The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-07-21
"Jean Marie is not with your"

Il saw him at O'Clock going toward
the open sea. He will return later on, no
doubt. The catch will be great, it is said,
SO he is doubtless satisfied"
Turning toward % comrade, he said in a
low voice: God knows where Jean Marie
is sailing at this hour-the course that he
will tak&. 1t was hardly prudent to face
that big sea-"
A little bewildcred and with the blood
all gone from herbrain, Yvonne murmur-
ed, ''Ah, yes, he will surely return and
my boy with HIM"
With her elbows on the hard stone of
the parapet and her eyes fixed upon the
horizon she sat there without again speak
ing. In the evening she was still there.
Night came on, and the lighthouse threw
Its red light over the waves. She had not
moved and sat there as though fascinat-
ed, her eyes on the distance and muttering
to herself. fAll night she watched, her
fearless eyes burning from the salt of the
sea. When morning came, she had faint
ed, and they carried her away.
Days and nights went by. At every re-
turn of the tide she came back and took
her former position. All thought of her
husband seemed dulled, almost extin-
guished in her, but above the roar of the
breakers she cried out at intervals: "My
poor boy My poor boy! I should not have
done it'll The first time! 1t is not possiblel
The first time!"
Then from the depths of her bleeding
heart she hurled cries, curses, reproaehes,
shrieks, at the relentless sea. No one could
persuade her to return to Paimol to her
other children-to the nest of little Or
phans, in the midst of whom she might
find consolation. She wanted to stay at
Portrieux, to go morning and evening to
the pier where they had left her, where
she had seen them for the last time, to
wait there still, wait always.
The fishermen out of pity had not told
her all in order to leave her that supreme
refuge of the widows and mothers of sail
ors, hope, but as TO themselves they hoped
no longer. When they had returned, fee
ing before the fury of the northwest wind,
they had, in fact, met Jean Marie Rouzic,
and they advised him to go back with
them. Consumed with pride of his new
boat, he had refused, assuring them that
he would go to the islands if need be in
place OF accompanying them. Behind
them the tempest broke in all its fury,
and in the midst Of this night as black as
pitch those who were last had heard two
loud cries for help, the one more feeble
than the other, but to go to their aid, to
succor this boat IN distress, was impossi-
BILE.
Left to their fats. did the father, who was
an excellent swimmer, struggle bravely?
Did he bear up the son, who did not know
how to swim, until the fatal moment
when a great wave engulfed the two,
drowning in theif Threats the last cry the
cherished name Of her who would wait for
them always?
Toward the end of the month the New
foundlanders filed almost the entire har-
Dor of Portrieux with their big, heavy YES
sells. Even the hardest of them had come
back. One only WIS missing, the Desiree,
and nothing had been heard from her.
The relatives on shore were consumed
with fever of anxiety, waiting for those
who did not come Had there been dis
asters None of TIE fishermen who had re-
turned could give them any information.
Sobs, prayers, lamentations, now min
gled with the walls of the lonely Yvonne
Rouzic as flock of sea birds hover around
a mortally wounded comrade, while dread
ing similar fate for themselves She felt
sense of inward satisfaction, almost
selfish relief, to find that0thers were suf-
fering as well as herself-that she was not
alone in her sorrow.
Suddenly, one evening, just at the close
of day, the Desiyee was signaled. There
was delirium throughout the land, muir
INJURED joy that froated the length of the
pier, but Yvonne had never before wept so
much as now. AS the big vessel APP
preached, all along the bulwarks and in
the shrouds couls be seen the silhouettes
of men, who gesHiculated and waved their
hats and caps, and the wind, which was
blowing from the ocean, brought with it
snatches of joyous song repeated in chorus
by all the crew.
With breaking heart, Yvonne Rouzic
steadied herself against the parapet, while
tears fell in greab drops from the poor eyes
already so tired, 30 red, and her lips trem-
bled with conclusive sobs She seemed to
realize that all was over with her forever,
that she alone WAS unhappy, that no one
understood or shared in her grief any
longer.
The Desiree is IN port, and as the tide is
high she ties up alongside the pier The
cries, the calls Increase, names are shouted
from the boat to the pier, from the pier to
the boat. The little port is intoxicated
with joy. Yvcnne tries not to hear.
Yvonne puts her trembling fingers to her
ears, struggling to shut out this noise of
merrymaking that is maddening to her.
Yvonne is weak and fainting and wishes
to die.
Two arms seize her from behind; two
voices are sounding in her ears They are
doubtless those of the compassionate WON
en- who live near her, and who, wishing to
console her, are willing to carry her. if