"I say! my old woman," said Kerjegou, "tells me she's had the little boy
we were looking for; that makes half-score-two now!"

Another had found himself the father of twins; and a third announced
the marriage of pretty Jenny Caroff, a girl well known to all the
Icelanders, with some rich and infirm old resident of the Commune of
Plourivo. As they were eyeing each other as if through white gauze, this
also appeared to alter the sound of the voices, which came as if muffled
and from far away.

Meanwhile Yann could not take his eyes off one of those brother
fishermen, a little grizzled fellow, whom he was quite sure he never had
seen before, but who had, nevertheless, straightway said to him, "How
d'o, long Yann?" with all the familiarity of bosom acquaintance. He wore
the provoking ugliness of a monkey, with an apish twinkling of mischief
too in his piercing eyes.

"As for me," said Larvoer, of the _Reine-Berthe_, "I've been told of
the death of the grandson of old Yvonne Moan, of Ploubazlanec--who was
serving his time in the navy, you know, in the Chinese squadron--a very
great pity."

On hearing this, all the men of _La Marie_ turned towards Yann to learn
if he already knew anything of the sad news.

"Ay," he answered in a low voice, but with an indifferent and haughty
air, "it was told me in the last letter my father sent me." They still
kept on looking at him, curious at finding out the secret of his grief,
and it made him angry.

These questions and answers were rapidly exchanged through the pallid
mists, so the moments of this peculiar colloquy skipped swiftly by.

"My wife wrote me at the same time," continued Larvoer, "that Monsieur
Mevel's daughter has left the town to live at Ploubazlanec and take care
of her old grand-aunt--Granny Moan. She goes out to needlework by the
day now--to earn her living. Anyhow, I always thought, I did, that
she was a good, brave girl, in spite of her fine-lady airs and her
furbelows."

Then again they all stared at Yann, which made him still more angry; a
red flush mounted to his cheeks, under their tawny tan.

With Larvoer's expression of opinion about Gaud ended this parley with
the crew of the _Reine-Berthe_, none of whom were ever again to be seen
by human eyes. For a moment their faces became more dim, their vessel
being already farther away; and then, all at once, the men of the
_Marie_ found they had nothing to push against, nothing at the end of
their poles--al