Homeward bound!--there is magic in the word. Though the first vessel
to head to the southward is proud among the fleet, she has a burden of
responsibility upon her, for she carries every year news of death and
calamity that will break the hearts of many down in Gloucester, and the
flags she flaunts so gayly must come to half-mast before she sights the
hazy blue of Eastern Point.
During those long summer months a lonely wife goes about her household
duties down in Gloucester town. There is a weight upon her heart, and
until the fleet comes in and she sees the familiar face at the front gate,
happiness is not for her. Day after day she listens for his footsteps, and
after supper, when the season draws to a close, she walks down to where
she can look far out to sea.
Then a schooner, heavy laden, appears around the Point. She comes around
and moves up the harbor slowly,--oh, so slowly. The flag the wife has seen
is half-masted, and she knows that some woman’s heart is to break. Will
it be hers?