.
36. The Knight-Errant. By Edna Lyall.
37. In the Golden Days. By Edna Lyall.
38. Giraldi; or, The Curse of Love. By Ross George Dering.
39. A Hardy Norseman. By Edna Lyall.
40. The Romance of Jenny Harlowe, and Sketches of Maritime Life. By W.
Clark Russell.
41. Passion's Slave. By Richard Ashe-King.
42. The Awakening of Mary Fenwick. By Beatrice Whitby.
43. Countess Loreley. Translated from the German of Rudolf Menger.
44. Blind Love. By Wilkie Collins.
45. The Dean's Daughter. By Sophie F. F. Veitch.
46. Countess Irene. A Romance of Austrian Life. By J. Fogerty.
47. Robert Browning's Principal Shorter Poems.
48. Frozen Hearts. By G. Webb Appleton.
49. Djambek the Georgian. By A.G. von Suttner.
50. The Craze of Christian Engelhart. By Henry Faulkner Darnell.
51. Lal. By William A. Hammond, M. D.
52. Aline. A Novel. By Henry Gréville.
53. Joost Avelingh. A Dutch Story. By Maarten Maartens.
54. Katy of Catoctin. By George Alfred Townsend.
55. Throckmorton. A Novel. By Molly Elliot Seawell.
56. Erpatriaton. By the author of Aristocracy.
57. Geoffrey Hampstead. By T. S. Jarvis.
58. Dmitri. A Romance of Old Russia. By F.W. Bain, M.A.
59. Part of the Property. By Beatrice Whitby.
60. Bismarck in Private Life. By a Fellow-Student.
61. In Low Relief. By Morley Roberts.
62. The Canadians of Old. A Historical Romance. By Philippe Gaspé.
63. A Squire of Low Degree. By Lily A. Long.
64. A Fluttered Dovecote. By George Manville Fenn.
65. The Nugents of Carriconna. An Irish Story. By Tighe Hopkins.
66. A Sensitive Plant. By E. and D. Gerard.
67. Doña Luz. By Juan Valera. Translated by Mrs. Mary J. Serrano.
68. Pepita Ximenez. By Juan Valera. Translated by Mrs. Mary J. Serrano.
69. The Primes and their Neighbors. By Richard Malcolm Johnston.
70. The Iron Game. By Henry F. Keenan.
71. Stories of Old New Spain. By Thomas A. Janvier.
72. The Maid of Honor. By Hon. Lewis Wingfield.
73. In the Heart of the Storm. By Maxwell Gray.
74. Consequences. By Egerton Castle.
75. The Three Miss Kings. By Ada Cambridge.
76. A Matter of Skill. By Beatrice Whitby.
77. Maid Marian, and Other Stories. By Molly Elliot Seawell.
78. One Woman's Way. By Edmund Pendleton.
79. A Merciful Divorce. By F. W. Maude.
80. Stephen Ellicott's Daughter. By Mrs. J. H. Needell.
81. One Reason Why. By Beatrice Whitby.
82. The Tragedy of Ida Noble. By W. Clark Russell.
83. The Johnstown Stage, and other Stories. By Robert H. Fletcher.
84. A Widower Indeed. By Rhoda Broughton and Elizabeth Bisland.
85. The Flight of a Shadow. By George MacDonald.
86. Love or Money. By Katharine Lee.
87. Not All in Vain. By Ada Cambridge.
88. It Happened Yesterday. By Frederick Marshall.
89. My Guardian. By Ada Cambridge.
90. The Story of Philip Methuen. By Mrs. J. H. Needell.
91. Amethyst; The Story of a Beauty. By Christabel R. Coleridge.
92. Don Braulio. By Juan Valera. Translated By Clara Bell.
93. The Chronicles of Mr. Bill Williams. By Richard Malcolm Johnston.
94. A Queen of Curds and Cream. By Dorothea Gerard.
95. "La Bella" and Others. By Egerton Castle.
96. "December Roses." By Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
97. Jean de Kerdren. By Jeanne Schultz.
98. Etelka's Vow. By Dorothea Gerard.
99. Cross Currents. By Mary A. Dickens.
100. His Life's Magnet. By Theodora Elmslie.
101. Passing the Love of Women. By Mrs. J. H. Needell.
102. In Old St. Stephen's. By Jeanie Drake.
103. The Berkeleys and their Neighbors. By Molly Elliot Seawell.
104. Mona Maclean, Medical Student. By Graham Travers.
105. Mrs. Bligh. By Rhoda Broughton.
106. A Stumble on the Threshold. By James Payn.
107. Hanging Moss. By Paul Lindau.
108. A Comedy of Elopement. By Christian Reid.
109. In the Suntime of her Youth. By Beatrice Whitby.
110. Stories in Black and White. By Thomas Hardy and Others.
110-1/2. An Englishman in Paris. Notes and Recollections.
111. Commander Mendoza. By Juan Valera.
112. Dr. Paull's Theory. By Mrs. A. M. Diehl.
113. Children of Destiny. By Molly Elliot Seawell.
114. A Little Minx. By Ada Cambridge.
115. Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon. By Hall Caine.
116. The Voice of a Flower. By E. Gerard.
117. Singularly Deluded. By Sarah Grand.
118. Suspected. By Louisa Stratenus.
119. Lucia, Hugh, and Another. By Mrs. J. H. Needell.
120. The Tutor's Secret. By Victor Cherbuliez.
121. From the Five Rivers. By Mrs. F. A. Steel.
122. An Innocent Impostor, and Other Stories. By Maxwell Gray.
123. Ideala. By Sarah Grand.
124. A Comedy of Masks. By Ernest Dowson and Arthur Moore.
125. Relics. By Frances MacNab.
126. Dodo: A Detail of the Day. By E. F. Benson.
127. A Woman of Forty. By Esmè Stuart.
128. Diana Tempest. By Mary Cholmondeley.
129. The Recipe for Diamonds. By C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne.
130. Christina Chard. By Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
131. A Gray Eye or So. By Frank Frankfort Moore.
132. Earlscourt. By Alexander Allardyce.
133. A Marriage Ceremony. By Ada Cambridge.
134. A Ward in Chancery. By Mrs. Alexander.
135. Lot 13. By Dorothea Gerard.
136. Our Manifold Nature. By Sarah Grand.
137. A Costly Freak. By Maxwell Gray.
138. A Beginner. By Rhoda Broughton.
139. A Yellow Aster. By Mrs. Mannington Caffyn ("IOTA").
140. The Rubicon. By E. F. Benson.
141. The Trespasser. By Gilbert Parker.
142. The Rich Miss Riddell. By Dorothea Gerard.
143. Mary Fenwick's Daughter. By Beatrice Whitby.
144. Red Diamonds. By Justin McCarthy.
145. A Daughter of Music. By G. Colmore.
146. Outlaw and Lawmaker. By Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
147. Dr. Janet of Harley Street. By Arabella Kenealy.
148. George Mandeville's Husband. By C. E. Raimond.
149. Vashti and Esther.
150. Timar's Two Worlds. By M. Jokai.
151. A Victim of Good Luck. By W. E. Norris.
152. The Trail of the Sword. By Gilbert Parker.
153. A Mild Barbarian. By Edgar Fawcett.
154. The God in the Car. By Anthony Hope.
155. Children of Circumstance. By Mrs. M. Caffyn.
156. At the Gate of Samaria. By William J. Locke.
157. The Justification of Andrew Lebrun. By Frank Barrett.
158. Dust and Laurels. By Mary L. Pendered.
159. The Good Ship Mohock. By W. Clark Russell.
160. Noémi. By S. Baring-Gould.
161. The Honour of Savelli. By S. Levett Yeats.
162. Kitty's Engagement. By Florence Warden.
163. The Mermaid. By L. Dougall.
164. An Arranged Marriage. By Dorothea Gerard.
165. Eve's Ransom. By George Gissing.
166. The Marriage of Esther. By Guy Boothby.
167. Fidelis. By Ada Cambridge.
168. Into the Highways and Hedges. By F. F. Montrésor.
169. The Vengeance of James Vansittart. By Mrs. J. H. Needell.
170. A Study in Prejudices. By George Paston.
171. The Mistress of Quest. By Adeline Sergeant.
172. In the Year of Jubilee. By George Gissing.
173. In Old New England. By Hezekiah Butterworth.
174. Mrs. Musgrave—and Her Husband. By R. Marsh.
175. Not Counting the Cost. By Tasma.
176. Out of Due Season. By Adeline Sergeant.
177. Scylla or Charybdis? By Rhoda Broughton.
178. In Defiance of the King. By C. C. Hotchkiss.
179. A Bid for Fortune. By Guy Boothby.
180. The King of Andaman. By J. Maclaren Cobban.
181. Mrs. Tregaskiss. By Mrs. Campbell-Praed.
182. The Desire of the Moth. By Capel Vane.
183. A Self-Denying Ordinance. By M. Hamilton.
184. Successors to the Title. By Mrs. L. B. Walford.
. The Lost Stradivarius. By J. Meade Falkner.
186. The Wrong Man. By Dorothea Gerard.
187. In the Day of Adversity By J. Bloundelle-burton.
188. Mistress Dorothy Marvin. By J. C. Snaith.
189. A Flash of Summer. By Mrs. W. K. Clifford.
Each, 12mo, paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00,