Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-05-20

and confer k~nighthood with it? It 10
an ancient custom. the accolade. and
would settle the difference between these
gentlemen very pleasantly
and the officers laughed again moi
silly as the general spoke of the great
marshal and the little white-gowned
baby as these gentlemen But Ma
poleon drew his eyebrows together
Yet he smiled.
"'Not the marshall he said, but ]
will do it. AS o say, general. the
accolade is an old right Of kings. UNI
used for centuries but none the less a
right-held in allegiance. l am the mon
arch of France'-and his voice was like
the flash of a blade-I am the mon
arch of France he said. and 1 may
give nobility where 1 choose. For his
courage l shall knight this young
F'renchman; who knows but his life
may some time mean much to me or
my house? There are queer twists in
the rope of history-a throne might de-
pend on this lads spirit as we'll as on
a~nother's.' The emperor seemed to joke,
for he laughed a little. yet there was a
sound in his voice as If some part was
serious. He turned sharply to the nay
or. What is the child's Nance
The mayor was our friend and knew
the babies. Francois Beaupre. SIRE he
answered tr%emblingly.
The emperor gave a short nod to the
general. who still kept his hand on the
dark little head. Make him kneel.' he
said. Marshal. your sword
The blade clattered out of the sheath
in front Of the baby's eyes. and he
blinked as he looked up. but did not
draw away an inch. and as the u
general pressed him to his fat knees
he put his hands together and shut his
eyes, for he thought he was to pray to
the good God. So the child knelt before
the emperor. thinking OF his layer
1t was still for a moment. and all the
officers stood silent. and then the en-
peror took the marshal's sword and
struck the baby's shoulder a light blow
with the flat of it.
Rise Chevalier Francois Beaupre.'
he said clearly, n in the pause he ad-
ded. with a look in his eyes as If one
gazed forward: Some day. perhaps. a
marshal of France under another Bona
parte.'"
The grandmother's voice stopped and
the garden and the entry that had been
run of the jingle of harness and the
clatter of steel. the stir and color of
soldiery, vas suddenly hushed and
empty. The ghosts of the great which
had risen at the simple magic Of her
memory dissolved into mists of past
the name of the mperor hung about
them. The children huddled. their eyes
~devouring her. their faces close. listen
ing yet. A'little girls voice spoke.
And grand-mere. it was"
1T was Francois" she said. and laid
her hand on his shoulder. "The sword
of he emperor touched him here-I
saw it" The child's frame quivered as
II he felt again that blow Of the acco-
lade.
Then Tomas, always unimpressed,
g to sing jeeringly:
Francois Beaupre,
Nous devious Iadmirer-
Notre grand ~chevalier,
Francois Beaupre-'
And the spell was broken. The chill
dren scattered, shouting, out into the
sunshine Of the garden. But Francois
stood at his grandmother's side, not
hearing or seeing them; staring at the
heavy panels OF the oak door as ff he
beheld the figures of Napoleon and his
generals pass that way again, and in
his child eyes smoIdered the inner light
of a seer of visions.