The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-08-30
CHAPTER w.
(contlnuOd)

It II q quaint old village sitting un-
der its mountains. gay with. It's gar
dens and poppy fields. strung on It's
httle river and Its old, old highway,
tied together with it's steep-arched
osSdgA The general looked about
him with approval when he rode
down OF . morning from the new"
chateau on the hill. The new cha
toau, the castle. IL q thousand years
old. built before the Crusades, In the
time OF Charlemagne. but yet inhabi.
table. II stands not distant from and
on the same spur Of lie Rose az the
old Roman chateau, that pile OF tumb.
led ruins which Francois loved. The
castle IL massive square OF gray
otone with q pointed roof of red tile;
-FOUR towers flank II, two9 battlement-
cd. two with spires red tiled. Win
dows narrow and high and round,
meurtrieres In the towers, prick the
stretch OF masonry; the front facade
10 battlemented; hedge OF thorns
nfteen feet high reaches q delicate
green arm about its strength: half q
mile back, stone wall, battlement.
ed. too. defends the place from attack
on the mountain side; the mountain
rises sharply eight hundred feet be-
mind. park Of beech trees stands
stately about the castle; above 1t
one sees only the red roofs. and the
towers, and glimpses OF gray stone.
It was like this In the year 1900: It
lis like this today.
The Baron-General Gourgaud, TAX
Ing possession In this month OF July.
4 thought II lucky he had not seen this
4 domain Of his before, else the vision
would have turned his heart from his
duty. After full career almost n
boyhood-for the Cross of the Legion
OF Honor had come to him at twenty
four-after service In the Spanish and
Austrian campaigns and diplomatic
missions; after saving the Emperors
life at Moscow; after Waterloo, Ma.
Z poleon had chosen him as one of
three ofiicers to go with him to st.
Helena. The chateau and estate OF
VicQues had been given to him by the
Emperor after that brave and lucky
moment at MOskow when. the first
man to enter the Kremlin. he had
snatched the match from mass OF
I gunpowder which would a moment
later have blown up both officers and
Emperor. But, what with battles and
diplomacy what with the years ut
ST. Helena and the years in England
after. he had not till this summer OF
1920 seen his property Now, at once
his heart went out to II, and he loved
II AZ naturally, as intellectually AS
II 1t had come to him through a line
5of ancestors. The splendid, gray Old
pile, the wide green fields. the little
90 ~
seemed TO the soldier OF fortune not
strange new luxury but like coming
! to his own.
Ten years before he had married;
four years after that his wife had
died. and the daughter she left was
now a girl Of seven. fairy type OF
girl. airily and daintily made, quick
footed and quick.witted; unexpected,
too, like fairy. and with brave
and obstinate spirit which gratified
her. soldier father every day.
you are perfect In every way but
one, Alike" he said. az he swung her
high to kiss her You are
Il know" the little girl interrupted,
lcomrade-like. II know the fault
have. am not a boy. But | do not
wish to be a boy, father would
then grow to be a great fierce person
with . mustache-like' you. Imagine
me, father. with a mustache," and the
two laughed together. Men are more
like the brutes, like the horses or
tigers or lions-like you. father 1t
II only women who are really people
I-du monde"
Indeed" General Gourgaud re-
ceived the statement with his heavy
brows In a tremendous frown. and his
eyes cleaning with pride in the def
ance. rs 1t SO. my daughter? am
lucky TO have some one who Is really
Q person to save me from being =
brute altogether. But all the same.
you grand lady and person. you can
not hand down the name Of Gour-
gaud You will fly of some day to a
brute with a mustache, and leave
your father alone In this big chateau.
10 1t not?" He knew her answer, but
he liked to hear 1t.
II shall never marry anybody,
Alike announced. II can not ever
love any one like my father"
In spite OF the satisfaction which
this speech gave him. 1t was q sad
ness to the baron that no .grandchild
of his name would live In this cha
teau which he had so soon loved SO
much. He thought Of It many times,
and the more keenly he felt the JOY
OF his life the more. keenly- he felt
this missing thread in its pattern. Yet
II seemed a disloyalty to Alike when
the memory of the little peasant boy
with the large dark eyes came TO him
a. he told stories to his daughter m
the twilight. The story Of the battle
Of Ratisbon It was tonight. and how
he had gone down into that glorious
ditch" and swarmed up the ladder
With the French troops under fire.
Alixe's blue eyes flashed and her
hands clutched his coat lapels--she
loved the tale. Yet into the mind OF
Oaspard Gourgaud shot the idea that
II he were telling II to q boy OF MS.
he might dream how that boy would
march away some day and do such q
deed with q memory Of his father IN
his soul Yet no boy could ever have
been as dear to him as this girl. gen.
tie and spirited, elusive, caressing'
sweetest always In the world.
CHAPTER v.
HE Star.
Father. father" Alike dashed into
A. Mh~~~v xho v~norufuu after the tale