She
had promised that morning to tell us of "the most tragic event
that had ever been known on the north shore," and we now reminded
her of her promise.
"Some call it the 'Yankee Storm,' and others the 'American Gale,'"
she began, sitting down by Miss Reade and beaming, because the
latter put her arm around her waist. "It happened nearly forty
years ago, in October of 1851. Old Mr. Coles at the Harbour told
me all about it. He was a young man then and he says he can never
forget that dreadful time. You know in those days hundreds of
American fishing schooners used to come down to the Gulf every
summer to fish mackerel. On one beautiful Saturday night in this
October of 1851, more than one hundred of these vessels could be
counted from Markdale Capes. By Monday night more than seventy of
them had been destroyed. Those which had escaped were mostly
those which went into harbour Saturday night, to keep Sunday. Mr.
Coles says the rest stayed outside and fished all day Sunday, same
as through the week, and HE says the storm was a judgment on them
for doing it. But he admits that even some of them got into
harbour later on and escaped, so it's hard to know what to think.
But it is certain that on Sunday night there came up a sudden and
terrible storm--the worst, Mr.
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