The Fishing Smack

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The action of this story takes place in a quaint fishing settlement. The docks are lined with craft of many kinds to put us immediately into the spirit of the village. An old fisherman is very ill and has but little money to provide for himself and his daughter. A young sailor of the neighborhood proposes to buy his old boat, but the old fisherman refuses, for he feels he had rather suffer than to part with it. When his illness grows his daughter finds it impossible to buy the medicine her father needs; and without his knowing it she sells the boat to the young sailor, who immediately puts his name in place of Loik's. But the old man often thinks of his boat, and one day, taking advantage of his daughter's absence, he goes to the harbor to see it. His disappointment is great when he sees his name has been taken off and replaced by the name of Yves. The owner, arriving, explains to the old man that his daughter sold him the boat. In despair he returns to his home, where his daughter explains to him her reason for selling the boat, but he says he would prefer dying to separation from his old boat. Yves, arriving at that moment, tells the old fisherman to take back his boat but to give him his daughter in exchange, for he loves her. The maiden, consulted, accepts the proposal with pleasure and happiness comes back to the fisher's home.