Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-06-04
CHAPTER ~.
coM1Na 40 HIS OWN.

POSSIBLY the greatest human quality
IL creativeness. It is an echo Of the
poleon I was essentially a creator. He
breathed into France tho breath Of a
life not before there; he took disor-
ganixed masses and made OF them In
vincible armies. He clipped territories
from countries n made Of them king
hero Is often crisis-borl; Napoleon
made h crises and shaped heroes to
at them. Again md aOnin3 he drew out
from the mass OF common clay q lump
in which his master glance saw the
leaven Of possibility he breathed his
own conquering. limitle0 spirit into 1t,
n In q turn no autoEnatom was q
great general. ready to do his work.
bound to him for life BY . chain Of de-
votion ~unbreakable ~unreasoning, self
sufficient, q mystery of thai astound-
ing personality.
He made great men and then in his
lordly way he set them in frames which
suited his fastidious sense Of fitness.
Out of old Frances domains he helped
himself to lands and. castles and gave
them with a free hand to his marshals
and his generals.
Six years ago.. before Waterloo, he
had given the new chateau Of vicques
and Its lands to General the Baron
Gaspard Gourgaud, whom he had be-
fore then fashioned into q very good
pattern Of a soldier out Of material left
over from the old a~ristocracy. vicques
was a village when "all Gaul was di-
vided into three provinces of Rome;
q village much the same In 1920. It lay
In the Valley Delesmontes-"of the
mountains'-a league from the little
city Delesmontes, whose IS, 900 inhabit-
ants constituted 1t h chief city OF this
valley Of the Jura. Over VicQues hung
the mountain called LIE Rose, behind LIE
% ~ vnNrrnn "A Wk tho
called LIE Railneu; back OF LIE Rair1eu
rolled the Jura range. The ancient road
OF the days OF Julius Caesar ran
through Vicques. runs now, the main.
road straight t Rome. It Is kept up at
present by the government and one
maj see 9 man working on It any day.
a little river cuts across h hamlet
the Cheulte; over 1t arches, steep, like
q crooked finger, unbel.evably steep,
the Roman bridge built In those same
times before France was, and used now
every hour Of every day. Solid and
age-defying and dignified. 1t goes about
It's business OF holding the land to-
EethHr from n day 70 another as it
has done for 1000 years. as 1t may do,
to all appearances. for 1000 more. The
old road passes over the old bridge high
Into air and makes an elbow as the
villagers put II, at Its foot. swinging
down stream ct e right angle: q team
gathers such an impetus that often
they bump Into the barn Of Pierre
Beaurame. built stolidly ut the turn of
the elbow, before their driver can stop
them. One wonders Why the grand
father Of the grandfather OF Pierre
built his barn ct this place, but there 1t
stands. and b horaes nus Gccustom
thernselvea.
Il e quaint old village sitting nm
DER Its mountains. gay with 1T gardens
and poppy fields, strung ON its little
river ana III old. old highway, tied to-
Gether with IT. steep-arched bridge.
The general looked about him with ap-
prevail when he drpvosdoWn Of d morn.
ing from new chatsau on the Hill.
The q chateau, the castle 10 1000
the time 81 Charl0magne but yet nab
itahle. y ntandsnot distant from ana