The morning call., 1893-10-29

was indispensable as sole orchestra, and
was prepared to fiddle march on the JOY
GUS homeward promenade from church.
after the manner of the middle ages, when
the merrymakers went in procession
across the meadows. The bride had
shown the pride of the peasantry
in decking herself out in the costume
of the Lambalaise. with little more
lace than is usually displayed on the
wide spreading cuff. which is looped
around the head fantastically, but other
wise soberly gowned and shawled. with
little pocketed apron for her kerchef
and gloves, and buckied shoes, as becomes
BretOnne of the city. She looked CO.
quettishly jaunty as with Pere Jacques,
Blanche. NJ Ridel. the fish merchant; M.
Poulard, the proprietor of oyster parks;
Madame and Male Leroy, the milliners
and Veuve Sevestre of tine grocery oppo-
site the Pigeon Blanc, she stepped into the
hall of the Marie for the civil ceremony
as preliminary to the ecclesiastical,
which all the good BretonS look uDon as
the real marriage. But the widows buoy
ant spirits were little dashed by the dis
coverY that the rotund Bouu had not ar
rived. He was just little out of breath,
perhaps, coming uphill, said the comfort
ers. and they were ready with other PX-
cuSes when the minutes ran past with
painful Indifference to their lacerated no.
tlnns of punctnallty.
The Pere Jacques thought of his own by
gone years. and how long it was since be
had carried bouquet for his bride, and
the widow recalled the promptitude of the
defuuct LetaQuennou when he led her to
the altar year before the war. But still
the time was ticked off by the demonstra-
tive clock at the Marie and no BOulu in
sight, which implied that he was not any
where In the vicinity as he was passably
ldentifiabe object When noon came and
the bridegroom still tarried thedoOrXeeper
VPrdler sighed for his dejeuner and van
ished fee at the same time and looked COM
passionately at the perpleXed group as
much as 10 say that marriages were not
always joyful.
Then the widow grew petulant and
nettled, then she chided man in general
for perfidy and fin ally few tears relieved
her pent-uD feelings, and off she set down
the Rue Saint-Pair for the Pigeon Blanc.
hoping to escape observation by taking an
| obscure route. The feast awaited the
feasters, but in the absence of Boulu no.
body had any appetite. and even the dap
per tailor had not the courage to screw up
one string of the violin, and kept that
mirth-eyoking companion serenely dor
| mant in its bag. The Pigeon Blanc had
never known so sad a day. and 1t was all
owing TO the vagrant but unfortunate
Bnulu, VIII ose absence was so unaccount-
able.
Now what had happened to the errant
skipper was very simple, as the destinies
of sailors are horoscoped. On the Friday
the good man had gone to st. Malo by dill
gence to arrange little surprise for his
bride, and he quite succeeded beyond ex-
pectations. He had ordered a beautiful
little watch. bespangled with three clusters
of tiny jewels and enameled in azure. with
a design of the I.0up in calm, and the
matchmaker had not been able to construct
such n exquisite lady'S chrOnOmeter lin
self, but had to send therefor to Paris.
The Partisan horlOgerie had no doubt re-
solved to produce a proper work of ART,
which requires time to finish. and the
st. Malo tradesman had sOlemnly vowed
1t should be in Boulu'S possession on
the eve of the wedding; if not he was to
be pitched headlong from the Port Rou-
liant, which would have been quite as
dreadful as a header from the Tarpeian
Rock, since it would have broken his neck.
Now the leweler was overwhelmed with
grief when he expectant bridegroom cast
Il shadow across the greater part of his
shop, upon being informed that the fairy
present was not yet in st. Malo. But the
letter adv sing It's dispatch had arrived.
There il was, explicit in date and informa-
tion, and unless the heavens fell, thing
that had never happened since the days
when the dogs patrolled the town, the
watch would be there in the morning.
IniS cOm1orteu B0uIu, whose Sangulne
trustfulneSs Immediately drew picture of
his bride gazing at the watch and himself
as commander of the Loup in the azure
enamel. and the diligence at 6 o'clock in
the morning would lard him in Cancale be-
fore the widow had time TO inquire Tor
him. With this roseate forecast of events
cheerfully conjured up, he strolled past the
cathedral, without confessing. down to
the harDor quay, and there met at one of
the coZy haunts where mariners flock
several other Terre Neuve shippers, re-
markably urbane. although personally
they had no greater success in life than
safe return from the fishery with good
cargo.
The pilot. who had often boarded
Boulu's schooner and navigated it into
the roads of ST. Malo, invited party of
pleasure on board his lugger in honor of
the captain and his impending transIa-
tion out of celi5acy, and the afternoon
being bright and inviting, nothing more
agreeable among friends could be pro-
posed The lugger put out to sea, got
more breeze in the offing than was neces-
sary for G pleasure trip, had to take shell
ter in the lee of the Isles de Chaussey,
equally distant from ST. Malo and Can
Gale, and then had to beat back next day
against clustering head wind Bv the
time the captain got back to ST. Malo he
should have been five mortal hours Bene-
dick, and being still a bachelor he drifted
altogether from the moorings of COM