The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-11-21
SHE DARED The SEA
BY JACK NORMAN.

CcuIuTy As5uy tAOdS0ANS ~
who had Just left that part OF England
now called Wales to avoid the rule OF
the Norman.
How strange and rude that Brittany!
How rough and picturesque her peo-
| pie! arid a. Brittany" says
proverb: stubborn as a Briton.' re-
torts another. And there you have IN
q few words the most striking charac'
teristics Of both.
Fancy q succession Of bleak plateaus
spread over a hundred square miles OF
land, showing to the sun nothing but
the baroness of their myriads OF gran
ito rocks, and the vegetation that can
extract living in the interstices, I'M
der the action of frequent sprinkles
and vapor baths exhaled by the Gulf
stream, and blown over by the ocean
breezes. This is the country!
Imagine an individual of mean size,
but sturdy, muscular, vigorous, and
seeming to have inside the skull more
elements OF will, of tenacity, of OBJ
stinacy than the rest of the world.
That Is the man.
| The traveller in Brittany infallibly
hears the story of Marie Legohf, and,
told by her countrymen, 1t is worth the
trip, but we had better tell it and save
time.
Marie Legoff, then fourteen years
old. was the housekeeper Of her ia
Their, q fisherman of Lannion. when
the turbulent waves of the British
channel crushed the old man and his
boat on the reefs. The fisherman who
found the wreckage on the sands went
to Marie Legoff and told her about his
discovery.
poor girl" he concluded, what are
you going to do now?" Then with
Briton brusQueness, You'd better 60
to an orphan asylum. Do you want me
to do anything about IT."
The sight of Marie Legoff was pitt.
full one at first, but her blood did not
take long to reveal itself in pulses Of
undauntedness, and presently, restrain.
ing her tears. raising her bowed head,
her eyes flashing a fierce determine,
ton, she said
Thank you just the same, John; but
the sea took my living, and the sea
shall give it back to me-or swallow
me altogether"
And two days after she went out to
sea with an uncle.
The short trips Of her uncle's boat
did not satisfy Marie Legoff as she
longed for time when she could, on
bigger boat, fight and wrestle with
that sea that had taken her father.
That time had come with her mar
riage. Husband and wife having some
money, put it together to buy sloop
Of about fifty tons burden, and they
went to sea, doing coasting trade.
II the husband had the brevet, the
wife was the acting captain, and no
one on board would have CHANGED to
say word about 1t. People from diff
ferent ports Of the coast have still
that vision Of sloop coming into
port crowded with sails, speeding in
solently amidst an anchorage full of
moored ships, and steered by a tall,
straight, energetic woman, veritable
picture Of determination and daring.
At the very moment when onlook.
ers, breathless, anticipated q crash
against pier or wharf, Marie Legofi
uttered a sharp order. staysails and
anchor dropped at the same time, and
the ship, veering sharply, came quick.
ly stern to windward and rocked her.
self on her cable
After years Of high-spirited life, the
end came. One day as the sloop, pur.
sued by maddened sea, was feeling
her way through a snowstorm and
trying to enter the river of Morlaix,
the boom broke. the spanking power
of the fore and aft mainsail slackened,
and she was driven helplessly against
the rocks.
Between the ship and the shore was
q rocky reef. veritable wall, over
which the sea broke. raging furiously
Only one thing could save the crew
from certain death, and it had to be
done quickly. 1t was to swim ashore
!, with line.
Who would dare to attempt the
perilous undertaking? The sailors
shook their heads and muttered:
THAT is a sure DEATH"
i Without word Marie Legoff seize,
the end Of rope and began to faster
1t about her waist, when her husban,
q sprang to her and shouted:
what are you doing, Marie? Their
Is just blanket of foam on the rocks
you can't get across"
But the acting captain had not We
given up her command She stoppe
him with her intrepid look and said
"Who told you that there was n
more than a blanket of foam on tn
rocks? Not I! l only say that | wi
carry the rope."
IS Without listening to further DR.,
= testation. she sprang overheard an
dived into the raging waters. Ate
an age she gained the surface. s
lence prevailed on board. Strainin
eyes watched her. She was dashe
- forward by a violent surge, draw
back and buffeted by another. but sti