gfragebp on tfle jQtortl) 



the fall of 1870, a poor fisherman named 

 Ouellet was wending his way homewards 

 to Riviere Ouelle. He had been fishing around 

 Perce and the Gaspe Basin. Cod fish had been 

 scarce and the weather boisterous, and thirty- 

 eight dollars was the net proceeds of two months 

 of hard work. To save expenses he decided to 

 sail back home in his boat, a barge of 25 feet 

 keel. One day, late in October, with a strong 

 south-west wind, he anchored for shelter at Ste. 

 Anne des Monts. A small boat from shore came 

 out to him. Its occupant, a man of fifty years or 

 so, exchanged greetings with Ouellet. After a 



few ordinary questions, P , for such was 



his name, invited him ashore. "The nights are 

 cold and long/' he added, "and a warm house is 

 preferable to an open boat." Ouellet accepted 

 with pleasure. After supper, while smoking 



their pipes, P found out all he wished to 



know, what money Ouellet had made, where he 

 was bound to, and what little he had in his boat. 

 The total value of his belongings was about one 

 hundred dollars, but that was sufficient to arouse 



P 's cupidity, and from that moment poor 



Ouellet was doomed. How to get rid of him was 

 now his only thought. P was well acquainted 



