The record-union., 1898-09-19

her and bit my teeth in her arm. I can
| still hear her scream! But l could only
| say, in answer to all reproaches: Why
did you die? Oh, will you ever die
| again.
When Ernest Renan was five years
old and his sister just turned seven
| teen, their fathers ship came into Ire
guier port without skipper. None
has solved the mystery of the end of
Captain Renan. Did the sea wash him
overheard? Did he seek in suicide the
bitter remedy for his troubles? His
coast of Erqui He died in debt. Not
mere anxiety, but real poverty, was
| henceforth the portion of his little
| household.
| Every one at Treguier knew and re-
| spected the Remains. The widow was
| left undisturbed in her little home; her
creditors were confident she would pay
off, little by little, her heavy inheri-
| tance. But it is difficult for an inexper-
fenced woman to earn, for the mother
Of three children to save. I suppose
| they had some thoughts of letting the
little Treguier home, for after the un-
| happy shippers death, when Alain left
to make his way in Paris, Nine. Renan,
Henriette and Ernest removed to Ian
nion, where the widow had the support
and comfort of her own family, re-
| spectacle and well-to-do people Of the
| trading class. Neither Henriette nor
Ernest liked the change.
The country between the sea and
Lannion is the very cradle of romance.
On the sandy shore near Pelstin, King
| Arthur fought the dragon; at Kerdluel
he held his court. Scarce a gunshot
| from the coast there CLEANS the Isle Of
Avalon. But in the most romantic
| nelghborhood the life of a country town
| is essentially commonplace The uncles
and aunts Of the little Remains had not
| much in common with Launcelot or
Enid.
These small shopkeepers, in their
trivial and difficult prosperity, these
| worthy Marthas troubled about many
| things, had little in common. either.
with our two immature idealists. Hen
riette especially felt the transatlantic
ton. Her delicate and tender spirit
seemed to soar ever upward, like the
| distant spire of Treguier, further. from
this to solid earth. Homesick for Tre-
|
| father Henriette Renan saw nothing
In the world to tempt her from her wish
| to enter convent. Ernest was the
connoant OF her vocation, and their
| happiest moments were these winter ev-
enlngs when they would slip away to
church together, the tall sister walking
brlskly With little Ernest completely
hidden under the ample folds of her
Breton cloak. Which was the happier
tnen! She. God in her heart, the child
she loved at her knees? Or the little
lad himself, delighted to move in this
warm, loving darkness, clinging to his
sisters skirts, crunching under his feet
the fresh, firm snow? Long afterward.
| this would still be their relation. on the
one side tender guidance, on the other
| confident and happy clinging; and.
as long as she lived, the cloak of Hen
rlette Renan comforted her brother in
| this frosty world
1t was Ernest, after all, who proved
| the chief obstacle to Henriette's yoca-
ton; Ernests future and her fathers
memory. The poor child. with her DEL
| lcale sense OF honor, could not rest
| happy till those debts were paid. How
was her mother to pay them? Or Alain
IN his prentice years? 1t was all very
well for the creditors to be patient: un-
til the last sou was paid her fathers
name was that Of a bankrupt And
| then, Ernesti
| One day Henriette noticed a certain
careful awkwardness in the gait off her
little brother, always a slow and
heavy child. Her attention discovered
his tinfd endeavor to hide an unseen
ly rent in his baby garments. Poor
child! Such a humble little effort to
be decent in tatters, was too much for
Henriette's vocation From that mo-
ment the convent was done with. She
burst into tears and vowed to devote
herself henceforth to the welfare of
this patient brother. who, with deli
cate Instincts, seemed destined to cope
unaided with the sordfd struggle for
! existence
From that moment Henriette Renan
was the head of the household. Young
as she was, mere girl. inexperienced,
she resolved to get the better of ILL
fortune. The resolve of Breton is a
very dogged thing. Like that stone
which Yorkshireman keeps seven
years in his pocket before he turns it,
and them seven years more before he
i filings 1T, the resolve of Breton is a
thing which can bide it's time. None