Aunt Agathe alone said nothing. She no longer prayed, no longer made the
sign of the cross. Bewildered, her eyes roamed about, and she tried to
smile when her glance met mine.

The water was beating against the tiles now. There was no hope of help.
We still heard the voices in the direction of the church; two lanterns
had passed in the distance; and the silence spread over the immense
yellow sheet. The people of Saintin, who owned boats, must have been
surprised before us.

Gaspard continued to wander over the Roof. Suddenly he called us.

"Look!" he said. "Help me--hold me tight!"

He had a pole and he was watching an enormous black object that was
gently drifting toward the house. It was the roof of a shed, made of
strong boards, and that was floating like a raft. When it was within
reach he stopped it with the pole, and, as he felt himself being carried
off, he called to us. We held him around the waist.

Then, as the mass entered the current, it returned against our roof so
violently that we were afraid of seeing it smashed into splinters.

Gaspard jumped upon it boldly. He went over it carefully, to assure
himself of its solidity. He laughed, saying joyously:

"Grandfather, we are saved! Don't cry any more, you women. A real boat!
Look, my feet are dry. And it will easily carry all of us!"

Still, he thought it well to make it more solid. He caught some floating
beams and bound them to it with a rope that Pierre had brought up for
an emergency. Gaspard even fell into the water, but at our screams
he laughed. He knew the water well; he could swim three miles in the
Garonne at a stretch. Getting up again, he shook himself, crying:

"Come, get on it! Don't lose any time!"

The women were on their knees. Gaspard had to carry Veronique and Marie
to the middle of the raft, where he made them sit down.

Rose and Aunt Agathe slid down the tiles and placed themselves beside
the young girls. At this moment I looked toward the church. Aimee was
still in the same place. She was leaning now against a chimney, holding
her children up at arm's length, for the water was to her waist.

"Don't grieve, grandfather," said Gaspard. "We will take her off on the
way."

Pierre and Jacques were already on the raft, so I jumped on. Gaspard was
the last one aboard. He gave us poles that he had prepared and that
were to serve us as oars. He had a very long one that he used with great
skill. We let him do all the commanding.