The Diamond Drill

Fleecing De Maupassant.

It is said that the Norman peasants hit upon a scheme of fleecing Guy de Maupassant, who once owned a rabbit warren of a few acres near his home at Etretat. They used to plant choice vegetables and rare shrubs in the adjoining fields, and every year De Maupassant had to pay for the damage done by his rabbits.

After a few years he got tired of this sort of thing. He computed that the few rabbits he shot cost him about $5 apiece, which was rather too much even for an enthusiastic sportsman; so he determined to destroy his game preserve. There were only four active burrows in the inclosure, and a few ferrets soon dislodged all the inhabitants.

One night after the rabbits had been destroyed the writer happened to visit his former preserve and detected a man skulking along under the trees, with a large bag slung over his shoulder. De Maupassant supposed that the man had come to steal wood and challenged him. The supposed thief took to his heels, leaving behind him his bag, which was found to be filled with rabbits of both sexes. The man was an honest neighbor, who, shrewdly reasoning that there could be no damages if there were no rabbits, had thought it advisable to restock the warren himself.