Evening star., 1915-03-07

ishing with cold, and find the pair of you
stuck in the middle of the road. Monsieur
Ingersoll, YOU at least are old enough to have
more sense. Both must be soaked to the
skin; yet you keep Yvonne out in this biting
wind, to say nothing of thin slarecrow like
YOURSELF
Yvonne had dropped her hands when she
heard the approaching footsteps. Uncon-
sciously she had raised her eyes to Heaven
naturally ncxplicable to her Breton friend.
She recovered some semblance of self-con-
troll more quickly than her father.
MADAME, she said, 1--WE were, in a sense
debating whether or not we could spare the
time to change Our clothes before attending
to the wants of the poor people saved from
Les Verres. think you are right. 1t would
be foolish to take any additional risk. Come
father DEAR let me help you now"
She took her fathers arm and drew him
on. He walked unsteadily, and might have
fallen if it had not been for Yvonne's sup
port The first mad impulse that bade him
pour forth vehement protest against the
injustice of Fate had died down. He was
as man stricken dumb and even physically
MANNED by some serious accident.
Mere Pitou, imagining that he was be,
numbed as the outcome of prolonged ex-
posure to the elements, was minded to rate
him soundly; but happily elected instead tto
pour the torrent of her wrath on things IN
general. "a nice fete we'll have, to be sure!'
she began. "'rhere was |, boiling beautiful
white wheat and roasting fat pullets when
ing the lifeboat off Les Verres! | thought
you'd all be drowned, at the very least, and
| wouldn't have been bit surprised, be-
cause anything might happen to that light
headed Monsieur Tolemache and that grin
ming ood-tor-nothing, Peridot. Gre nom!
| wouldn't have crossed the street it you two
weren't aboard! And now the bottom will
be burnt out of the pan, and my hour lovely
fowls frizzled to a cinder! Barbe. you little
mink, run ahead and see that the big kettle
is put on to boil! Monsieur Ingersoll and
Yvonnc must have hot baths, with mustard
and III stand over them till they swallow
a good tumberful each of sca1ding wine. I'll
give them Les Verres-see if DON'T"
Whereat Madame gulgled in momentary
appreciation of her own wit, because verree
means "a tumblerful," and she had blum
de1ed on a first-rate pun.
~ERE maMdn, we are not i'll, nor likely
~ to feel any bad effects from wetting
said Yvonne. "My father is shaken because
although successful, we have brought one
dead man to Pont Aven, and perhaps a
dead woman too"
"Ah, that's sad-that' S dreadful" wheezed
Mere Pitou. "Poor things! Who are they9'
"An English gentleman-and his wife.
"'rhey may be Americans. We hardly
know yet" Ingersoll was striving bravely
to recover his poise.
"Dieu merci! You can talk, them" said
Mere Pitou tartly. "Were they coming tc
Pont Aven? Are they known here?"
mo. Their name is Carmac. They have
never been here believe. They were max.
ing tor Lorient; but their yacht broke down
and drove on the reef Had it not been tol
Peridot, we could not have saved SOUL"
"Oh, he's good sailor--I'll say that tol
him. His poor old mother was there on the
quay, screeching like an owl. She lost hel
man at sea, you know. | hate the sea. III
skin Barbe if she ever SO much as looks at a
fisherman. DO you hear that Madeleine?'
"Yes, Madame. But you can't skin every
fisherman who looks at Barbe.'
wait till catch one at it! He'll find a
shark in his nets that day. Hurry now, you
and help Barbe to get those baths ready! |
filled the kettle before came out, and lifted
the wheat off, and as showed in the damper
of the oven the fowls shouldn't have taken
much harm.
"Peridot will surely come soon," Made
leine ventured to say.
Mere Pitou, having made sufficient con-
cession to her guests feelings by that revised