Frontier and pioneer life -- Québec (Province) -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Short stories
of our dismal surroundings, this was a day of quiet delight to Aileen
and myself. The extraordinary width of the river, said to be over ten
miles, its waters, pure and of deep blue color, clasping at intervals
a picturesque island, the boldness of the wooded hills on the north
shore and the brightness and softness of the cultivated landscape on
the south, were a constant feast for eyes wearied of the sea. The depth
and tender blue of the sky, so much more transparent than in the dear
old land, particularly impressed Aileen. As we made our way up the
glorious river, the shores trended nearer, the hills on the north grew
loftier and the southern bank less steep. The sun had set in a glory
of gold and crimson beyond the hills when the order was given to let
go the anchor, the tide no longer serving us. Quarter a mile ahead
of us a large ship did the same. The evening being calm Aileen got
a wrap and we sat watching the darkening waters and the shores that
loomed momentarily more faint, until the lights from the house windows
alone marked where they were. “What is that?” she suddenly exclaimed,
and I saw a shapeless heap move past our ship on the outgoing tide.
Presently there was another and another. Craning my head over the
bulwark I watched. Another came, it caught in our cable, and before the
swish of the current washed it clear, I caught a glimpse of a white
face. I understood it all. The ship ahead of us had emigrants and they
were throwing overboard their dead. Without telling Aileen, I grasped
her arm, and drew her to our cabin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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