Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-06-25

ana death. 1t was the morning-you
will know before / say it-when Jean
Philippe Moison, in his lovely purple
clothes, came mincing down the grav-
eled drive. as if afraid of spelling his
good shoes-and l think he was-to
the seislieur, who taught us to ride
Coo. Do you remember how your IA
Their Numbered at him?
strange monsieur to see me? I'M
possible! I am engaged. Tell him I
will not see him.
And Jean Philippe smiling. for all
OF e understood the seigneur. and
saying gently, Yes, my seigneur,'
turned away with the message. And
Your father shouted after him:
Stop! Come back there! What do
you mean by that? Bring the monsieur
to me- And the purple clothes disap-
peared and appeared again in a few
minutes cleaning in the sun against
the gray old walls-I can see it all now,
AliXe-ike a large violet blossom of
a strange flower. And behind Jean
Phllhpe was a tall man in a long
travelling cloak and behind him a tall
little boy. And as they came the seig-
neur turned to go to meet them, and
stopped and stared. And the monsieur
in the cloak stopped N stared; and
you, mounted on Coz, and /, holding
Coq's bride, watched c%uriously, be-
cause of the other child, and we saw
how the seigneur suddenly began to
shake as if i'll, and then with a hoarse
shout rushed to the tall man and threw
his arms about him and held him and
sobbed aloud. That was a strange thing
to see the seigneur do, and I never for
got 1t. And to think that the child who
stood there, shy n unknown, vas
Pletro! 1t seems unreasonable that
ever there was a time when you and
Pietro and / did not know one another
we'll.
"As 1 rode that day, with the Aus
TRANS after me. l thought out the whole
chain OF events; how Pietro had come
and had stayed while his father, the
ted into u life and become deal to us,
the big, beautiful, silent lad. And how
then, because of the death of the mar
quis, Pietro had come under the charge
Of your father, the seigneur, and how
he and l went away together to the
like brothers and-all the rest. 1 need
not recite those things to you, yet 1
like to do 1t. My thoughts, in that
Wild, dangerous moment, seemed to &c
in detail through all, from the morn
ing that the Marquis Zappi arrived
through the 10 years of our life togetl-
er, to my coming into Italy as his Sec
retary-and from that, by a rapid step,
to this castle prison."
The rest of the letter belongs to a
later part of the story. That little Pie
tro Zappi should be led into the mar
rative by the hand Of his closest friend
was the object for which the letter was
introduced, and, that accomplished, the
course of history bends back to the
qu1et Valley Delesnoates and the chill
dren growing w under the shadow Of
the castle towers.
The general, sitting in his library the
n ~ i n O ftnv, fJ,n - ,osyrD
in the quoted letter, stared at his old
friend from under his heavy brows
as if trying vigorously to convince
himself of his presence. The mar
.quis, an Italian Of North Italy,
tall and proud and quiet, had the air
little the air, also of N invalid, for he
stopped and walked languidly, and a
cough caught him at times. He was
talking, on that morning in the library,
while the general listened; it was not
the u order of things. Work on the
book had beer given over; the young
secretary had oeen ordered out to play
and outside, through the open window,
one heard the children's voices in
shouts and laughter. Alike and Fran
co.'s were teaching Pietro to ride Cog.
The marquis turned his head toward
the window a little as the sounds Of
gaiety floated in n smiled gently, and
the general frowned f~erociously, which
meant the same thing.
so o see, Gaspard," the marquis
went on in his quiet reticent way, that
| have believed in our old friendship.
| v taken for granted a welcome for
my boy-1 could not have done it with
another man. The voyage to America
and my stay there will last, it may be
a year. l can not take the boy with
me-he is too young to travel as I
must. His brother died two years ago.
his mother is just dead; he is lonely;
l could not leave him in Castelforte
alone with servants. So / thought Of
my old friend, Gaspard Gourgaud, and
of what We had suffered together, and
how suffering binds people; and 1
thought of words you said once, Gas
pard, that If a time should come when
/ needed you, no matter when or how.
you would be ready. S~o-though L
know that men in general forget and
live in the present, and fret to be re-
called to dead friendships-yet l dared
believe You were different. have
brought Pietro to leave him with you
if you will have him, while / go to
America"
Nothing could AVE gons beyond the
-saTageness of the generals face as his
friend finished speaking. His eyes
flashed fire. his eyebrows gathered in
to a line of bushy defiance, his mouth
set grimly; he was a living threat of
ooUuNi ~ odttSIy- Ills voice CAME
with a fierce rumble, well suited to his
look. IF o had not done ii, AIessan-
dro," he growled, "if you had not trust
ed me, TT" and with that the thun-
der storm broke down.
This old officer of Napoleon had, af-
ter all his battle and killings, the sim
plicity and the heart of his own little
girl. But he leared his throat hurried
ly with a bravado of carelessness, and
before the marquis could do more than
smile at him wistfuily, he went on.
1T is all settled; there was no need
Of a word; Pietro is my son till you
claim him from me-, and glad enough /
am to get him for as long as ] may. /
nave a lien on a very good name of
boy already, young Francois Beaupre.
whom / wished to adopt. but the lad
would not give up his parents. And
that makes me more eager for another.
They will play better together and
work better together, and they will be
a good brace of brothers for my Alike
Your Alike" the marquis spoke re-
flectively. she is a charming per-
SON.. that little woman Of yours"
Again the general looked as IL in a
terrific age. "She is the best thing
that lives he announced and suddenly
smiled. "Alessandro. shall I tell you
what flashed into my head before you
Pfetro had been here an hour 2.
What then?'
Il saw the children-your how AMI