Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1908-12-25

to her God in that living gale.
And then, as IL in mockery Of ali
things human, a mighty wave, might
Ter than any of its fellows, and fol
lowing in the wake of two scarcely
less mighty, broke over the Bretagne,
and buried her beneath its many tons
of foam-lashed water. The vessel
swayed, trembled and disappeared be
fore their very eyes.
Two men were holding Marie now,
II will go to him! He is calling mel"
she shrieked. 20, God! will no one
save him?"
The bronzed faces OF the flsher-folb
were turned away each from the other
The salt spray was on their boards,
but in their eyes was that of which
they were ashamed.
Then they led her back to the house,
the little house that Leon had taken
her to only few weeks ago. And
two of them watched into the gray OF
the morning, for meath oil skins the
fishers hearts are warm.
That was the third night, and still
she slept not The storm was dying
now, and moaning, together they
passed away-the fury of grief and the
rage of the storm. And for that day,
and for many days the great grief had
broken her mind.
Storm and sunshine, day in and
day out, she sat down on the beach,
and questioned the passers as to how
many days to Christmas till her Leon
would come home; for had he not
said that he would come at Christ
mas, at the glad time of the year, and
was not his word as the law among
the fisher-folk, it was so true? And
. did she not pray every night to the
Holy Mother to intercede for her, and
bring her Leon home? And the
masses that had been said for Leon,
were they not to bring him home,
too?
Poor little Marie, her mind, which
was like unto a child's, could not un-
derstand that the mass which Father
Dupre had said, had been to take him
to that other home; for the good fa-
ther had said mass for the repose of
the souls of the men lying out there
in LIE Bretagne.
And then a wonderful thing hap
pened. Many days after, at the time
of Christmas, again the cry of LIE
Bretagne rang through the streets of
Arichat; and again was there much of
horror in the cry, for though the sea
was calm now, there was LIE Bretagne
slowly sailing into port and was not
lie Bretagne at the bottom of the sea,
and all hands drowned?
Small wonder that the Drowned
faces were blanched now, as the
fisher-folk lined up on the sand, as
they had on that day two moons be-
fore.
What sorcery is this?" they asked
each other 1t was La Bretagne. they
know her as they knew their own
houses. Spirit hands were sailing her,
for on her decks no one moved.
A solemn hush settled down upon
them; few spoke, and when they did
1t was with bated breath. What evil
was this? for good it could not be.
Twas Marie who had first seen the
ship. Had her prayers worked this
magic?
Nearer and nearer the dread ship
came, until but a short way out from
the shore she stopped, and swung to
an anchor. Invisible hands had an
chored her, for there was the cable
right enough, running out from her
bow, as she lifted lazily to the long
ground swell.
Take me to my Leon" Marie plead
ed of the awe-struck fishermen, "he is
calling me. Do you not see that his
boats are washed away?"
Shamed by the presence of the wom-
en-, four stout fishermen brought up a
boat, and, taking Marie with them,
rowed off to the ship that was like a
phantom.
Stay with us, ma petite amie,' the
fisherwomen pleaded with Marie. AS
well had they striven to check the
ways of the wind.
How silent the ship was as the boat
glided under her stern! Not a sound,
not voice; no movement, only the
lap, lap, lap of the waters against her
wooden sides.
The men crossed themselves as Du-
mont, the bravest fisherman in all
Arichat, rose up, and, with blanched
cheeks, caught his boat hook in LIE
Bretagne's rail.
How low she was in the water; as
they stood up in their boat they could
see across her deck-not across did
they see, for half way they saw some.
thing which caused them to shudder,
and beg of little Marie to stop in the
boat.
But Marie had risen and seen, too,
and with cry that rang in the ears
of those four men until their dying
day, she sprang up the side of the
ship, and stood on the slippery, Shiny
deck.
Her Leon was there, lashed to the
mast She threw herself upon his
poor bloated form.