Pierre And His People | Page 3

to the sermon I was
also reading the psalms. I came upon these words, "Free among the
Dead like unto them that are wounded and lie in the grave, that are out
of remembrance," and this text, which I used in the story 'The Patrol of
the Cypress Hills', became, in a sense, the text for all the stories which
came after. It seemed to suggest the lives and the end of the lives of the
workers of the pioneer world.
So it was that Pierre and His People chiefly concerned those who had
been wounded by Fate, and had suffered the robberies of life and time
while they did their work in the wide places. It may be that my readers
have found what I tried, instinctively, to convey in the pioneer life I
portrayed--"The soul of goodness in things evil." Such, on the whole,
my observation had found in life, and the original of Pierre, with all his
mistakes, misdemeanours, and even crimes, was such an one as I would
have gone to in trouble or in hour of need, knowing that his face would
never be turned from me.
These stories made their place at once. The 'Patrol of the Cypress Hills'

was published first in 'The Independent' of New York and in
'Macmillan's Magazine' in England. Mr. Bliss Carman, then editor of
'The Independent', eagerly published several of them--'She of the Triple
Chevron' and others. Mr. Carman's sympathy and insight were a great
help to me in those early days. The then editor of 'Macmillan's
Magazine', Mr. Mowbray Morris, was not, I think, quite so sure of the
merits of the Pierre stories. He published them, but he was a little
credulous regarding them, and he did not pat me on the back by any
means. There was one, however, who made the best that is in 'Pierre
and His People' possible; this was the unforgettable W. E. Henley,
editor of The 'National Observer'. One day at a sitting I wrote a short
story called 'Antoine and Angelique', and sent it to him almost before
the ink was dry. The reply came by return of post: "It is almost, or quite,
as good as can be. Send me another." So forthwith I sent him 'God's
Garrison', and it was quickly followed by 'The Three Outlaws', 'The
Tall Master', 'The Flood', 'The Cipher', 'A Prairie Vagabond', and
several others. At length came 'The Stone', which brought a telegram of
congratulation, and finally 'The Crimson Flag'. The acknowledgment of
that was a postcard containing these all too-flattering words: "Bravo,
Balzac!" Henley would print what no other editor would print; he gave
a man his chance to do the boldest thing that was in him, and I can
truthfully say that the doors which he threw open gave freedom to an
imagination and an individuality of conception, for which I can never
be sufficiently grateful.
These stories and others which appeared in 'The National Observer', in
'Macmillan's', in 'The English Illustrated Magazine' and others made
many friends; so that when the book at length came out it was received
with generous praise, though not without some criticism. It made its
place, however, at once, and later appeared another series, called 'An
Adventurer of the North', or, as it is called in this edition, 'A Romany of
the Snows'. Through all the twenty stories of this second volume the
character of Pierre moved; and by the time the last was written there
was scarcely an important magazine in the English-speaking world
which had not printed one or more of them. Whatever may be thought
of the stories themselves, or of the manner in which the life of the Far
North was portrayed, of one thing I am sure: Pierre was true to the
life--to his race, to his environment, to the conditions of pioneer life

through which he moved. When the book first came out there was some
criticism from Canada itself, but that criticism has long since died away,
and it never was determined.
Plays have been founded on the 'Pierre' series, and one in particular,
'Pierre of the Plains', had a considerable success, with Mr. Edgar
Selwyn, the adapter, in the main part. I do not know whether, if I were
to begin again, I should have written all the Pierre stories in quite the
same way. Perhaps it is just as well that I am not able to begin again.
The stories made their own place in their own way, and that there is
still a steady demand for 'Pierre and His People' and 'A Romany of the
Snows' seems evidence that the editor of an important magazine in
New York who declined to recommend them for publication to his firm
(and later published several of the same series)