It 's because I want somebody to remember and think of her sometime after I 'm gone . I ca n't bear that her name should be forgotten by all living souls . And now nobody remembers lost Margaret but me . '' Then Captain Jim told the story -- an old , old forgotten story , for it was over fifty years since Margaret had fallen asleep one day in her father 's dory and drifted -- or so it was supposed , for nothing was ever certainly known as to her fate -- out of the channel , beyond the bar , to perish in the black thundersquall which had come up so suddenly that long-ago summer afternoon . But to Captain Jim those fifty years were but as yesterday when it is past . `` I walked the shore for months after that , '' he said sadly , `` looking to find her dear , sweet little body ; but the sea never give her back to me . But I 'll find her sometime , Mistress Blythe -- I 'll find her sometime . She 's waiting for me . I wish I could tell you jest how she looked , but I ca n't . I 've seen a fine , silvery mist hanging over the bar at sunrise that seemed like her -- and then again I 've seen a white birch in the woods back yander that made me think of her . She had pale , brown hair and a little white , sweet face , and long slender fingers like yours , Mistress Blythe , only browner , for she was a shore girl . Sometimes I wake up in the night and hear the sea calling to me in the old way , and it seems as if lost Margaret called in it . And when there 's a storm and the waves are sobbing and moaning I hear her lamenting among them . And when they laugh on a gay day it 's HER laugh -- lost Margaret 's sweet , roguish , little laugh . The sea took her from me , but some day I 'll find her . Mistress Blythe . It ca n't keep us apart forever . '' `` I am glad you have told me about her , '' said Anne . `` I have often wondered why you had lived all your life alone . '' `` I could n't ever care for anyone else .
Lost XXXXX took my heart with her -- out there , '' said the old lover , who had been faithful for fifty years to his drowned sweetheart .
Blythe Jim Margaret browner day dory lamenting night storm years