Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1908-12-18

eyes Spaward. Her anchors al ou;"
he continued but she caanot liv1 in
sues a gale under that strain and II
sh" parts her cable she will so to
pieces on the rocks
His words were scarcely audible
above the shrieking o. the wind: but
Marie heard, and there, among those
rough fishermen, she knelt and prayed,
over and over again. out of the chok
Ing fulness of her heart, Holy yinther.
save my Leon" The awful sole.lnity
on the scene touched their rough
hearts. and hats were doffeG. and
heads bowed, as the young wife prayed
to her God in that living gale.
And then. as if in mockery Of all
lhlnSs human, 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 t ..ns
Of foam dashed water The vessel
sway"d. trembled and disappeared be-
fore their very eyes
Two men were holding Marie now.
Il will go to him. He is calling me-"
she shrieked 20. God, will no one
save him."
The bronzed faces of the fishcr-folk
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 tisher-folk, it was SO true? And
did she not pray every night to the
Hoy 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 chi!d'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 ia.
Their 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 blanchcd now, as the
fisher-folk lined up on the sand. as
they had on that day two moons be
fore.
What sorcery is ths?" they asked
each other. 1t was La Brctagne. they
know her as they knew their own
houses Spirit hands were sailing her.
for on her decks no one moved.
\ solemn hush settled down upon
them; few spoke. and when they did
ii 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
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 WON
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 annie" the
tisherwomen pleaded with Marie. AS
we'll 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 |
Archat, rose up, and, with blanched
cheeks, caught his boat hook in LIE
Bretagne's rail.
How low she was in the witer. 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 a 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, la.hed to the
mast. She threw herself upon his