Debussy's Little Shepherd

[bognor]

Does anyone know what is intended at the end of this piece? The high notes are minims but the low notes are semibreves. Are they all treated as one group and the sustain pedal holds the semibreves? Is it important to release the hands after the minims - bearing in mind the high notes fade away anyway? Any advice on this one?
Also, earlier in the piece, there is a cut off sign (with two lines) and a pause. I've never heard this played as a silence in a performance. Anyone any idea why Debussy wrote it like that or is it just ignored?
Thanks in advance for any ideas on these points.