IV.
… BEHIND the canoe a long thread of pale light quivered and
twisted: bright points from time to time mounted up, glowered
like eyes, and vanished again;—glimmerings of faint flame
wormed away on either side as they floated on. And the little
craft no longer rocked as before;—they felt another and a larger
motion,—long slow ascents and descents enduring for minutes at a
time;—they were riding the great swells,—riding the horizon!
Twice they were capsized. But happily the heaving was a smooth
one, and their little canoe could not sink: they groped for it,
found it, righted it, and climbed in, and baled out the water
with their hands.
From time to time they both cried out together, as loud as they
could,—"Sucou!—sucou!—sucou!"—hoping that some one might be
looking for them. … The alarm had indeed been given; and one of
the little steam-packets had been sent out to look for them,—
with torch-fires blazing at her bows; but she had taken the
wrong direction.
—"Maximilien," said Stéphane, while the great heaving seemed
to grow vaster,—"fau nou ka prié Bon-Dié." …
Maximilien answered nothing.
—"Fau prié Bon-Dié" (We must pray to the Bon-Dié, repeated
Stéphane.
—"Pa lapeine, li pas pè ouè nou ató!" (It is not worth while:
He cannot see us now) answered the little black. … In the
immense darkness even the loom of the island was no longer
visible.
—"0 Maximilien!—Bon-Dié ka ouè toutt, ka connaitt toutt" (He
sees all; He knows all), cried Stéphane.
—"Y pa pè ouè non pièss atouèelement, moin ben sur!" (He
cannot see us at all now,—I am quite sure) irreverently
responded Maximilien. …
—"Thou thinkest the Bon-Dié like thyself!—He has not eyes like
thou," protested Stéphane. "Li pas ka tini coulè; li pas ka
tini zié" (He has not color; He has not eyes), continued the boy,
repeating the text of his catechism,—the curious creole
catechism of old Perè Goux, of Carbet. [Quaint priest and quaint
catechism have both passed away.]
—"Moin pa save si li pa ka tini coulè" (I know not if He has not
color), answered Maximilien. "But what I well know is that if He
has not eyes, He cannot see. … Fouinq!—how idiot!"
—"Why, it is in the Catechism," cried Stéphane. … "'Bon-Dié,
li conm vent: vent tout-patout, et nou pa save ouè li;-li ka
touché nou,—li ka boulvésé lanmè.'" (The Good-God is like the
Wind: the Wind is everywhere, and we cannot see It;—It touches
us,—It tosses the sea.)
—"If the Bon-Dié is the Wind," responded Maximilien, "then pray
thou the Wind to stay quiet."
—"The Bon-Dié is not the Wind," cried Stéphane: "He is like the
Wind, but He is not the Wind." …
—"Ah! soc-soc—fouinq! … More better past praying to care we be
not upset again and eaten by sharks."
* * * * * * *
… Whether the little chabin prayed either to the Wind or to
the Bon-Dié, I do not know. But the Wind remained very quiet all
that night,—seemed to hold its breath for fear of ruffling the
sea. And in the Mouillage of St. Pierre furious American
captains swore at the Wind because it would not fill their sails,
