THE FIRST SHIPWRECK

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 2, 10 May 1895, Page 23

THE FIRST SHIPWRECK

Translaeed from the FreDch of Gustavb Totjdotjze. (Concluded"). Days and nights passed by. At every turn of the tide she came back and took her former position. All thought of her husband saemtd dulled, almost extinguished in her, but above the roar of the breakers she cried out at loteryals : "My poor boy ! My poor boy ! I should not have done it ! The first time. It is not possible ! The first time " Then from the depth of her bleeding heart she hurled cries, cnrsei, reproaches, shrieks at the relentless Sia. No one could persuade her to return to Paimpol to her other children — to the nest of little orphans, in tho midst of whom she might find consolation. She wanted to stay at Portrieux, to go moraing and evening to the pier where they had left her, where Bhe had seen them for the laßt time, to wait there still, wait always. The fishermen out of pity had not told her all in order to leave her that supremo n^uge of the widows and mothers of sailor?, hope ; but as to themselves they hoped no longer. When they had returned, fleeing before th>* fury of the north-west wind, they had in fact met Jean Maii • Kouzic, ami they advised him to go back with them. Consumed with pnde of his new boat, hj had refusei, assuring them that he would go to the island if neai be in place of accompanying them. Behind them the tempest broke in all its fury, and in the midst of (his night as back as pitch, those who were last heard two loud crits, loud cries for help, the one more feeb'e than the other, but to go to i heir aid, to succour this boat in distress, was impossible. Left to their fate, did the father, who was an excellent swimmer, struggle bravely? Did he bear up the son, who did not know how to swim, until the fatal moment when a great wave engulfed the two, drowning in their throats the laat cry, the cherished name of her who would wait for them always ? Toward the end of the month the Newfoundlanders filled almost the entire harbour of Portrieux with their big, heavy vessels. Even the tardiest of them had come back. Only one of them was missing, the Desiree, and nothing had been heard from her. The relatives on shore were consumed with a fever of anxiety waiting for those who did not come. Had there been a disaster? None of the fishermen who had returned could give them any information. Sobs, prayers, lamentations now mingled with the wails of the lonely Yvonne Bouzic, as a flock of sea birds hover around a mortally wounded comrade, while dreading a similar fate for themselves. She felt a sjnse of inward satisfaction, almost a selfish relief to find thata t others were suffering as welt aa heraelf— h^tishe was not alone in her sorrow. Suddenly, one eveniog just at the clo9e of day, tha Dasiree was signalled. There was a delirium throughout the land, a murmured

joy that floated tbe length of the pier, bat Yvoone had never before wept so much as now. Aa tbe big vessel approached, all aloog tbe bulwarks and in the shrouds could be soea the silhoa :t:ea of men who gesticulated and waved their hats and dps, and tbe wind, which was blowing from the ocean, brought with it snatches of joyous song repeated in chorus by all the crew. j With breaking heart Yvonne Ronz : c steadied herself against the parapet, wbils tears fell in great drops from the poor eyes already so tired, so red, and her lips trembled with convulsive sobs Bhe seemed to realise that all was over with her forever, that she alone was unhappy, that no one understood or shared in her grief any longer. TheDesiree is in port and as the tide is high, she moors up alongside the pier. The cries the calls increase, names ore shouted from the boat to the pier, from ihe pier to the boat. The little p >rt is intoxicated with joy. Yvonne tries not to hear. Yvonne puts her trembling fingers to her ears, struggling to shut out this noise of merry-making that is maddening to her. Yvonne is weak and fainting and wishes to die. Two arms eeiza her from behind ; two roices are sounding in her ears. They are duubtlees those of the compassionate women who live near her, and who, wishing to console her, are willing to carry her, if necessary, to see this spectacle that is like a knife thrust in her breast. No, no, she does not wish it, she resists ; she will stay where she is, there alwayp, there she will die, Those sorrowful yet cherished memories keep her there, hold her fast to the spot. By force they have turned her around. They are calling her name with a tenderness that is irresistible : " Yvonne I Yvonne I Mother I " "Alain ! Jean Marie ! Living I " Ob, that cry, that suffocation I It seems to her now that her poor heart must break, that it cannot contain all this sweetness filling it so suddenly. She weeps. She is powerless to check the tears that fall so fast from her smiling eyes, which are so shining with a new and triumphant light. Saved 1 Yee, they are there. Amidst kisses and caresses they relate tbe incredible tale of their wreck ; how they clung for hours

to the oars in the black night ; how they were driven farther and farther out to Bca, and how they were rescued at last by a ship bound for America, and how after the gratitude for their escape came the grief at being unable to make known their safety to the mother at home. So the weeks went jy until the Desiree was met and the captain gladly agreed to bring them home again. Guided by the instinct of a wife and mother Yvonne had been right in not despairing, in hoping in spite of everything. She was borne buck to her nest in Paimpol, together with the father and son whom all believed lost. This first shipwreck has made a man of Alain Rouaic, and he will be one of thoso courageous and devo el Breton mariners— the pride and the hope of France.