should be celebrated the very day he arrived,
and that my son Louis should leave his ship to repair at once to
the church."

"Go, then, and arrange everything, Cornbutte."

"I fly, monsieur the cure. Good morning!"

The sailor hastened with rapid steps to his house, which stood on
the quay, whence could be seen the Northern Ocean, of which he
seemed so proud.

Jean Cornbutte had amassed a comfortable sum at his calling.
After having long commanded the vessels of a rich shipowner of
Havre, he had settled down in his native town, where he had
caused the brig "Jeune-Hardie" to be constructed at his own
expense. Several successful voyages had been made in the North,
and the ship always found a good sale for its cargoes of wood,
iron, and tar. Jean Cornbutte then gave up the command of her to
his son Louis, a fine sailor of thirty, who, according to all the
coasting captains, was the boldest mariner in Dunkirk.

Louis Cornbutte had gone away deeply attached to Marie, his
father's niece, who found the time of his absence very long and
weary. Marie was scarcely twenty. She was a pretty Flemish girl,
with some Dutch blood in her veins. Her mother, when she was
dying, had confided her to her brother, Jean Cornbutte. The brave
old sailor loved her as a daughter, and saw in her proposed union
with Louis a source of real and durable happiness.

The arrival of the ship, already signalled off the coast,
completed an important business operation, from which Jean
Cornbutte expected large profits. The "Jeune-Hardie," which had
left three months before, came last from Bodoe, on the west coast
of Norway, and had made a quick voyage thence.

On returning home, Jean Cornbutte found the whole house alive.
Marie, with radiant face, had assumed her wedding-dress.

"I hope the ship will not arrive before we are ready!" she said.

"Hurry, little one," replied Jean Cornbutte, "for the wind is
north, and she sails well, you know, when she goes freely."

"Have our friends been told, uncle?" asked Marie.

"They have."

"The notary, and the cure?"

"Rest easy. You alone are keeping us waiting."

At this moment Clerbaut, an old crony, came in.

"Well, old Cornbutte," cried he, "here's luck! Your ship has
arrived at the very moment that the government has decided to
contract for a large quantity of wood for the navy!"

"What is that to me?" replied Jean Cornbutte. "What care I for
the government?"

"You see, Monsieur Clerbaut,"