298 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



said : " A very sad recollection. About two years 

 ago, in the spring it was the 26th of March, I shall 

 never forget the date I had been already detained at 

 Havre for three days by stormy weather. In the 

 morning I went down to look at the sea, thinking 

 how long it was likely to last, and to see if the wind 

 was not moderating a bit. Bah ! it was stronger than 

 ever. 



" Then I saw plainly, down here near this buoy, 

 an English cutter, the Vivid, on the point of being 

 lost. 



" With a telescope you could see the men, who 

 had climbed into the rigging and were making signals 

 well, that sort of thing, you know but then to 

 venture out in such weather ! 



" They could not be deserted like that, and I said 

 to myself, ' Ah ! if I were ten years younger ! ' Just 

 then I see the lifeboat going out, with its crew of 

 eleven ; it was No. 4. ' Hurrah ! boys,' I cry to 

 them, ' Hurrah ! ' But they were never seen alive 

 again. 



"Another squad got under way in spite of the 

 danger, but it was all over with the first crew. 

 No. 4 had been manned by eleven men, and the 

 next day they recovered eleven bodies. 



" And when they gave them a magnificent funeral, 

 with the soldiers and music, and all the weeping 

 (they had deserved it, poor fellows ! ), I was there in 



