River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-02-14

And he splashed away with his bare
foot.
The little shoe tossed from one side to
another, and finally it filed with water
Jeanne looked up and said, "Naughty
boy Put on your shoe quick w
Just then somebody touched her shout
der. Ii was a stranger from Paris, per.
haps. This seemed probable from the
naughty air, which people from the city
always have, and also from his cold, harsh
look and pale countenance.
want boat" said the strange per-
son, "to 60 into toe citing" Jacques APP.
preached. "If you like, sir, am ready.
Here Fan0rm
"W hat! take that brute along with us ?
Horrid cur he is filthy and smells of old
fish. can't bear him for companion
II will rot 60 without my dog" said
Jacques.
"Come" said the stranger, "thls beast
is ofno use. Twill give you louis to
leave the dog Jacques looked at his
wife hesitatingly. Jeanne was pale. The
stranger tossed the louis in his hand.
just then Ange cried, My shoe has
gone to the bottomw And Jeanne said.
DON'T 90 without the dog"
Soon the Fine. Angnille left the shore,
and, breaking through the rosy water,
disappeared in the distance, like a faint
cloud.
Jeanne turned toward the house, carry
ing her child, whose little bare foot hung
over her dress.
! Whom she reached the heights, she turn
ed to scan the horizon. She saw a thick
gray band stretched along 1t. Seized with
anxious forebodlngs, she paused
Will it be fair 2" she asked of Father
Lucas, the COW herd. "What sort of
night will they have over by the Thunder
Rocks and the White Mare and in the
ofing?p
Father Lucas in turn scanned the hori.
zon.
"Fine-Anguille is a good boat" saiG he,
and passed on with his cows.
at is the wind" thought Jeanne, us
Ange by an unconscious movement cover.
ed his foot with her apron. at is the
wind God be merciful to us ~ Then she
entered the house.
At ten O'Clock gusts began to blow. The
waves moaned piteously Jeanne could
not sleep. But neither the moaning of
wind nor wave could disturb Ange as he
lay wrapped snugly in his little cradle.
His mother struck light. One is not so
much frightened when one can sea clear
ly, Then il seems as if any one could do
anything.
"The wind o my God the wind"
cried Jeanne. "B ut at any rate Fanor is
with them.n
Then, as everything creaked and moan
ed around her, she fell into a slight slum-
Der. She saw the great sea with its
tright!ul CULTS, its white yswning mouth,
its threatening r'cks, and its deceitful
shoals. She saw her child on the beach
splashing the water with his naked foot.
She saw the little wooden shoe which had
been wrecked. Then she heard the voice
OF Ange murmuriDg, I'll make a Storm
Jeanne trembled.
Then, as the roof Of the cottage moved
and creakcd she remembered how the
waves had entered the little shoe.
All at once, she rose up and took Ange,
fast asleep, in her arms. 1t was raining
hard, and the wind blue strongly. She lit
lantern a sudden gust put it out, and
she was left in the darkness. But the surf
made so much noise that it served as a
guide She reached the beach in safely.
"Ange o Ange if Fine Anguillo has
persisted"
The belfry of Larmor stood back in the
sombre night, and the sea dashed its white
foam at the very steps of the church.
Jeanne seated herself on the damp sill
and wrapped Ange in her cloak, waited
with Ion ing eyes, counting every wave
Slowly the day broke and the storm
abated as the sun rose. Il shone first on
the fortress of Port Louis, then along the
rest of the coast; and Jeanne saw the
little wooden shoe broken among the peb-
bles-" Broken and yet so light it ought
to have Aoated -
Then Jeanne saw the Fine. Anguille
Her sail was REM and tattered. Her
broken mast hung half in the water. All
that could be hoped that they would come
in with the tide, and that Jacques would
be able to avoid the rocks. Perhaps they
still preserved their oars. As she listened
oftN kANhEht SUI hthAd AhNAA HAAlhlhE vi
the row-locks bu: no, it was the wind.
The broken mast might still serve to hold
them of the rocks. Already sho could
hear Fanor's voice. But ON the heaving
plain her glance could barely follow the
little craft Finally as a sudden CAST blew
afresh, it disappeared altogether
Jeanne closed her eyes. And when they
re.opened, Jacques and Fanor we're beside
her. Jacques was pale Fanor, with red
distended nostrils, and painting, shook the
water from his shaggy coat.
Well, said Jacques, tive have been
very unlucky! We beat all night against
the wind wished 10 come in last night
after we had doubled the citadel | knew
It wouldblow. But the fool Of a Partisan
would see the ofting! lie is dead now.
/ God have mercy on him | have never