The Blue Man From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899

** "The Blue Man" by Mary Hartwell Catherwood is a story set on Mackinac Island that blends romance with a touch of the supernatural to examine themes of yearning and the powerful links between love and remembrance. The story follows a narrator who meets a blue-skinned man who has spent thirty-five years waiting for the return of a Southern woman who disappeared. Their conversation reveals the blue man's deep longing, creating a melancholic atmosphere, and when a woman resembling his lost love appears, tragedy strikes, prompting questions about destiny, love, and the ghostly nature of memory, ending with a haunting connection to an unsolved mystery. **