{"id":"01KG8AMZ1XHFD7CWFD2XVGJGHH","cid":"bafkreiciow5gubx5tmtkeg3dr53fq3kfrtpidfo2zegdorfjsup7hhmglm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1361,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.918Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","start_line":1306,"text":"III.\r\n\r\nIn the fine old robust times of Pierre's grandfather, an American\r\ngentleman of substantial person and fortune spent his time in a somewhat\r\ndifferent style from the green-house gentlemen of the present day. The\r\ngrandfather of Pierre measured six feet four inches in height; during a\r\nfire in the old manorial mansion, with one dash of his foot, he had\r\nsmitten down an oaken door, to admit the buckets of his negro slaves;\r\nPierre had often tried on his military vest, which still remained an\r\nheirloom at Saddle Meadows, and found the pockets below his knees, and\r\nplenty additional room for a fair-sized quarter-cask within its buttoned\r\ngirth; in a night-scuffle in the wilderness before the Revolutionary\r\nWar, he had annihilated two Indian savages by making reciprocal\r\nbludgeons of their heads. And all this was done by the mildest hearted,\r\nand most blue-eyed gentleman in the world, who, according to the\r\npatriarchal fashion of those days, was a gentle, white-haired worshiper\r\nof all the household gods; the gentlest husband, and the gentlest\r\nfather; the kindest of masters to his slaves; of the most wonderful\r\nunruffledness of temper; a serene smoker of his after-dinner pipe; a\r\nforgiver of many injuries; a sweet-hearted, charitable Christian; in\r\nfine, a pure, cheerful, child-like, blue-eyed, divine old man; in whose\r\nmeek, majestic soul, the lion and the lamb embraced--fit image of his\r\nGod.\r\n\r\nNever could Pierre look upon his fine military portrait without an\r\ninfinite and mournful longing to meet his living aspect in actual life.\r\nThe majestic sweetness of this portrait was truly wonderful in its\r\neffects upon any sensitive and generous-minded young observer. For such,\r\nthat portrait possessed the heavenly persuasiveness of angelic speech; a\r\nglorious gospel framed and hung upon the wall, and declaring to all\r\npeople, as from the Mount, that man is a noble, god-like being, full of\r\nchoicest juices; made up of strength and beauty.\r\n\r\nNow, this grand old Pierre Glendinning was a great lover of horses; but\r\nnot in the modern sense, for he was no jockey;--one of his most intimate\r\nfriends of the masculine gender was a huge, proud, gray horse, of a\r\nsurprising reserve of manner, his saddle-beast; he had his horses'\r\nmangers carved like old trenchers, out of solid maple logs; the key of\r\nthe corn-bin hung in his library; and no one grained his steeds, but\r\nhimself; unless his absence from home promoted Moyar, an incorruptible\r\nand most punctual old black, to that honorable office. He said that no\r\nman loved his horses, unless his own hands grained them. Every Christmas\r\nhe gave them brimming measures. \"I keep Christmas with my horses,\" said\r\ngrand old Pierre. This grand old Pierre always rose at sunrise; washed\r\nhis face and chest in the open air; and then, returning to his closet,\r\nand being completely arrayed at last, stepped forth to make a\r\nceremonious call at his stables, to bid his very honorable friends there\r\na very good and joyful morning. Woe to Cranz, Kit, Douw, or any other of\r\nhis stable slaves, if grand old Pierre found one horse unblanketed, or\r\none weed among the hay that filled their rack. Not that he ever had\r\nCranz, Kit, Douw, or any of them flogged--a thing unknown in that\r\npatriarchal time and country--but he would refuse to say his wonted\r\npleasant word to them; and that was very bitter to them, for Cranz, Kit,\r\nDouw, and all of them, loved grand old Pierre, as his shepherds loved\r\nold Abraham.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS090RCJAXBZYBTDPKMJ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMZ1X74NAZV9HYH84JNPH","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:54.333Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:02.921Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}