e. I felt that chill that had already brushed
me pass over our women and our dear girls. They had understood. Marie
burst into tears. Aimee wrapped her two children in her skirt, as if
to protect them. Veronique, her face in her hands, did not move. Aunt
Agathe, very pale, made the sign of the cross, and mumbled Paters and
Aves.

Meanwhile the spectacle about us became of sovereign grandeur. The night
retained the clearness of a summer night. There was no moon, but the sky
was sprinkled with stars, and was of so pure a blue that it seemed to
fill space with a blue light. And the immense sheet of water expanded
beneath the softness of the sky. We could no longer see any land.

"The water is rising; the water is rising!" repeated my brother Pierre,
still crunching the stem of his pipe between his teeth.

The water was within a yard of the roof. It was losing its tranquility;
currents were being formed. In less than an hour the water became
threatening, dashing against the house, bearing drifting barrels, pieces
of wood, clumps of weeds. In the distance there were attacks upon walls,
and we could hear the resounding shocks. Poplar trees fell, houses
crumbled, like a cartload of stones emptied by the roadside.

Jacques, unnerved by the sobs of the women, cried:

"We can't stay here. We must try something. Father, I beg of you, try to
do something."

I stammered after him:

"Yes, yes; let us try to do something."

And we knew of nothing. Gaspard offered to take Veronique on his back
and swim with her to a place of safety. Pierre suggested a raft. Cyprien
finally said:

"If we could only reach the church!"

Above the waters the church remained standing, with its little square
steeple. We were separated from it by seven houses. Our farmhouse, the
first of the village, adjoined a higher building, which, in turn, leaned
against the next. Perhaps, by way of the roofs, we would be able to
reach the parsonage. A number of people must have taken refuge there
already, for the neighboring roofs were vacant, and we could hear voices
that surely came from the steeple. But what dangers must be run to reach
them!

"It is impossible," said Pierre. "The house of the Raimbeaus is too
high; we would need ladders."

"I am going to try it," said Cyprien. "I will return if the way is
impracticable. Otherwise, we will all go and we will have to carry the
girls."

I let him go. He was right. We had to try the impossible. He had
s