The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-07-27

bachelor, who cared for the little one.
She was a good and pretty child, mon.
sieur; courageous and sweet tempered.
We very often went to the rocks at low
tide to gather turtles, shrimps, prawn
and sometimes we were fortunate enough
to find IL lobster. All, but we were gooi
friends!
This went Oh for about two years.
! Mona had made her first communion,
grown and shot up like il thistle in the
+, sand. But L day the Amelia, LIZ
Magnet $ boat, was overtaken IN a storm
and wrecked. The skipper did not hau.
Ill his sail oen enough, and the boat
struck on that reef you can see owe,
ta..@-Just a little more to tne star
board. There We're fGur me III the crew
the skipper, two sailors and my poor
Pierre. But the sea only gave up three
Of the drowned mel and retained my
eomrade. Mona became an orphan. 1t
goes without saying that did my best
to replace her f2tiler. But tho child,
even after the first sorrow passed away,
tAlNl Iipt SttIli W SpiiSO4t iitLStll. TtlItt uO
you know why, monsieur: Because of
III idea al the women around here have.
They believe that "a soul must remain in
pain unto the judgment day unless it re-
loses i'll coEsecrated ground. We men
do not believe i'll all this NONSENSE when
we know what happens when there is Il
death on beard ship. But Mona could
,,1% - f,,Ao1 - i1,-,- .J[--41-
Women had taught her and continued 10
burn candles at all the p~ar6ons in the
Eelghboring towns for the repose of her
fathers soul.
However, i'll spite of everything,
tlae Is q famous merchant of forgetful-
ness, and Mona after a few years APP
peared to me to become somewhat rec
onclled. Besides. her grief had o pre-
vented her from growing kandso:ner and
taking a pride i'll herself, and it is not
because | loved her like q father, but,
upon my honor, she was the freshest
and prettiest yonng girl in the parish.
We lived SO happily together. We We're
not rich, to be sure, but we lived, ard
We enjoyed ourselves all the same. |
had my pension and my medal, and
then we used to go together to hunt for
Holsters i'll the rocks. The trade is a
paying one, and there is only one danger,
that of being oyertaken by the tide.
All, unfortunately that was how she
met her death, poor little one!
Z"One day when my rheumatism con
fined me to the house she went fishing
alone. 1t was just such a day as today,
the sky clear, the wind high. When the
rock searchers gathered together with
full baskets, they perceived that Mona
failed to respond to their calls. There
was nc possible doubt. Great God, she
had been delayed and surrounded by the
rising tide! She had been drowned!
All, what q night l passed, monsieur!
AT my age, yes, a hard hearted man
like me, l sobbed like a woman. And
the remembrance came to ne of the
poor child's belief that to go to heaven
she must be inferred in consecrated
ground. Therefore as soon as the tide
went down | went to the shore, and.
with the others, searched for the BODY.
And we found poor Nona," con-
timed the old sailor in a trembling
voice. 1--WE found her on a rock covered
with seaweed. where, knowing that she
was going to die, the poor little n had
prepared herself for death. Yes, mon
sieur, she had tied her skirts below the
knees with her fichu, through modesty,
and with her old idea uppermost had
attached herself to the seaweed by her
hair, her beautiful black hair, certain
she would thus be found and in
tered i'll consecrated ground. And l can
l, who know what bravery is, that |
there IS perhaps not q man brave enough |
to do likewise"
The old man was silent. By the last
CLEAN of the twilight l saw two great !
rolling down his weather beaten
We descended to the village side
by side in silence. I was profoundly
touched by this simple girls courage,
who, even in the agonies of death, had
retained the modesty of her sex and the
plety OF her race, and before me in the
Instant immensely, in the solitudes OF
the heavens and the sea, cleaned out
The beacon lights and the stars.
oh, brave men of the sea! Oh, noble
Brittany!-From the French of Francois
For Romance.