The story
“The Fisherwoman was a dominant force on the busy island. Unaided she had built up a large business. She employed many fishermen, and grew wealthier year by year. She sent her son to college, and was delighted when he told her, after graduation, that he intended to help her in the work. Contact with the world, however, had spoiled him for a narrow life. The mother divined his secret, although he tried to hide it. ‘You have your own life to live, my son,’ she said, ‘and I would not keep you here.’ The son’s progress in business was rapid. One day word came from him that he was married, and he sent his mother the picture of his bride. Time passed, and the son wrote more and more infrequently. The mother believed that the wife was to blame, and although they had never met, she began to hate her bitterly.
“One day, standing on the beach, the Fisherwoman spied an overturned boat, well out to sea. Clinging to it were a man and a woman. She rowed out to the wreck, but before she could reach them the man had disappeared under the waves. She rescued the woman, however, and on dragging her into the boat recognized her son’s wife. The younger woman was exhausted from her terrible experiences, and for several days raved in delirium. The Fisherwoman learned that she and her husband had gradually drifted apart. The wife had gone on a yachting trip with some friends, among whom was a young man who paid her much attention. He had induced her to run away with him. And the man had been drowned. The husband was telegraphed to, but he was out of town and it was some time before he could be found. The mother’s message said that the wife had come to pay her a visit and when she arrived the mother told the wife that she knew everything. The wife was not wicked—she was simply weak. She had not really loved the other man, she had only yielded to his flattery. She was thoroughly repentant, and pleaded for another chance. And the Fisherwoman saw that she got it. The husband never knew.”
Summary from Reel Life · 30 October 1915
