It was about the middle of the summer, after my severe illness, that I
went to the Island for a long visit. I was taken there by my brother and
my sister, the latter was like a second mother to me. After a sojourn
of several weeks with our relatives at St. Pierre Oleron (my good Aunt
Claire and her two old unmarried daughters) we went alone, we three, to
a fishing village upon the Long-Beach, which at that time was entirely
off the line of travel. The Long-Beach is that portion of the
Island commanding a view of the ocean over which the west winds blow
ceaselessly. Upon this coast, which extends without a curve straight and
seemingly limitless, with the majestic sweep of the desert of Sahara,
the waves roll and break with a mighty noise. Here there are to be seen
many uneven waste spaces; it is a region of sand where stunted trees and
dwarfish evergreen oaks shelter themselves behind the dunes. A curious
kind of wild flower, a pink and fragrant carnation, blooms there
profusely all summer long. Two or three villages, composed of humble
little cottages, whitewashed like the bungalows of Algeria, break the
loneliness of this region. These homes have planted about them such
flowers as can best resist the sea-winds. Dark skinned fishermen and
their families, a hardy honest people, still very primitive at the time
of which I write, live here; even sea-bathers had not found their way to
these shores.
In an old forgotten copy-book where my sister had written down (in a
stilted manner) the impressions of that summer I find this description
of our lodgings.
“We dwell in the centre of the village, in the square, at the Mayor's
house.
“This house has two ells, which are spacious beyond measure.
“Its dazzling whitewashed surfaces sparkle in the sun, its window
shutters are fastened with large iron hooks and painted a dark green
as is the custom here. The flower bed that is planted in the form of
a wreath all around the house grows vigorously in the sand. The
day-lilies, one surpassing the other in beauty, open their yellow, pink
and red blossoms, and the mignonette beds which at noon-time are fully
abloom waft on the air an odor that is sweet as the scent of orange
blossoms.
“Opposite us a little path hollowed out of the sand descends rapidly to
the edge of the sea.”
My first really intimate acquaintance with the sea-wrack, crabs,
sea-nettles, jelly-fish, and the thousand and one other small creatures
that inhabit the ocean, dates from this visit to the Long-Beach.
And during this same summer I fell in love for the first time--my
beloved was a little village girl. But here, so that the story may be
related more accurately, I will allow my sister, through the medium of
the old copy-book, to speak again--I merely copy:
“Dozens of the children (fishermen's boys and girls), tanned and brown
and with little legs all bare, followed Pierre, or audaciously hurried
before him, and from time to time turned and looked at him wonderingly
with their beautiful dark eyes. At that time a little gentleman was
a rare enough spectacle in that part of the country to be worth the
trouble of running after.
“Every day Pierre, accompanied by this crowd, would descend to the beach
by means of the little footpath scooped out of the sand. There he would
run and pick up the shells that, upon that coast, are so exquisitely
beautiful. They are yellow, pink, purple and many other bright colors,
and they have the most delicate and varied forms. Pierre admired them
greatly, and the little ones who always followed him would silently
offer him hands full.
“Veronica was the most attentive of all. She was about his own age,
perhaps a little younger, six or seven years of age. She had a sweet,
dreamy little face, a rather pale complexion and lovely gray eyes. She
was protected from the heat by a large white sunbonnet; a kichenote, as
they call it in that part of the country, is a very old word, and means
a large bonnet made of linen and cardboard, which projects over the
face like the head-dress of a nun. Veronica would slip near Pierre,
take possession of his hand, and keep it in hers. Thus they walked along
contentedly without saying a word. They stopped from time to time to
kiss each other. 'I wish to kiss you,' Veronica would say, and as she
did so she embraced him tenderly with her little arms. Then after Pierre
had allowed her the caress he would, in his turn, kiss her vehemently on
her pretty, little, plump cheeks. . . .”
* * * * *
“Little Veronica used to run and seat herself upon our doorstep as soon
as she was up; and there she remained like a faithful, loyal spaniel.
As soon as Pierre woke he thought of her being there, and he would
immediately get out of bed, have himself quickly washed, and stand
quietly to have his blond curls combed out, and then run to find his
little friend. They embraced each other and prattled of the events of
the day before; sometimes Veronica, before coming to our house to wait
for Pierre, made a trip to the seashore and gathered an apron full of
the beautiful shells as a love offering to her sweetheart.
“One day, at about the end of August, after a long reverie, during which
Pierre had perhaps weighed and considered the difficult question of the
social difference between them, he said; 'Veronica you and I must get
married some day; I will ask permission of my parents when the time
comes.'”
Then my sister speaks of our departure:
“Upon the 15th of September it was necessary for us to leave the
village. Pierre had made a collection of shells, sea-weeds, star-fish
and pebbles; he was insatiable and wished to carry all of them away with
him, and with Veronica's aid he packed a great many into his boxes.
“One morning a large carriage arrived at St. Pierre to take us away. The
peace of the village was broken by the noise of the little bells and the
cracking of the driver's whip. Pierre with the greatest care placed his
own packets into the carriage and then we three quickly took our places.
With eyes full of sadness Pierre gazed out of the carriage window
towards the sandy path that led down to the beach--and at his little
friend who stood there weeping.”
In conclusion I will copy word for word the reflection found at the end
of the faded book which was written down by my sister during that same
summer.
“Then, and not for the first time, I fell into an uneasy reverie that
had to do with Pierre, and I asked myself: 'What will become of the
little boy? And what will become of his little friend whose figure we
could still see outlined at the now far distant end of the road. How
much despair does that little heart feel; how much anguish at being thus
abandoned?'”
“What will become of that boy?” Alas! what indeed! His whole life was to
be similar to that summer of his childhood. To know the sorrow of
many farewells; to desire to take with me a thousand trifles of no
appreciable value, to hunger to have about me a world of beloved
souvenirs,--but especially to say good bye to wild little creatures
(loved perhaps just because they were ingenuous children of
nature),--these things were to make up the sum of my life.
The two or three days' journey home (broken into by a visit to our
old aunts) seemed to me very nearly endless. My impatience to see and
embrace mamma kept me from sleeping. I had not seen her for almost two
months! My sister was the only person in the world who, at that time,
could have made such a long separation from my mamma endurable to me.
We reached the continent safely, and after a three-hours ride in the
carriage that we found awaiting us at the boat-landing, we passed
through the ramparts of our town. Ah! at last I saw my mother; I once
more saw her dear face and sweet smile.--And now at this distant time I
find that one of my clearest and most persistent memories is her beloved
and still youthful face and her beautiful dark hair.
When we arrived at the house I ran to visit my little lake and its
grottoes, and I hurried to the arbor that grew against the old wall. But
my eyes had become so accustomed to the immensity of the sandy beach
and the ocean that all of these things appeared shrunken, diminished,
walled-in and mean. The leaves were turning yellow, and although it was
still warm there was a promise of early autumn in the air. With fear and
dread I thought of the dull and cold days which would soon be upon us;
and when, with a heavy heart, I began to unpack my boxes of sea-weed
and shells, I was overcome with grief because I was not still upon the
Island. I felt disquieted too about Veronica who would have to be there
without me during the winter, and suddenly my eyes overflowed with tears
at the thought that I might never again hold her dear little sun-burned
hands in mine.