tasks of fastening down the thatch on their houses which had to face the very teeth of the gale. But in the dawn's early light of October I st, a ship was sighted being swept on to the jagged reefs a short distance from the shore. There were twenty-two ragged, frozen and des-pairing French seamen on board the vessel, "Leon XIII," when she crashed on to the reef, breaking her back in the vise-like grip of the hungry rocks. All the stores, fresh water and food were in the sunken afterpart. The savage waves, sensing the kill, literally pounded and tore at the remaining part of the wreck that still stood trembling above the water. The twenty-two men hung on and lashed themselves to the crazily slanted deck. To add to their woes, their Captain suffered a broken leg, having been almost swept overboard by the mountainous waves. His leg became entangled in some deck ropes and though now crippled, his life was spared.

By this time the wreck-strewn shore was lined with people who continuously recited their beloved Rosary aloud, praying for the safety of those unfortunate sailors. How very well those sea-faring people understood the plight of those poor men as their mutual arch-enemy, the roaring sea, sought to engulf them. There they were, a scant few hundred yards from shore. Yet between them and safety the full fury of the Atlantic thundered and seethed over the treacherous reef barrier, the howling winds driving the spray far inland. But were the Quilty fishermen going to stand by and watch the Frenchmen fight their puny battle against raw nature? Undaunted, they tried time and time again to launch their frail canoes of laths and tar-covered canvas but were driven back by the equally determined waves. The first day was a complete victory for the sea. But the word "defeat" is unheard of in Quilty. Night fell and every window in Quilty was lighted, sending out a message of hope and consolation and lifting the spirits of the despairing men on the battered hulk. Morning dawned and instead of abating, the storm seemed to redouble its efforts and the very air was filled with the unearthly shrieks of the gale while the sea sup-plied the background thunder. Yet amid all that horrible noise the doleful chimes of the Leon XIII's bell carried across the foam to the would-be rescuers, spurring them to greater effort. The men clinging to the slippery deck watched all day as attempt after attempt was made by those fearless men of Quilty to get a canoe afloat but each time were repulsed by the mountainous Atlantic. By this time the crowd on the shore had magnified as news of the shipwreck spread throughout the countryside and landlubbers watched in awe as the fishermen pitted their wits and strength against Nature. Every effort was cheered, every set-back was lamented. The local Coastguards tried their hand at the rescue but they in turn had to be rescued by the fishermen, when their timber "unsinkable" craft was capsized. Day passed and night fell once more. The plight of the sailors was now desperate. Still the storm seemed to attack with renewed vigor with the coming of morning. The watchers on the shore saw with hope, followed by despair, as the sailors attempted to float a raft but it was sucked immediately beneath the ship by the undertow. The sailors made a second try and this time succeeded in launching it with two on board but it started to drift rapidly in the wrong direction, away from Quilty and towards the open raging sea.

But three of the Quilty fishermen, John Connors, John Clancy and Tom Stack making a herculean effort, launched their frail canoe and with mighty strokes succeeded in passing the first line of breakers. Their folks on the shore and the hundreds of spectators, stood, to use a local expression, with their hearts in their mouth as the little canoe rode the crest of the waves, then disappeared from sight only to re-appear further out riding the next wave. After an hour long epic fight the two sailors were rescued and landed safely on the shore to the thunder of a great cheer that rose over the shrieks of the gale. The two men were immediately overwhelmed with the hospitality for which Quilty has long been famous. But the skipper of the Leon XIII, Captain Lucas and the other men were still in imminent peril.