The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-08-19

= - ~ " Lud6lcE. " II
The following Saturday, after q terri
Die tempest, the fishing feet returned
to Treport, laden with a fine catch Of |
nsh. Master Fourier looked quickly |
to see II the English three-master was |
at the quay, but she was not there. |
D1sembarking, he learned that the |
Harding had gone down in sight of
~Spithead, and that all on board had |
been lost.
Harry Evans, then, was dead. His
wife alone knew the truth; he would
not dare to question her; he would
never know the truth-he would doubt !
her always!
From that time every one in Treport
remarked that Master Fournier had
grown taciturn; they asked his wife the
reason, but she replied evasively that
she did not know.
Her husbands sadness made her yery
unhappy, but she grew more tender to
him than ever, she sought to anticipate
all his wishes-but he had no wishes
he never complained now. His sailors
found him rougher than before and
more avaricious. He often returned to
Treport on Sunday morning and left
again the same evening, without O
nights rest.
One week he came back on Tuesday.
and the news spread that the st. Lau-
n had brought back the corpse of q
drowned man. According to the Gus
tom of that part of the coast, Master
Fourier had given orders to return to
port, losing his catch of fish, in order to
bury the dead.
Accompanied by two of his sailors,
he made his deposition before the CON-
missioner, and the latter had him sign
the declaration that the body of g.
drowned man had been recovered by
the Saint Laurent at a point fifteen
miles south-southwest of Spithead, the
head having almost disappeared and
the arms reduced to the bones; meas
uring five feet ten inches in height;
dressed In a blue wooden shirt, trousers
OF gray cloth, and neckerchief of red
cotton; no papers, no marks to estab-
lish identity; supposed, from the place
of drowning, to have been one Of the
crew of the Harding"
Early the next morning q funeral
proc ession traversed the village and
bore to the little church the remains of
the unknown sailor found by the st,
Laurent. Behind the coffin walked the
sailors of the st. Laurent, their master
at their head, and behind the men came
the wives or mothers Of the sailors.
The religious ceremony was brief,
but respectfully followed, and the un-
known dead was conducted to the
cemetery by the great family Of SAIL.
Ors of Treport, who honor themselves
in thus honoring the remains of others.
A special fund Is supported by them
to defray the expenses of such cere-
monies.
Get yourselves ready" announced
Master Fourier to his men; 1--WE 90 to
sea directly"
He and his wife remained at the GEM
etery while the trench was being filed.
When they raised their eyes, they saw
the sea lying at rest under a leaden
sky, and all objects, the quay, the beach
and the harbor, seemed softened by the
mist that enveloped them. 1t was
a day of infinite calm, filled with the
gentle melancholy that men of the sea
feel when the sun goes down.
Fourier led his wife to a little knoll.
a few PAGES away from the cemetery.
He wished to speak with her without
witnesses. "
Wife," he said, do you know for
whom you have come to pray?"
She trembled and pressed her hus-
bands hand. She had never seen him
so solemn.
"The nan we have just buried was
Harry Evans-Wait!!'
Nine. Fournier turned pale. Her
husband rendered her a paper, stained
as if with water. ID
"Wife, / have doubted you. My pun
ishment is to accus myself of it. I
read the letter he dared to write to
you-and I have been very miserable.
The other night, when this drowned
man was found, I alone searched him.
I could not show to others, not even to
the commissioner, the only paper he
had IN. him, in a little bag Of oiled silk.
The water had dimmed it q little, but
/ have read it nevertheless"
1t was the answer written to the
handsome English sailor by Nine. Four
nier.
! Sir: I love my husband-that Is the
sole answer ! can make to your letter.
I shall say nothing to my husband,
for he would kill you. Never come
here again.
"Wife, do you forgive me?'
suffered"
From that day Master Fournier grew
young and gay again; but nothing can
keep him from going out with all sails
set:@Translated for the Argonaut from
the French of Pierre Sales.