About six o'clock in the morning
During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen by the fisherman . These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from their various runlets . It so happened that a fisherman had spread his net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself , believing that no one would ever find him . About six o'clock in the morning the man drew in his net , and with it the young body . The few friends of the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive the dreadful remains . The news of this suicide made , as may well be supposed , a great excitement in Alencon . The poor young man of genius had no protector the night before , but on the morrow of his death a thousand voices cried aloud , `` I would have helped him . ''