Maris Stella (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896. Excerpt: ... MARIS STELLA CHAPTER I There were many places where one could wait and watch for the sight of a sail coming over the curl of the sea to the southward; but none was better than the ramparts. Out at the T te Blanche, where at night the beacon shone like a star, one was too much within the curve of the bay; down on the sands, below Our Lady's Gate, there were too many people; there were children playing, and women knitting and gossiping, whenever the sun shone and the air was calm and mild. And when one had been born, and lived amongst them, and knew them all, one had to stop and talk; there was always some one to ask after, some story to hear; and meanwhile a sail, or a thin grey tuft of smoke, A r might steal up unawares out of the silver mist that veiled the going down of the sea. Upon the ramparts this could not happen; there were fewer who came here, and they were apt to keep aloof from each other. These were the young wives, new to the difficult time of waiting; and the widows, who turned this way out of long habit, and to remember; and presently, as the days grew shorter and less serene, those who came and looked, and went away to kneel before the side altar in the church, where the little boats hung, and the many tapers glittered and flickered as if they were blown this way and that by a cold breath coming from the further seas. And then back, with a more confident trustfulness, back again to the ramparts, to look out on the broad, shining, smiling water that held so many secrets within it. 'Poldine turned her face aside when such an one passed near her. It was late in the season, and most of the boats were in; there were some, she supposed, who had good reason to be anxious. But not she; she knew already that her husband was likely to be one of...