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A fisherman lives on luck, so for a month there was no remark

upon the suddenly changed condition. But after that, as the days

passed and not a full dory raced up to Bill Boughton's fish

stand, muttered whispers and old tales went up and down the

island.

It was recalled that the fish left a certain Norwegian coast once

for a period of fifty years, and that the whole occupation of the

people of that coast was changed. Was that to be the fate of

Grande Mignon? If so, what could they do? Extensive farming on

the rocky island was impossible, and not one ship had ever been

built there for the trade. Where would things end?

So it had gone until now, in the middle of August, the people of

Freekirk Head, Seal Cove, and Great Harbor, the main villages

along the front or Atlantic side of the island, were face to face

with the question of actual life or death.