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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29894-8.txt b/29894-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5c704c --- /dev/null +++ b/29894-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14404 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Romance of the West Indies, by Eugène Sue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Romance of the West Indies + +Author: Eugène Sue + +Translator: Marian Longfellow + +Release Date: September 2, 2009 [EBook #29894] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +EUGENE SUE. + +BY + +MARIAN LONGFELLOW. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, + +PUBLISHER. +LONDON. NEW YORK. + +Copyright, 1898, + +by + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, + +in + +United States + +and + +Great Britain. + +All Rights Reserved. + +TO THE MEMORY OF +WILKIE COLLINS, +AUTHOR AND ARTIST, +WHO FIRST DIRECTED MY ATTENTION TO THIS +WORK AND SUGGESTED ITS TRANSLATION +INTO ENGLISH, +I DEDICATE THIS BOOK IN KINDLY REMEMBRANCE. +THE TRANSLATOR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +I. The Passenger + +II. A Female Blue Beard + +III. The Arrival + +IV. The Priest's House + +V. The Surprise + +VI. The Warning + +VII. The Cavern + +VIII. The Devil's Cliff + +IX. Night + +X. A Buccaneer + +XI. Master Rend-Your-Soul + + +PART II. + +XII. The Marriage + +XIII. Supper + +XIV. True Love + +XV. The Envoy from France + +XVI. The Storm + +XVII. The Surprise + +XVIII. My Lord the Duke + +XIX. A Second Surprise + +XX. The Departure + +XXI. The Betrayal + + +PART III. + +XXII. The Viceroy of Ireland and Scotland + +XXIII. The Arrest + +XXIV. The Interview + +XXV. Revelations + +XXVI. Devotion + +XXVII. The Martyr + +XXVIII. The Duke Relates the Sacrifice to which He Owes his Life + +XXIX. The Departure + + +PART IV. + +XXX. Regrets + +XXXI. Croustillac Departs + +XXXII. The Frigate + +XXXIII. The Judgment + +XXXIV. The Chase + +XXXV. The Return + + +EPILOGUE. + +XXXVI. The Abbey + +XXXVII. Reunited + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. + + + + +PART I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE PASSENGER. + + +Toward the latter part of May, 1690, the three-masted schooner the +Unicorn sailed from Rochelle for the island of Martinique. + +A Captain Daniel commanded this vessel, which was armed with a dozen +pieces of medium-sized ordnance, a defensive precaution necessary at +that period. France was at that time at war with England, and the +Spanish pirates would often cross to the windward of the Antilles, in +spite of the frequent pursuit of filibusters. + +Among the passengers of the Unicorn, few in number, was the Reverend +Father Griffen, of the Order of the Preaching Brothers. He was returning +to Martinique to resume his parish duties at Macouba, where he had +occupied the curacy for some years to the satisfaction of the +inhabitants and the slaves of that locality. + +The exceptional life of the colonies, then almost continually in a state +of open hostility against the English, the Spanish, and the natives of +the Antilles, placed the priests of the latter in a peculiar position. +They were called upon not only to preach, to hear confessions, to +administer the sacraments to their flocks, but also to aid in defending +themselves during the frequent inroads of their enemies of all nations +and all colors. + +The priest's house was, as other habitations, alike isolated and +exposed to deadly surprises. More than once had Father Griffen, assisted +by his two slaves, intrenched himself securely behind a large gateway of +mahogany, after having repulsed their assailants by a lively fire. + +Formerly a professor of geometry and mathematics, and possessed of +considerable theoretical knowledge of military architecture, Father +Griffen had given most excellent advice to the successive governors of +Martinique on the construction of works of defense. + +This priest knew thoroughly the stonecutter's and carpenter's trades; +learned in agriculture, an excellent gardener, of an inventive spirit, +full of resources, of rare energy, a determined courage, he was a +valuable man to the colony, and, above all, to the quarter he inhabited. + +The word of the gospel had not, perhaps, in his mouth all the unction to +be desired; his voice was rough, his exhortations were unpolished; but +their moral quality was excellent; they abounded in charity. He said the +mass as rapidly and as forcibly as if he were a buccaneer. One could +pardon him when one knew that this holy office was often interrupted by +a raid of the heretical English or the idolatrous Caribbeans; and that +then Father Griffen, leaping from the pulpit from which he had preached +"peace and concord," was always one of the first to put himself at the +head of his flock in order to defend it. + +As to the wounded and prisoners, once the engagement was ended, the +worthy priest ameliorated their situation as far as he could, and with +the greatest care dressed the wounds which he had himself made. + +We will not undertake to prove that the conduct of Father Griffen was in +all points canonical, nor to solve the question so often debated, "Under +what circumstances may the clergy go to war?" We do not claim for this +subject either the authority of Saint Gregory nor that of Leo IV. We +simply say that this worthy priest did good and combated evil with all +his might. + +Of a loyal and generous character, frank and gay, Father Griffen was +mischievously hostile and mocking where women were concerned. He was +continually making jests upon the daughters of Eve; these temptresses, +these diabolical allies of the Serpent. In justice to Father Griffen, we +must say that he showed in his railleries, otherwise without malice, a +little rancor and contempt; he jested lightly on the subject of a +happiness that he regretted not being able to desire; for, in spite of +the extreme license of Creole customs, the purity of Father Griffen's +life was never questioned. + +He might have been accused of loving the pleasures of the table; not +that he abused them (he observed bounds in enjoying the good gifts which +God bestowed), but he was singularly fond of indulging himself with +marvelous recipes for dressing game, seasoning fish, or preserving in +sugar the fragrant fruits of the tropics; at times, even the description +of his epicurean tastes became contagious, when he would enlarge upon +certain repasts after the manner of buccaneers, prepared in the depths +of the forests or on the shore of the island. Between you and me, Father +Griffen possessed, among others, the secret of cooking a turtle, +buccaneer-fashion, of which the mere recital was enough to excite +ravenous hunger on the part of his hearers. In spite of his usually +formidable appetite, Father Griffen scrupulously observed his fasts, +which an edict of the pope's decreed should be much less strict at the +Antilles and in the Indies than in Europe. + +It is unnecessary to say here that the worthy priest would abandon the +most delicate repast in order to fulfill his duties as a priest to a +poor slave; no one was more pitiful than he--a more charitable or +prudent manager, regarding the little he possessed as the property of +the unfortunate. + +Never was his consolation or succor lacking to those who suffered; but +once his Christian task fulfilled, he worked gayly and vigorously in his +garden, watered his plants, hoed his paths, pruned his trees, and when +night came he loved to rest after his salutary and rustic labor, and +enjoy, with an intelligent keenness of palate, the gastronomic riches of +the country. + +His flock never allowed his cellar or his larder to become empty. The +finest fruit, the best portion from the chase or the rod, was always +faithfully sent to him. He was beloved--he was blessed. They came to +him to settle all points of dispute, and his judgment was finally +accepted on all questions. + +The physique of Father Griffen accorded perfectly with the impression +perhaps formed of him after what has just been said of his character. + +He was a man of not more than fifty years, robust, active, though +perhaps rather too stout; his long robe of white wool and his black cape +set off his broad shoulders; a felt cap covered his bald crown. His red +face, his triple chin, his lips thick and crimson, his nose long and +flat at the end, his small and lively gray eyes, gave him a certain +resemblance to Rabelais; but what specially characterized Father +Griffen's physiognomy was a rare mixture of frankness, goodness, +strength and innocent raillery. + +At the commencement of this story, the Preaching Brother stood on the +stern of the vessel, in conversation with Captain Daniel. The ease with +which he maintained his equilibrium, in spite of the violent rolling of +the vessel, proved that Father Griffen had long since found his +sea-legs. + +Captain Daniel was an old sea-dog; once at sea, he left the management +of his vessel to his mates and pilot, and became intoxicated regularly +every night. Frequently making the trip from Martinique to Rochelle, he +had already brought Father Griffen from America. The latter, accustomed +to the inebriety of the worthy captain, attentively studied the ship's +management; for without possessing the nautical science of Father +Fournier, and other of his religious colleagues, he had a sufficiently +theoretical and practical knowledge of navigation. Often had the priest +made the passage from Martinique to San Domingo and beyond, on board the +privateer vessels, which always yielded a tithe of their prizes to the +churches of the Antilles. + +Night approached. Father Griffen inhaled with pleasure the odor of +supper which was being prepared. The captain's boy came to announce to +the passengers that the repast was ready; two or three among them, who +had successfully resisted seasickness, entered the cabin. + +Father Griffen said grace; they had hardly seated themselves when the +door of the cabin opened suddenly, and the following words were +pronounced with a strong Gascon accent: + +"There is, I hope, noble captain, a small place for the Chevalier de +Croustillac?" + +All the guests made a movement of surprise, then strove to read in the +features of the captain an explanation of this singular apparition. The +captain remained stupefied, regarding his new guest with an air almost +of affright. + +"Eh, there, who are you? I do not know you. Where the devil did you come +from, sir?" he finally said. + +"If I came from the devil, this good priest," and he kissed the hand of +Father Griffen, "this good priest would send me back there very quickly, +by saying, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.'" + +"But where _do_ you come from, sir?" cried the captain, stupefied by the +confident and smiling air of this unexpected guest. + +"One does not come thus on board. You are not on my list of passengers. +You have fallen from the sky, perhaps?" + +"A few minutes since it was from the infernal regions; now it is from +the heavens that I come. Faith! I do not lay claim to an origin so +divine nor so infernal, worthy captain; I----" + +"It matters not as to that," replied the captain. "Tell me, how came you +here?" + +The chevalier assumed a majestic air. "I should be unworthy of belonging +to the noble house of de Croustillac, one of the oldest in Guienne, if I +had the slightest hesitation in satisfying the legitimate curiosity of +the illustrious captain." + +"So--this is very lucky," cried the latter. + +"Do not say it is lucky, rather say it is right. I fall upon your vessel +like a bomb; you are astonished; nothing is more natural; you ask me how +I came on board. This is your right. I explain it to you--that is my +duty. Completely satisfied by my explanation, you extend to me your hand +and say, 'This is well, chevalier, place yourself at table with us.' I +respond to you, 'Captain, I cannot refuse, for I am dying for lack of +sustenance. Blessed be your benevolent offer.' So saying I slip in +between these two estimable gentlemen. I make myself small; very small; +in order not to incommode them; on the contrary, the motion is so +violent that I wedge----" + +So saying, the chevalier put his words into execution; profiting by the +general surprise, he insinuated himself between two guests and provided +himself with the glass of one, the plate of another, and the napkin of a +third. Profound amazement made his neighbors oblivious to the things of +this world. All this was accomplished with so much quickness, dexterity, +confidence and boldness that the guests of the illustrious captain of +the Unicorn and the illustrious captain himself did not dream of more +than looking with the greatest curiosity and astonishment at the +Chevalier de Croustillac. The adventurer proudly wore an old waistcoat +of rateen, once green, but now of a yellowish blue; his frayed breeches +were of the same shade; his stockings, at one time scarlet, were now a +faded pink, and seemed in places to be fairly embroidered with white +thread; a badly worn gray felt hat, an old sword-belt trimmed with +imitation gold lace, now tarnished, supported a long sword upon which +the chevalier, on entering, leaned with the air of a grandee. +Croustillac was a very tall and excessively thin man. He appeared to be +from thirty-six to forty years of age. His hair, mustache, and eyebrows +were jet black, his face bony, brown and tanned. He had a long nose, +small hazel eyes, which were extraordinarily lively, and his mouth was +very large; his physiognomy betrayed at the same time an imperturbable +assurance and an excessive vanity. + +Croustillac had that overweening belief in himself which one finds only +among the Gascons. He so exaggerated his merits and natural graces to +himself that he believed no woman was able to resist him; the list of +his conquests of every kind had been interminable. In spite of the most +amazing falsehoods, which cost him little, it cannot be denied that he +possessed true courage and a certain nobility of character. This +natural valor, joined to his blind confidence in himself, sometimes +precipitated him into almost inextricable situations, into which he +threw himself headlong, and from which he never emerged without hard +blows--for if he was as adventurous and boastful as a Gascon, he was as +obstinate and opinionated as a Breton. + +Heretofore his life had been very similar to that of his Bohemian +companions. The younger son of a poor Gascon family of doubtful +nobility, he had come to seek his fortune at Paris; by turns petty +officer of a forlorn hope; provost of an academy, bath-keeper, horse +jockey, peddler of satirical news and Holland gazettes; he had more than +once pretended to be a Protestant, feigning conversion to the Catholic +faith in order to secure the fifty crowns that M. Pelisson paid each +neophyte as the price of conversion. This cheat discovered, the +chevalier was condemned to the lash and to prison. He suffered the lash, +escaped from prison, disguised himself by means of an immense shade over +his eye, girded himself with a formidable sword with which he ambled +about, then embraced the profession of wheedling country folk for the +benefit of gambling houses, into which he led those innocent lambs, who +did not come forth again until completely shorn. It must be said--to the +chevalier's credit that he took no part himself in these rascalities; as +he said to himself--if he did bait the hook, he at least did not eat the +fish. + +The laws regarding duels were at that time very severe. One day the +chevalier encountered a well-known brave named Fontenay-Coup-d'Epée. The +latter roughly elbowed our adventurer, saying, "Take care! I am Fontenay +Sword-Thrust." "And I," said the Gascon, "Croustillac Cannon-Ball," +whipping out his sword. + +Fontenay was killed, and Croustillac obliged to flee in order to escape +capture. + +The chevalier had often heard of the wonderful fortunes to be realized +in the colonies. Journeying sometimes on foot, sometimes on horse, +sometimes in a wagon, he went to Rochelle hoping to embark for America. +Once there, Croustillac found that he not only must pay his passage on +board a vessel, but must also obtain from the intendant of marine, +permission to embark for the Antilles. + +These two things were equally difficult of accomplishment; the +emigration of Protestants, which Louis XIV. wished to prevent, made the +officers of the ports extremely severe, and the voyage to Martinique +cost no less than eight or nine hundred livres. In all his life the +adventurer had never been possessed of a tithe of this amount. Arriving +at Rochelle with ten crowns in his pocket, dressed in a smock frock and +carrying his clothing on the end of his scabbard, the chevalier went, +like a journeyman, to lodge at a poor tavern, ordinarily frequented by +sailors. + +There he inquired as to outgoing vessels, and learned that the Unicorn +would set sail in a few days. Two of the crew of this vessel frequented +the tavern which the chevalier had selected for the center of his +operations. It would take too long to tell by what prodigies of +astuteness and address; by what impudent and fabulous lies; by what mad +promises Croustillac succeeded in interesting in his behalf the master +cooper charged with the stowage of the casks of fresh water in the hold; +it is enough to know that this man consented to hide Croustillac in an +empty cask and to carry him on board the Unicorn. + +According to custom, the intendant's assistants and the admiralty clerks +carefully examined the vessel at the moment of its departure, in order +to see that no one had fraudulently embarked. The chevalier kept quiet +at the bottom of his cask and escaped the careful search of the king's +servants. His heart bounded freely when he felt the vessel under way; he +waited some hours before daring to show himself, knowing well that, once +on the high seas, the captain of the Unicorn would not return to port to +bring back a contraband passenger. + +It had been arranged between the master cooper and the chevalier that +the latter should never disclose the means whereby he had been smuggled +on board. + +A man less impudent than our adventurer would have timidly kept his +place among the sailors, waiting with uneasiness the moment when +Captain Daniel should discover the stowaway. Croustillac, on the +contrary, went boldly to his end; preferring the captain's table to the +mess of the crew, he was not a moment in doubt that he would be seated +at that table--if not rightfully, at least in fact. + +We have seen how his audacity served his purpose. + +Such was the unexpected visitor at whom the guests of the Unicorn looked +curiously. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BLUE BEARD. + + +"Now, sir, explain how you came here!" cried the captain of the Unicorn, +too impatient to learn the Gascon's secret to send him from the table. + +The Chevalier de Croustillac poured out a large glass of wine, stood up, +and said in a loud tone, "I will first propose to the illustrious +company to drink the health of one who is dear to us all--that of our +glorious king, that of Louis the Great, the most adored of princes!" + +In that troublous time, it would have been unwise and even dangerous for +the captain to receive the chevalier's proposition with coolness. +Captain Daniel and the passengers following his example, responding to +the toast, repeated in chorus, "To the king's health! to the health of +Louis the Great!" One person alone remained silent; this was the +chevalier's neighbor. Croustillac looked at him frowningly. + +"By the gods, sir, are you not one of us?" said he; "are you, then, an +enemy of our beloved king?" + +"Not at all, sir; not at all. I love and venerate this great king, but +how can I drink. You have taken my glass," replied the passenger +timidly. + +"What! gods! Is it for such a trifle as this that you expose yourself to +passing for a bad Frenchman?" exclaimed the chevalier, shrugging his +shoulders. "Are there not enough glasses here? Waiter! bring this +gentleman a glass. My dear friend, good luck. Now stand and let us say, +'To the king's health--our great king!'" + +After this toast all reseated themselves. The chevalier profited by the +confusion to give a napkin and plate to his neighbor. Then, uncovering a +dish placed before him, he said boldly to Father Griffen, "Father, may I +offer you some of this potted pigeon?" + +"Zounds, sir," cried the captain, struck by the liberties taken by the +chevalier, "you put yourself very much at your ease." + +The adventurer interrupted the captain and said to him with a solemn +air, "Captain, I know how to render to each what is due. The clergy is +the first order of the state; I conduct myself then as a Christian in +serving at once this reverend father. I shall do more--I shall seize +this occasion to render homage, in his respectable and holy person, to +the evangelical virtues which distinguish and always will distinguish +our church." + +So saying, the chevalier served Father Griffen. From this moment it +became very difficult for the captain to oust the adventurer. He had not +refused the chevalier's toast, nor prevented him from doing the honors +of the table. Meanwhile he continued to question him. "Come, sir, you +are a gentleman, so be it! you are a good Christian, you love the king +as we all love him--this is very well, but tell me, how the devil came +you here to eat supper with us?" + +"Father," said the chevalier, "I call upon you to bear witness, in the +presence of this honorable company----" + +"To bear witness to what, my son?" replied the priest. + +"To bear witness to what the captain has said." + +"How? What have I said," exclaimed the captain. + +"Captain, you have said, you will remember, in the presence of this +company, that I am a gentleman." + +"I have said so, no doubt, but----" + +"That I am a good Christian." + +"Yes, but----" + +"That I love the king." + +"Yes, because----" + +"Very well," replied the chevalier. "I again call this illustrious +company to bear witness that when one is a good Christian, when one is a +gentleman, when one loves his king, what more can be asked? Father, +shall I help you to some of this roast?" + +"I will take some, my son, for my seasickness takes the form of a robust +appetite; once on shipboard, my hunger redoubles." + +"I am delighted, Father, at this similarity in constitution. I, too, +have a ravenous appetite." + +"Very well, my son; as our good captain has given you the means +wherewith to satisfy your appetite, I would say, to make use of your own +words, that it is just because you _are_ a gentleman, a good Christian, +and well-disposed toward our beloved sovereign, that you ought to answer +the questions of Captain Daniel as to your extraordinary appearance on +board his ship." + +"Unhappily, that is just what I cannot do, Father." + +"How? cannot do?" cried the irritated captain. + +The chevalier assumed a solemn air, and replied, as he turned toward the +priest, "This reverend father can alone hear my confession and my vows; +this secret is not mine alone; this secret is grave, very grave," he +added, raising his eyes in contrition to heaven. + +"And I--I can force you to speak," cried the captain, "when I cause a +cannon ball to be tied to each of your feet and ride you on a rail until +you disclose the truth." + +"Captain," answered the chevalier, with imperturbable calm, "I never +permit any one to threaten me. The motion of an eyelid, a sneer, a +gesture, a nothing, which seems insulting--but you are king on your own +ship, and therefore I am in your kingdom and recognize myself to be your +subject. You have admitted me to your table--I shall continue to be +worthy of this favor always--but there is no reason to arbitrarily +inflict upon me such bad treatment. Nevertheless, I shall know how to +resign myself to it, to support it, unless this good priest, the refuge +of the feeble against the strong, deigns to intercede with you in my +behalf," replied the chevalier humbly. + +The captain was very much embarrassed, for Father Griffen did not +hesitate to speak a few words in behalf of the adventurer who had so +suddenly sought his protection, and who had promised to reveal, under +the seal of the confessional, the secret of his presence on the Unicorn. +The anger of the captain was somewhat appeased; the chevalier, at first +flattering, insinuating, became jovial and comical; for the amusement of +the passengers he performed all kinds of tricks; he balanced knives on +his nose; he built up a pyramid of glasses and bottles with wonderful +ingenuity; he sang new songs; he imitated the cries of various animals. +In fact, Croustillac knew so well how to amuse the captain of the +Unicorn, who was not very hard to please, that when supper was concluded +the latter clapped the Gascon on the shoulder, saying: + +"After all, chevalier, you are here on board, there is no way to undo +that. You are good company, and there will always be a plate for you at +my table, and we will manage to find some corner in which to swing a +hammock for you." + +The chevalier overwhelmed the captain with thanks and protestations of +gratitude, and betook himself quickly to the place assigned to him, and +soon was profoundly sleeping, perfectly satisfied as to his well-being +during the voyage, although a little humiliated from having had to +suffer the captain's threats, and from having had to descend to tricks +to win the good will of one whom he mentally designated a brute and a +seabear. + +The chevalier saw in the colonies a veritable Eldorado. He had heard of +the magnificent hospitality of the colonists, who were only too happy, +he had been told, to keep the Europeans who came to see them as guests, +for months, and he drew this very simple deduction: there are about +fifty or sixty rich plantations at Martinique and Guadeloupe; their +proprietors, bored to death, are delighted to keep with them men of wit; +of gay humor, and of resources. I am essentially one of these; I have +only, then, to appear to be petted, fêted, spoiled; admitting that I +spend six months at each plantation, one after another--there are fully +in the neighborhood of sixty--this will give me from twenty-five to +thirty years of enjoyment and perfectly assured comfortable existence, +and I count only on the least favorable chances. I am in the full +maturity of my gifts; I am amiable, witty, I have all kinds of society +talents; how can one believe that the rich owners of these colonies, +will be so blind, so stupid, as not to profit by the occasion and secure +to themselves in this way the most charming husband that a young girl or +a fascinating widow has ever pictured in sleepless nights. + +Such were the hopes of the chevalier; we shall see if they were +realized. + +The following morning Croustillac kept his promise and made his +confession to Father Griffen. + +Although sincere enough, the avowal revealed nothing new as to the +position of the penitent, which he had very nearly divined. This was, in +effect the chevalier's confession: He had dissipated his fortune; killed +a man in a duel; pursued by justice and finding himself without +resources, he had adopted the dangerous part of going to the West Indies +to seek his fortune; not having the means of paying for his passage, he +had had recourse to the compassion of a cooper, who had carried him on +board and hidden him in an empty cask. + +This apparent sincerity caused Father Griffen to look upon the +adventurer with leniency; but he did not hide from the Gascon that any +hope of finding a fortune in the colonies was an error; he must bring +quite an amount of capital with him to obtain even the smallest +establishment; the climate was deadly; the inhabitants, as a general +thing, were suspicious of strangers, and all the traditions of generous +hospitality of the first colonists completely forgotten, as much through +the egotism of the inhabitants as because of the discomforts following a +war with England--which had gravely affected their interests. In a word, +Father Griffen counseled the chevalier to accept the offer which the +captain made, of taking him back to Rochelle after having touched at +Martinique. In the priest's opinion, Croustillac could find a thousand +resources in France, which he could not hope to find in a half-civilized +country; the condition of the Europeans being such in the colonies that +never, in consideration of their dignity as whites, could they perform +menial employment. Father Griffen was ignorant of the fact that the +chevalier had exhausted the resources of France, and therefore had +expatriated himself. Under certain circumstances, no one was more easily +hoodwinked than the good priest; his pity for the unhappy blinding his +usual penetration. The past life of the chevalier did not appear to have +been one of immaculate purity; but this man was so careless in his +distress, so indifferent to the future which menaced him, that Father +Griffen ended by taking more interest in the adventurer than he +merited, and he proposed that the latter should stay in his parsonage at +Macouba, while the Unicorn remained at Martinique; an invitation that +Croustillac took care not to refuse. + +Time went on. Captain Daniel was never tired of praising the wonderful +talents of the chevalier, in whom he discovered new treasures of +sleight-of-hand each day. Croustillac had finished by putting into his +mouth the ends of burning candles, and by swallowing forks. This last +feat had carried the captain beyond bounds of enthusiasm; he formally +offered the Gascon a situation for life on board ship if the chevalier +would promise to charm thus agreeably the tedium of the voyages of the +Unicorn. + +We would say here, in order to explain the success of Croustillac, that +at sea the hours seem very long; the slightest distractions are +precious, and one is very glad to have always at one's beck and call a +species of buffoon endowed with imperturbable good humor. As to the +chevalier, he hid under a laughing and careless mask, a sad +preoccupation; the end of his journey drew near; the words of Father +Griffen had been too sensible, too sincere, too just not to strongly +impress our adventurer, who had counted upon passing a joyous life at +the expense of the colonists. The coldness with which many of the +passengers, returning to Martinique, treated him, completed the ruin of +his hopes. In spite of the talents which he developed and which amused +them, none of these colonists made the slightest advance to the +chevalier, although he repeatedly declared he would be delighted to make +a long exploration into the interior of the island. + +The end of the voyage came; the last illusions of Croustillac were +destroyed; he saw himself reduced to the deplorable alternative of +forever traversing the ocean with Captain Daniel, or of returning to +France to encounter the rigors of the law. Chance suddenly offered to +the chevalier the most dazzling mirage, and awakened in him the maddest +hopes. + +The Unicorn was not more than two hundred leagues from Martinique when +they met a French trading vessel coming from that island and sailing +for France. This vessel lay to and sent a boat to the Unicorn for news +from Europe. In the colonies all was well for some weeks past; not a +single English man-of-war had been seen. After exchanging other news, +the two vessels separated. + +"For a vessel of such value (the passengers had estimated her worth at +about four hundred thousand francs) she is not very well armed," said +the chevalier, "and would be a good prize for the English." + +"Bah!" returned a passenger with an envious air, "Blue Beard can afford +to lose such a vessel as that." + +"Yes, truly; there would still remain enough money to buy and arm +others." + +"Twenty such, if she desired," said the captain. + +"Oh, twenty, that is a good many," said another. + +"Faith, without counting her magnificent plantation at Anse aux Sables, +and her mysterious house at Devil's Cliff," returned a third, "do they +not say she has five or six millions of gold and precious stones hidden +somewhere?" + +"Ah, there it is! hidden no one knows where!" exclaimed Captain Daniel; +"but one thing sure, she _has_ them, for I have it from old father +'Wide-awake,' who had once seen Blue Beard's first husband at Devil's +Cliff (which husband, they say, was young and handsome as an angel). I +have it from Wide-awake that Blue Beard on this day amused herself by +measuring in a bowl, diamonds, pearls and emeralds; now, all these +riches are still in her possession, without counting that her third and +last husband, as they say, was very rich, and that all his fortune was +in gold dust." + +"People say she is so avaricious that she expends for herself and +household only ten thousand francs a year," continued a passenger. + +"As to that, it is not certain," said Captain Daniel; "no one knows how +she lives, because she is a stranger in the colony, and not four persons +have ever put their feet inside Devil's Cliff." + +"Truly; and lucky it is so; I am not the one who would have the +curiosity to go there," said another; "Devil's Cliff does not enjoy a +very good reputation; they do say that strange things take place there." + +"It is certain that it has been struck by lightning three times." + +"That does not surprise me; and strange cries, they say, are heard round +the house." + +"It is said that it is built like a fortress, inaccessible, among the +rocks of the Cabesterre." + +"That is natural if Blue Beard has so great a treasure to guard." + +Croustillac heard this conversation with great curiosity. These +treasures, these diamonds, were pictured in his imagination. + +"Of whom do you speak, gentlemen?" he said. + +"We are speaking of Blue Beard." + +"Who is this Blue Beard?" + +"Blue Beard? Well, it is--Blue Beard." + +"But is this a man or a woman?" said the chevalier. + +"Blue Beard?" + +"Yes, yes," said Croustillac impatiently. + +"'Tis a woman." + +"How, a woman? and why, then, call her Blue Beard?" + +"Because she gets rid of her husbands as easily as Blue Beard of the old +story got rid of his wives." + +"And she is a widow? She is a widow! Oh," cried the chevalier, clapping +his hands while his heart beat rapidly, "a widow! rich beyond belief; +rich enough to make one dizzy only to try to estimate her wealth--a +widow!" + +"A widow; so much of a widow that she is such for a third time in three +years," said the captain. + +"And is she as rich as they say?" + +"Yes, that is conceded; all the world knows it," replied the captain. + +"Worth millions; rich enough to fit out vessels worth four hundred +thousand livres; rich enough to have sacks of diamonds and emeralds and +fine pearls!" cried the Gascon, whose eyes sparkled and nostrils +dilated, while his hands clinched. + +"But I tell you that she is rich enough to buy Martinique and +Guadeloupe if she were so pleased," said the captain. + +"And old? very old?" asked the Gascon, uneasily. + +His informer looked at the other passengers with a questioning air. +"What age should you say Blue Beard was?" + +"Faith, I do not know," said one. + +"All I know," said another, "is that when I came to the colony two years +ago she had already had her second husband, and had a third in view, who +only lived a year." + +"As to her third husband, it is said that he is not dead, but has +disappeared," said a third. + +"He is certainly dead, however, because Blue Beard has been seen wearing +a widow's garb," said a passenger. + +"No doubt, no doubt," continued another; "the proof that he is dead is +that the parish priest of Macouba was instructed, in the absence of +Father Griffen, to say the mass for the dead, for him." + +"And it would not be surprising if he had been assassinated," said +another. + +"Assassinated? by his wife, no doubt?" said still another voice with an +emphasis that spoke little in favor of Blue Beard. + +"Not by his wife!" + +"Ah, ah, that is something new!" + +"Not by his wife? and by whom, then?" + +"By his enemies in the Barbadoes." + +"By the English colonists?" + +"Yes, by the English, because he was himself English." + +"Is it so, then, sir; the third husband is dead, really dead?" asked the +chevalier anxiously. + +"Oh, as to being dead--he is that," exclaimed several in chorus. + +Croustillac drew a long breath; a moment's thought, and his hopes +resumed their audacious flight. + +"But the age of Blue Beard?" he persisted. + +"Her age--as to that I can satisfy you; she must be anywhere from +twenty, yes, that is about it, from twenty to sixty years," said Captain +Daniel. + +"Then you have not seen her?" said the Gascon, impatient under this +raillery. + +"Seen her? I? And why the devil should you suppose I had seen Blue +Beard?" asked the captain. "Are you mad?" + +"Why?" + +"Listen, my friends," said the captain to his passengers; "he asks me if +I have seen Blue Beard." + +The passengers shrugged their shoulders. + +"But," continued Croustillac, "what is there astonishing in my +question?" + +"What is there astonishing?" said the captain. + +"Yes." + +"Hold; you come from Paris, do you not? and is Paris not much smaller +than Martinique?" + +"Without doubt." + +"Very well; have you seen the executioner at Paris?" + +"The executioner? No, but why such a question?" + +"Very well; once for all, understand that no one is any more curious to +see Blue Beard than to see the executioner, sir. Beside, the house in +which she lives is situated in the midst of the wilds of Devil's Cliff, +where one does not care to venture. Then an assassin is not an agreeable +companion, and Blue Beard has too bad associates." + +"Bad associates?" said the chevalier. + +"Yes, friends; friends of the heart; not to go into the matter any +further, it is a saying that it is not well to encounter them by night +on the plain; by night in the woods; or after sunset under the lee of +the island," said the captain. + +"'Whirlwind'--the filibuster first," said one of the passengers with an +affrighted air. + +"Or 'Rend the Soul'--the buccaneer of Marie-Galande," said another. + +"Or 'Youmäale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," +continued a third. + +"What?" cried the chevalier, "does Blue Beard coquette at the same time +with a filibusterer, a buccaneer, and a cannibal? Bah! what a woman!" + +"So they say, sir." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ARRIVAL. + + +These singular revelations concerning the morals of Blue Beard made a +great impression upon the chevalier. After some moments of silence he +asked the captain, "Who is this man, this filibuster whom they term the +Whirlwind?" + +"A mulatto from San Domingo, they say," replied Captain Daniel, "one of +the most determined filibusters of the Antilles; he has dwelt in +Martinique for the past two years, in a solitary house, where he lives +now like an alderman." + +"And you think that this bully is favored by Blue Beard?" + +"They say that all the time that he does not pass at his own house, he +is at Devil's Cliff." + +"This proves at least that Blue Beard has never loved sentimental +swains!" said the chevalier. "Well, but the buccaneer?" + +"Faith," cried one of the passengers, "I do not know if I would not +rather have the Whirlwind for an enemy than the buccaneer +'Rend-your-soul!'" + +"Zounds! there is at least a name which holds possibilities," said +Croustillac. + +"And which fulfills them," said the passenger, "for him I have seen." + +"And is he so terrible?" + +"He is certainly as ferocious as the wild boars or the bulls which he +hunts. I will tell you about him. It is now about a year since I was +going to his ranch in the Great Tari, in the northern part of +Martinique, to purchase of him some skins of wild cattle. He was alone +with his pack of twenty hounds who looked as wicked and savage as +himself. When I arrived he was anointing his face with palm oil, for +there was not a portion of it that was not blue, yellow, violet or +purple." + +"I have had these irridescent shades from a blow on the eye, but----" + +"Exactly, sir. I asked him what had caused this, and this is what he +told me: 'My hounds, led by my assistant, had flung themselves upon a +two-year-old bull; he had passed me, and I had sent a ball into his +shoulder; he bounded into a thicket; the dogs followed. While I was +reloading, my assistant came up, fired, and missed the bull. My boy, +seeing himself disarmed, sought to cut at the bull's legs, but it gored +him and stamped him underfoot. Placed as I was, I could not fire at the +animal for fear of finishing my man. I took my large buccaneer's knife +and threw myself between them. I received a blow of its horn which +ripped up my thigh, a second broke this arm (showing me his left arm, +which was suspended in a sling); the bull continued to attack me; as +there remained but the right hand that was of any use, I watched my +opportunity, and at the instant when the animal lowered his head to rip +me up, I seized him by the horns and drew him within reach, and seized +his lip with my teeth, and would no more let go than an English bulldog, +while my dogs worried his sides.'" + +"But this man is a blockhead," said Croustillac, contemptuously. "If he +has no other means of pleasing--faith, I pity his mistress." + +"I have told you that he was a species of savage animal," replied the +narrator, "but to continue my story. 'Once wounded on the lips,' said +the buccaneer, 'a bull falls. At the end of five minutes, blinded by the +loss of blood (for my bullets had done their work), the bull fell on his +knees and rolled over; my dogs sprang upon him, seized him by the +throat, and finished him. The struggle had weakened me; I had lost a +great deal of blood; for the first time in my life I fainted just like a +girl. And what do you suppose my dogs had been at during my swoon? They +had amused themselves by devouring my servant! They were so sharp and +well-trained.' 'How,' said I to Rend-your-soul, terrified, 'because +your dogs have devoured your servant, does that prove that they are +well-trained?' I declare, sir," continued the passenger who had related +this story of the buccaneer to the Gascon, "I looked with considerable +alarm upon these ferocious animals who walked round and round me and +smelt at me in a manner far from reassuring." + +"The fact is, such customs as these are brutal," said Croustillac, "and +it would be a mistake to address such a man of the woods in the +beautiful language of gallantry. But what the devil can he indulge in in +the way of conversation with Blue Beard?" + +"God forbid I should act as eavesdropper," exclaimed the passenger. + +"When Rend-your-Soul has said to Blue Beard, 'I have seized a bull on +the lips, and my dogs have devoured my servants,'" replied the Gascon, +"the conversation would languish; and zounds! one cannot always be +feeding a man to the dogs in order to furnish entertainment." + +"In faith, one cannot tell," said a listener; "these men are capable of +anything." + +"But," said Croustillac, "such an animal can know nothing about small +courtesies; flowery language always takes the ladies." + +"No, certainly," replied the narrator, whom we suspect of a slight +exaggeration of the facts, "for he swears enough to sink the island; and +he has a voice like the bellowing of a bull." + +"That is easily accounted for; from frequenting their society he has +acquired their accent," said the chevalier; "but let us hear the end of +your story, I beg." + +"Here it is. I demanded then of the buccaneer how he dared assert that +dogs who would devour a man were well trained. 'Doubtless,' replied he, +'my dogs are trained never to insert a tooth in a bull when he is down, +for I sell the skins, and they must be intact. Once the bull is dead +these poor brutes, hungry though they be, have the sense to respect it, +and to await its being skinned. Now this morning their hunger was +infernal; my servant was half dead and covered with blood. He was very +inhuman toward them; they began, no doubt, by licking his wounds; then, +as it is said the appetite increases with what it is fed on, this made +the mouths of the poor brutes water. Finally, they did not leave a bone +of my servant. Had it not been for the bite of a serpent which nipped +sharply but which was not venomous, I might have remained in my swoon. I +recovered consciousness; I wrenched the snake from my right leg, round +which it had coiled itself, I took it by the tail, I whirled it like a +sling and I crushed its head on the trunk of a guava tree. I examined +myself; I had a thigh ripped open and an arm broken; I bound the wound +in my thigh with fresh leaves and secured them by a vine. As to my left +arm, it was broken between the elbow and the wrist. I cut three little +sticks and a long creeper and I tied it up like a roll of tobacco. Once +my wounds dressed, I sought for my servant, for I could not see him. I +called him, there was no answer. My dogs were crouched at my feet; they +appeared so innocent, the cunning creatures! and looked at me as they +wagged their tails as if nothing was wrong. Finally I arose, and what +should I see at twenty paces distance but the remains of my servant. I +recognized his powder-horn and the sheath of his knife. That was all +that remained of him, I tell you this to prove to you that my dogs are +very snappish and well-trained; for they will not injure a hair on the +bull's skin.'" + +"There, there! the buccaneer exceeds the filibuster," said Croustillac. +"I can only say that Blue Beard is greatly to be pitied for not having +had, up to this time, but an alternative of two such brutes." And the +Gascon continued compassionately, "It is very easy to understand, this +poor woman has not an idea of what constitutes a gentleman; when one has +all one's life fed on lard and beans, one cannot conceive of anything as +fine, as delicate as a pheasant or an ortolan. Zounds! I see it has been +reserved to me to enlighten Blue Beard on a variety of things, and to +discover to her a new world. As to the Caribbean, is he worthy of +figuring at the side of his ferocious rivals?" + +"Oh, as to the Caribbean," said one of the passengers, "I can speak from +knowledge. I made this winter in his canoe the journey from Anse aux +Sable to Marie-Galande. I was pressed to reach this latter place. The +Rivière des Saints had overflowed, and I was compelled to make a great +circuit in order to find a place which could be forded. At the moment +when I embarked, I saw at the prow of the boat of Youmäale a kind of +brown figure. I drew near; what did I see? My God! the head and arms +dried to that of a mummy, forming the figurehead as an ornament for his +canoe! We started on our voyage, the Caribbean silent, like the savage +that he was, paddled without uttering a word. Arriving off the Caribbean +Island, where a Spanish brigantine had stranded some months previous, I +asked him, 'Is it not here that the Spanish vessel was wrecked?' The +Caribbean nodded an assent. It would be as well to say here that on +board this vessel was the reverend Father Simon of Foreign Missions. His +reputation for sanctity was such that it had reached even the +Caribbeans; the brigantine had been wrecked, passengers and cargo--at +least such was believed to be the case. I said then to the Caribbean, +'Is it there that Father Simon perished--you have heard of it?' He made +me another affirmative sign with his head, for these people never speak +an unnecessary word. 'He was an excellent man,' I continued. 'I have +eaten him,' replied this wretched idolater, with a kind of ferocious and +satisfied pride. + +"That was one method of enjoying a person," said Croustillac, "and of +sharing his qualities." + +"For a moment," replied the passenger, "I did not understand what this +horrible cannibal was saying, but when I had compelled him to explain +himself, I learned that in accordance with I know not what savage +ceremony, the missionary and two sailors who had escaped to a desert +island had been surprised by the cannibals and eaten at once! When I +reproached Youmäale for this barbarous atrocity, saying that it was +frightful to have sacrificed these three unhappy Frenchmen to their +ferocity, he replied, sententiously, and in a tone of approbation, as if +he would prove to me that he understood the force of my arguments in +classing, if not to their value, at least according to the flavor of +three different nationalities. 'You are right: a Spaniard never, a +Frenchman often, an Englishman always!'" + +"This would prove that an Englishman is incomparably more delicate than +a Frenchman, and that a Spaniard is as tough as the devil," said +Croustillac; "but this gourmand will finish some day by devouring Blue +Beard when caressing her. If all this be true----" + +"It is true, sir." + +"It follows then positively that this young or old widow is not +insensible to the ferocious attractions of Rend-your-soul and of the +cannibal?" + +"Public opinion accuses her thus." + +"Are they often with her?" + +"All the time Whirlwind is not engaged in privateering, that +Rend-your-soul is not hunting, and Youmäale is not in the woods, they +pass with Blue Beard." + +"Without becoming jealous of each other?" + +"It is said that Blue Beard is as despotic as the Sultan of Turkey, and +she forbids their being jealous." + +"Faith! what a seraglio she has! But listen, gentlemen: you know that I +am a Gascon; that they accuse us of exaggerating and you would +ridicule----" + +But Captain Daniel interposed, with a serious air, which could not be +feigned, "When we arrive at Martinique ask the first creole whom you +meet as to this Blue Beard; and may St. John, my patron saint, curse me +if you will not hear concerning Blue Beard and her three friends the +same thing." + +"And as to her immense wealth, will they also speak to me of that?" +asked the chevalier. + +"They will tell you that the plantation where Devil's Cliff is situated +is one of the most beautiful in the island, and that Blue Beard +possesses a counting house at Fort St. Pierre, and that this counting +house, managed by a man in her employ, sends out each year five or six +vessels like the one we have just passed." + +"I see how it is, then," said the chevalier in raillery. "Blue Beard is +a woman who is weary of riches and the pleasures of this world; in order +to distract her thoughts, she is capable of entertaining a buccaneer, a +filibuster, and even a cannibal, if her heart so dictates." + +"That it pleases her is evident in that she is never bored," replied the +captain. + +At this moment Father Griffen mounted to the deck. Croustillac said to +him, "Father, I have told these gentlemen that we are accused, we +Gascons, of telling fibs, but is what they say of Blue Beard the truth?" + +The face of Father Griffen, ordinarily placid and joyful, took on a +darker hue at once, and he replied gravely to the adventurer, "My son, +never breathe the name of this woman." + +"But, Father, is it true? She replaces her deceased husbands by a +filibuster, a buccaneer and a cannibal?" + +"Enough, enough, my son," returned the priest, "I pray you do not speak +of Devil's Cliff and what goes on there." + +"But, Father, is this woman as rich as they say?" pursued the Gascon, +whose eyes were snapping with covetousness; "has she such immense +treasures? Is she beautiful? Is she young?" + +"May heaven defend me from ascertaining!" + +"Is it true that her three husbands have been murdered by her, father? +If this be true, how is it that the law has not punished such crimes?" + +"There are crimes that may escape the justice of men, my son, but they +never escape the justice of God. I do not know, however, if this woman +is as culpable as they say, but still I say, do not speak of her, my +son, I implore you," said Father Griffen, whom this interview seemed to +affect most painfully. + +Suddenly the chevalier assumed a resolute attitude, pulled his hat down +over his forehead, caressed his mustache, balanced himself on his toes +like a barnyard fowl preparing for combat, and cried with an audacity of +which a Gascon alone is capable, "Gentlemen, tell me the day of the +month." + +"The 13th of July," replied the captain. + +"Well, gentlemen," continued our adventurer, "may I lose the name of De +Croustillac, may my coat of arms be forever smirched with disgrace, if +in one month from this very day, in spite of all the buccaneers, +filibusters or cannibals in Martinique or in the world, Blue Beard is +not the wife of Polyphème de Croustillac!" + +That evening when they went down to the saloon the adventurer was taken +aside by Father Griffen; he sought by every possible means to ascertain +if the Gascon knew more than he appeared to, concerning the surroundings +of Blue Beard. The extraordinary persistence with which Croustillac +occupied himself with her and the men about her had aroused the +suspicions of the good priest. After speaking at some length on the +subject with the chevalier, the priest was almost certain that +Croustillac had not spoken other than by presumption and vanity. + +"It matters not," said Father Griffen, "I'll not lose sight of this +adventurer; he has the appearance of an empty-headed fool, but traitors +know how to assume all guises. Alas!" continued he sadly, "this last +voyage imposes upon me great obligations toward those who dwell at +Devil's Cliff. Meantime, their secret is, so to speak, mine, but I have +done what I could; my conscience approves. May they long enjoy the +happiness they deserve, of escaping from the snares set for them. Ah! +what dangerous enemies kings are, and one often pays dearly for the +doubtful honor of being born on the steps of a throne. Alas!" went on +the priest with a profound sigh, "poor angelic woman, it rends my heart +to hear her thus spoken of, but it would be impolitic to defend her. +These rumors are the preservation of the noble creatures in whom I am so +deeply interested." + +After considering awhile Father Griffen said to himself, "I at first +took this adventurer to be a secret emissary from England, but I am +doubtless deceived. Nevertheless, I will watch this man. In fact, I will +offer him the hospitality of my house; thus his movements will not +escape me. In any case, I will warn my friends at Devil's Cliff to +redouble their prudence, for, I know not why, the presence of this +Gascon disturbs me." + +We will here hasten to inform the reader that the suspicions of Father +Griffen, so far as Croustillac was concerned, were without foundation. +The chevalier was nothing more than the poor devil of an adventurer +which we have shown him to be. The excellent opinion he held of himself +was the sole cause of his impertinent wager of espousing Blue Beard +before the end of the month. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE PRIEST'S HOUSE. + + +The Unicorn had anchored at Martinique three days. Father Griffen, +having some matters requiring his attention before his return to his +parish of Macouba, had not as yet quitted Fort St. Pierre. + +The Chevalier de Croustillac found himself landed in the colonies with +but very little money in his pocket. The captain and passengers had +considered the adventurer's declaration that before a month had passed +he would be the husband of Blue Beard, as an idle boast. Far from having +given up the idea, the chevalier persisted in it more and more since his +arrival in Martinique; he had carefully informed himself as to the +riches of Blue Beard, and was convinced that, if the life of this +strange woman was surrounded with the profoundest mystery, and she the +subject of the wildest exaggeration, it was at least true that she was +enormously wealthy. + +As to her face, age and origin, as no one had on this point as much +knowledge as Father Griffen, nothing could be affirmed. She was a +stranger in the colony. Her man of business had come in advance to the +island in order to purchase a magnificent estate and to build the +mansion at Devil's Cliff, situated in the northern and most inaccessible +and wildest portion of Martinique. At the end of several months it +became known that the new proprietor and his wife had arrived. One or +two of the colonists, impelled by their curiosity, had penetrated into +the solitude of Devil's Cliff; they were received with a royal +hospitality, but they did not see the owners of the place. Six months +after this visit, news was received of the death of the first husband, +which occurred during a short visit taken by the couple to Terre-Ferme. + +At the end of one year of absence and widowhood, Blue Beard returned to +Martinique with a second husband. It was said that this latter was +killed, accidentally, while taking a walk with his wife; his foot +slipped and he fell into one of those bottomless abysses which are so +common in the volcanic soil of the Antilles. Such was, at least, the +explanation that his wife gave concerning his mysterious death. + +No one knew anything positive concerning the third husband of Blue Beard +and his death. + +These three deaths, so close together, so mysterious, caused strange +stories to be circulated regarding this woman, and reached the ears of +the Governor of Martinique, who was then Chevalier de Crussol; he +started with an escort for Devil's Cliff; arriving at the foot of the +thickly-wooded ascent, on the summit of which towered the mansion, he +found a mulatto who gave him a letter. After reading this letter, the +governor showed great surprise, and ordering his escort to await his +return, he followed the slave, alone. + +At the expiration of four hours the governor returned with his guide, +and immediately retraced his steps to St. Pierre. Some of those who +formed his escort remarked that he was very pale and very much agitated. +From that moment until the day of his death, which occurred thirteen +months to the very day after his visit to Devil's Cliff, no one ever +heard him pronounce the name of Blue Beard. The governor made a long +confession to Father Griffen, who came to him from Macouba. It was +observed that in leaving the penitent, Father Griffen appeared to have +received a great shock. + +From that time the kind of fatal and mysterious reputation which had +attached itself to the name of Blue Beard increased day by day. +Superstition mingled with the terror which she inspired, until her name +was never mentioned without terror; it was firmly believed that she had +assassinated her three husbands, and that she had escaped punishment by +law only through the power of her wealth, thus purchasing the support of +the different governors who succeeded each other in turn. No one, then, +was tempted to trouble Blue Beard with visits to the wild and solitary +place in which she dwelt, above all since the cannibal, the buccaneer +and the privateer had come, as they said, to be companions or consolers +to the widow. + +Whether or not these men had ever legally rendered themselves liable for +any crime, it was asserted that they pursued with an implacable hatred +and vengeance all who attempted to come near Blue Beard. By reason of +being repeated and exaggerated, these threats bore their fruit. The +islanders care little to go, perhaps at the peril of their lives, to +penetrate into the mysteries of Devil's Cliff. It required the desperate +audacity of a Gascon in extremity, to attempt to surprise the secret of +Blue Beard and undertake to espouse her. Such was possibly the fixed +design of the Chevalier de Croustillac; he was not a man to renounce so +easily the hope, insane as it was, of marrying a woman worth millions; +beautiful or plain, young or old, it mattered little to him. + +As a means to success, he counted upon his good carriage, his spirit, +his amiability, and his manner, at the same time gallant and proud--for +the chevalier had an excellent opinion of himself--but he counted still +more on his wit, his cunning, and his courage. In fine, a man alert and +determined, who had nothing to lose and feared nothing, who believed +implicitly in himself and his star; who could say to himself as did +Croustillac, "In risking death during a moment--for death can be but a +moment's agony--I _may_ live in luxury and opulence"--such a man can +perform miracles above all when he undertakes a project with such a +grand object and as stimulating as that proposed by Croustillac. + +According to his resolve, Father Griffen, after he had brought to a +close the affairs which detained him at St. Pierre, invited the +chevalier to accompany him to Macouba, to remain there until the Unicorn +should sail again for France. Macouba being distant not more than four +or five leagues from Devil's Cliff, the chevalier, who had spent his +three crowns and who found himself without resources, accepted the offer +of the worthy priest, without further enlightening him as to his resolve +concerning Blue Beard; this he would not reveal until the moment arrived +to put it into execution. + +After taking leave of Captain Daniel, the chevalier and the priest +embarked in a small boat. Favored by a good wind from the south, they +set sail for Macouba. Croustillac appeared indifferent to the +magnificent and novel scenes which were afforded by the coast of +Martinique, seen from the water; the tropical vegetation whose verdure, +of a tone almost metallic, outlined on a glowing sky, affected him very +little. + +The adventurer, with his eyes fixed on the scintillating wake which the +boat left behind her, seemed to see flashing the living rays of Blue +Beard's diamonds; the little green herbs, standing in relief from the +submerged meadows which edged the winding shores, pictured to the Gascon +the emeralds of the widow; while some drops of water sparkled in the sun +in the fall of the oars made him dream of the sacks of pearls which the +terrible resident at Devil's Cliff possessed. + +Father Griffen was also deeply absorbed; after thinking of his friends +at Devil's Cliff, he turned his thoughts, with a mixture of disquietude +and joy, to his little flock at home, his garden, his poor and +unpretentious church, his house, his favorite horse, his dog, and his +two slaves who had always given him the most devoted service. And +then--shall we say it?--he thought of certain preserves which he had +made some days before his departure, and as to the condition of which he +was ignorant. + +In three hours our travelers arrived at Macouba. Father Griffen had not +long to wait; the canoe was moored in a little bay, not far from the +river which watered this section, one of the most fertile of Martinique. + +Father Griffen leaned upon the chevalier's arm. After having for a time +followed the shore where the high and powerful waves of the Caribbean +Sea rolled on, they reached the village of Macouba, composed of some +hundred houses built of wood and covered with roses and palms. + +The village was built on a semicircular plan which followed the outline +of the Bay of Macouba, a little port where many canoes and fishing boats +were built. The church was a long wooden edifice from the center of +which four beams arose, surmounted by a little belfry in which was hung +a bell; the church overlooked the village, and was in turn overshadowed +by immense cliffs, covered by rich vegetation, which made an +amphitheatre of living green. + +The sun was rapidly setting. The priest trod the only street that +crossed Macouba, and which led to the church. Some small negroes, +absolutely nude, were rolling in the dust; uttering loud cries; they +fled at the approach of the priest. A number of creole women, white or +of mixed blood, dressed in long robes of Indian and madras cloth, in +striking colors, ran to the doors; recognizing Father Griffen, they +testified to their surprise and joy; young and old hastened to +respectfully kiss his hand, and to say in creole, "Blessed is your +return, good Father; you have been missed in Macouba." Numbers of men +came out at once and surrounded Father Griffen, with the same tokens of +attachment and respect. + +While the priest talked with the villagers of the events which had taken +place at Macouba during his absence, and in turn gave them news of +France, the housewives, fearing that the good father would not find +sufficient provision at the parsonage, had retired to select, one a fine +fish, another a beautiful pullet; this one the quarter of a fine fat +buck, that one some fruits or vegetables, and a number of little negroes +were ordered to carry to the parsonage these voluntary tithes. + +The priest reached his house, situated on one side, at some distance +from the village, overlooking the sea. Nothing could be more simple than +this modest wooden house, covered with roses, and of one story. Curtains +of clear linen dressed the windows and took the place of blinds, which +were a great luxury in the colonies. + +A large room, comprising at the same time parlor and dining room, +communicated with the kitchen built at the rear; at the left of this +principal room were the bedroom of Father Griffen, and two other small +rooms opening into the garden and set apart for strangers or the other +priests of Martinique who might, at times, ask the hospitality of their +brother priest. + +A henhouse, a stable for the horse, lodgings for two negroes, and +several sheds, completed this establishment, furnished with a rustic +simplicity. The garden had been carefully laid out. Four broad paths +were divided by many beds bordered by thyme, lavender, wild thyme, +hyssop and other fragrant plants. The four principal beds were +subdivided into numerous little ones set apart for vegetables or fruits, +but surrounded by wide borders of fragrant flowers. Between two little +walls of verdure, covered with Arabian jasmine and odorous creepers, +could be seen, in the horizon, the sea and the hills of the other +islands. + +No fresher or more charming spot than this garden, in which the most +beautiful flowers mingled with fruits and magnificent vegetables, could +be found. Here a bed of melons, of an amber color, was bordered by dwarf +pomegranates, shaped like a small box and covered at the same time with +purple blossoms and fruit so heavy and so abundant that it touched the +earth. A little further on, a branch of Angola wood with its long, green +husks, and its blue flowers, was surrounded by a line of white and pink +almonds, sweet with perfume; the carrot plant, sorrel, gimgambo and +leek, were hidden in a fourfold rank of tuberoses of the richest tints; +finally, came a square of pineapples which perfumed the air, having a +row of magnificent cacti for a border, with yellow calix and long silver +pistils. Behind the house extended an orchard composed of cocoanuts, +bananas, guava, tamarind, and orange trees, whose branches were weighted +down to the earth with flowers and fruit. + +Father Griffen followed the paths of his garden with unspeakable +happiness, observing each flower, plant and tree. His two slaves +attended him; one was called Monsieur, the other Jean. These two good +creatures, weeping with joy at the sight of their master, could not +reply to his questions, so much affected were they, and could only say +one to the other, with hands raised to heaven, "God be praised--he is +here! he is here!" + +The chevalier, indifferent to the joy of the natives, followed the +priest mechanically; he was consumed with the desire to inquire of his +host if, through the woods which rose in an amphitheatre, one could see +the road to Devil's Cliff. + +After examining his garden, the good priest went out to inspect his +horse which he had named Grenadille, and his large English mastiff +called Snog; as soon as he opened the stable door Snog threw himself +upon his master and bounded around him. He not only jumped upon him but +barked with joy, with such evidence of affection that the negro, +Monsieur, was obliged to take the dog by his collar and could with +difficulty restrain him, while the priest caressed Grenadille, whose +glossy coat and well-covered ribs bore testimony to the good care of +Monsieur, who had charge of the stable. + +After this thorough visit through his little domain, Father Griffen +conducted the chevalier into the bedroom which he had intended for him. +A bed draped with a mosquito-netting under a linen canopy, a large +bureau of mahogany wood, and a table, was the furnishing of this room, +which opened upon the garden. Its only ornament was a crucifix suspended +from the center of the slightly roughened wainscot. + +"You will find here a poor and modest hospitality," said Father Griffen +to the chevalier, "but it is offered you with a good heart." + +"And I accept it with gratitude, Father," said Croustillac. + +At this moment Monsieur came to announce that supper was ready, and +Father Griffen led the way to the dining room. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +A large glass wherein burned a candle of yellow wax, lighted the table; +the dishes were placed on a table cloth of coarse but very white linen. +There was no silver; the steel knives, and spoons of maple wood, were of +great neatness. A bottle of blue glass contained about a pint of canary; +in a large pewter pot bubbled the _oagou_, a fermented beverage made +from the grain of sugar cane; a sealed earthen vessel held water, as +fresh as if it were iced. + +A fine dorado grilled in its scales (a Caribbean dish), a roasted +paroquet of the size of a pheasant, two dishes of sea crabs cooked in +the shell and served with sauce of the citron juice, and a salad of +green peas, had been symmetrically placed on the table by the negro +Jean, around a centerpiece composed of a large basket containing a +pyramid of fruit, which had at its base a European melon, a watermelon, +and at its summit a pineapple; there was a side dish of sliced +palm-cabbage dressed with vinegar, and little whitefish preserved in +spiced pickle, which would tempt the appetite of the guests or excite +their thirst. + +"You are treating me with royal magnificence, Father," said the +chevalier to the priest. "This island is the 'promised land,' surely." + +"With the exception of the canary wine, which was a gift, my son, all +this is the product of the garden which I cultivate, or the fishing and +hunting of my two slaves, for the offerings of my parish are +superfluous, thanks to the foresight of Monsieur and Jean, who were +advised of my arrival by a sailor at Fort St. Pierre. Help yourself to +this paroquet, my son," said the priest to the chevalier, who appeared +to find the fish very much to his taste. + +Croustillac hesitated a moment and looked at the priest in an uncertain +manner. "I do not know why, but it seems strange to eat a paroquet," +said the chevalier. + +"Try it, try it," responded the priest, and he placed a wing on his +plate. "Is a pheasant's flesh more plump or more golden? It is cooked to +a marvel; and then, did you ever smell anything more appetizing?" + +"I should say four spices are employed," said the chevalier, inhaling +the odor. + +"It is claimed that these birds are very fond of the berry of the Indian +trees which they find in the forest; these trees have at once the taste +of cinnamon, clove and pepper, and the flesh of the game partakes of the +scent of this aromatic tree. How this juice is flavored. Add a little of +the orange sugar, and then tell me if the Lord has not blessed his +creatures in bestowing such gifts upon them?" + +"In all my life I have never eaten anything more tender, more delicate +or more savory than this," replied the chevalier, with full mouth, and +half shutting his eyes in sensual enjoyment. + +"Is it not good?" said the good priest, who, knife and fork in hand, +looked at his guest with satisfied pride. + +The repast ended, Monsieur placed a pot of tobacco and pipes at the side +of the bottle of canary, and Father Griffen and Croustillac were then +left alone. + +After filling a glass of wine and passing it to the chevalier, the +priest said to him, "Your health, my son." + +"Thanks, father," said the chevalier, lifting his glass. "Drink also to +the health of my future bride; it will be a good omen for me." + +"How? your future bride?" replied the priest; "what do you mean?" + +"I allude to Blue Beard, father." + +"Ah--always jesting! Frankly, I believe the men of your province are +most inventive, my son," said Father Griffen, smiling mischievously, and +emptying his glass in small doses. + +"I never spoke more seriously, father. You heard the vow which I made on +board the Unicorn?" + +"Impossibility nullifies a vow, my son; because you should swear to +measure the ocean, would you engage to fulfill this oath?" + +"How, Father--is the heart of Blue Beard as bottomless as the ocean?" +gayly exclaimed the chevalier. + +"An English poet has said of woman, 'Perfidious as the waves,' my son." + +"However perfidious women may be, my worthy host," said the chevalier +with a self-sufficient air, "we men know how to disarm them, and I shall +exercise afresh that power in dealing with Blue Beard." + +"You will not attempt anything of the kind, my son; I am easy on that +point." + +"Allow me to say, father, that you deceive yourself. To-morrow, at +daybreak, I shall ask of you a guide to conduct me to Devil's Cliff, and +I shall confide the course of this adventure to my Star." + +The chevalier spoke with so serious an air that Father Griffen hastily +placed upon the table the glass which he was raising to his lips, and +regarded the chevalier with as much astonishment as distrust. Until then +he had really believed the matter to be only a pleasantry or idle boast. +"Are you sincere in this resolve? This is absolute madness, but----" + +"Excuse me, Father, for interrupting you," said the chevalier, "but you +see before you the younger son of my family, who has tempted every +fortune, wasted all his resources, and with whom nothing has succeeded. +Blue Beard is rich, very rich. I have everything to gain, nothing to +lose." + +"Nothing to lose?" + +"Life, perhaps, you will say. I make a good bargain; and then, barbarous +though this country may be, helpless as justice may prove, I do not +think that Blue Beard will dare treat me, on my arrival, as she treated +her three husbands; if so, you will know that I have fallen a victim; +you will demand an account of my death. I risk nothing more than seeing +my homage rejected. Ah! well, if such be the case, if she repulses me, I +shall continue to delight Captain Daniel during his trips by swallowing +lighted candles and balancing bottles on the end of my nose. Certainly +such an occupation is honorable and amusing, but I prefer another life. +So, then, no matter what you say, Father, I am resolved to attempt the +adventure and to go to Devil's Cliff. I cannot tell you what secret +presentiment tells me I shall succeed, that I am upon the eve of seeing +my destiny fulfill itself in a most wonderful manner. The future seems +tinted with rose and gold; I dream only of magnificent palaces, wealth, +and beauty; it seems to me (excuse the pagan comparison) that Love and +Fortune have come and taken me by the hands and are saying to me, +'Polyphème de Croustillac, happiness awaits thee.' You will say, +perhaps, Father," continued the chevalier, throwing a mocking glance at +his faded coat, "that I am poorly dressed to present myself in this +beautiful and brave company of fortune and happiness; but Blue Beard, +who must be intelligent, will comprehend at once that under this +outside, the heart of an Amadis, the spirit of a Gascon, and the courage +of a Cæsar dwells." + +After a moment's silence the priest, instead of smiling at the +pleasantries of the chevalier, said to him in a tone that was most +solemn, "Is your resolve finally taken?" + +"Unwaveringly and absolutely taken, Father." + +"Hear me then; I heard the confessions of the Chevalier de Crussol, the +former governor of this island; he who, when the third husband of this +woman disappeared, went to Devil's Cliff." + +"Well, father?" + +"While I must respect the secrets of the confessional, I can, I must, +tell you that if you persist in your insane project, you expose yourself +to great and unavoidable peril. Without doubt, if you lose your life, +your death will not remain unpunished; but there will be no means of +preventing the fatal end upon which you would rush. Who obliges you to +go to Devil's Cliff? The resident of that place wishes to live in +solitude; the barriers of that abode are such that you cannot break them +down without violence; for in every country, and above all in this one, +he who trespasses upon the property of another exposes himself to grave +danger--danger the greater that all idea of a union with this widow is +impossible, even if you were of a princely house." + +These words hurt immeasurably the self-esteem of the Gascon, who +exclaimed, "Father, this woman is but a woman, and _I_ am Croustillac." + +"What do you say, my son?" + +"That this woman is free; that she has not seen me; that but one look, +one only, will change entirely her resolve." + +"I do not think it." + +"Reverend Father, I have the greatest, the blindest confidence in your +word; I know all its authority; but this concerns the fair sex, and you +cannot understand the heart of woman as _I_ understand it, you do not +know what inexplicable caprices they are capable of; you do not know +that what pleases them to-day displeases them to-morrow; and that they +wish for to-day, that which they disdained yesterday. With women, my +reverend sir, one must dare in order to succeed. If it were not for your +cloth, I would tell you some curious adventures and audacious +undertakings by which I have been recompensed amorously!" + +"My son!" + +"I understand your sensitiveness, Father, and to return to Blue Beard: +once in her presence, I shall treat her not only with effrontery, with +haughtiness, but as a victor--I dare say it, as a lion who comes proudly +to carry off his prey." + +These remarks of the chevalier were interrupted by an unforeseen +accident. It was very warm; the door of the dining room which looked on +the garden was half open. The chevalier, with back turned to this door, +was seated in an arm chair with a wooden back which was not very high. A +sharp hissing sound was heard and a quick blow vibrated in the middle of +the chevalier's chair. + +At this sound Father Griffen bounded from his chair, rushed and took his +gun down from a rack placed in his bedroom, and precipitated himself out +of doors, crying, "Jean! Monsieur! Take your guns! Follow me, my +children! follow me! The Caribbeans are upon us!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE WARNING. + + +All this took place so rapidly that the chevalier was dumfounded. "Get +up! get up!" cried the priest. "The Caribbeans! Look at the back of your +chair--get out of the light!" + +The chevalier rose quickly, and saw an arrow three feet in length fixed +in the back of his chair. Two inches higher and the chevalier would have +been pierced through the shoulders. Croustillac seized his sword, which +he had left on a chair, and hurried after the priest. + +Father Griffen, at the head of his two negroes, armed with their guns, +and preceded by his mastiff, sought for the enemy; unfortunately, the +door of the dining room opened upon a trellised orchard; the night was +dark; doubtless the person who had sped the arrow was already far away, +or well hidden in the top of some thick tree. + +Snog bounded hither and thither in the eagerness of his search. Father +Griffen recalled his two slaves who were too venturesome and would have +penetrated into the orchard. + +"Well, father, where are they?" said the chevalier, brandishing his +sword: "shall we charge upon them? A lantern--give me a lantern; we will +visit the orchard and the neighborhood of the house." + +"No, no, not a lantern, my son, it would serve to point us out to the +assailants if there are a number, and you would be too much exposed; you +would receive an arrow in you. Come, come," said the priest, lowering +his gun after some moments of attentive scrutiny; "it is but an alarm; +let us return and thank the Lord for the clumsiness of this cannibal, +for if he had not blundered, you would not be here, my son. What +astonishes me, and for which I thank God, is that you have escaped; a +native so bold as to make such an attempt should have a true eye and a +sure hand." + +"But what harm have you ever done these savages, Father?" + +"None! I have often been in their settlement at the Isle des Saintes, +and have always been properly received; thus I cannot understand the +object of this attack. But let us look at this arrow--I shall know from +the feather if it is a native arrow." + +"We must keep a good watch, to-night, Father, and to this end confide in +me," said the Gascon. "You see that it is not only in a love affair that +I have firmness." + +"I do not doubt you, my son, and I accept your offer. I will fasten the +windows securely against the assassins, and bar the door strongly. Snog +will act as picket. It will not be the first time this house has stood a +siege; a dozen English pirates attacked it two years ago, but with my +slaves and the aid of an official from Cabesterre, who was accidentally +at my house, we punished the heretics severely." + +So saying, Father Griffen entered the dining room, withdrawing with some +effort the iron-barbed arrow which stuck in the back of the chair, he +exclaimed with surprise, "There is a paper attached to the feather of +this arrow!" Then, unfolding it, he read these words, written in a large +and bold hand: "Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"To the Rev. Father Griffen, respect and affection." + +The priest looked at the chevalier without saying a word. He, in turn, +took the bit of paper and read it. + +"What does this mean?" he exclaimed. + +"It means that I have not been deceived in speaking of the sure aim of +the Caribbeans. The person who shot the arrow could have killed you had +he so willed. See! this arrow tip is poisoned, doubtless; it entered an +inch into the back of this chair of hard wood; if it had struck you, you +would be dead. What skill was displayed in thus guiding this arrow!" + +"Zounds, Father! I find it rather more marvelous that I am not touched," +said the Gascon. "But what the devil have I done to this savage?" + +Father Griffen struck his forehead with his hand. "When I have read you +this?" he exclaimed. + +"Read what, Father?" + +"Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Well?" + +"Well! this warning comes from Devil's Cliff." + +"You believe it to be so?" + +"I am sure of it. They have learned of your project and they desire to +force you to give it up." + +"How can they have learned it?" + +"You did not hide it on board the Unicorn. Some of the passengers, +disembarking three days ago at St. Pierre, have spoken of it; this rumor +has reached the counting house of Blue Beard and her business manager +has informed his employer." + +"I am forced to confess," replied the chevalier, after a moment's +reflection, "that Blue Beard has singular means of corresponding with +one. This is a queer little mail." + +"Ah, well, my son, I hope the lesson will profit you," said the priest. +Then he continued, addressing the two slaves who were carrying in the +blinds and were about to raise them into place, "It is unnecessary, my +children, I see there is nothing to fear." + +The slaves, accustomed to a blind obedience, took away the impromptu +defenses. + +The chevalier looked at the priest with astonishment. + +"Without doubt," said the good father, "the word of the dwellers at +Devil's Cliff is sacred; I have nothing at present to fear from them, +nor you either, my son, because you are warned, and you will necessarily +give up your mad plan." + +"I, Father?" + +"How----" + +"May I become blacker this moment than your two negroes if I renounce +it." + +"What do you say--after such a warning?" + +"Well, who is to tell me that this warning comes from Blue Beard? It may +come from a rival--from the buccaneer, the filibuster, or the cannibal. +For I have quite a selection among the gallant admirers of the beauty +of Devil's Cliff." + +"Ah, well, what does it signify----" + +"How? What does it signify, Father? But I intend to show these would-be +wits what the blood of a De Croustillac is! Ah! they think to intimidate +me! They do not know this sword which, look you, would move in its +scabbard! whose steel would blush with indignation if I were to renounce +my undertaking!" + +"My son, this is madness, sheer madness----" + +"And what a coward, what a sheep, would the Chevalier de Croustillac +appear in the eyes of Blue Beard if he were so pusillanimous as to be +daunted by so little!" + +"By so little! but two inches higher and you would have been killed!" + +"But as it was two inches lower, and I was _not_ killed, I will +consecrate my life to taming the willful heart of Blue Beard and to +vanquishing my rivals, be they ten, twenty, thirty, one hundred or ten +thousand," replied the Gascon, with growing enthusiasm. + +"But if this act was the order of the mistress of Devil's Cliff?" + +"If it was done by her order, she shall see, the cruel one, that I will +brave the death to which she would send me, in order to reach her heart. +She is a woman; she will appreciate such valor. I do not know if she is +a Venus but I know that without wronging the god Mars I Polyphème Amador +de Croustillac am terribly martial; and from beauty to courage there is +but a step." + +One must imagine the exaggeration and Gascon accent of the chevalier to +have an idea of this scene. + +Father Griffen hardly knew whether to laugh or to be appalled at the +opinionated resolve of the chevalier. The secret of the confessional +forbade his speaking, from entering into any details concerning Devil's +Cliff; he knew not how to induce the chevalier to renounce his fatal +intention. He had endeavored to do so, but in vain. + +"If nothing can withhold you, my son, it cannot be said that I have +been, even indirectly, an accomplice in your mad enterprise. You are +ignorant of the position of Devil's Cliff; neither myself, nor my +slaves, nor, I assure you, any of my parishioners will be your guide. I +have instructed them to refuse. Beside the reputation of Blue Beard is +such that no one would care to infringe my orders." + +This declaration of the priest's seemed to make the chevalier reflect. +He bent his head in silence then he began again resolutely: "I know that +Devil's Cliff is some four leagues from this spot; it is situated in the +northern part of the island. My heart will serve as a compass to guide +me to the lady of my thoughts, with the assistance of the sun and the +moon." + +"But, madman," cried the priest, "there is no path through the forests +which you would traverse; the trees are so thick that they would hide +from you the position of the sun--you would be lost." + +"I shall go right ahead; I shall arrive somewhere. Your island is not so +large (be it said without disparaging Martinique), Father; then I shall +retrace my steps, and I shall seek until I find Devil's Cliff." + +"But the soil of the forest is often impassable; it is infested with +serpents of the most dangerous species; I say to you that in what you +propose, you are courting a thousand deaths." + +"Ah, well, Father, 'nothing venture, nothing have.' If there are +serpents I will get upon stilts after the manner of the natives of my +country." + +"Going to walk on stilts in the midst of creepers, brambles, rocks, +trees overturned by storms? I tell you, you do not know our forests." + +"If one always considered the perils of an undertaking one would never +accomplish any good. Did you think of the deadly fevers when you tended +those of your parishioners who were attacked with it?" + +"But my object was a pious one; I risked death in the observance of my +duty; while you rush upon yours out of vanity." + +"Vanity, Father! A companion who has sacks filled with diamonds and fine +pearls, and probably five or six millions more in gold! Zounds! what a +'vanity!'" + +Having seen the futility of overcoming such unparalleled +opinionativeness, the good priest said no more. + +He conducted his guest to the room assigned to him, fully resolved to +put every difficulty possible in the way of the chevalier the next day. + +Inflexible in his resolve, Croustillac slept profoundly. A lively +curiosity had come to the aid of a natural obstinacy and an +imperturbable confidence in his destiny; the more this confidence had +been, till then, disappointed, the more our adventurer believed that the +promised hour was about to come to him. The following morning, at break +of day, he arose and went on tiptoe to the door of Father Griffen's +room. The priest still slept, not thinking for a moment that the +chevalier would dream of starting off on a journey through an unknown +country without a guide. He deceived himself. + +Croustillac, in order to escape the solicitation and reproaches of his +host, started at once. He girded on his formidable sword, a weapon very +inconvenient to travel with through a forest; he jammed his hat well +down on his head, took a staff in his hand with which to frighten the +serpents, and with firm tread and nose in the air, though with a heart +beating rather rapidly, he quitted the hospitable house of the priest of +Macouba, and directed his steps toward the north, for some time +following the extremely thick vegetation of the forest. He shortly +afterward made a circuit of this dense vegetation, which formed an angle +toward the east, and stretched indefinitely in that direction. + +From the moment that the chevalier entered the forest, he did not +hesitate in the slightest degree. He recalled the wise counsels of +Father Griffen; he thought of the dangers which he was going to +encounter; but he also invoked the thought of Blue Beard's treasures; he +was dazzled by the heaps of gold, pearls, rubies and diamonds which he +believed he saw sparkling and quivering before his eyes. He pictured to +himself the owner of Devil's Cliff, a being of perfect beauty. Led on by +this vision, he entered resolutely the forest, and pushed aside the +heavy screen of creepers which were suspended from the limbs of the +trees which they draped. + +The chevalier did not forget to beat the bushes with his staff, crying +out in a loud voice, "Out, ye serpents, out!" + +With the exception of the voice of the Gascon, there was not a sound. + +The sun rose; the air, freshened by the plenteous dew of the night, and +by the sea breeze, was impregnated with the aromatic odors of the +forest, and its tropical flowers. The rest was still plunged in the +shadow when the chevalier entered it. + +For some time the profound silence reigning in this imposing solitude +was only broken by the blows of the chevalier's staff on the bushes, and +by his repeated cries, "Out, ye serpents, out!" + +Little by little these sounds grew fainter and then ceased all at once. + +The gloomy and profound silence which reigned was suddenly broken in +upon by a kind of savage howl which had in it nothing human. This sound, +and the first rays of the sun trembling on the horizon, like a sheaf of +light, appeared to rouse the inhabitants of the great forest. They +responded one after another until the uproar became infernal. The +chattering of monkeys; the cry of wildcats; the hissing of serpents; the +grunts of wild boars; the bellowing of cattle, broke from every +direction with a frightful chorus; the echoes of the forest and the +cliffs repeated these discordant sounds; one would have supposed a band +of demons was responding to a superior demon's call. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CAVERN. + + +While the chevalier sought a road to Devil's Cliff by which to traverse +the forest, we will conduct our readers toward the most southern portion +of the coast of Martinique. + +The sea rolled with slow majesty at the foot of large rocks near a peak +which formed a natural defense to this part of the island, and which +rose in a perpendicular wall some two hundred feet in height. The +continued beating of the waves rendered this coast so dangerous that a +vessel could not touch at this place without being, inevitably, broken +to pieces. + +The site of which we speak had a wild and grand simplicity; a wall of +barren rocks, of a dull red, was outlined on a sky of sapphire blue; +their base was swallowed up in a whirl of snowy foam, hidden by the +incessant shock of enormous mountains of water which broke upon these +reefs in tones of thunder. The sun with all its strength threw a +brilliant, torrid light on this mass of granite; there was not a cloud +in the brazen heavens. On the horizon there appeared through a burning +vapor the high land of the other Antilles. + +At some distance from the coast, where the waves broke, the sea was of a +somber blue, and as calm as a mirror. An object scarcely perceptible, +because it offered little surface above the water, approached rapidly +the portion of this island called Cabesterre. + +Little by little, a long, light canoe was to be distinguished, whose +stern and bow cut the sea evenly; this vessel, without sails, was +impelled forward by the strength of the waves. On each seat was clearly +seen a man vigorously rowing. Whether or not the coast was as +unapproachable at three leagues as at this place, it was evident that +the canoe was directed toward these rocks. + +The object of those who were approaching seemed to be hard to +understand. Presently the canoe was caught in the midst of the surf +beating upon these reefs. Had it not been for the marvelous ability of +its pilot, who avoided these masses of water following the frail bark +and incessantly menacing it, she would very soon have been swallowed up. + +At two gunshots from the rocks, the canoe reversed and rested, and took +advantage of an interval in the succession of waves, at a moment of +calm, which occurred periodically after seven or eight waves had broken +into foam. + +The two men, who by their clothing were easily seen to be European +sailors, pressing their caps more securely on their heads, sprang +overboard and boldly struck out for the shore while their companions +turned at the edge of this calm, regained the open, and disappeared +after having braved anew the fury of the mountainous waves with +wonderful skill. + +During this time the two intrepid swimmers, by turn submerged or cast up +from the midst of the enormous waves which they adroitly traversed, +arrived at the foot of the rocks in the center of a sea of foam. They +appeared to be rushing upon certain death, and it looked as if they +would be dashed to pieces upon the reefs. Nothing of the sort occurred, +however. These two men seemed to perfectly understand the coast; they +directed their course toward a place where the violence of the waves had +hollowed out a natural grotto. + +The waves, engulphing themselves under this roof with a horrible din +fell back from it in a cataract into a smaller basin, hollow and deep. +After some heavy undulations, the waves grew feebler; in the center of a +gigantic cavern formed a little subterranean lake which, when full, +returned to the sea by some hidden channel. + +It required great temerity to so abandon themselves to the impulse of +these furious waves which precipitated them into the abyss; but this +momentary submersion was more frightful than dangerous; the mouth of +the cave was so large that there was no danger of being bruised by the +rocks, and the cloud of foam threw them into the midst of a peaceful +pond, surrounded by a fine, sandy beach. + +Sifting through the fall of water which bubbled at the entrance of this +enormous roof, the light was feeble, soft, and bluish like that of the +moon. + +The two swimmers, breathless, deafened and wounded by the shook of the +waves, emerged from the little lake and stretched themselves on the +sand, where they rested for some time. + +The larger of these two men, though he was dressed like a common sailor, +was Colonel Rutler, a stanch partisan of the new King of England, +William of Orange, under whose orders he had served when the son-in-law +of the unfortunate James II. was only a stadtholder of Holland. Colonel +Rutler was robust and tall; his face wore an expression of audacity, +bordering on cruelty; his hair, lying in close, damp meshes, was of a +deep red; his mustache of the same color hid a large mouth overshadowed +by a hooked nose, resembling the beak of a bird of prey. + +Rutler, a faithful and resolute man, served his master with blind +devotion. William of Orange had testified his confidence in him by +intrusting to him a mission as difficult as it was dangerous, the nature +of which we shall know later on. The sailor who accompanied the colonel +was slight but vigorous, active and determined. + +The colonel said to him in English, after a moment's silence, "Are you +sure, John, that there is a passage leading from here?" + +"The passage exists, colonel, be easy on that score." + +"But I do not perceive any----" + +"By and by, colonel, when your view shall have become accustomed to this +half light, like that of the moon, you will lay yourself down flat on +your stomach, and there, at the right, at the end of a long natural +passage in which one cannot advance except by crawling, you will +perceive the light of day which penetrates through a crevasse in the +rock." + +"If the road is sure, it certainly is not easy." + +"So far from easy, colonel, that I defy the captain of the brigantine +who brought you to the Barbadoes, with his great stomach, to enter the +passage which remains for us to travel. It is as much as I could do +heretofore to glide through; it is the size of the tunnel of a chimney." + +"And it leads?" + +"To the bottom of a precipice which forms a defense for Devil's Cliff; +three sides of this precipice are a peak, and it is as impossible to +descend as to ascend it; but as to the fourth side, it is not +inaccessible, and with the help of the jutting rocks one can reach by +this road the limits of the park of Blue Beard." + +"I understand--this subterranean passage will conduct us to the bottom +of the abyss above which towers Devil's Cliff?" + +"Exactly, colonel; it is as if we were at the bottom of a moat, one of +whose sides is perpendicular and the other sloping. When I say sloping, +that is simply a figure of speech, for in order to reach the summit of +the peak, one must more than once hang suspended by some vine between +heaven and earth. But when there, we find ourselves at the edge of the +park of Devil's Cliff--once there, we can hide ourselves in some place +and wait our opportunity----" + +"And this opportunity is not far distant; come, come, you, who know so +much, must, at one time, have been in the service of Blue Beard!" + +"I told you, colonel, I came from the coast with her and her first +husband; at the end of three months, they sent me back; then I left for +San Domingo. I have heard no further word of them." + +"And she--would you know her well?" + +"Yes, as to her height and general air, but not her face; for we reached +the coast at night, and once on shore she was carried in a litter to +Devil's Cliff. When by chance she walked in the daytime, she wore a +mask. Some say she is as beautiful as an angel; others, that she is ugly +as a monster. I cannot say which are in the right, for neither I nor my +mates ever put foot in the interior of the mansion. Those who perform +the special attendance and service are mulattresses as mute as fish." + +"And he?" + +"He is handsome, tall and slender, about thirty-six years old, brown, +with black hair and mustache, and has an aquiline nose." + +"It is certainly he," said the colonel, when John had thus described +him. "It is thus that he was always described; and it is not positively +known that he is dead?" + +"It is said he died on the voyage, but no one has ever really known." + +"And no one doubts that he died?" + +"Faith! no, colonel, because Blue Beard has been married twice since +then." + +"And have you seen these two husbands?" + +"No, colonel, for when I arrived from San Domingo, only eight days +since, you engaged me for this expedition, knowing that I could serve +you. You have promised me fifty guineas if I will introduce you into +this island, in spite of the French cruisers, which, since the war, do +not allow any vessels to approach the coast, which is accessible, be it +understood. Our canoe, however, was not interfered with, for, thanks to +the sharp rocks of Cabesterre, no one could conceive that we could land +on this coast of the island, and they have not watched that." + +"And then, beside, no one would suspect our presence on the island, +though, according to what you tell me, Blue Beard has a kind of police +who keep her informed of the arrival of all strangers." + +"At least, colonel, they say that the men who are so employed, at St. +Pierre and Fort Royal, were on the watch and that a stranger who landed +at Martinique did not escape their vigilance." + +"All that is for the best; you shall have your fifty guineas. But, once +more, you are very sure about this subterranean passage?" + +"Be easy as to that, colonel; I have passed through it, I tell you, with +a negro who was a pearl-fisher, and he it was who first took me through +it." + +"But you were obliged to climb the precipice in order to reach the park +of Devil's Cliff?" + +"Doubtless, colonel; since it was from curiosity to see this park, in +which no one was permitted to enter, that I accepted the pearl-fisher's +offer; being of the household, I knew Blue Beard and her husband were +absent; I was then sure that I could pass through the garden after +climbing the precipice; that was what we did, not without the risk of +breaking our necks, however, a thousand times, but what would you have? +I was dying with curiosity to see the interior of this place, which had +been forbidden. It was a perfect paradise. What was most amusing was the +surprise of the mulattress who guarded the entrance; when she saw us, +myself and the negro, she could not conceive how we had been able to +enter. We told her we had escaped her notice. She believed us; she put +us out as quickly as possible, and she committed suicide rather than be +punished by her employers." + +After a few minutes' silence the colonel said abruptly, "This is not +all; now there is no retreat, I must tell you everything." + +"What then, colonel?" + +"Once introduced into Devil's Cliff, we have a man to surprise and +overcome; whatever he does to defend himself, a hair of his head must +not be harmed, at least, unless he absolutely forces us to protect our +lives; then," continued the colonel, with a sinister smile, "then two +hundred guineas for you, whether we succeed or not." + +"A thousand devils! you have waited rather long to say this to me, +colonel. But, as the wine is drawn, it must be quaffed." + +"Come, I did not deceive myself, you are a brave man." + +"Ah, as to that, is the man whom you seek also strong and brave?" + +"Well," said Rutler, after some minutes of reflection, "consider a +little the first husband of the widow--a man tall and slender." + +"The devil! he was slender, 'tis true; a rod of steel is, also, slender, +but that does not prevent its being furiously strong. See here, colonel, +that man was made of iron. He was so strong that I have seen him take an +insolent negro by the middle and throw him ten feet from him, as if he +were an infant, though the black was larger and more robust than you. +So, colonel, if the man you seek resembles that one, we would be unwise +to bait him--as you say----" + +"Less than you believe. I will explain to you----" + +"And then," continued John, "if by chance the filibuster, the buccanneer +or the cannibal who they say frequently visit the widow, should also be +there, it would become somewhat embarrassing." + +"Hear me; after what you have told me is there at the end of the park a +tree where one could hide?" + +"Yes, colonel." + +"With the exception of the buccaneer, the filibuster or the cannibal no +one enters the private habitation of Blue Beard?" + +"No one colonel except the mulattresses who wait upon her." + +"And except also the man whom I seek, be it remembered; I have my +reasons for believing we shall find him there." + +"Well, colonel?" + +"Then nothing is simpler; we will hide ourselves in the thickest tree +until our man comes to our side." + +"That cannot fail to occur colonel because the park is not large and +when one walks in it he is forced to pass near a marble basin not very +far from the place where we shall be hidden." + +"If our man does not take a walk after night comes, we will wait until +he has gone to bed, and we will surprise him there." + +"This will be easy, colonel, unless he calls one of Blue Beard's +comforters to his succor." + +"Be easy about that; for with your assistance I can place my hand on him +and then though he were surrounded by a hundred men armed to the teeth +he is mine; I have a sure means of obliging him to obey me; this +concerns me. All that I require of you is to conduct me into the ambush +from which I can spring upon him suddenly." + +"This shall be done, colonel." + +"Then let us be going," said Rutler, rising from the ground. + +"At your orders, colonel; but instead of walking, we must creep. But let +us see," continued John, bending down, "if we can perceive the daylight. +Yes, it is there--but how distant it seems. Speaking of that, colonel, +if, since I came by this road, it should have been stopped up by a +landslide, we should cut, in such a case, a sorry figure! condemned to +remain here, and to die of hunger or to eat each other! Impossible to +get out by the gulf, seeing that one cannot remount a sheet of water as +a trout ascends a cascade." + +"That is true," said Rutler, "you appal me; happily, there is no +likelihood of this. You have the sack?" + +"Yes, colonel; the straps are strong and the skin impervious. We shall +find our knives, our pistols and our cartridges in it as dry as though +they came from an armory." + +"Then, John, let us be starting; go ahead," said the colonel. "We must +have time to dry our clothes." + +"That will not take long, colonel; once at the foot of the precipice we +shall be as in an oven; the sun shines full upon it." + +John lay down on his face and commenced to glide into the passage, so +small that he could scarcely enter. The darkness was profound; in the +distance only, one could distinguish a faint light. The colonel +followed, dragging himself over a damp and dirty soil. + +For some time the two Englishmen advanced in this manner, crawling on +their knees, on their hands, and on their stomachs, in total darkness. +All at once John paused suddenly and cried in a frightened voice, +"Colonel!" + +"What is it?" + +"Do you not notice a strong odor?" + +"Yes, a fetid odor." + +"Do not move; it is the serpent--'Fer de lance'--we are lost." + +"A serpent!" exclaimed the colonel, with horror. + +"We are dead. I dare not advance; the odor is growing stronger and +stronger," murmured John. + +"Be quiet--listen." + +In mortal terror the two men held their breath. All at once at some +little distance they heard a continuous, rapid sound, as if something +was beating the earth with a flail. The nauseating and penetrating odor +which exhales from these large serpents became stronger and stronger. +"The serpent is furious; it is his tail which is beating the earth +thus," said John in a feeble voice. "Colonel, let us commend our souls +to God!" + +"Let us cry out and terrify the serpent," said Rutler. + +"No, no, it would but precipitate itself at once upon us," replied John. + +The two men remained for some moments a prey to the most horrible +suspense. They could neither retreat nor change their position. Their +chests rested upon the earth; their backs touched the rocks. They dared +not make a movement of recoil for fear of drawing the reptile in pursuit +of them. The air, more and more impregnated by the infectious odor of +the serpent, became suffocating. + +"Can you not find a stone at hand in order to throw at it," said the +colonel in a low tone. + +Hardly had he said these words when John uttered the most piercing cries +and struggled violently, exclaiming, "Help! help! I die!" + +Paralyzed with terror, Rutler strove to turn about, but he struck +himself violently on the head against the side of the passage. Then, +retreating as rapidly as he could with the assistance of his knees and +hands, he sought flight by backing out, while John, in extremity with +the serpent, made the most terrible and pitiful cries of terror and +suffering. All at once these cries became fainter and inarticulate, as +if the sailor was strangling. In fact, the enraged serpent, after +having, in the obscurity, stung John in the hand, the throat and face, +attempted to introduce its flat and lance-like head into the open mouth +of the unfortunate man, and stung his lips and tongue; but this last +assault finished the sailor. + +The serpent, having satisfied his rage, withdrew his horrible fangs and +took to flight. The colonel felt a damp, icy body touch his cheek; he +remained motionless. The serpent glided rapidly along the side of the +subterranean passage and escaped. + +The danger past, the colonel remained some moments petrified with +terror; he heard the last struggle of John; his agony was short. Rutler +heard him make several convulsive shudders and that was all. His +companion was dead. Then Rutler advanced and seized the sailor's leg. +The leg was already cold and stiff; for the venom of the serpent works +rapidly. + +A new cause for fear assailed the colonel. The serpent, not finding an +egress in the cavern, might return the same way it had gone. Rutler +seemed already to hear a slight noise behind him. He could not proceed +in advance, because the body of the sailor completely blocked the +passage; flight by the rear was only to expose himself to an encounter +with the serpent. In his terror the colonel seized the corpse by the two +legs, to the end that he might drag it to the entrance of the +subterranean passage and thus clear the only outlet to the cavern. His +efforts were in vain. Whether his strength was paralyzed, he being in +such a cramped position, or whether the poison had already distended the +body, Rutler could not extricate it. + +Not wishing to think that this only and last chance for salvation was +taken from him, he found a means of detaching his belt and of fastening +it to the feet of the dead man; he took it between his teeth, and, +aiding himself by his two hands, pulled with all the energy of despair. +He could scarcely cause even the slightest movement of the corpse. His +terror increased; he sought his knife, in the mad idea of cutting up the +body of the sailor. He saw soon the uselessness of this attempt. + +The pistols and ammunition of the colonel were in the sack of skin swung +over the shoulders of the dead man. He set himself to work to remove the +sack from his companion; he did so after great difficulty. He then set +himself anew to retreat to the entrance of the passage. + +Once again in the cavern he felt faint, but the air revived him; he +plunged his head into the cold water and seated himself on the sand. He +had almost forgotten the serpent. A long hiss caused him to raise his +head; he saw the reptile balancing itself a few paces above him, half +coiled up on the rooks which formed the roof of the cavern. + +The colonel recovered his coolness at the sight of this danger; +remaining almost immovable, and using his hands only, he unfastened his +pouch and drew from it a pistol and cocked it. Happily the charge and +priming were intact. + +At the moment that the serpent, irritated by the movement of Rutler, +precipitated itself upon him, the latter aimed and fired. The serpent +fell at his feet with his head crushed. It was of a blue-black, spotted +with yellow, and some eight or nine feet in length. + +Delivered from this enemy, and encouraged by his success the colonel +made a final effort to clear out the only path by which he could pass. +He glided anew into the passage, but, in spite of his strength, his +efforts were in vain--he could not move the corpse of the sailor. + +Returning to the cave, he examined it in every direction but could find +no outlet. He could not hope for help outside; his shouts could not be +heard. At this terrible thought his eyes fell upon the serpent. Here was +a momentary resource; he knew that sometimes the famished negroes ate +this flesh, which, though repulsive, was not poisonous. + +Night came, and he found himself in profound darkness. The waves +murmured and broke at the entrance of the cave; the waterspout +precipitated itself with a crash into the lower basin. + +A new fear took possession of Rutler. He knew that the serpents went in +pairs and often rejoined each other at night; drawn by the tracks, the +male or female of the reptile which he had killed would come in search +of its mate. + +The colonel's vigil became frightful. The slightest sound made him +tremble, in spite of his courageous nature; he asked himself whether, in +case he came through this horrible situation by a miracle, he should +continue the enterprise he had commenced. At first he believed that he +saw, in this adventure, a warning from heaven; then he accused himself +of cowardice, and attributed his mad fears to the feeble condition in +which he found himself. + +Leaving the colonel in this difficult strait, we will transport our +reader to Devil's Cliff. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEVIL'S CLIFF. + + +The moon, brilliant and pure, shed a light almost as strong as the +European sun, and enabled one to distinguish perfectly the top of a very +high rock, and surrounded by woods on all sides of a dwelling built of +brick, and of peculiar architecture. + +One could reach it only by a narrow path, forming a spiral around this +species of cone. The path was bounded on one side by a mass of +perpendicular granite; on the other by a precipice of which in the broad +daylight one could not discover the bottom. + +This dangerous road terminated in a platform crossed by a brick wall, of +great thickness and edged with spikes. + +Back of this species of glacis arose the walls surrounding the dwelling, +into which one entered by a very low oak door. This door communicated +with a large, square court, occupied by the outbuildings and other +buildings. This court passed, one discovered a vaulted passageway +leading to the sanctuary; that is to say, to the pavilion occupied by +Blue Beard. None of the blacks or mulattoes who formed the large force +of servants of the house had ever passed the limits of this passageway. +The serving of Blue Beard was done through the intermediary of a number +of mulattresses, who alone communicated with their mistress. + +The house was built on a slope opposite the one by which access was had +from the cliff. This slope, much less steep, and laid out in a number of +natural terraces, was composed of five or six immense steps which, on +all sides, commanded the precipice. + +By a phenomenon frequent in these volcanic islands, a pond of about two +acres' circumference covered almost all the length of one of the upper +terraces. Its waters were limpid and pure. Blue Beard's residence was +separated from this small lake by a narrow path of smooth sand, shining +like silver. This house was of one story. At the first glance it seems +to be constructed entirely of trees from which the bark had been +removed. Its bamboo roof was steeply inclined and overlapped by some +five or six feet the outer wall, which rested upon the trunks of palm +trees driven into the ground, and formed a kind of gallery around the +house. + +A little above the level of the lake, in gentle declivity, was a lawn of +turf as fresh and green as that of the most beautiful English fields; +this was a rare thing at the Antilles, and was due to underground +irrigation which flowed from the lake and gave to this park a delightful +freshness. From this lawn, ornamented by baskets of tropical flowers, +opened a garden composed of large variegated shrubs, the slope of the +ground being such that one did not see their trunks, but only their +enameled tops of the freshest color; then, beyond these trees, on a +terrace lower still, was a large orange and citron grove covered with +fruit and flowers. In the daytime, seen thus from above, one would have +said it was a carpet of perfumed snow strewn with golden balls. At the +extreme horizon the slender stems of the banana and cocoanut trees, +formed a splendid retreat and overlooked the precipice at the bottom of +which was the subterranean passage of which we have spoken, and in which +Colonel Rutler was then imprisoned. + +Meantime, let us enter one of the most remote portions of this mansion. +There we will find a young woman of from twenty to twenty-three years; +but her features are so infantile, her figure is so tiny, her freshness +so youthful, she would easily pass for sixteen. Robed in a muslin gown +with flowing sleeves, she is reclining on a sofa covered with Indian +silk, brown in color, embroidered with golden flowers; she leans her +white forehead on one hand, half-hidden by a wilderness of loose curls +of reddish blond tint, for the young woman's hair is dressed _à la +Titus_, a profusion of silky curls falls on her neck, her snowy +shoulders, and frames her charming little face, rounded, firm and rosy +as that of a child. + +A large book, bound in red morocco, lies at the side of the divan on +which she is stretched, and is open before her. The young woman reads +attentively, by the light of three perfumed candles, which rest in a +little silver gilt candelabra, enriched by exquisite chasing. + +The eyelashes of the pretty reader are so long that they threw a slight +shadow on her cheeks, where are to be seen two charming dimples. Her +nose is of a rare delicacy; her mouth curved and crimson, and her +beautiful blue eyes large and expressive; her whole face presents a +ravishing expression of innocence and candor. From the edge of her +muslin gown appear two feet like Cinderella's, shod in white silk hose +and Moorish slippers of cherry satin embroidered with silver, which one +could hold in the palm of one's hand. The attitude of this young woman +leaves to the imagination an exquisite whole, in spite of her slight +figure. Thanks to the width of her sleeve, which has fallen back, one +can admire the ravishing outline of a rounded arm, polished like ivory, +and having at the elbow a charming dimple. Her hand which turns the +leaves of her book is worthy of such an arm; the nails, very long and of +the transparency of agate. The tips of the fingers shade to a deep rose +color, such as is imparted by the henna of the Orientals. + +The figure of this charming creature recalls the ideal Psyche, the +lovely realization of a beauty so fleeting that it passes with the first +flower of youth. Certain organizations retains their first youth a long +time, and as we have said, in spite of her twenty-three years, Blue +Beard is of the number of these privileged persons. + +For this is Blue Beard. We will no longer hide the name of the inmate of +Devil's Cliff from our readers, but will say she is called Angela. +Unfortunately, this celestial name, this candid face, contrasts +singularly with the diabolical reputation which this widow of three +husbands possesses; and who it is said has as many consolers as she has +had husbands. The course of this story will enable us to condemn or +vindicate Blue Beard. + +At a slight sound which she hears in the adjoining room, Angela lifts +her head suddenly, like a gazelle on the alert, and seats herself on the +edge of the sofa, throwing back her locks by a graceful movement. + +At the moment she rises, exclaiming, "It it he!" a man raises the +_portière_ of the room. Not sooner does the iron fly to the magnet than +does Angela to the newcomer. She throws herself into his arms, and +twining them about him in a kind of tender fury, covered him with +caresses and passionate kisses, and joyfully cries, "My tender +friend--my dear James!" + +This first ebullition over, the newcomer takes Angela into his arms as +if she were a child, and carries his precious burden over to the sofa. +Then Angela, seated on his knee, takes one of his hands in hers, passes +her beautiful arm about his neck, draws his head to her, and looked at +him with eager delight. + +Alas! were the scandal-mongers right in suspecting Blue Beard's +morality? + +The man whom she receives with such familiar ardor is of the copper +color of a mulatto; he is tall and supple, active and robust; his noble +and fine features show nothing of the negro type; a profusion of jet +black curls frame his forehead; his eyes are large and of velvety +blackness; under his thin lips, red and moist, shine the most +beautifully enameled teeth. This beauty, at once charming and manly, +this appearance of strength and elegance, resembles the noble +proportions of an Indian Bacchus or of an Antinous. + +The mulatto's costume is such as certain filibusters then generally +adopt when on shore. He wears a waistcoat of rich maroon velvet, with +buttons of filigree gold; large Flemish boots of like material and +ornamented with the same style of button, which extend the length of the +thigh, being met by a belt of orange silk, in which is stuck a poignard +richly chased; and, finally, long leggings of white kid embroidered in +many colored silks after the Mexican style, show a leg of the finest +outline. + +Nothing could be more striking or pretty than the contrast between James +and Angela thus grouped. On the one hand, blond tresses, alabaster +tints, rosy cheeks, infantile grace and elegance; on the other, the +bronze tint, ebony locks, and manner at once assured and manly. + +Angela's white dress is outlined on the somber colors of James' +vestments; and thus the fine and supple figure of Blue Beard is +accentuated. + +Fixing her great blue eyes on the black eyes of the mulatto, the young +woman amuses herself by turning back the embroidered collar of James' +shirt, in order to admire the better his sunburned neck, which in color +and shape rivals the most beautiful Florentine bronze. + +After prolonging this unconventional performance, Angela gives the +mulatto a noisy kiss under his ear, takes his head between her two +hands, mischievously rumples up his black locks, gives him a little blow +on the cheek, and says, "That is how I love you, Monsieur Hurricane." + +A slight sound is heard behind the tapestry forming the _portière_, and +Angela calls, "Is it you, Mirette? what do you wish?" + +"Madame, I am coming with the flowers and will arrange them in the +stand." + +"She hears us!" said Angela, making a mysterious signal to the mulatto; +then she amuses herself laughing madly at and rumpling her lover's hair. +He takes her little caprices with complaisance, and contemplates her +with love. Then he says, smilingly, + +"Child! because you look only sixteen, you think everything is permitted +you." Then he adds in a tone of gentle raillery, "and who would think, +seeing this little rosy, ingenuous face that I hold on my knees the most +notable scamp of the Antilles?" + +"And who would think that this man, who speaks in so sweet a voice, is +the ferocious Captain Hurricane, the terror of England and Spain?" cried +Angela, breaking into a laugh. The mulatto and the widow express +themselves in the purest French, and without the slightest foreign +accent. + +"What matters it," she cries, smilingly, "it is not _I_ whom they call +Blue Beard." + +At these words which appear to call up sad memories, the little widow, +with a coquettish pout, gave a hardly perceptible tap to the end of +Captain Hurricane's nose, indicating by a movement of her hand that in +the neighboring room one can hear him, and says with a mischievous air, +"That will teach you to speak of trespassing." + +"Fie! the monster!" says the captain, breaking into a laugh; "and what +of remorse, then, madame?" + +"Give me a kiss of remorse, then, and I shall----" + +"May Lucifer assist me! It takes a woman to be chief of criminals! Ah, +my dear, you are well named; you make me tremble! Suppose we have +supper." + +Angela touches a bell. The young mulattress who had overheard the above +conversation enters. She wears a dress of white linen with bright +stripes, and has silver rings on arms and ankles. + +"Mirette, have you arranged the flowers," said Blue Beard. + +"Yes, madame." + +"You have been listening?" + +"No, madame." + +"However, it does not matter; when I speak it is that I may be heard. +Make ready the supper, Mirette." + +Then, addressing herself to the captain, "What wine do you prefer?" + +"Sherry, but let it be iced; this is a notion of mine." + +Mirette goes out for a moment, and shortly reappears and begins to +prepare the table. + +"By the way, I forgot to tell you of a great event," says Blue Beard's +companion. + +"What then? has one of my deceased husbands returned to life?" + +"Faith, almost." + +"Now? Ah, Master James, Master James, no more of your wicked +pleasantries," cries Angela, with a frightened air. + +"No, it is not a dead man, a ghost, but a very living pretender who +demands your hand in marriage." + +"He wishes to marry me?" + +"He wishes to marry you." + +"Oh, the unhappy wretch! is he then weary of life?" cried Angela, +laughing. + +Mirette, at these words, makes the sign of the cross while +superintending the spreading of the board by two other mulattresses who +are carrying bottles of Bohemian glass, engraved with golden arabesques, +and plates of the most magnificent Japanese porcelain. + +Blue Beard continues, "This lover of mine is not a countryman, then?" + +"By no means! for in spite of your wealth, my dear, I defy you to find a +_fourth_ husband, thanks to your diabolical reputation." + +"Where does he come from, this would-be husband, my dear James?" + +"From France." + +"France! he comes from France to espouse me, the deuce!" + +"Angela, you know that I do not like to hear you swear," says the +mulatto, with pretended seriousness. + +"Pardon, Captain Hurricane," replies the young woman, dropping her eyes +with a hypocritical air. "I only meant to signify that I find your news +very astonishing. It appears that my reputation has reached Europe." + +"Do not be so vain, my dear. It was on board the Unicorn that this +worthy paladin heard you spoken of, and by the mere mention of your +riches he has become enamored, yes, madly enamored of you. This, I +trust, will take down your pride." + +"The impertinent fellow! and who is this man, James?" + +"The Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Who?" + +"The Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"This is the name of the pretender to my hand?" And Angela breaks into a +merry peal of laughter which nothing can arrest, and the mulatto finally +joins in her merriment. + +The two have scarcely subsided when Mirette enters preceded by two other +mulattresses who carry a table sumptuously set out in gilded dishes. The +two slaves place the table near the divan; the captain arises to take a +chair, while Angela, kneeling on the edge of the sofa, uncovers the +dishes one after another, and examines the table with the air of an +epicurean kitten. + +"Are you hungry, James? As for me, I am famished," says Angela. And as +if to prove without doubt this assertion, she opens her coral lips and +shows two rows of ravishing little pearly teeth which she clinches +twice. + +"Angela, my dear, you were certainly badly brought up," said the +captain, helping her to a portion of dorado, served with ham and an +appetizing sauce. + +"Captain Hurricane, if I receive you at my table, it is not that you may +scold," said Angela, making an almost imperceptible grimace to the +mulattress. Then she continues, attacking her fish bravely, and pecking +at her bread like a bird, "If he scolds me, Mirette, I will not receive +him again?" + +"No, mistress," said Mirette. + +"And I will give his place to Rend-your-soul, the buccaneer?" + +"Yes, mistress." + +"Or to Youmäale, the cannibal?" + +"Yes, mistress." + +"You hear that, sir?" said Angela. + +"Never mind, my dear, I am not jealous, you know that; beauty is as the +sun, it shines for all the world." + +"Because you are not jealous, then, I will pardon you. Help yourself to +what is before you. What is that, Mirette?" + +"Madame, the roe of fish fried in pigeon's fat." + +"Which is not equal to the fat of quail," says the captain, "but it must +have the juice of a lemon while it is warm." + +"See what a glutton! Ah! but my future spouse, I had forgotten him. Pour +me some wine, Mirette." + +The filibuster, corsair as he is, forestalls the mulattress and pours +out some iced sherry for Angela. + +"It must be that I love you, to drink this, I who prefer the wines of +France." And Blue Beard drinks resolutely three drops of the sherry, +which puts fresh life into her lips and blue eyes and tinged her cheeks +a carmine hue. + +"But to return to my future spouse. How is he? Is he agreeable? Is he +worthy to join the others?" + +Mirette, in spite of her passive submission, cannot prevent a tremor in +hearing her mistress speak thus, although the poor slave must be +accustomed to these atrocious pleasantries, and doubtless many greater +enormities. + +"What ails you, Mirette?" + +"Nothing, mistress." + +"If you are unwell----" + +"No, mistress." + +"You would be sorry to see me marry again? I shall not do so for a long +time. Go, child." Then, addressing Captain Hurricane, "And the Chevalier +de--de--what did you say was his name?" + +"Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Have you seen him?" + +"No; but knowing his plans and that he intends, at all hazards, and in +spite of the efforts of the good Father Griffen, to come here, I begged +Youmäale, the cannibal," says the captain, looking at Angela in a +singular way, "to address a little warning in order to induce him to +renounce his projects." + +"And you did this without letting me know, sir? What if I do not wish to +rebuff him, this pretender; for, after all, this Croustillac is a +Gascon, and I never married a Gascon." + +"Oh, he is the most famous Gascon that has ever gasconaded on the earth; +with that, a figure indescribable and assurance unbounded; and as to the +rest, sufficient courage." + +"And Youmäale's warning?" + +"Has accomplished nothing. It glided off the undaunted soul of this man +as a ball from the scales of a crocodile; he started out this morning +bravely, at break of day, to traverse the forest, with his pink silk +hose, his rapier at his side, and a staff to frighten the serpents. He +is still there, without doubt, at this hour, for the road to Devil's +Cliff is not known to all the world." + +"James, I have an idea!" cries the widow joyfully; "let him come here +and amuse us; that we may torment him. So, he is in love with my riches +and not myself! So, he would espouse me, this fine knight errant. We +will see as to that! Well? You do not laugh at my idea, James. What ails +you? But moreover, you know, sir, that I will not be thwarted; I will +make a feast for this Gascon. If he is not devoured by the wildcats or +killed by the serpents I will have him here to-morrow. You go to sea +to-morrow; tell the cannibal and Rend-your-soul to bring him to me." + +The captain, instead of joining in the gayety of Blue Beard, according +to his custom, is serious, pensive, and seems to reflect deeply. + +"James! James! do you not hear me?" cries Angela, impatiently, tapping +her foot. "I want this Gascon. I want him." + +The mulatto makes no reply; he draws with the forefinger of his right +hand a circle about his throat, and looks significantly at the young +woman. She understands this mysterious sign; her face all at once +expresses both sorrow and distress; she rises suddenly, runs to the +mulatto, falls on her knees before him and cries in a touching voice, +"You are right. My God! you are right! I am insane to entertain such a +thought. I understand you." + +"Rise, Angela, calm yourself," says the mulatto. "I do not know if this +man is to be feared, but he is a stranger, he may come from England or +France, and----" + +"I tell you I was mad! that I was jesting, my dear James! I forgot that +which I never ought to forget--it is frightful." + +The beautiful eyes of the young woman fill with tears; she bends her +head, and takes the hand of the mulatto, over which she weeps silently +for some minutes. + +Hurricane kisses tenderly the forehead and tresses of Angela, and says +gently, "I never wish to recall these cruel memories. I should have said +nothing to you, assured myself that there is no danger in bringing this +imbecile to you as a plaything, and then----" + +"James, my friend," cries Angela sadly, interrupting the mulatto, "my +love, what do you think then? for a childish caprice that I would expose +you, you whom I love most dearly in the world?" + +"There! there! be calm," replies the mulatto, lifting her up and seating +her near him; "do not be frightened; Father Griffen has informed himself +as to the Gascon, he is only ridiculous. In order to be more certain, I +will go to-morrow and speak with him at Macouba, and then I will tell +Rend-your-soul, who is fortunately hunting on the coast, to discover +this poor devil in the forest, where he has, no doubt, lost himself. If +he is dangerous," says the mulatto, making a sign to Angela (for the +slaves were still present awaiting the conclusion of supper), "the +buccaneer will relieve us of him and cure him of the desire to know you; +if not, as you never have any amusement here, he shall bring him to +you." + +"No, no, I do not wish it," says Angela. "All the thoughts which come to +me, now are of mortal sadness--my disquietude returns." + +Angela, seeing that the mulatto would not eat any more, arose; the +filibuster imitated her, and says, "Reassure yourself, my Angela, there +is nothing to fear. Come into the garden, the night is fine, the moon +magnificent. Tell Mirette to bring my lute; in order to make you forget +these painful thoughts I will sing you the Scotch ballads you love so." + +So saying, the mulatto passes one arm around the figure of Angela, and +clasping her thus, he descends the few steps leading to the garden. On +leaving the apartment Blue Beard says to her slave, "Mirette, bring the +lute into the garden, light the alabaster lamp in my bed-chamber. You +can go, I shall not need you again to-night. Do not forget to say to +Cora and to the other mulattresses that to-morrow begins their service." +Then she disappears, leaning on the arm of the mulatto. This last order +of Angela was occasioned by a habit she has had, since her last +widowhood, of alternating every three days the service of her women. + +Mirette carries a very beautiful ebony lute incrusted with gold and +mother of pearl, into the garden. After an interval of some moments, the +filibuster's voice is heard singing with infinite grace and pathos the +Scotch ballads which the chief of royalist clans always sang in +preference during the protectorate of Cromwell. The voice of the mulatto +is at once sweet, vibrant and melancholy. + +Mirette and the two slaves listen with delight during some moments. At +the last lines, the voice of the filibuster becomes moved, tears seem to +mingle in it--then the songs cease. + +Mirette enters Blue Beard's chamber in order to light the alabaster +lamp, which throws a soft and veiled light on the surrounding objects. +This room is splendidly furnished in Indian stuff with white ground +embroidered with flowers; a mosquito net of muslin, fine as a spider's +web, envelopes an immense bed of gilded wood with a headboard of +plate-glass, which appears thus in a slight mist. + +After executing the orders of her mistress, Mirette withdraws +discreetly, and says to the two slaves with a malicious smile, "Mirette +lights the lamp for the captain, Cora for the buccanneer, and Noun for +the Caribbean." + +The two slaves nod their heads with an intelligent air, and the three go +out, after carefully closing and locking the door which leads to the +outbuilding of this special domain of Blue Beard. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NIGHT. + + +We had left the chevalier when he had penetrated into the forest, which +was alive with the cries of all the animals which peopled it. For a +moment stunned by the tumult, the Gascon bravely pursued his course, +turning his steps ever toward the north, at least toward what he +believed to be so, thanks to his astronomical knowledge. As the priest +had foretold, he could not find any path through the forest; decayed +vegetation, tall shrubs, vines, trunks of trees, an inextricable +undergrowth, covered the ground; the trees were so thick that the air, +light and sun, penetrated with difficulty through this veil of foliage, +among which exhaled a warm moisture almost suffocating produced by the +fermentation of vegetable matter which to a great extent thickly covered +the earth. + +The heavy perfume of tropical flowers so saturated this suffocating +atmosphere that the chevalier experienced a kind of intoxication, of +faintness. He walked with a slower step, he felt his head become heavy, +exterior objects became indifferent to him. He no longer admired the +leafy colonades stretching out as far as the eye could see, into the +shadows of the forest. He cast a careless glance at the sparkling and +varied plumage of the parrots, birds of paradise and other birds +joyfully crying out and pursuing the golden-winged insects or snapping +in their beaks the aromatic woods of the Indies. The gambols of the +monkeys, balancing themselves on the garlands of passion vines, or +springing from tree to tree, did not even bring a smile to his lips. +Completely absorbed, he had strength only to contemplate the end of his +perilous journey. He thought only of Blue Beard and her treasures. + +After some hours' walk, he began to observe that his silk stockings were +inconvenient for traversing a forest. A large branch of thorny wood had +made a great hole in his coat; his breeches were not irreproachable by +any means; and more than once, feeling his long sword embarrass him by +catching in some plants which obstructed his path, he involuntarily +turned to chastise the importunate object which took the liberty of +interfering with his progress. + +Either by chance, or thanks to the frequent use of his staff, with which +he beat the bushes continually, the chevalier had the good fortune not +to encounter any serpents. Toward noon, worried and fatigued, he paused +in order to pick some bananas, and climbed a tree in order to breakfast +at his ease. To his joy and surprise he found that the leaves of this +tree, rolled into cornucopias, held clear water, fresh and delicious to +the taste; the chevalier drank several of those, put his remaining +bananas into his pocket, and continued his journey. + +According to his calculation, he must have traveled nearly four leagues, +and could not be very far from Devil's Cliff. Unhappily the chevalier's +calculation was not exact, at least, as to the direction in which he +believed himself to have gone; for he had estimated the distance +traversed correctly enough, but he was, at midday, a little further from +Devil's Cliff than he had been when he entered the forest. In order not +to lose sight of the sun (which he could with difficulty discern through +the treetops), he had necessarily been obliged to lift his eyes +frequently to the heavens. Now, the road was almost impenetrable, and he +was also obliged to be on the watch for serpents; thus, divided between +the sky and the earth, the attention of the chevalier went somewhat +astray. However, as it was impossible to believe that he could a second +time be deceived in his calculations, he took fresh courage, certain of +reaching the end of his journey. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon he commenced to suspect that +Devil's Cliff receded in proportion to his approach. Croustillac became +harassed; but the fear of passing the night in the forest spurred him +on; by means of walking forward steadily he finally reached a kind of +indentation between two large rocks. The chevalier drew his breath, +expanding his lungs. + +"Faith!" cried he, removing his hat and fanning himself with it, "I am +then at Devil's Cliff. I seem to recognize it, though I have never seen +it. I cannot, however, lose myself. I have love for a compass; one can +follow this in the antipodes without deviating a hair's breadth. It is +very simple; my heart turns toward wealth and beauty, as the needle to +the pole! for if Blue Beard is rich, she must be beautiful; and, +further, a woman who can rid herself so quickly of three husbands must +love change. I shall prove a new fruit to her--and what a fruit! After +all, the three men who are dead got what they deserved, because they +were in my path. What assures me of the physique of Blue Beard is that +only a very pretty woman could permit herself such irregularities, such +methods--a little offhand to be sure--of breaking the conjugal chain. +Zounds! I shall see her, please her, seduce her. Poor woman! She does +not dream that her conqueror is at hand! If--if--I wager that her little +heart beats strongly this very moment. She feels my approach, she +divines it, her presentiment does not deceive her. She will be +overcome--happiness will arrive on the wings of love!" + +Thus saying, the chevalier threw a glance on his toilet. It did not +escape his notice that it was slightly disordered; his stockings, +originally purple, then pale pink, had become striped, zebra-fashion, +with a number of green rays, since his journey in the forest; his coat +was ornamented with various holes fancifully arranged, but the Gascon +made this reflection aloud, if not very modest, at least very consoling: +"Faith! Venus arose from the sea without any covering; Truth had no more +on when she emerged from the well; and if beauty and truth appeared +without a veil, I see not why--love--Beside, Blue Beard must be a woman +who will understand me!" + +Completely reassured, the chevalier hastened his steps, climbed the face +of the rocks, and found himself in an inclosure of the forest, even more +somber and impenetrable than that which he had quitted. Others would +have lost courage. Croustillac said to himself, on the contrary "Zounds! +this is very clever. Hiding her habitation in the most dense forest is a +woman's idea. I am sure the more I push on into these thickets the +nearer I approach the house. I consider I have already arrived. Blue +Beard, Blue Beard, finally I behold thee." + +The chevalier cherished this precious illusion while the daylight +lasted, which was not long; there is little twilight in the tropics. +Soon the chevalier saw, with astonishment, the summits of the trees +little by little obscure themselves, and assume a fantastic appearance +in the great mass of the forest. For some moments there remained a +half-shade, here and there lighted by the bright reflection of the sun, +which seemed as red as the fire of a furnace, for he was "making his +couch in the wind," as they say in the Antilles. + +For a moment the vegetation, so brilliantly green, took on a purple +tint; the chevalier believed that nature was painted a living red, what +was perceived being a mingling with the tints of the heavens. "Zounds!" +exclaimed the chevalier, "I did not deceive myself; I am near this +infernal place, this illumination proves it. Lucifer is without doubt +making a visit to Blue Beard, who, in order to receive him, is lighting +the furnaces of her kitchen." + +Little by little these warm tints disappeared, they became pale red, +then violet, and were swallowed up in the amethyst of the evening skies. +As soon as the shadows wrapped the forest in their arms, the plaintive +cries of the jackals, the sinister hooting of the owls, proclaimed the +return of night. The sea breeze, which always rises after the setting of +the sun, passed like a great sigh over the tops of the trees; the leaves +shivered. The thousand nameless, vague and distant cries which one hears +only at night, began to resound from all quarters. + +"Of a truth," said the chevalier, "this is a pretty figure to cut! To +think I am not a hundred steps, perhaps, from Devil's Cliff, and that I +am compelled to sleep under the stars!" + +Croustillac, fearing the serpents, directed himself toward an enormous +mahogany tree which he had observed; by the aid of the vines which +enveloped this tree on all sides, he succeeded in reaching a kind of +fork, formed by two large branches; here he installed himself, +comfortably, placed his sword between his knees, and commenced a supper +of the bananas, which fortunately, he had kept in his pockets. He did +not experience any of the fears which would have assailed many men, even +the bravest, placed in such a critical situation. Beside, in extreme +cases the chevalier had all kinds of reasoning for his use; he said: +"Fate is implacable against me, it chooses well--it cannot +mistake--instead of addressing itself to some rascal; to some wretch, +what does it do? It bethinks itself of the Chevalier de Croustillac +thus: 'Here is my man--he is worthy of struggling with me.'" + +In the situation in which he found himself the chevalier saw another +providential circumstance no less flattering to him. "My good fortune is +assured," he said: "the treasures of Blue Beard are mine; this is the +final trial to which the aforesaid Fate subjects me; it would be bad +grace in me to revolt. A brave man does not complain. I could not merit +the inestimable recompense which awaits me." + +By means of these reflections the chevalier combated sleep with success; +he feared if he yielded to it he would fall from the tree; he ended by +being enchanted by the obstacles which he had surmounted in his course +to Blue Beard. She would know how to value his courage, he thought, and +be alive to his devotion. In this excess of chivalrous feeling, the +chevalier regretted even that he has not had a serious enemy to combat +and not to have had to struggle alone against pitfalls, thorns and the +trunks of trees. At this moment a strange cry drew the adventurer's +attention; he listened, and said, "What is that? One would think that +the cats were holding their Sabbath. I know, now, because of these cats, +that the house cannot be far distant." But Croustillac deceived himself. +These were not domestic cats but wildcats, and never were tigers +fiercer; they continued to make an infernal uproar. In order to quiet +them, the chevalier took his staff and struck on the tree. The wildcats, +instead of flying, approached him with furious and redoubled cries. For +a long time these woods had been infested by these animals, who were not +inferior to jaguars in size, strength and ferocity; they attacked and +devoured young kids, goats, and even young mules. + +In order to explain the hostile assault of these carnivorous beasts +which surrounded the chevalier, who had been discovered by their +powerful sense of scent, we must return to the cavern in which Colonel +Rutler was immured. We know that the corpse of the sailor John, dead +from the sting of the serpent, completely obstructed the subterranean +passage by which Rutler could alone leave the cavern. The wildcats had +descended the precipice, scented the corpse of John, approached it first +timidly, then, emboldened, had devoured it. The colonel heard and knew +not what to think of these ferocious cries. At daybreak, thanks to the +gluttony of these animals, the obstacle which prevented Rutler from +leaving the cavern had entirely disappeared. There remained in the +subterranean passage only the bones of the sailor, and these the colonel +could easily remove. + +After this horrible feast, the wildcats, fed but not appeased by this +new repast to them, felt a taste for human flesh; they abandoned the +foot of the precipice, regained the wood, scented the chevalier, and +their carnivorous ferocity was increased. + +For some time fear withheld them, but, encouraged by the immobility of +Croustillac, one of the boldest and most famished slowly climbed the +tree, and the Gascon saw, all at once, near him two large, brilliant, +green eyes, which shone out of the midst of the obscurity. At the same +instant he felt a vigorous bite at the calf of his leg. He drew back his +leg abruptly, but the wildcat held on and fastened its claws in his +flesh, and gave a deep, furious growl which was the signal of attack. +The assailants climbed up from all sides and the chevalier saw about him +flaming eyes and felt himself bitten in many places at once. + +This attack was so unexpected, the assailants were of such a singular +kind, that Croustillac, in spite of his courage, remained for a moment +stupefied; but the bites of the wildcats and, above all, his deep +indignation at having to combat with such ignoble enemies, aroused his +fury. He seized the most venturesome by the skin of his back, and in +spite of several blows from his claws, threw him heavily against the +trunk of the tree and broke his back. The cat gave some frightful cries. +The chevalier treated in like manner another of these creatures which +had leaped upon his back, and had undertaken to devour his cheek. + +The band hesitated. Croustillac seized his sword, and using it as a +poignard, pierced several others, and thus put an end to this attack in +a novel manner, saying, "Zounds! to think Blue Beard does not know that +the brave Croustillac has been nearly devoured by wildcats, even as if +he were but a chicken hanging on a hook of a larder!" + +The remainder of the night passed peacefully, the chevalier sleeping but +little. At daybreak he descended from his tree, and saw extended at his +feet five of his adversaries of the night. He hastened to quit the scene +of his exploits, at which he blushed, and, convinced that Devil's Cliff +could not be far off, he resumed his journey. + +After having walked thus vainly, after his vigil, the gnawing of his +stomach, occasioned by a famished feeling, warned him that it was in the +neighborhood of noon. His delight may be imagined when the breeze bore +to him the delicious odor of roasted meat, so fine, so penetrating, and +so appetizing that the chevalier could not prevent himself from passing +his tongue across his lips. He redoubled his speed, not doubting, this +time, that he had arrived at the end of his troubles. However, he saw no +sign of habitation, and knew not how to reconcile this apparent solitude +with the exquisite odor which grew more and more tantalizing. + +Unobserved himself, and without being heard, and walking rapidly, he +arrived at a kind of clearing, where he stopped a moment. The sight +which greeted his eyes was worthy his notice. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A BUCCANEER. + + +In the midst of a close thicket appeared a cleared space forming a long +square; at one of its extremities was an ajoupa, a kind of hut made of +branches attached to the trunk of a palm tree, covered with long +polished leaves of balisier and of cachibou. Under this shelter, which +guaranteed protection from the rays of the sun to whoever might retire +therein, a man was stretched upon a bed of leaves; at his feet some +twenty dogs lay sleeping. These dogs would have been white and orange if +their original color had not disappeared, owing to the blood which +covered them. Their heads and breasts were completely stained by reason +of copious eating. + +The chevalier could but indistinctly see the face of the man, half +hidden in his bed of fresh leaves. Not far from the hut was a covered +fire where, cooking slowly, after the fashion of buccaneers, was a +year-old boar. The stove or gridiron was formed by four forks driven +into the earth, on which were hung cross-pieces, and on these were laid +small poles, all of green wood. + +The boar, still with its hide on, was stretched on its back, the belly +open and empty; strings attached to its four feet held it in this +position, which the heat would otherwise have disturbed. + +This gridiron was raised above a hole four feet in length, three wide, +and of great depth, filled with broken charcoal; the boar cooked by the +equal heat of this steady and concentrated brazier. The cavity of the +animal was half filled with lemon juice and cut spices, which, combined +with the fat, which the heat caused to slowly ooze out, formed a kind of +interior sauce which smelled very appetizing. + +This immense roast was nearly cooked; its skin began to frizzle and +crack; what was visible of the flesh through the gravy was red and +tempting. Finally, a dozen large yams, of yellow and savory pulp, were +cooking in the ashes, and exhaled a fine odor. + +The chevalier could restrain himself no longer; carried away by his +appetite, he entered the inclosure, and in so doing broke down some +branches. One or two of the dogs awoke and ran at him with a menacing +air. The man, who was dozing, arose abruptly, looked about him with an +amazed air, while the entire pack of hounds manifested the most hostile +objection to the entrance of the chevalier, bristling and showing their +formidable teeth. Croustillac recalled the history of the assistant of +Rend-your-Soul being devoured by his dogs, but he was not intimidated; +he raised his staff with a menacing air, and said, "To heel, varlets; to +heel, varlets!" + +This term, imported from the kennels of Europe, made no impression on +the dogs; they assumed an attitude so menacing that the chevalier struck +some blows at them with his staff. Their eyes burned with ferocity; they +would have precipitated themselves upon Croustillac had not the +buccaneer, coming out of the hut with a gun in his hand, cried in a +species of dialect, part negro, part French, "Who touches my dogs? Who +are you that come hither?" + +The chavalier bravely put his hand on his sword and replied, "Your dogs +would devour me, my good fellow, and I foil them. They would employ +their teeth upon me as I would mine if I had before me a morsel of that +appetizing boar, for I am lost in the forest since yesterday morning and +have a most infernal hunger." + +The buccaneer, instead of replying to the chevalier, remained stupefied +at the odd appearance of this man, who, staff in hand, had traversed a +forest in pink stockings and coat of taffeta and embroidered vest. On +his side, Croustillac, in spite of his hunger, contemplated the +buccaneer with no less curiosity. This hunter was of middle height, but +agile and vigorous; his only clothing, short drawers and a shirt which +was loose like a blouse. His clothing was so much stained with the +blood of bulls or boars which the buccaneers skin in order to sell the +hide and smoke the flesh (the principal branch of their traffic) that +the linen appeared tarred, it was so black and stiff. A belt of bull's +hide embellished with its hair confined the shirt about the buccaneer; +from this belt hung, on one side, a sheath of compartments, revealing +five or six knives of various lengths and divers shapes; from the other, +a pouch. The hunter's legs were bare to the knees; his shoes were +without fastening, and of a single piece, according to a custom there, +and in use among buccaneers. + +After skinning a bull or some large boar, they carefully loosen the skin +of one of the front extremities, from the breast to the knee, and turn +it back like a stocking which one pulls off; after having completely +detached it from the bones, they then put their feet into this supple +and fresh skin, placing the large toe a little more toward the place +which covered the knee of the animal. Once shod in this manner they tie +up with a sinew that portion which extends beyond the end of the foot, +and cut off the surplus. Then they raise and pull up the remainder of +the skin halfway up their legs, where they fasten it with a leather +strap. In drying, this species of boot assumes the shape of the foot, +remaining perfectly soft, supple, and wearing a long time, it being +impervious, and proof against the sting of serpents. + +The buccaneer looked curiously at Croustillac, leaning on his gun, a +kind especially used by buccaneers; these guns were made at Dieppe and +St. Malo. The figure of the hunter was rough and common; he wore a cap +of boar's skin; his beard was long and bristling; his look ferocious. + +Croustillac said resolutely, "Ah, comrade, would you refuse a morsel of +this roast to a gentleman who is famished?" + +"The roast is not mine," said the buccaneer. + +"How? to whom, then, does it belong?" + +"To Master Rend-your-Soul, who has his depot of skins and buccaneer +supplies at Caiman's Point." + +"This roast belongs to Master Rend-your-Soul," cried the chevalier, +surprised at the chance which had brought him in contact with one of +the happy lovers of Blue Beard, if these slanderous stories were true. +"This roast belongs to Rend-your-Soul," repeated Croustillac. + +"It belongs to him," said the man with the long gun, laconically. + +At this moment was heard a shot which echoed through the forest. "That +is the master," said the man. + +The dogs recognized, doubtless, the approach of the hunter; for they +began to bark joyfully, and dashed off through the undergrowth in order +to reach the buccaneer. + +Warned of the return of the master, the man, whom we will call Peter, +took out one of his largest knives, approached the wild boar, and in +order the better to moisten the venison, stabbed the flesh several +times, without injuring the skin, for the plentiful mixture of lemon +juice, spice and fat which filled the belly of the boar was running out. +Each of these incisions caused such appetizing odors to rise that the +chevalier, inhaling this exquisite odor, almost forgot the approach of +Rend-your-Soul. However, the latter appeared, followed by his dogs, +jumping and pressing about him. + +Master Rend-your-Soul was large and robust. His skin, naturally white, +was browned by the sun and by the wild life which he led; his thick +black beard fell on his breast; his features were regular, but severe +and hard. Although not so poor as that of his servant, his clothing was +of much the same fashion. Like him, he wore at his waist a case filled +with a number of knives; his legs, however, in place of being half +naked, were incased, as far as the knee, by bands of boar-skins tied +with sinews, and he wore large shoes of untanned leather. His large +Spanish hat was ornamented with two or three red feathers; and the +mountings of his buccaneer gun were of silver. Such was the difference +between the costume and arms of Master Rend-your-Soul and that of his +servant. + +When he entered the clearing, he held his gun under his arm and plucked +carelessly a wood-pigeon which he had killed; three others were hung at +his belt by a snare; he threw them to Peter, who immediately began to +pluck and clean them with wonderful dexterity. These wood-pigeons, of +the size of a partridge, were plump, fine and round as quails. As fast +as Peter had one ready, he cut off its head and feet and put it to cook +in the thick and abundant sauce which filled the boar's belly. When +Master Rend-your-Soul had finished plucking his, he threw it in also. + +Peter said, "Master, shall I close the roast?" + +"Close it," replied the master. + +Then Peter cut the strings which held the boar; the cavity of the belly +almost closed and the pigeons began to boil in this novel fashion. + +During all these culinary preparations the buccaneer had not appeared to +perceive the chevalier, who, with foot advanced, nose in the air, and +hand on the hilt of his sword, was prepared to answer proudly any +interrogatories which might be made, and even to question in return +Master Rend-your-Soul. The latter, having cut off the head and feet of +the pigeon which he was plucking, wiped his knife quietly and replaced +it in his case. + +To explain the indifference of the buccaneer, we must say to the reader +that nothing was more common than that people should visit the +buccaneers out of curiosity. The buccaneers were, in their customs, very +like the Caribbeans. Like them they were proud to accord hospitality; +like them they allowed any one to come who was hungry and thirsty and +partake of their repasts; but, like the Caribbeans also, they regarded +an invitation as a superfluous formality. The feast ready, let eat it +who would. + +After disembarrassing himself of his belt and gun, Rend-your-Soul +extended himself on the ground, drew a gourd hidden under the fresh +leaves, and drank some brandy as a preparation for dinner. + +Croustillac was still in the same attitude, nose in the air, foot +advanced, hand on his sword; the color rose to his forehead; nothing +could have insulted him more than the absolute indifference of +Rend-your-Soul to his presence. + +Had Blue Beard, by the intermediation of the filibustering captain, +instructed the buccaneer to act in this manner if he should encounter +the chevalier? Was this hunter's carelessness genuine or feigned? This +is what we cannot yet tell the reader. The situation of Croustillac was +none the less delicate and difficult; in spite of his audacity he did +not know how to begin the conversation. Finally recovering himself, he +said to the buccaneer, advancing toward him, "Are you blind, comrade?" + +"Answer, Peter, some one speaks to you," said Rend-your-Soul, +carelessly. + +"No, it is to you I speak," said the Gascon impatiently. + +"No," said the buccaneer. + +"How so?" replied the chevalier. + +"You said 'comrade;' I am not your comrade; my servant is, perhaps." + +"Zounds!" + +"I am a master buccaneer; you are not; it is only my brother-hunters who +are my comrades," said Rend-your-Soul, interrupting Croustillac. + +"And how is one to address you in order to have the honor of a reply?" +said the chevalier, angrily. + +"If you come to purchase skins or buccaneer supplies, address me as you +will; if you come to see the station, look about you; if you are hungry, +when the boar is cooked, eat." + +"They are regular brutes, true savages," thought the chevalier; "it +would be folly in me to resent their stupidities; I am dying with +hunger, I am lost; the animal can give me a dinner, and if I carry +myself wisely will point out to me the road to Devil's Cliff. Let us +eat." Then, looking at the man, half barbarian that he was, with his +garments stained with blood, Croustillac said to himself, shrugging his +shoulders, "And it is to such a boor that they give the beautiful, the +adorable Blue Beard. Zounds! she must be like him herself." + +Peter, finding the boar cooked to a turn, busied himself in removing the +cover; he placed on the earth, under the trees, a number of large +leaves, fresh and green, to serve as a tablecloth. He then picked a +large leaf, made four holes at its edge, and passed a creeper through +them, and thus formed a species of cup in which he squeezed the juice +of a number of lemons which he had picked, and with which he mixed salt +and spices crushed between two stones. The sauce was called pimentade, +was extremely strong, and was used generally by buccaneers and +filibusters. Opposite this sauce and in another leaf, he put yams cooked +in the ashes; their skins, a little burned, had split open and showed a +pulp yellow as amber. + +The chevalier was disturbed as to how he was to drink, for he had a +burning thirst, but he quickly saw the servant returning with a large +gourd filled with a pink and limpid liquor. It was the sugar of the +maple tree, which flowed in abundance from the tree when it was pierced +deeply. This was a fresh and healthy beverage and tasted like Bordeaux +wine mixed with sugar and water. + +Finally, after placing this gourd on the leaves which served as a +tablecloth, the servant broke off a large branch of apricots, covered +with flowers and fruit, and stuck it into the earth in the midst of the +leaves. These natives are not so stupid as they appear, thought the +chevalier. Here is a repast which Dame Nature pays for and which would +satisfy, I am sure, the greatest gourmand. Croustillac waited +impatiently for the moment to begin. Finally the servant, having +examined the boar with a critical eye, said to the buccaneer, "Master, +it is cooked." + +"Let us eat," said the master. + +By means of a fork cut out of oak, the servant took one of the pigeons, +put it on a fresh leaf, and offered it to the buccaneer; then, helping +himself in turn, he left the fork in the venison. The chevalier, seeing +that no one occupied himself with him, took a pigeon, a yam, seated +himself near the master and servant buccaneers, and, like them, began to +eat with the best of appetites. + +The pigeon was cooked so deliciously, the yams were perfect, and like +the most delicious potatoes. The pigeons disposed of, Peter cut long and +thick slices of the venison for his master. The chevalier followed his +example and found the flesh exquisite, fat and succulent, of fine flavor +enhanced the more by the pimentade. + +Croustillac frequently quenched his thirst, as did his companions, from +the gourd of maple sugar, and he finished his repast by eating half a +dozen apricots of wonderful fragrance and very superior to the European +species. + +Peter brought, then, a gourd of brandy; the master drank and then passed +it to his servant, who did likewise, then closed it carefully, to the +great disappointment of the chevalier who had extended his hand for it. +This was not stupidity on the part of the buccaneers; there is among the +Caribbeans a great distinction between the natural gifts which cost +nothing, belonging, so to speak, to everyone, and the articles purchased +with money, which belong exclusively to those who possess them--brandy, +powder, bullets, arms, skins, venison prepared after the fashion of the +buccaneers for sale, being of this number; fruits, game, fish, were +held, on the contrary, in common. + +Nevertheless, the chevalier frowned, rather from pride than gluttony. He +was on the point of complaining of this lack of respect to the servant, +but reflecting that, after all, he owed his excellent repast to +Rend-your-Soul, and that the latter could alone put him on the road to +Devil's Cliff, he restrained his ill humor, and said to the buccaneer +with a jovial air, "Faith! sir, do you know you give great and good +cheer?" + +"One eats what he finds; boars and bulls are not wanting in this island, +and the sale of their skins is good," said the buccaneer, filling his +pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MASTER REND-YOUR-SOUL. + + +The more closely the chevalier studied Master Rend-your-Soul, the less +he was able to believe that this half barbarian was in the good graces +of Blue Beard. The buccaneer, having lighted his pipe, lay down on his +back, put his two hands under his head, and smoked, with his eyes fixed +on the hut, with an appearance of profound beatitude, and said to the +chevalier, "You have come here in a litter, with your pink stockings?" + +"No, my good friend, I have come on foot, and I would have come on my +head in order to see the most famous buccaneer in all the Antilles, +whose fame has even reached Europe." + +"If you are in need of skins," said the buccaneer in answer, "I have a +dozen bulls' skins so fine and beautiful that you would suppose them to +be buffalo. I have also a string of boar's hams such as are not cured in +any station." + +"No, no, my brave friend, I tell you admiration, nothing but admiration +has guided me. I arrived from France five days since in the Unicorn, and +my first visit is to you, whose merit I am well aware of." + +"Truly?" + +"As true as I call myself the Chevalier de Croustillac, for you will not +be displeased, perhaps, to know with whom you talk. My name is +Croustillac." + +"All names are a matter of indifference to me, except that of +_purchaser_." + +"And admirer, my brave friend, admirer, is that nothing? I, who have +come from Europe expressly to see you?" + +"You knew, then, that you would find me here?" + +"Not exactly; but Providence has arranged it; and, thanks to +Providence, I have met the famous Rend-your-Soul." + +"Decidedly he is stupid," thought the chevalier. "I have nothing to +contend with in such a rival; if the others are no more dangerous, it +will be very easy for me to make Blue Beard adore me; but I must find +the road to Devil's Cliff. It will be truly racy to be conducted thither +by this bear." He spoke: "But, my brave hunter, alas! all glory is +bought; I wished to see you, I have seen you." + +"Very well, go your way, then," said the buccaneer, expelling a cloud of +tobacco smoke. + +"I like your brusque frankness, worthy Nimrod; but in order to go, I +must learn a road thence, and I know none." + +"From whence came you?" + +"From Macouba, where I lodged at the house of the Reverend Father +Griffen." + +"You are only two leagues from Macouba; my servant will guide you +there." + +"How! only two leagues!" cried the chevalier. "It is impossible! I have +walked since daybreak yesterday, until night, and since early morn until +noon, and have I gone but two leagues?" + +"One sometimes sees boars and above all young bulls deceived thus, and +make many steps almost without changing the inclosure," said the +buccaneer. + +"Your comparison smacks of the art of hunting, and, noble following as +it is, cannot shock a gentleman; then, admit that I have dodged about, +even like a young bull, as you say; it does not follow that I wish to +return to Macouba; and I depend upon you to show me the road I should +follow." + +"Where do you wish to go?" + +For a moment the chevalier hesitated, and knew not what reply to make. +Should he avow frankly his intention of going to Devil's Cliff? +Croustillac sought refuge in a subterfuge--"I wish to go by the road to +Devil's Cliff." + +"The road to Devil's Cliff only leads to Devil's Cliff, and----" + +The buccaneer did not finish his sentence, but his face became menacing. + +"And--where does the road to Devil's Cliff lead?" + +"It leads sinners to hell, and saints to paradise." + +"So, a stranger, a traveler, who has a whim to visit Devil's Cliff----" + +"Would never return from thence." + +"At least, in that case, one does not risk getting lost on the return," +said the chevalier coolly. "'Tis well, my good friend, then show me the +way." + +"We have eaten under the same roof, we have drunk from the same cup; I +would not willingly cause your death." + +"So, in conducting me to Devil's Cliff, you kill me?" + +"It will come to the same thing." + +"Although your dinner was perfect, and your company very agreeable, my +brave Nimrod, you almost make me regret it, as this prevents you from +satisfying my wish. But what danger threatens me, then?" + +"All the dangers of death that a man can brave." + +"All these dangers--make but one, seeing that one can but die once," +said the Gascon carelessly. + +The buccaneer scanned the chevalier closely, and appeared impressed by +his courage as much as by the air of frankness and good humor which +showed through all his extravagance. + +The chevalier continued: "The Chevalier de Croustillac never knows fear +while he has his sister at his side." + +"What sister?" + +"This, which, by heavens, is not virgin," cried the Gascon, drawing his +sword and brandishing it. "The kisses she gives are sharp, and the +bravest have regretted making her acquaintance." + +"Miaow! miaow!" said the servant, who was a witness of this scene. This +cry made the Gascon start, and recalled to him the exploits of the +preceding night. He colored with rage, advanced upon the servant with +the sword's point, in order to chastise him with the flat of his steel; +but Peter withdrew dexterously and got out of reach, while the buccaneer +burst into laughter. + +This hilarity exasperated the chevalier, who said to Rend-your-Soul, +"Zounds! if you dare attack a man as you would a bull, beware." + +"Look at your sword; the steel is stained with blood and covered with +the hair of wildcats; it is that which made Peter cry out 'Miaow!'" + +"Defend yourself," repeated the chevalier furiously. + +"When I have four feet, claws and a tail, I will fight with you," said +the buccaneer quietly. + +"I will mark your face, then," said the chevalier, advancing toward +Rend-your-Soul. + +"Softly, velvet claws, pussy velvet claws," said the buccaneer, +laughing, and parrying with the muzzle of his gun the furious thrusts +which the exasperated chevalier bestowed upon him. + +The servant would have come to the rescue of his master, but the latter +forbade. + +"Do not stir; I will answer for this redoubtable fellow. 'The burned cat +dreads cold water,' as they say. I am going to give him a good lesson." + +These sarcasms increased the chevalier's rage; he forgot his adversary +was defending himself with a gun, and he showered some desperate blows +upon him, while the buccaneer, showing a marvelous address and a rare +vigor, used his heavy gun like a stick. + +During this unequal combat, the buccaneer added to his insolence by +imitating the cry which cats make when they are angry, when they +disagree. This last outrage capped the climax; but against his attack he +found, in the buccaneer, a gladiator of the greatest strength in +fencing; and he had shortly the chagrin of seeing himself disarmed; his +sword was struck off some ten paces. The buccaneer threw himself upon +the Gascon; raised his gun like a club; he seized the chevalier by the +collar and cried, "Your life is mine; I am going to break your head like +an eggshell." + +Croustillac, looking at him without flinching, said, coldly, "And you +are trebly right, for I am a triple traitor." The buccaneer recoiled a +step. "I was hungry--you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me +drink; you were unarmed and I attacked you. Break my head--Zounds! break +it, you are right. Croustillac is dishonored." + +This was not the language of an assassin or a spy; then, holding out his +hand to the chevalier, the buccaneer said, with a rough voice, "Come, +clasp hands; we have been seated under the same roof, we have fought +together--we are brothers." + +The chevalier was about to put his hand in that of the buccaneer, but he +paused and said gravely, "Frankness for frankness; before giving you my +hand I must tell you one thing." + +"What?" + +"I am your rival." + +"Rival! how is that?" + +"I love Blue Beard, and I am resolved at all hazards to go to her and to +please her." + +"Clasp hands, brother." + +"A moment--I must say to you that when Polyphème Croustillac wishes to +please, he pleases; when he pleases, one loves him; and when one loves +him, one loves him madly and unto death." + +"Clasp hands, brother." + +"I will not touch your hand until you tell me if you will accept me +openly for your rival?" + +"And if not?" + +"If not, break my head; you will be right in so doing. We are alone; +your servant will not betray you; but I will never renounce the hope, +the certainty, of pleasing Blue Beard." + +"Ah, this is another matter." + +"A last question," continued the chevalier; "You go often to Devil's +Cliff?" + +"I go often to Devil's Cliff." + +"You see Blue Beard?" + +"I see her." + +"You love her?" + +"I love her." + +"She loves you?" + +"She loves me." + +"You?" + +"Me." + +"She loves you?" + +"To madness----" + +"She has told you so?" + +"And--Blue Beard----" + +"Is my mistress." + +"On the word of a buccaneer?" + +"On the word of a buccaneer." + +"Then," said the chevalier to himself, "there is no more discretion +among barbarians than among civilized people. Who would say at the sight +of such a stupid fellow, that he was a coxcomb?" Then he said aloud, +"Ah, well, then, I repeat to you, break my head, for if you spare my +life I shall reach Devil's Cliff; I shall do all I can to please Blue +Beard, and I _shall_ please her, I warn you. So, then, once more, break +my head, or resign yourself to seeing in me a rival, shortly a happy +rival!" + +"I say to you, clasp hands, brother." + +"How? in spite of what I say?" + +"Yes." + +"It does not alarm you?" + +"No." + +"It is all the same to you if I go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"I will conduct you there, myself." + +"Yourself?" + +"To-day." + +"And I shall see Blue Beard?" + +"You shall see her as often as you wish." + +The chevalier, moved by the confidence in him which the buccaneer +testified, did not wish to abuse it; he said in a solemn tone, "Listen, +buccaneer, you are as generous as a savage; this is not by way of +offense; but, my worthy friend, my loyal enemy, you are as ignorant as a +savage. Reared in the midst of the forest, you have no idea what a man +is who has passed his life in pleasing, seducing; you do not know the +marvelous resources which such a man finds in his natural attractions; +you do not know the irresistible influence of a word, a gesture, a +smile, a look! This poor Blue Beard does not know either; to judge from +what they say of her three husbands. They were three worthless fellows, +three vagabonds; she rid herself of them, rightly. Why has she rid +herself of them? Because she sought an ideal, an unknown being, the +dream of her dreams. Now, my brave friend, always be it said without +offense, you cannot deceive yourself to such a degree as to think that +you realize this dream of Blue Beard; you cannot really take yourself +for a Celadon--for an Adonis----" + +The buccaneer looked at Croustillac with a stupid air and did not appear +to understand him; he said, pointing to the sun, "The sun is setting; we +have four leagues to make before we arrive at Devil's Cliff; let us +start." + +"This unhappy man," thought the chevalier, "has not the slightest idea +of the danger he runs; it is a pity to disabuse his blindness; it is +like striking a child; it is snaring a sitting pheasant; it is killing a +sleeping man; on the honor of De Croustillac, it gives me scruples." +Then aloud, "You do not understand, then, my brave friend, that this man +as seductive as irresistible of whom I speak is none other than myself?" + +"Ah, bah! it is impossible." + +"Your surprise is not flattering, brave hunter, but if I speak thus to +you of myself, it is that honor compels me to tell the truth, the whole +truth, and nothing but the truth. You do not understand that, once +having seen me, Blue Beard will love me; and she will not love you any +more, my poor Rend-your-Soul. Understand, then, that it would be +cowardly and treasonable on my part not to warn you in advance as to the +position you hold with Blue Beard. I repeat, from the moment when I put +foot in Devil's Cliff, from the moment she sees me, when she hears me, +her love for you is at an end. Meantime, I have warned you, loyally +warned you; consider if you are willing to risk it." + +"Clasp hands, brother," said the buccaneer, seemingly insensible to the +danger that the chevalier pointed out to him. "Let us be going. We will +arrive at night at Devil's Cliff; a fall from the precipice would not be +pleasant at this hour." + +"Come on--you are mad--so be it, but I have warned you; it will be open +war," said the chevalier. + +The buccaneer, without making any reply to the chevalier, said to his +servant, "Shut up the dogs in the house, and have ready two dozen bulls' +skins, which will be needed to-morrow at Basse-Terre; I shall not +return to-night." + +"It falls aright," said the servant to himself, and with a shrewd air; +"he sleeps away from the hut one night in every three." + +While the buccaneer attached his belt, the chevalier said to himself, +looking at the hunter with a feeling of pity, "Faith! but he puts the +rope gayly about his own throat; since he will not heed my warning, let +him look out for himself. It appears that lovers are, in such cases, no +wiser than husbands. But as regards Blue Beard--if she is pretty--it +must be that she is--can she receive such a savage? Poor little thing. +It is very simple. She does not know the compensation that is reserved +for her. Hail to the gods. Croustillac, thy star has arisen!" continued +the chevalier, after some minutes of reflection. + +"Come, brother, let us start," said the buccaneer; "but before doing so, +Peter shall envelop your legs in a piece of skin which he has, for we +are going to traverse a bad quarter for serpents." + +The chevalier thanked the buccaneer, not without shrugging his shoulders +in pity for him, and said, "Unhappy man! he is shoeing me, but I shall +put a cap on him!" + +This stupid joke was to be fatally punished in Croustillac, who followed +his guide with renewed ardor, for was he not going to see Blue Beard? + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE MARRIAGE. + + +After four hours' walk the chevalier and the buccaneer arrived close to +Devil's Cliff. The road was so difficult and so much incumbered that the +two companions could scarcely converse. Croustillac became more +thoughtful the nearer his approach to the dwelling of Blue Beard; in +spite of the good opinion he had of himself, in spite of his consoling +reflections regarding the allegorical nudity of Venus and Truth, he +regretted that his natural advantages were not set off by costly +garments. He ventured, then, after some hesitation, to tell a falsehood +to the buccaneer. "I assure you, my true and worthy rival, that my +servants and trunks are at St. Pierre and I find myself, as you see, +hardly clothed in a proper fashion to present myself before the queen of +my thoughts." + +"What do you mean?" said the buccaneer. + +"What I would say, brave Nimrod, is that I have the appearance of a +beggar, in that my coat and shoes, which yesterday were almost new, are +to-day abominably tattered and appear at least six months old." + +"Six months? Oh! they are devilishly older than that to all appearances, +my brother." + +"All which proves how torrid your devilish sun is; in one day it has +faded my clothing which yesterday was the freshest sea-green, the most +tender and coquettish of colors, until now----" + +"They are almost mould-green," said the buccaneer. "It is like your +shoulder-strap--our devouring sun eats gold until he leave but a red +thread." + +"What signifies the shoulder-strap if the sword is free and strong from +the scabbard?" said Croustillac proudly. Then softening his tones, he +continued, "It is just because I am momentarily in an outfit unworthy my +rank, that I would inquire if I can find garments more suitable at +Devil's Cliff?" + +"Ah, do you think that Blue Beard keeps a second-hand clothing +establishment?" said the buccaneer. + +"Heaven forbid that I should accuse her of such an ignoble traffic! But, +in fine, it would not be surprising if, as I say, by chance, there had +been overlooked in some corner of a clothes-press some garments +belonging to one of the deceased husbands of our charming friend?" + +"Ah!" said the buccaneer. + +"Well?" replied the chevalier imperturbably, "although it would cost me +an effort to appear in what did not belong to me, and above all, in what +could not fit me very well, I would reconcile myself to so doing, in +default of my fine clothing now at St. Pierre, even at the risk of being +abominably disfigured, perhaps, by the chance garments," continued he +disdainfully. + +The buccaneer broke into peals of laughter at the singular notion of his +companion. Croustillac colored with annoyance and said, "Zounds! you are +very facetious, my friend." + +"I laugh because I see I am not alone in the traffic of skins," said +Rend-your-Soul. "Truly we are brothers! If I despoil the bulls of their +skins, you are not too proud to despoil one of the husbands of the +widow. But we are now at the foot of the cliff. Take care, friend, one +must have a sure foot and a true eye to climb this ascent unharmed! If +you find it too rough, you need go no further; I will send you a guide +to conduct you back to Macouba." + +"Remain here! at my journey's end, almost! after a thousand +difficulties! at the moment when I shall see and captivate this +enchantress, Blue Beard," cried the chevalier. "You have lost your wits. +Come on, comrade, what you do, I will do," said the chevalier. + +Truth to say, thanks to his long legs, his natural agility and his +coolness, Croustillac followed the buccaneer over the perilous road +that led to the mansion, across the terrible precipice of Devil's Cliff. +A signal from the buccaneer and the wall of the platform was scaled, +and, with his companion, he entered the outer buildings. + +Reaching the covered passage which led to the widow's especial suite, +the buccaneer whispered a word in the ear of the mulattress. She took +the chevalier's hand and led him to a stairway in the passage. +Croustillac hesitated a moment to follow the slave. The buccaneer said, +"Go on, brother, you do not wish to present yourself thus before the +widow; I have said a word to old Jennette, and she is going to provide +you with the means to shine like the sun. As for me, I go to announce +your arrival to Blue Beard." + +So saying, the buccaneer disappeared in the covered passage. +Croustillac, guided by the mulattress, came to a room very elegantly and +comfortably furnished. + +"Zounds!" cried the adventurer, rubbing his hands and taking long +strides, "this begins well. Provided I can appear to advantage, provided +that the deceased husbands of the widow had decent figures and that +their clothes will not disfigure me too much, I shall please--I shall +captivate the widow; and this animal of a buccaneer, ousted by me from +the heart of Blue Beard, will return to-morrow--perhaps even to-night, +to his forest." + +Croustillac soon saw a number of negroes enter the room. One of them +staggered under an enormous parcel; the other carried on a chased silver +tray a silver gilt dish, wherein smoked a soup of the most appetizing +odor; two glass carafes, one filled with old Bordeaux, the color of +rubies, the other with Madeira wine, color of topaz, flanked the dish +and completed this light refreshment sent to the chevalier by the widow. +While one of the slaves placed before him a little table of ebony inlaid +with ivory, the negro bearing the parcel laid upon the bed a costume of +black velvet ornamented by rich flowers embroidered in gold. What was +singular about the coat was that the left sleeve was of cherry-colored +satin; this sleeve closed above the wrist with a broad facing of buffalo +skin. + +For the rest, with the exception of this peculiarity, the coat was +elegantly cut; stockings of very fine silk, a rhinegrave, or cravat, of +magnificent lace, a large felt hat adorned with beautiful white plumes +and a heavy gold cord were to complete the transformation of the +adventurer. + +While the chevalier endeavored to divine why the left sleeve of this +black velvet coat was of cherry-colored silk, the two negroes prepared a +bath in a neighboring dressing-room; another slave asked Croustillac in +quite pure French if he would be shaved and have his hair dressed; +Croustillac assented. Entirely refreshed and invigorated by an aromatic +bath, wrapped in a dressing-gown of fine Holland linen which exhaled the +most exquisite odors, the adventurer lounged on a soft divan while the +slaves waved enormous fans. + +The chevalier, in spite of his blind faith in his destiny, which, +according to him, was to become as beautiful as it had heretofore been +miserable, believed himself at times in a dream. + +His wildest hopes were surpassed; in casting a complacent glance on the +rich costume with which he was clothed, and which was to render him +fatally irresistible, he was seized with a feeling akin to remorse, on +account of the buccaneer, who had so unwisely given ingress to the wolf +into this fold in which dwelt his love. The thought of this good fellow +made Croustillac smile; he was prepared to bewilder Blue Beard by +language in which he would be victorious over her barbarous adorers. + +Suddenly a horrible fear obscured the smiling prospect for the Gascon. +He began to fear for the first time that Blue Beard might be repulsively +plain; he had also the modesty to think that perhaps it would be too +much of him to require of fate that Blue Beard be of an ideal beauty. + +Croustillac possessed good qualities. He said to himself with the +conviction of a man who knew perfectly how to moderate and set bounds to +his ambition--"Providing the widow be not more than from forty to fifty +years; that she be not blind or outrageously lame; that she has some +teeth and hair--faith! her wine is so good, her service so fine, her +servants so attentive--if she is worth three or four millions, I +consent to take the risk my predecessors did, and to make the widow +happy, on the honor of De Croustillac! seeing that I prefer to take the +consequences of my rôle as a husband rather than return on board the +Unicorn and swallow lighted candles for the amusement of that amphibious +animal, Captain Daniel. Well, then, should Blue Beard be plain, and of +overripe age, she is still a millionaire, and I will take care of this +good lady, and will be so very agreeable to her that, far from sending +me to join the other dead husbands, she will have no desire but that of +cherishing me dearly, and embellishing my life by all kinds of delicious +cares. Come, come, Croustillac," said the adventurer, with increased +exaltation, "I say truly, your star is in the ascendent, and shall shine +more than in the past it has been overcast! Yes, it is in the +ascendent." + +So saying, the chevalier called one of the blacks who was awaiting his +orders in a neighboring room, and with his assistance put on the velvet +dress with the cherry colored sleeve. The Gascon was tall, but bony and +thin; the garment which he donned was made for a man of the same height, +but broad-chested and small in the waist; so the vest formed some large +folds about the body of Croustillac; and his cherry-colored stockings +draped themselves no less majestically about his long, thin, and nervous +legs. + +The chevalier did not concern himself about these slight imperfections +of his costume; he threw a final glance at his reflection in the +Venetian mirror which the slave held up to him, arranged his rough, +black hair, caressed his long mustache, hung his formidable sword to a +rich strap of buffalo skin which had been brought to him, proudly put on +the felt hat with golden cord and white plumes, and, strutting up and +down the room with a triumphant air, impatiently awaited the moment of +presentation to the widow. This moment arrived shortly. The aged +mulattress who had received the adventurer came to seek him, and begging +him to follow her, ushered him into the retired building which we have +already seen. + +The room in which Croustillac waited some moments was furnished with a +luxury of which he had heretofore had no idea; superb old paintings, +magnificent porcelains, curiosities in goldsmith's work, of the most +costly nature, incumbered the furniture, as valuable on account of its +material as for its workmanship; a lute and a theorbo, whose ornaments +of ivory and gold were of a finish most uncommon in carving, attracted +the attention of Croustillac, who was delighted to think that his future +wife was a musician. + +"Zounds!" cried the chevalier, "is it possible that the mistress of so +much wealth is as beautiful as the day? No, no, I should be too +fortunate; although I deserve this happiness." + +We may judge of the surprise, not to say the shock, to the Gascon when +Angela entered. The little widow was radiant in youth, grace, beauty and +dress; robed in a costume of the fashion of Louis the Fourteenth, she +wore a dress of sky blue, the long waist of which seemed to be +embroidered with diamonds, pearls and rubies, though this profusion of +gems was arranged with taste. + +Croustillac, in spite of his audacity, recoiled before such a vision. In +all his life he had never encountered a woman so ravishingly pretty, so +royally dressed; he could not believe his eyes; he looked at her with +bewilderment. We must say, to the chevalier's credit, that he had a +laudable attack of modesty, but unhappily as fleeting as sincere. He +thought that so charming a creature might perhaps hesitate to marry an +adventurer like himself; but he recalled his impertinent and +vainglorious confidences to the buccaneer; he said to himself that, +after all, one man was as good as another, and he recovered very rapidly +his imperturbable assurance. + +Croustillac made, one after another, three of the most respectful bows; +in order to resume his upright attitude and at the same time display the +nobility of his figure, advancing on one of his long legs, and drawing +the other a little behind it, he assumed a conquering air, holding his +hat in the right hand and resting his left hand upon the handle of his +sword. Doubtless he was about to make some gallant compliment to Blue +Beard, for he had already placed his hand on his heart, and opened his +large mouth, when the little widow, who could no longer repress an +irresistible desire to laugh at the absurd appearance of the chevalier, +gave free vent to her hilarity. This explosion of gayety shut +Croustillac's mouth and he endeavored to smile, hoping thus to humor +Blue Beard. + +This polite effort took the form of so grotesque a grimace that Angela +fell on the sofa, forgetting all rules of politeness, all dignity, and +abandoned herself to a mad fit of laughter; her beautiful blue eyes, +always so brilliant, were veiled in tears of amusement; her cheeks +became crimson and her charming dimples deepened to such an extent that +the widow could have hidden in their depths the entire end of her rosy +little finger. + +Croustillac, much embarrassed, remained motionless before the pretty +widow, first contracting his eyebrows with an angry air, then, on the +contrary, he endeavored to relax his thin long face into a forced smile. +While these successive expressions did not tend to put an end to Blue +Beard's mirth, the chevalier said to himself that for a murderess, the +widow did not have such a gloomy and terrible appearance after all. +Nevertheless, the vanity of our adventurer could not easily brook the +singular effect which he had produced. For want of better conclusion he +ended by saying to himself that above all things he always struck the +imagination of women keenly; it was necessary at first to astonish them, +upset them, and that, in this respect, his first interview with Blue +Beard left nothing to be desired. + +When he saw that the widow had become a little calmer, he said +resolutely, and with superbly bombastic manner, "I am sure you laugh, +madame, at all the despairing efforts that I make to prevent my poor +stolen heart from flying quickly to your feet. It is that which has +brought me here; I could not but follow, in spite of myself; yes, +madame, in spite of myself. I said to it, 'there, there, softly, softly, +my heart, it does not suffice, in order to please a divine beauty, to be +passionately loving,' but my little, or rather my great and rash, heart +replied ever by drawing me to you with all its strength; as if it had +been the steel and Devil's Cliff the magnet; my heart, I say, replied to +me, 'Reassure yourself, master; tender and valiant as you are, the love +that you feel shall cause the birth of a love which you shall share.' +But pardon me madame, the language of my heart makes me outrageously +impertinent--it is doubtless this impertinence which makes you laugh +anew." + +"No, sir, no; your appearance diverts me to this great extent because +you resemble--ha! ha! ha!--in a strange way, my second husband. You have +positively the very same nose--ha! ha! ha!--and in seeing you enter, I +believed I saw his spirit--ha! ha! ha!--coming to reproach me--ha! ha! +ha!--with his cruel end--ha! ha!" + +The laughter of Angela redoubled. The chevalier was not ignorant of the +antecedents with which Blue Beard might be reproached, but he could not +conceal his great surprise at hearing this charming little creature +acknowledge the crime of murder with such incredible audacity. +Nevertheless, the chevalier recovered his customary coolness and replied +gallantly, "I am too happy, madame, to recall to you one of your +deceased husbands; and of reviving by my presence one of your memories, +whatever it may be. But," continued Croustillac with a gallant manner, +"there are other resemblances that I would wish to have to the +deceased--whose memory diverts you so much." + +"That is to say, you desire to marry me?" said Blue Beard to him. + +The chevalier was stupefied for a moment by this abrupt question. + +Angela went on: "I expected it; Rend-your-Soul, whom I call by an +abbreviation, my little Rendsoul, has informed me of your desires; +perhaps he wishes to raise false hopes," added the widow, looking +coquettishly at the chevalier. + +Croustillac experienced surprise after surprise. "How," he cried, "the +buccaneer has told you, madame----" + +"That you have come from France for the express purpose of marrying +me--is it true? See, speak frankly--do not deceive me. Oh, I do not like +to be thwarted. I warn you, if I have taken it into my head that you +shall be my husband, you shall be." + +"Madame, I beg of you, do not take me for a fool, for a jackanapes, for +a stupid; if I am dumb, it is with emotion, surprise." And Croustillac +looked about him uneasily, as if to assure himself he was not the sport +of a dream. "May I be shot if I expected such a reception." + +"Well, there is no need to make so many words over it," replied the +widow. "I have been told you wish to marry me--is it true?" + +"As true as that you are the most dazzling beauty that I have ever met," +said the chevalier impetuously, placing his hand on his heart. + +"Truly? Truly? You have really decided to marry me?" cried the little +widow, clapping her hands joyfully. + +"I am so decided, adorable widow, that my only fear now is of not seeing +this desire realized; it is, I avow, an excessive desire, a great dream, +and----" + +"Be quiet, then," said Blue Beard, interrupting the chevalier with +childlike frankness. "What is the use of these big words? You ask my +hand--why should I not give it to you?" + +"How, madame, can I believe it! Ah, wait, beautiful Islander. I have had +many triumphs in my life; princesses have avowed their passion for me; +queens have sighed when looking at me, but never, madame, never have I +found such a one! Yes, madame, you can congratulate yourself, you can +boast of having brought to its height my surprise, my joy and my +gratitude. Repeat, then, I implore you, repeat those charming words--you +consent to take me for your husband, me, Polyphème de Croustillac?" + +"I will repeat it as much as you desire; nothing is simpler; you can +well understand that I have too much trouble in finding husbands not to +seize eagerly the offer which you make me." + +"Ah, madame," replied the chevalier courteously, "at the risk of passing +for an impertinent man, I must allow myself to contradict you. Never can +I believe that you could find it difficult to find a husband. I will say +more--I am convinced that you have had, since your widowhood only +embarrassment of choice, but you have simply not wished to select. You +have too good taste, madame," said Croustillac audaciously, "you +waited----" + +"I might deceive you and allow you to think this, chevalier, but you are +too brave and gallant a man to be abused--at present," continued Angela, +with a gracious and confidential manner, "I will tell you all. Listen to +me. The first time I married, I had but to choose, it is true. O, +heavens! suitors presented themselves in swarms, and I chose--very well, +too. Then my second marriage: it was even then not the same thing. +People had commented on the singular death of my first husband, and +suitors had already begun to reflect before declaring themselves. +However, as I am not stupid, thanks to determination, cajolery and +coquetry, I succeeded in getting a second husband. Alas! it was not +without trouble. But the third. Oh, you have no idea all the trouble I +had; truly I was in despair!" + +"Ah, madame, why was I not there!" + +"Doubtless, but, unhappily, you were not. If they talked about the death +of my first husband; you can judge what they said about that of my +second. People began to distrust me," said the widow, shaking her pretty +little head with an expression of ingenuous melancholy. "What would you +have? the world is so meddling, so slanderous; men are so strange!" + +"The world is stupid and egotistical, foolish," cried Croustillac, +filled with pity for this victim of calumny. "Men are cowards and fools +who believe all the gossip which is told them." + +"What you say is very true. You are not so, my friend?" + +"She calls me her friend," cried Croustillac, in a transport; and he +answered, "No, certainly not, and I am not so." + +"Doubtless," said the widow, "you are very different; you spoil me by +accepting my proposition so quickly." + +"Say, rather, that I am beyond bounds overjoyed at it, madame." + +"You spoil me," continued the widow, with an enchanting smile, and +throwing a tender glance at the chevalier. "I assure you you spoil me; +you are so easy, so accommodating. Ah! how shall I replace you?" + +"Replace me?" + +"Yes, after you, friend." + +"After me?" + +"Yes, certainly, after you." + +"Madame, I do not understand you. I do not wish to understand." + +"It is very simple; how can I hope to find another like you, who will +marry me so willingly? Ah, no, such men are rare!" + +"How, madame, after me?" cried Croustillac, overcome by this idea. "You +dream, then, of a successor to me?" + +"Yes, friend," replied the widow, with the most touchingly sentimental +air imaginable; "yes, for when you are no more I must renew my quest, +seek, ask, and find a fifth husband. Think, then, of the difficulties +and obstacles to overcome. Perhaps I shall not succeed. Think, then, a +widow for the fourth time. You forget that; it is a fact, however; my +friend, after you, I shall be a widow for the fourth time." + +"I do not forget it at all, madame," said Croustillac, whose ardor +became somewhat chilled, and began to ask himself if this affair was not +madness. "I shall not forget, certainly, in case I have the honor of +marrying you, that you will be for the fourth time a widow if you lose +me; but it appears you place a rather short period to my love." + +"Alas! yes, my friend," said the widow, in a tender voice, "one year, +and a year is very short. A year! it passes so quickly when one loves," +continued she, casting the glance of a perfect assassin at him. + +"A year, madame," cried the chevalier. But then, believing that the +words of Blue Beard hid perhaps a test, that she wished possibly to +judge of his courage, he added in a chivalrous tone, "Ah, well, so be +it, madame; whether my happiness last but a year, a day, an hour, a +minute--it matters not; I will brave all, if only I can say that I have +been fortunate enough to obtain your hand." + +"You are a true knight," said the widow, charmed. "I expected no less of +you. That is agreed; only I must forewarn my little Rendsoul, for form's +sake, understand, for married or not I shall always be to him what I +have been." + +"But, madame," said Croustillac, "is it permitted me, will it be +indiscreet to ask you what you are to this hunter of wild beasts, and +what are his relations with you? Or, rather, will you explain to me what +intimacy it is that you feel obliges you to speak to him of your plans?" + +"Certainly; and to whom would I make this statement if not to you, my +friend? I will confess to you that Rendsoul is one of my lovers." + +Here Croustillac made such a singular grimace and coughed two or three +times in such a manner, that Angela broke into a peal of laughter. + +Croustillac, for a moment dumfounded, came to this reflection full of +wisdom: "I am a fool! Nothing is simpler. She had a kind of fancy for +this stupid fellow. The sight of me has decided her to sacrifice him; +unlucky buccaneer that he is! But why the devil does she tell me that at +the end of a year she must find a successor to me?" + +"Wait--here comes my Rendsoul," said the widow. "We will tell him our +plans, and we will sup together like three friends." + +"It matters not to me," said Croustillac, seeing the buccaneer enter. +"Here is a little woman who wishes to show that she is an original." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SUPPER. + + +When the buccaneer entered the chevalier hardly knew him. Rend-your-Soul +had put off his hunter's costume; he wore a coat and nether garment of +guinea cloth, thickly embroidered with alternate rays of white and deep +red; his black beard fell upon a shirt of dazzling whiteness, which was +close like a doublet by a row of small coral buttons; a scarf of red +silk, hose of the same color, and shoes of doeskin with large +ribbon-bows, completed a costume most elegant for a buccaneer, and +showing to advantage his tall and robust figure; in the brilliant light +of the candles his complexion seemed less brown than in the daytime; his +black hair, curling naturally, fell carelessly on his shoulders; and +finally, his hands were beautiful, in spite of his rough following as a +hunter. + +At the sight of the buccaneer, so transformed and almost unrecognizable, +in spite of the hard character which his thick beard always gave to his +face, the chevalier said to himself, "I should prefer that this person +had at least a civilized appearance; it would be too humiliating for +Polyphème de Croustillac to triumph over a rival so plain as the one +which he at first sight appeared to be. But, while I do not doubt this +Nimrod, I must say that Blue Beard has a singular manner of acting. +Could she not have given him his dismissal in some other way than in my +presence? I hate to so cruelly use my advantage in crushing a poor +rival; for, after all, a man is a man! This poor buccaneer is going to +find himself in a pitiable position. But let me hold firm; and show Blue +Beard that I am not the dupe of her confidence concerning her deceased +husbands, and that I am not afraid to die like them." + +Croustillac ended this reflection when the pretty widow, indicating the +adventurer by a triumphant nod of the head, said ingenuously to the +buccaneer, "This gentleman asks for my hand in marriage. You see you +were wrong in persisting to me that I would not find a fourth husband. +So you can imagine I have very quickly accepted the chevalier's +proposal; it was too good an opportunity to let slip." + +The buccaneer did not reply at once. Croustillac mechanically put his +hand on the hilt of his sword, in order not to be without means of +defense in case the hunter, exasperated by jealousy, should wish to do +him an injury. What was his surprise when he heard Rend-your-Soul say, +after seating himself in a large chair, "I have always said to you, my +beautiful one, just what that comrade Hurricane said, 'Marry, a thousand +devils marry! if you desire to, for husbands are rare, for one never +knows what you will do; but one thing is certain, they never live long.' +As for me, I do not approve your little proceedings. I have more than +once seen your little white hands prepare certain beverages----" + +"Oh, fie! fie! bad man!" said Angela, shaking her finger at him. + +"Nevertheless, it is true," said the buccaneer. "What is the secret of +that gray powder of which I had only given a pinch to my servant who was +devoured by my dogs. What infernal concoction was it?" + +"Yes, madame, this gray powder--tell us its compounds," said +Croustillac. + +"Oh, you indiscreet man!" said Angela, looking at the buccaneer, with an +air of annoyance. "The chevalier will take me for a child; how shall I +appear in his eyes if he thinks I occupy myself with such trifles?" + +"Have no fears on that score, madame," said Croustillac; "I am +delighted, I assure you, to have these new evidences of your youthful +candor! Well, worthy Nimrod, this gray powder?" + +"Truly, I am very much ashamed!" said Angela, hanging her head and +lowering her eyes, and at the same time making a charming little +grimace. + +"Imagine, then," said the buccaneer, "that I gave my servant just a +little pinch of powder in a glass of brandy." + +"Well?" said Croustillac, with interest. + +"Well, for two days he was so gay that he laughed from night till +morning and morning till night." + +"I do not see anything bad in that," said Croustillac. + +"But wait!" continued the hunter. "My servant did not do this from +amusement, he suffered the torments of the damned; his eyes were +bursting from their sockets, and he said, between his paroxysms of +laughter, that such torture as he endured was beyond belief. The third +day he suffered so that he fell as if in a fit, and remained thus a long +time; all due to the pinch of madame's gray powder. It may not surprise +you to learn that madame's second husband was as gay as a lark, and that +he died very joyfully." + +"Oh! heavens, as if one could not commit a little mischief without being +reproached by you," said Angela, like a capricious child. + +"Listen, comrade! she calls that a little mischief," said the hunter. +"Just imagine! her second husband laughed so hard that the blood burst +from his nose, eyes and ears. But whatever he laughed about, he did so +as if he had seen the most amusing thing in the world. But that did not +prevent him from saying, like my servant, that he would rather have been +burned at a slow fire than suffer such gayety; he also died, laughing to +the last, and swearing like a devil." + +"There! you go too fast," said Blue Beard, shrugging her shoulders. +Then, whispering to the Gascon, "Friend, do not be afraid--I have lost +the secret of the gray powder!" + +The chevalier, in an attempt to smile, made quite a grimace. He had left +France at a time when the fearful practice in poisons was at its height, +and people talked only of the heir's powder, the powder of the aged, and +the widow's powder. The names, even, of certain poisons were cited with +fear. Now Blue Beard's laughing powder could not but give rise to the +most doleful reflections on the part of the chevalier. "So," he said to +himself, glancing defiantly at Angela, "does this creature deal in +chemistry and draughts--is this story true?" + +"What ails you, brother?" said the buccaneer, struck by Croustillac's +silence. + +"You have made him afraid of me," said the widow. + +"No, my beautiful lady, no," said Croustillac, "I was thinking that it +must be very pleasant to die thus of laughter!" + +"Faith, you are right, brother, one had better die so than as the last +husband died." And the buccaneer shuddered with horror. + +"It appears that the death of the latter must have been more terrible +than the former," said Croustillac, with affected carelessness. + +"As to that story, comrade, I will not tell you that, you would be +afraid." + +"I? afraid?" and the Gascon shrugged his shoulders. + +Blue Beard leaned over and whispered again to the Gascon, "Let him tell +it, friend; this tale, at least, is worth the trouble. I am going to +trap Rendsoul." + +Then, addressing herself to the buccaneer, "Well, go on; speak! Why do +you not speak? Do not pause in the middle of the road. You see the +chevalier is listening with all his ears--go on, speak. I do not wish +him to buy, as they say, a 'a cat in a bag.'" + +"You should say a tigress in a bag," replied, laughingly, the buccaneer. +"Ah, well, sir," addressing Croustillac, "Fancy this third husband a +man, handsome, of dark complexion, thirty-six years of age, a Spaniard +by birth. We came across him at Havana." + +"Heavens! tell it quickly," said the widow, "the chevalier is impatient +to hear." + +"It was not a gray powder that he tasted, this one," replied the +buccaneer, "but a drop, one drop only, of a pretty green liquid +contained in the smallest flask I ever saw in my life, for it was made +of a single hollow ruby." + +"That is simple enough," said Angela, "the strength of this liquid was +such that it would dissolve or break any flask which was not made of a +ruby or a diamond." + +"You can judge, after that, chevalier," said the hunter, "of the +pleasure which this liquid must have given our third husband. Certainly +I am neither over-tender nor timid, but, after all, it is difficult to +become accustomed to seeing a man who looks at you with green eyes, +luminous, and set so deep in their orbit that they have the effect of a +glowworm in the depths of a subterranean cave." + +"The fact is," said Croustillac, who could not prevent a slight shudder, +"the fact is that at first this would appear strange." + +"That is not all; listen to the rest," said the widow with an air of +perfect self-satisfaction. + +The buccaneer continued: "That was only his usual condition, poor man, +having eyes like a glowworm, but what was most frightful was when madame +gave a supper to Hurricane, myself and Youmäale. She dipped a camel's +hair brush into the little ruby flask and compelled the unhappy Spaniard +to approach, and passed this brush over his eyelashes. Then one would +have said that from the eyelashes of this unhappy man there issued a +thousand rays; his green eyes, sunken in his head, protruded and rolled +in their orbit like two globes of fire, and threw such varied and +continual light that they sufficed to light up our feast, while the +wretched man stood immovable as a marble statue, saying in a piteous +voice, 'My head furnishes fuel for the lamps of my eyes!' It was well +that the poor man could not see the fire," said the buccaneer, bursting +into laughter at this cruel jest. "And when the supply of oil in the +lamp failed, the madame's husband went to join his predecessors, in +order to leave his place open to you." + +"What Rendsoul tells you is correct," said Blue Beard. "He is very +indiscreet, as you see, but he is truthful. And so am I. I have singular +ideas and caprices, I know; my God! I do not wish to represent myself as +better than I am. Above all, I would be frank with you and conceal +nothing. You would ask why my husbands are the only victims of my +playfulness? I have no power over others. And I always warn them what +will be their fate. It is that which makes it so difficult for me to +find a husband. It is on these conditions alone that Satan signs my +contract, and then this contract, signed by him, acquires a virtue as +wonderful as mysterious. Alas! my friend, may he soon sign ours. I have +thought of two preparations which are entirely different from the +others, and the effects of which are truly magical." + +All this time Croustillac experienced a strange sensation, which he +attributed to the fatigue of the day and the evening; it was as if a +lethargy possessed his brain and almost took from him the power of +resisting by use of his reason the impression made by these strange +tales of the widow and the buccaneer. Without believing these fabulous +inventions, he was nevertheless frightened by them as one is by a bad +dream. The chevalier hardly knew whether he was awake or asleep; he +looked at the buccaneer and the widow by turn, with a stupefied air, +almost terrified. Finally, being ashamed to show his credulity, he rose +abruptly and paced up and down a few minutes in the hope that movement +would dispel the torpor which he felt overwhelming him. + +Croustillac did not wish to be a butt for these two persons, and he +almost regretted having embarked so imprudently in this mad adventure. +He said to Blue Beard resolutely, "Come, come, you are jesting, madame; +do not trouble yourself; I comprehend the joke. I do not believe you as +ferocious or as much of a magician as you wish to appear; to-morrow, I +am sure I shall learn the secret of this comedy, which to-night, I avow, +gives me a kind of nightmare." + +These words of the chevalier, spoken from no motive but to show the +dwellers of Devil's Cliff that he did not intend to be their dupe, +produced on Blue Beard a singular effect. She cast a terrified glance at +the buccaneer, and said haughtily to Croustillac, "I do not jest, sir; +you came here with the intention of marrying me; I offer you my hand, +and I will tell you upon what conditions; if these are agreeable to you, +we will be married in eight days; there is a chapel here; the reverend +Father Griffen, of the parish of Macouba, will come hither in order to +unite us; if my conditions do not meet with your approval, you can quit +this house, where you never ought to have come." + +As Blue Beard proceeded her face lost its look of wicked cajolery; she +became sad, almost menacing. "A comedy!" she said; "if I thought you +took all that has been said as such, you should not remain a moment +longer in this house, sir," she continued, in a changed voice, betraying +her deep feeling. + +"No, the chevalier must not take it all as a jest," said the buccaneer, +looking steadily at the Gascon. + +Croustillac, naturally impatient and vivacious, experienced vexation at +not being able to discover what was true and what feigned in this +singular adventure. He cried then, "Well, zounds! madame, what do you +wish me to think? I encounter a buccaneer in the forest; I impart to him +my desire to meet you; he informs me abruptly that you will yourself +tell me that he has the good fortune to be in your good graces." + +"And then, sir?" + +"Then, madame, though I have warned him, the buccaneer has brought me to +you, by whom I have been received with the greatest hospitality, I must +acknowledge; I am introduced to you; informed of my desires, you +yourself offer me your hand, you inform your friend the bull-hunter of +my wishes." + +"Well, sir?" + +"Madame, up to that time all went well; but now the buccaneer wishes to +inform me, with your consent, that I am reserved for a fourth deceased +husband, and to succeed a man who laughed himself to death, and one +whose eyes served as lights for one of your orgies!" + +"It is the truth," said the buccaneer. + +"How, the truth?" continued Croustillac, recovering his lost vivacity. +"Are we in the land of dreams? Do you take the Chevalier de Croustillac +for a simpleton? Do you think I am one of those weak-minded creatures +who believe in the devil? I am not a goose, and I also ask twenty-four +hours in which to demolish all these ridiculous stories." + +Angela became very pale, and threw a look of agony and indescribable +fear on the buccaneer, and replied to the chevalier with ill-concealed +anger, "Ah, who told you, sir, that all that has taken place is natural? +Do you know why I, young and rich, offer you my hand the first moment I +see you? Do you know what this union will cost you? You believe yourself +to have a strong mind; who told you that certain phenomena would not go +beyond your comprehension? Do you know _who_ I am? Do you know _where_ +you are? Do you know in consequence of what strange mystery I offer you +my hand? A comedy?" repeated Blue Beard bitterly, regarding the +buccaneer with an appearance almost of fear; "can you not be made to +understand that all this is not a play, sir? It is hardly to be believed +that your good angel brought you here, at least." + +"And then, after all, who told you that you would ever go out of this +place?" said the buccaneer coldly. + +The chevalier recoiled a step, trembling, and said: + +"Zounds! no violence, at least--or if so----" + +"If so, what can you do?" said Blue Beard, with a smile which appeared +to the Gascon implacably cruel. + +Croustillac thought, too late, of the doors he had shut behind him, of +the difficult road he had had to traverse in order to reach this +diabolical house; he saw himself at the mercy of the widow, of the +buccaneer, and of their numerous slaves. He repented heartily and most +earnestly of having so blindly entered upon such an enterprise. On the +other hand, Croustillac, in contemplating the enchanting figure of Blue +Beard, could not believe her capable of such bloodthirsty perfidy. +Nevertheless, the strange avowals she had made him, the terrible reports +concerning her, the threats of the buccaneer, began to make some +impression upon the chevalier. Just then a mulattress came in to +announce supper. + +During the gloomy reflections of the adventurer, Angela had a few +minutes' conversation with the buccaneer, carried on in a low voice; she +was, as a result, apparently satisfied and reassured, for, little by +little, her brow cleared, and the smile again came to her lips. "Come, +brave knight," said she gayly to the chevalier, "do not be afraid of me +any more; do not take me for the devil; and do honor to the modest +supper that a poor widow is only too happy to offer you." + +So saying, she graciously offered her hand to Croustillac. The supper +was served with a sumptuousness, a refinement, which left no doubt in +the chevalier's mind as to the enormous fortune of the widow. Only, we +would say to the reader that the silver-gilt service was not engraved +with the royal arms of England, as were the objects which were placed +only before Blue Beard. + +In spite of the sprightliness and ideal grace of the widow, in spite of +the witty sallies of the buccaneer, the supper was a gloomy one for +Croustillac. His habitual assurance had given place to a kind of vague +inquietude. The more charming Angela seemed to him, the more she +exercised her fascinations, the greater the luxury which surrounded her, +the more the adventurer found his distrust increased. In spite of their +absurdity, the strange tales of the buccaneer kept returning to the +remembrance of the chevalier--both the tale of the gray powder which +caused one to die of laughter, and the liquid in the ruby flask which +changed the eyes into brilliant lamps. While these recitals might not be +more real than a bad dream past--the Gascon, from dread of some infernal +dish, could not prevent himself from distrust of the viands and wines +with which he was served. He observed the widow and the buccaneer +closely; their manners were perfectly correct. Rendsoul bore himself +toward Blue Beard with the proper degree of familiarity which a husband +displays toward his wife before a stranger. "But then," the chevalier +asked himself, "how does this reserve accord with the cynicism of the +widow, who declared so cavalierly that the Caribbean and the filibuster +shared her good graces with the buccaneer, without the latter being +jealous in the slightest degree?" The Gascon asked himself still further +what could be the object of Blue Beard in offering her hand to him, and +what price she would put upon this union. He was too clear-sighted not +to have noticed the lively emotion, sincere on the part of the widow, +when she showed such indignation that the adventurer should believe her +capable of playing a comedy in offering her hand. On this point +Croustillac had not deceived himself. Blue Beard had been deeply moved; +she had been in despair on seeing that the Gascon took for a jest or a +comedy all that had passed at Devil's Cliff. She had been reassured on +seeing the vague disquietude which the face of the chevalier showed in +spite of himself. He was lost in vain conjectures. Never had he found +himself in a situation so strange that the idea of a supernatural +influence or power should present itself to his mind. In spite of +himself, he asked himself if there was nothing unnatural in what he had +seen and heard. The fact that he felt the first heavy agony of a +superstitious terror struck him most disagreeably. He did not dare to +acknowledge to himself that more determined men, wiser and more learned +men than he, had, within the century, and even the latter part of it, +testified a belief in the existence of a veritable devil. And then, +finally, the adventurer had been until then much too indifferent in the +matter of religion not to believe in the devil, sooner or later. + +This fear passed rapidly through the mind of the chevalier, but it would +leave, for the future, an indelible mark; however, he reassured himself, +little by little, at seeing the pretty widow do honor to the supper; she +showed herself too fond of the pleasures of the table to be a spirit of +darkness. + +The supper at an end, the three entered the drawing room, and Blue Beard +said to the chevalier in a solemn voice, "To-morrow I will inform you on +what conditions I will give you my hand; if you refuse them, you must +leave Devil's Cliff. In order to give you a proof of my confidence in +you I consent that you shall pass this night in the interior of this +house, although I never accord this favor to strangers. Rendsoul will +show you the rooms reserved for you." Saying this, the widow entered her +own apartment. Croustillac remained absorbed in thought. + +"Ah, well, brother, how do you feel?" said the buccaneer. + +"What is your motive in addressing such a question to me? Is it +sarcasm?" said the chevalier. + +"My motive is simply to know how you like our hostess." + +"Hum, hum--without wishing to detract from her, you must confess that +she is a woman very difficult to estimate, at first sight," said +Croustillac, with some bitterness. "You cannot be surprised if I +consider the subject before I answer your question. To-morrow I will +tell you my opinion, if I am able to answer, myself." + +"In your place I should not consider the subject," said the buccaneer. +"I would accept, with eyes closed, all that she offered me, and I would +wed her; for, by my faith, one cannot tell who will live or who die; +tastes change with years. The days which succeed each other are +dissimilar." + +"Ah, well, have done with your proverbs and parables," said the Gascon, +exasperated. "Why do you not marry her yourself?" + +"I?" + +"Yes, you!" + +"Because I do not wish to die of laughter or have my eyes converted into +lamps." + +"And do you think that I wish to do so?" + +"You?" + +"Yes; why should I more than you wish to see the devil sign my contract, +as this woman playfully says?" + +"Then do not marry her; you are your own master; that is your lookout." + +"Certainly, it is my affair, and I will marry her if I choose! _Peste!_" +exclaimed the chevalier, who began to fear that he was losing his wits +by reason of this chaos of strange ideas. + +"Come, brother, be calm!" said the buccaneer; "do not worry yourself. Do +you doubt I will keep my word? I have brought you to Devil's Cliff; the +prettiest woman in the world offers you her hand, her heart and her +treasures; what more would you have?" + +"I would understand all that has taken place, everything that has +happened to me for the past two days, all that I have seen and heard +to-night!" cried Croustillac, exasperated beyond bounds. "I would know +if I am awake or dreaming." + +"You must not be too exacting, brother. Perhaps this night will bring +you a dream which will explain and enlighten you upon these subjects. +Come--it is late, the day has been hard; follow me." And, saying these +words, the buccaneer took up a candle and made a sign to the chevalier +to follow him. + +They passed through a number of sumptuously furnished rooms, and a +little gallery, at the end of which they reached a very elegant +bed-chamber, whose windows opened on the beautiful garden of which we +have already spoken. + +"You have been a soldier or a sportsman, brother," said the buccaneer, +"you will know, then, how to get along without a servant. No man, except +myself, Hurricane, and the Caribbean has ever passed the first door of +this place; our beautiful hostess has made an exception in your favor, +but this exception must be the only one. Knowing this, brother, may God +or the devil keep you in his care." The buccaneer went out, shutting +Croustillac in by means of a double lock. + +The chevalier, much disturbed, opened a window which looked out on the +little park. It was guarded by a trellis of steel netting which it was +impossible to break, but which did not hide a view of the beautiful +garden which the moon illumined with its soft light. + +Croustillac, ill at ease, examined the wainscoting and floor of his +chamber, in order to assure himself that they did not cover any trap; he +looked under his bed, sounded the ceiling with his sword, but failed to +discover anything suspicious. Nevertheless, by way of further prudence +and to make sure, the chevalier laid down in his clothing, after having +placed his faithful sword at his side, within reach. In spite of his +resolve not to go to sleep, the fatigue and emotions of his journey +plunged him quickly into a profound slumber. + + * * * * * + +Angela, seated in the room of which we have spoken before, said to the +buccaneer: "Unfortunately, this man is not so stupid and credulous as we +had thought. Heaven grant he may not be dangerous!" + +"No, no; reassure yourself," said the buccaneer. "He has shown good +stuff, but our two narratives have struck him; he will remember this +night for a long time, and, what is better, he will talk about it. +Believe me, all the exaggerations which he will use to embellish his +recitals will only add to the strange stories afloat concerning Devil's +Cliff." + +"Ah!" cried the widow, still alarmed at the remembrance of the +adventurer saying that all was a comedy and that he would investigate +it, "in spite of myself I am terrified." + +"There is nothing to be afraid of, I tell you, Madame Blue Beard," said +the buccaneer gayly, kneeling before Angela, and looking at her +tenderly. "Your diabolical reputation is too well established to suffer +the slightest diminution; but acknowledge that I have an imagination, +and that my gray powder and my green liquid accomplished wonders." + +"And my devil who witnesses my contract," said Angela, laughing merrily. + +"That is well; I love thus to see you laughing and merry," said the +buccaneer. "When I see you sad and dreamy I am always afraid our retreat +bores you." + +"Will you please hold your tongue, Monsieur Rendsoul? Have I the +appearance of wearying near you? Are you jealous of your rivals? Ask +them if I love them better than I do you. Have you not procured me this +distraction and the sight of this Gascon, to whom I owe the most +delightful amusement? I was unreasonable. Except for my stupid fears, +this evening was charming, because you were here, your eyes on mine, my +lover. Ah! the moonlight is superb, let us go for a walk in it +outdoors." + +"Beyond the house?" + +"Yes; we will walk on the great cliff, you know, where one sees in the +distance the ocean. On such a beautiful night it will be delicious." + +"Come, then, capricious child, take your mantle," said the buccaneer, +rising. + +"Come, Sir Black Beard, take your Spanish sombrero and be ready to carry +me in your arms, out of reach of stumbling, for I am lazy." + +"Come, Madame Blue Beard; but you do not wish to visit our guest?" + +"I am sure the poor devil has some horrible dream. Ah, well, to-morrow +we will give him a guide and send him away." + +"No, keep him here another day. I will tell you what Father Griffen +thinks of it; amusements are rare, he will amuse you." + +"Heavens! what a beautiful night," said Angela, opening the blinds of +the window. "It will make me so happy to take a walk." + +Opening the outer doors of Devil's Cliff, the buccaneer and the widow +left the house. + + * * * * * + +Contrary to his expectation, Croustillac passed an excellent night. When +he awoke the following morning the sun was already high in the heavens; +the blinds which were on his chamber windows had been lowered, +fortunately, which softened the light. The chevalier had lain down with +all his clothing on. He arose and went over to the window, and opened +the blinds partially. What was his astonishment to see, at the end of a +long walk bordered with tamarinds, that formed a screen almost +impenetrable to the light, Blue Beard walking, negligently, leaning on +the arm of a Caribbean of vigorous stature. This Caribbean was entirely +dyed, according to custom, that is to say, painted with a kind of +luminous composition of a reddish brown; his hair, black and glossy, +parted in the center, fell on either side of his cheeks; his beard +seemed carefully trimmed; his perfectly regular features partook of the +character of calm severity peculiar to the savage; on his neck shone +large crescents of carracolis (a kind of metal of which the West Indians +alone knew the secret, and composed of gold, brass and silver). + +These ornaments, of a brilliant red, were curiously chased and incrusted +with green stones, the color of malachite, and to these the Indians +attribute all kinds of marvelous virtues. The Caribbean was clad in a +loose white garment having a border of blue fringe; the large and +sweeping folds of this costume would have served as a model for the +drapery of a statue. With the exception of the neck, right arm naked to +the shoulder, and the left leg, this cotton garment enveloped the +Caribbean completely; on his wrist he had bracelets of carracolis also +incrusted with green stones; his leg was half hidden by a kind of sandal +made of bands of cotton stuff of a vivid color and very picturesque. + +Angela and Youmäale, for this was he, were walking slowly, and came +directly toward the window from the shadow of which the Gascon watched +them. A pink girdle about the beautiful figure of the widow confined a +long robe of white muslin; her blond curls fell around her fresh and +youthful face, which the adventurer had not seen before by day. He could +not refrain from admiring her white and clear complexion, her rosy and +transparent cheeks, her eyes so limpid and blue. + +The evening before, Angela had appeared to Croustillac in brilliant +apparel, and disturbed by the strange confidences of Blue Beard and the +buccaneer, the admiration of the chevalier was mixed with distrust, +impatience and fear, and he had been more alarmed than touched by the +beauty of Angela; but when he saw her in the morning so simply pretty, +he experienced a profound emotion; he was moved; he forgot Devil's Cliff +and the cannibal, and thought only of the beautiful creature before him. +Love, yes, true love took possession suddenly of the chevalier's heart +just before so little in love. Though the growth of this sudden passion +was so rapid and instantaneous, it was none the less sincere. + +Doubtless the evening before, Croustillac had suffered from too much +agitation, too sudden astonishment, too strange preoccupations, to +really appreciate Blue Beard; refreshed by a night's sleep, the past +seemed like a dream and Angela appeared as if for the first time to him; +admiring the supple figure outlined by the perfect fit of her white +muslin robe, he forgot the brocaded dress studded with precious stones +with which he was so impressed the preceding evening. He sought vainly +to discover, in the ingenuous and charming features which he now beheld +the diabolical smiles of the singular woman who had made such sinister +pleasantries concerning her three deceased husbands. In fact, poor +Croustillac was in love. Perhaps it was he and not Blue Beard who had +changed; but with his new love came all kinds of cruel jealousy. + +Seeing Angela and Youmäale walking together so familiarly, the +adventurer experienced agony and new disquietude increased by an intense +curiosity. Alas! what a sight for him. At times, Angela dropped the +Caribbean's arm in order to pursue, with the ardent enjoyment of a +child, the beautiful gold and blue insects, or to pick some lovely +fragrant flower; then she would suddenly return to Youmäale, always +calm, almost solemn, who seemed to have a feeling of grave and tender +protection for the young woman. + +At times the Caribbean gave his hand to the widow to kiss. Angela, happy +and proud at this favor, carried the hand to her lips with an air at +once respectful and passionate; she seemed a Caribbean woman accustomed +to live a submissive and devoted slave to her master. Youmäale held a +magnificent flower which the widow had given him. He let it fall to the +earth. Angela bent quickly, and picking it up, handed it to him, while +the savage made no gesture to prevent her, or to thank her for this +attention. + +"Stupid and gross animal!" cried Croustillac indignantly; "would one not +think he was a sultan? How can that adorable creature bring herself to +kiss the hand of a cannibal, who had no other way of sounding the +praises of the good priest Simon than that he had eaten him! Yesterday a +buccaneer, to-day a cannibal, to-morrow, without doubt, a filibuster. +But she is a veritable Messalina!" continued Croustillac, at once +despairing and feeling within himself a victim to a real passion. + +The widow and the Caribbean approached nearer and nearer the window +where Croustillac stood watching them, and he could hear their +conversation. Youmäale spoke French with the slight guttural accent +natural to his race; his words were few and brief. Croustillac overheard +these words of the conversation: + +"Youmäale," said the little widow, leaning on the arm of the Caribbean +and looking tenderly at him, "Youmäale, you are my master, I will obey +you; is it not my duty, my sweet duty, to obey you?" + +"It is thy duty," said the Caribbean, who used that form, but which +Angela did not. His dignity as the man demanded this. + +"Youmäale, my life is your life, my thoughts are yours," returned +Angela; "if you should tell me to put to my lips the deadly juice of +this poisonous apple, I should do it, to show you that I belong to you, +as your bow, your cabin, your canoe, belong to you." + +Saying these words Angela showed the silent Caribbean a yellow fruit +which she held in her hand, and which contained the most deadly and +subtle poison. Youmäale, after subjecting Angela to the most piercing +scrutiny, made an imperative gesture holding up the forefinger of his +right hand. At this sign, the widow quickly raised the deadly fruit to +her lips, and, had it not been for a movement still more rapid on the +part of the Caribbean she would perhaps have given this fatal proof of +passive obedience to the slightest caprice of her master. A movement of +affright as fugitive as lightning, contracted the impassive features of +the Caribbean as the widow lifted the apple to her lips; but he quickly +recovered his coolness, lowering the hand of Angela, kissing the young +woman gravely on the forehead, and saying to her in a sweet and sonorous +tone, "It is well." + +At this moment the two pedestrians were so close to the window of +Croustillac that the latter, fearing to be discovered eavesdropping, +withdrew suddenly into his chamber, and said "How she frightened me with +her poison. And this savage animal, who looks like a lobster, as much +from the color of his skin as from his movements, says to her, 'It is +well,' when this adorable woman, at a sign from him, would have poisoned +herself; for once in love, women are capable of anything." Then, after +some moments of cruel reflection, the Gascon exclaimed, "It is +inexplicable that a woman should be in love with a man such as this one +appears to be; with two, for this is evident; although it is an +enormity! But it is impossible that she should love three at the same +time; this descends to monstrosity--it is worthy of the lower regions. +How! Blue Beard, linked to a buccaneer, and a filibuster, also has a +frightful fancy for this cannibal who eats missionaries, without taking +into account in addition that she proposes to me to marry her! Zounds! +this is enough to make one lose his head. Decidedly I will not remain +here; no, no, a thousand times, no! What I have seen has made me ill. I +will not become so stupid as to take this woman; I should lose all my +advantages. Real love makes one as stupid as a goose; during this last +hour I have already lost more resolution than since my arrival here. My +heart has melted; I feel myself inclined to do the most ridiculous +things. Fly, fly; this is madness, a dream. I was born poor; I have +always been poor; I will die poor. I will leave this house, I will seek +out the worthy captain of the Unicorn. After all," said Croustillac, +with a discouragement singular in a man of his character, "there are +worse things than swallowing lighted candles to amuse Captain Daniel." + +These sad reflections were interrupted by the entrance of the old +mulattress, who knocked at his door and informed him that the negro who +had waited upon him in the capacity of valet the previous day was +waiting for him in the outer building. + +Croustillac followed the slave, was dressed, shaved and thus went to +wait upon Blue Beard in the same room where he had waited the preceding +night. + +The widow shortly appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TRUE LOVE. + + +At sight of Blue Beard, in spite of himself, Croustillac blushed like a +schoolboy. + +"I was very disagreeable yesterday, was I not?" said Angela to the +chevalier, with an enchanting smile. "I gave you a bad opinion of me +when I permitted Rendsoul to tell all kinds of tricks; but do not let us +speak of them any more. By the way, Youmäale, the Caribbean, is here." + +"I saw you from my window, madame," said the chevalier bitterly, while +he thought, "She has not the slightest shame. What a pity, with such an +adorable face. There, Croustillac, be firm!" + +"Is Youmäale not very handsome?" asked the widow with a triumphant air. + +"Humph! he is handsome for a savage," returned the chevalier, +unwillingly; "but, now that we are alone, madame, explain to me how you +can in one day (do not be shocked by this question which circumstances +compel me to ask you), how you can in one day change your lover?" + +"Oh, it is simple enough; one comes, the other goes; it is very simple." + +"One comes, the other goes--it is very simple from this standpoint, but, +madame, nature and morality have laws!" + +"All three love me truly, why should I not love all three?" + +This answer was made with such perfect candor that the chevalier said to +himself, "It seems as if this unhappy woman must have been raised in +some desert or cavern. She has not the slightest idea of good and evil; +one would have to absolutely educate her." He said aloud, with some +embarrassment, "At the risk of being taken for an indiscreet and +wearisome person, madame, I would say that this morning, during your +walk with the Caribbean, I both saw and heard you. How is it that at a +sign from him you would dare, at the risk of poisoning yourself, lift to +your lips the deadly fruit of the poisonous apple?" + +"If Youmäale should say to me 'die' I should die," replied the widow. + +"But the buccaneer, the filibuster--what would they say if you should +die for the Caribbean?" + +"They would say I had done right." + +"And if they demanded that you should die for them?" + +"I would die for them." + +"As you would for Youmäale?" + +"As for Youmäale." + +"Then you love the three equally?" + +"Yes, because all three love me equally." + +"She has a rooted idea and no one can dislodge it," thought the Gascon; +"I lose my trouble. Her accent is too frank to be assumed. It may be +that evil tongues have slandered a fraternal affection that this young +woman bears for these three bandits. Though the buccaneer gave me to +understand--after all, perhaps I misunderstood him and, as I am going to +leave her, I would much rather believe her more innocent than culpable; +although she does appear very hard to me to acquit." He went on: "A last +question, madame. What was the object of the atrocious tales that you +and the buccaneer related last night concerning two of your deceased +husbands--that one had died of laughter and the other been used as a +lamp, thanks to the intervention of Satan who always, according to the +same story, signs your marriage contract? You must feel, madame, that, +however polite I may be, it is extremely difficult for me to appear to +believe such follies as these." + +"They are not follies." + +"How--you wish me to believe----" + +"Oh, you must believe them, and many other things, after you have +evidence of them," said the widow, with a peculiar tone. + +"And when will you explain this mystery to me, madame?" + +"When I tell you the price I place upon my hand." + +"Ah, she is beginning to jest again," thought the Gascon. "I will appear +to be duped, in order to see what she will do; I wish she was far +away--that my stupid fancy were completely extinguished." Then aloud, +"Was it not to-day that you were to say what price you place upon your +hand, madame?" + +"Yes." + +"At what hour?" + +"This evening, when the moon rises." + +"Why not now, madame?" + +"That is a secret you will know like others." + +"And if I marry you, you will give me but one year to live?" + +"Alas! only a year." + +"Let me appear duped," said the Gascon to himself; and aloud, "Is it +your desire that my days should be so few?" + +"No, no!" cried the widow. + +"Then, personally, you do not dislike me?" said Croustillac. + +At this question the face of Blue Beard changed entirely and her +expression became grave and thoughtful; she raised her head proudly, and +the chevalier was struck with the air of nobility and goodness which +overspread her face. "Listen to me," she said, with an affectionate and +protecting voice. "Because certain circumstances in my life oblige me to +a conduct often strange; because I perhaps abuse my liberty you must not +think I have a contempt for men of heart." + +Croustillac looked at the widow with surprise. She was not the same +woman. She appeared like a woman of the world. He was so taken aback +that he could not speak. + +Blue Beard continued: "You ask me if I hate you; we have not yet reached +the point where such sentiments, good or bad, can attain such extremity; +but I am far from hating you; you are certainly very vain, very +boastful, very arrogant----" + +"Madame!" + +"But you are good, brave, and you would be capable, I am sure, of a +generous devotion; you are poor, of obscure birth----" + +"Madame, the name of Croustillac is as good as any other," cried the +chevalier, unable to vanquish the demon of pride. + +The widow continued as if she had not heard the chevalier. "If you had +been born rich and powerful, you would have made a noble use of your +power and your wealth. Want has counseled you to more evil than she has +made you perform, for you have suffered and endured many privations----" + +"But, madame----" + +"Poverty finds you careless and resigned; fortune would have found you +prodigal and generous; in a word, what is of rare occurrence, you have +not been more hurt by poverty than you would have been by prosperity. If +the amount of your good qualities has not brought you much more than the +heedlessness of youth, this house would not have been open to you, be +certain of that, sir. If the proposition that I shall make you to-night +is not agreeable to you, I am sure, at least, that you will not carry +away a disagreeable remembrance of Blue Beard. Will you await me here?" +she said, smiling, "I am going to take a look at Youmäale's breakfast, +for it is customary with the Caribbeans that the women alone take care +of this, and I wish, in that respect at least, that Youmäale should feel +as if in his own cabin." + +So saying, the widow left. This interview was, so to speak, a finishing +touch to the unhappy chevalier. Although the widow had shrewdly summed +up the character of Croustillac, she had expressed it in a manner full +of kindness, grace and dignity. She had, in fact, shown herself in a new +light, which overthrew all the Gascon's suppositions. The simple and +affectionate words of Angela, the sweet and noble look which accompanied +them, rendered Croustillac prouder and happier than he would have been +at the most extravagant compliments. He felt, with a mixture of joy and +fear, so completely and hopelessly in love with the widow that had she +been poor and friendless he would have been truly and generously devoted +to her--the most unmistakable symptom of true love. + +The astounding presumption of the chevalier deserted him. He understood +how ridiculous the part he had played must appear; and, as the property +of true sentiment is always to make us better, more intelligent and more +sensible, in spite of the chaos of contradictions which surrounded +Angela's conduct, the chevalier discerned that these appearances must +hide a grave mystery; he also said to himself that the intimacy of Blue +Beard with her lovers, as she called them, covered, without doubt, +another secret, and that this young woman was, as a consequence, +slandered in a most unjust manner. He said, further, that the apparent +ease with which Angela assumed a frightful cynicism before a stranger +was not without some very pressing reason. In consequence of this +rehabilitation of Blue Beard in the mind of Croustillac, she became in +his eyes, completely innocent of the murder of her three husbands. +Finally, the adventurer began to believe, so much had love metamorphosed +him, that the solitary inmate of Devil's Cliff wished to mock him; and +he proposed to clear up his suspicions that same night, when the widow +should tell him the price she placed upon her hand. + +One thing embarrassed Croustillac--how could the widow have informed +herself of his life so completely? But he remembered, with some +exceptions, that he had not made any mystery of the greater part of the +antecedents of his life on board the Unicorn, and that the business +manager of Blue Beard's affairs at St. Pierre might have discussed the +passengers with Captain Daniel. Finally, with a wisdom and good sense +which did credit to the new feeling which animated him, Croustillac put +these two cases to himself: Either Blue Beard wished to amuse herself, +and that night would say to him frankly, "Sir, you have been an +impertinent meddler; blinded by vanity, urged on by cupidity, you have +made a wager that you would become my husband in a month's time; I have +wished to torment you a little, and to play the ferocious part +accredited to me; the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the Caribbean are +my three servants in whom I have entire confidence; and as I live alone +in a very isolated locality, each of them comes by turn to watch at +night. Knowing the absurd stories afloat, I wished to amuse myself at +the expense of your credulity; this morning, even, I saw from the end of +the walk that you were spying upon me, and the comedy of the poisonous +apple was arranged with Youmäale; as for the kiss he placed upon my +forehead"--here the chevalier was embarrassed for a moment as to how to +excuse this part of the rôle which he supposed played by the widow; but +he solved the question by saying to himself that, according to Caribbean +customs, this familiarity was, doubtless, not considered strange. + +The chevalier felt that he must be satisfied with this explanation; and +to do him justice (a little late, in truth) he would renounce his mad +hopes, beg the widow to forget the conduct of which he had been guilty, +kiss her hand and ask her to furnish him with a guide, resume his poor +old garments, of faded green, and pink stockings, and return to a +happier fate which awaited him in the cabin of the Unicorn's worthy +captain. + +If, on the contrary, the widow had serious views in regard to the +chevalier (which he found some difficulty in admitting to himself, +although he was not blind to his own merit), he would repay her with the +happiness of his life; he would charge himself personally with +protecting his wife, and banish the buccaneer to his trading-station, +the Caribbean to his hut, and the filibuster to his occupation; at +least, if the widow did not prefer to return with him to France to live +there. + +We must say to the honor of poor Croustillac that he hardly dwelt upon +this last hope; he considered his first interpretation of the conduct of +the widow as much more probable. Finally, by a natural reaction, of mind +over matter, the triumphant boasting of the chevalier ceased at the same +time with his conceit. His face was no longer distorted by grotesque +vanity; for it expressed the better qualities of the +chevalier--resolution, courage--we would add loyalty, for it was +impossible to add more frankness to his conceit than was to be found in +the Gascon. + +While the Chevalier de Croustillac waited with impatience the night of +this day which promised to be so fertile in developments, because Blue +Beard intended to signify her final intention, let us conduct the reader +to Fort Royal, at Martinique, the principal port of the island, where +the governor resided the greater portion of the time. There had +transpired a new incident which demands our immediate notice. + +The shipyard at St. Pierre, where the Unicorn had touched, was intended +for the anchorage of merchant vessels, just as the shipyard at Fort +Royal was for ships-of-war. + +About the same time that Youmäale was walking with Blue Beard, the +lookout above the governor's house (at Fort Royal) signaled a French +frigate; the watch sent his assistant to inform the officer of artillery +commanding the battery at the fort, in order that he might fire a salute +(as was the custom) to the king's flag, (the custom being to fire a +salute of ten guns from all the ships-of-war when they came to anchor). +To the great surprise of the lookout who repented then of having +dispatched his assistant to the sergeant, he saw the frigate heave to, +outside the roadstead, and lower a boat; this boat was propelled through +the waves to the entrance of the port, while the frigate rode at anchor +and waited for it. + +This proceeding was so strange that the lookout reported to the captain +of the Governor's Guards, and related to him what had occurred, to the +end that he could countermand the salute from the fort. This order +given, the captain went at once to inform the governor of this singular +evolution on the frigate's part. + +An hour later, the boat belonging to the French ship arrived at Fort +Royal, and landed a person dressed like a man of some rank, who was +accompanied by the lieutenant of the frigate. They went at once to the +house of the governor, Baron de Rupinelle. + +The officer gave a letter from the captain commanding the Fulminante to +the baron. His vessel was under orders to wait the result of the mission +with which Monsieur de Chemerant was charged, and to depart at once. +They had hastily taken on some fresh victuals and fresh water for the +men on board. The lieutenant went out to attend to matters pertaining to +reprovisioning the frigate, and Monsieur de Chemerant and the governor +were alone. + +Monsieur de Chemerant was a man of from forty-five to fifty years, of a +dark olive complexion which gave to his sea-green eyes an added charm; +he wore a black peruke and a brown coat trimmed with gold braid. His +features were intellectual, his words few, his eye piercing; his mouth, +or rather his lips, were altogether too thin and compressed to ever +smile; if he occasionally gave vent to sarcasm upon what had happened, +his face became still more serious than usual. He had also very polished +manners and showed his familiarity with the best society. His courage, +discretion and coolness were such that Monsieur de Louvois had already +frequently employed him in missions of the greatest difficulty and +danger. + +Monsieur de Chemerant afforded a striking contrast to the governor, +Baron de Rupinelle, a large and indolent man, having but one care, that +of keeping cool; his face was gross, purple and full; his eyes, +unusually round, gave him a look of perpetual surprise. The baron, +honest and brave, but a perfect nonentity, owed his position to the +powerful influence of the Colbert family to which he was related through +his mother. + +In order to receive the lieutenant of the frigate, and Monsieur de +Chemerant with proper courtesy, the baron had removed, much to his +regret, a white cotton coat and a hat of Caribbean straw to put on an +enormous blond wig, squeeze into a coat of a kind of blue uniform +embroidered with gold braid, and buckled on a heavy shoulder-belt and +sword. The heat was intense, and the governor anathematized the +etiquette of which he was the victim. + +"Sir," said De Chemerant, who seemed perfectly indifferent to this +tropical temperature, "can we speak without fear of being overheard?" + +"There is no danger on that score, sir; this door opens into my study +where there is no one, and that one into the gallery which is also +unoccupied." + +Monsieur de Chemerant arose, looked into the two places, and carefully +shut both doors. + +"Pardon, sir," said the governor, "if we remain here with only two +windows open----" + +"You are right, baron," said De Chemerant, interrupting the governor and +shutting the windows with equal care, "that is more prudent; we might be +heard from the outside." + +"But, sir, if we remain without a current of air we shall suffocate +here. It will become a perfect oven." + +"That which I have the honor to say to you, sir, will not take long; but +it concerns a state secret of the greatest importance, and the slightest +indiscretion may jeopardize the success of the mission which has been +confided to me by the king's command. You must accord me, then, the +privilege of shutting ourselves in here until the close of our +interview." + +"If it is the king's orders, I must submit, sir," said De Rupinelle, +with a heavy sigh and wiping his forehead. "I am entirely at your +service." + +"Be so good as to cast your eye upon my credentials from his majesty," +said De Chemerant; and he took a paper from a little box which he bore +with great care and never intrusted to any one. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE ENVOY FROM FRANCE. + + +While the governor read his dispatch De Chemerant looked with a +satisfied air at an object within his box and said to himself, "If I +have occasion to use it, this will be perfect; my idea is excellent." + +"This order, sir, is regular; I must execute all the commands you give +me," said the governor, looking at his visitor with profound +astonishment. Then he continued, "It is so very warm, sir, that I must +ask your permission to remove my wig, in spite of proprieties." + +"Make yourself comfortable, sir, make yourself comfortable, I beg of +you." + +The governor threw his wig on the table and seemed to breathe more +easily. + +"And now, baron, be so good as to reply to a number of questions which I +have the honor to put to you." And De Chemerant took from his little box +some notes wherein was stated, doubtless, what he wished to ask the +governor. + +"There is, not far from the parish of Macouba, in the midst of woods and +rocks, a kind of fortified mansion called Devil's Cliff?" + +"Yes, sir, and this same house does not bear a very good name. Chevalier +de Crussol, my predecessor, made a visit to the place to learn what +foundation there was for these rumors, but I have searched in vain for +papers bearing upon this subject among his correspondence." + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "This house is occupied by a woman--a +widow, baron?" + +"So thoroughly a widow, sir, that she has been surnamed in the country +Blue Beard, because of the rapidity with which she has successively made +way with the three husbands she has had. Might I venture to say that +this cravat in stifling me, sir?" added the unhappy governor; "we do +not usually wear them here, and if you will permit me----" + +"Take it off, sir, the service of the king will not suffer thereby. +Chevalier de Crussol, your predecessor, you say, began an investigation +on the subject of the disappearance of the three husbands of this Blue +Beard?" + +"So they told me, sir, but I have never found any trace of this +investigation." + +"Commander de Saint-Simon, who fulfilled the duties of governor after +the death of De Crussol, and before your arrival here, did not deliver +to you, baron, a confidential letter written by De Crussol?" + +"Yes--yes, sir," said the governor, looking at De Chemerant with +profound astonishment. + +"This letter was written by De Crussol a short time previous to his +death?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"This letter relates to the inhabitant of Devil's Cliff; is this not +true, baron?" + +"Yes, sir," said the governor, more and more surprised to find De +Chemerant so well informed. + +"Monsieur de Crussol assured you in this letter, upon his honor, that +this woman called Blue Beard was innocent of the crimes imputed to her?" + +"Yes, sir, but how can you know?" + +Monsieur de Chemerant interrupted the governor and said, "Allow me to +say, sir, that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you, and not +replies. I have the honor to ask of you if, in this letter, the +deceased, De Crussol, did not vouch for the entire innocence of the +widow surnamed Blue Beard?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"He affirmed to you, on the faith of a Christian, and at the moment when +he was about to appear before his God, also on his word as a gentleman, +that you could, without prejudice to the service of the king, leave this +woman at liberty and in peace?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And that, finally, the Reverend Father Griffen, a man of well-known +piety and the most honorable character, would be further surety for +this woman, if you demanded it of him?" + +"Yes, sir, and, in truth, in a confidential interview, very special and +very secret----" + +"Which you had with Father Griffen, baron, this religious man confirmed +to you what De Crussol had stated in his last letter, and you made him, +in form, a promise not to disturb the aforesaid widow?" + +The governor, unable to fathom his being so well informed, gazed at De +Chemerant in bewilderment. The kind of emotion which this examination, +joined to the oppressiveness of the air, occasioned, was choking the +baron. After a short pause he said resolutely to De Chemerant, "Faith, +sir, one must accommodate oneself to one's situation. I must ask +permission to take off my coat. This trimming of gold and silver weighs +a hundred pounds, I believe." + +"Take it off, take it off, baron; the coat does not make the governor," +he said gravely, with a bow; then he continued: "Thanks to the advice of +De Crussol and the Reverend Father Griffen, the dweller at Devil's Cliff +has not been disturbed, baron? You have not visited the place, in spite +of the strange stories about it?" + +"No, sir, I assure you, the recommendation of the persons so respectable +as Father Griffen and the deceased De Crussol were sufficient. And then +the road to Devil's Cliff is impassable; the rocks bare and rent; it +takes two or three hours to climb them; and faith, I assure you, sir, to +make such a journey under the sun of the tropics," said the baron, +wiping his forehead, which was perspiring at the mere thought of such a +climb, "appears to me entirely inadvisable, because, morally, I am +convinced that the aforesaid stories have no foundation, and I think in +that I am not wrong." + +"Allow me, baron, to ask you some further questions." + +"At your service, sir." + +"The woman called Blue Beard has a counting house at St. Pierre?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Her business man is empowered to send out her vessels which are always +destined for France?" + +"That, sir, is very easily verified in the clearing books of the +captains. + +"And these registers?" + +"Are there in that case." + +"Will you take the trouble to look them over, baron, and to select from +them some dates which I was going to ask of you?" + +The governor arose, mounted painfully on a chair, and took down a large +volume bound in green leather, placing it on his desk; then, as if this +exertion had redoubled the heat he was suffering from and exhausted his +strength, he said to De Chemerant: "Sir, you have been, doubtless, a +soldier; you can understand that we live a little carelessly; for, +without further parley and asking pardon for the great liberty, I will +remove my vest, if you please; it is embroidered in cloth and as heavy +as a cuirass." + +"Take it off--take off everything that you wish to," replied De +Chemerant with impervious gravity; "there is so little left for me to +say to you that I trust you will not need to remove more of your +apparel. Can you feel assured, other than from these facts, that the +vessels loaded with cargoes by our widow have always been sent to +France?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the governor, opening his register; then, following +with the end of his finger the tables, he read, "'For Rochelle, for +Rochelle, for Bordeaux, for Bordeaux, for Rochelle, for Rochelle, for +Havre de Grace.' You see, sir, the vessels have always sailed for +France." + +"That is well, baron. According to the direction, frequent enough, of +vessels of commerce, which leave the counting-house wharves, it follows +that Blue Beard (we will adopt the popular surname) can put a vessel to +sea very quickly." + +"Doubtless, sir." + +"Has she not a brigantine always ready to put to sea, and which can in +two hours be at the Creek of Caymans, not far from Devil's Cliff, where +there is a little harbor," said De Chemerant, consulting his notes once +more. + +"Yes, sir; this brigantine is called the Chameleon; Blue Beard recently +placed it, very generously, at my service (through the mediation of +Monsieur Morris, her man of business), to give chase to a Spanish +pirate, and there is an old filibuster of a captain called Hurricane, +who commands the vessel----" + +"We will speak of this filibuster later, sir, but this pirate----" + +"Was sunk in the Rivière des Saints." + +"To return to this filibuster, baron; he frequents the house of Blue +Beard?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"As much so as another bad fellow, a buccaneer by trade?" + +"Yes, sir," said the baron in a dry tone, resolved to confine himself to +the secondary rôle which De Chemerant imposed upon him. + +"A Caribbean also is often there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"The presence of these men in the island is of how recent date?" + +"That I do not know, sir; they were established here at my arrival in +Martinique. They say that the filibuster formerly pursued his calling on +the north of the Antilles and the seas of the south. Like many captains +who have made something by filibustering, he has bought here a little +dwelling at the point of the island, where he lives alone." + +"And the buccaneer, baron?" + +"This kind of person is here to-day, gone to-morrow, according to +whether the hunt is more or less abundant; sometimes he remains away a +month, and it is the same with the Caribbean." + +"This information accords perfectly with that which was given me; +beside, I do not speak of men of this sort other than by hearsay. They +are far too unimportant, and too foreign to the mission which I am in +charge of, to merit their occupying my attention for any length of time. +They are, at most, passive instruments," continued De Chemerant to +himself, "and they are probably very indirectly connected with this +grave matter." Then, after a few minutes' reflection, he said aloud, +"Now, baron, one more question: have not your secret police notified you +that the English have tried to introduce themselves into this island +since the war?" + +"Twice, lately, sir, our cruisers have given chase to a suspicious +vessel coming from the Barbadoes seeking to approach from the windward, +the only places where one can land in the island; elsewhere the coast is +too rugged to permit landing." + +"Very good," said De Chemerant. After a moment's silence he said, "Tell +me, baron, how long would it take to go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"About eleven hours; the roads are difficult, one could not reach there +before nightfall." + +"Well, then, baron," said De Chemerant, taking out his watch, "in two +hours from now, that is to say, at one o'clock in the afternoon, you +will have the goodness to order thirty of your most reliable guards to +arm themselves, to provide themselves with scaling ladders, one or two +bombs, and to hold themselves in readiness to follow and obey me as they +would yourself." + +"But, sir, if you wish to go to Devil's Cliff, you must start at once in +order to arrive by daylight." + +"Doubtless baron; but as I desire to arrive in the middle of the night, +you will see the wisdom of my not starting for two hours." + +"That is another thing, sir." + +"Can you procure for me a covered litter?" + +"Yes, sir, there is mine." + +"And can this go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"To the foot of the mountain only, not a step further, for they say it +is impossible for a horse to climb the heaped-up and yawning rocks." + +"Very good; will you, then, be so good, baron, as to have this litter +prepared, as well as a mount for me; I will leave it at the foot of the +cliff." + +"Yes, sir." + +"I warn you, baron, that it is of the greatest importance that the +object of this enterprise be perfectly concealed; all will be lost if +they are warned of my visit to Devil's Cliff; we shall not inform the +escort of our destination until outside Fort Royal, and we shall make, I +hope, as much haste as the roads will permit. In a word, baron," +continued the envoy, with a confidential air, which he had not assumed +until then, "mystery is so much the more indispensable that it concerns +a state secret and the future of two great nations." + +"Because of Blue Beard?" said the governor, questioning with a curious +glance the cold and grave face of De Chemerant. + +"Because of Blue Beard." + +"How?" replied the baron. "Blue Beard, then, counts for something in a +state secret, in the peace of two great nations?" + +Monsieur de Chemerant, who did not like repetition, made an affirmative +sign and continued, "I also beg of you, baron, that you will see that +the frigate's boat does not leave the wharf, so that I may return on +board and put to sea without remaining here a second, if, as I hope, my +mission be successful. Ah! I forgot; the litter must be such that it can +be entirely closed." + +"But, sir, is it, then, a prisoner that you are in search of?" + +"Sir," said De Chemerant, rising, "a thousand pardons for repeating to +you that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you instead of----" + +"Good, very good, sir," said the governor. "Then I may open the +windows?" asked the baron, who was suffocated in this apartment. + +"I see nothing to prevent, baron." + +The governor arose. + +"So, baron," said De Chemerant, "it is understood that you do not inform +the guide who is to conduct me of my destination, until the moment of +our departure?" + +"But in the meantime, sir, if I send for him, what shall I say to him?" + +The visitor seemed astonished at the simplicity of the governor, and +said to him, "Who is this guide, sir?" + +"One of my blacks, who works at the king's house, a good league from +here. He is an oddity who has run away himself so often that he is more +familiar with the inaccessible spots of the island than with the open +roads." + +"Is this slave reliable, sir?" + +"Entirely, sir; he would have no object in leading you astray; beside, I +will warn him that if he does, I will have his nose and ears out off." + +"It is impossible that he should resist such a consideration, baron. But +to reply to your objection--how will this negro occupy himself until the +moment of our departure?" + +"An idea!" cried the baron triumphantly; "he can be flogged; that will +mislead him; he believes that no one summons him here other than for +that reason." + +"That would be, certainly, an excellent means, baron, of working a +diversion in his ideas, but it will suffice, I think, to keep him shut +up until the moment of our departure. Ah! I had forgotten another thing, +baron; I beg you will see that, during my absence, everything that can +be found in the way of delicacies in fruit, vegetables, game, fine +wines, confections, etc., etc., be sent on board ship. You need not +consider expense, I will meet that." + +"I understand you, sir; I must collect, in the way of refreshments, all +that it is possible to keep on board during the first days of the +voyage, as much so as if it were for the entertainment of a person of +the greatest distinction," said the governor curiously. + +"You understand me marvelously well, baron. But I fancy this black, our +guide, has viewed, at least from the outside, the habitation at Devil's +Cliff." + +"Yes, sir; and he tells very strange stories about that house and the +solitudes where it is builded." + +"Ah, well, baron; here is a task for this slave; give orders that he be +brought to me pending the time of our departure, and I will question him +concerning what I wish to discover." + +"I will send in search of him at once," said the governor, going out. + +"May God or the devil convey this affair into safe harbor," said De +Chemerant, when he was alone. "Fortunately, I have no need of the aid of +this stupid governor; the greatest difficulty is still to be surmounted; +but no matter, I have faith in my star. The affair of Fabrio-Chigi was a +much more difficult matter, and then the hope, if not of a crown, at +least almost of a throne, the ambition to direct the course of a great +nation, the desire of recovering the good graces of the king, his +relative, would not there be reasons sufficient to determine the most +rebellious will? and, moreover, if these reasons were not enough," said +De Chemerant, after some moments of silence, striking his little box, +"here is another argument which will be, perhaps, more effectual." + + * * * * * + +Two hours later De Chemerant started for Devil's Cliff at the head of +thirty of the Governor's Guards, armed to the teeth. A litter, drawn by +two mules, followed this little detachment, preceded by the guide. This +slave had had a long interview with De Chemerant, and, as a consequence, +he had taken two scaling ladders and petards carried on a pack horse, a +bundle of stout ropes with grapples of iron, and two axes. Moreover, De +Chemerant had given orders to the lieutenant of the frigate to send him +two good sailors chosen from among the fifteen sailors forming the crew +of the boat which awaited, at the landing at Fort Royal, the result of +the expedition. + +This little company set out, preceded by the guide, who, flanked by the +two sailors, marched a little in advance of De Chemerant. After having +followed the coast for a long time, the troop climbed a very high hill, +and pressed on into the interior of the island. + +We will leave De Chemerant advancing slowly toward Devil's Cliff, and +will rejoin Father Griffen at Macouba, and Colonel Rutler at the bottom +of the precipice, where he had arrived by way of the subterranean +passage, after the wildcats, by devouring the corpse of John, had +removed the obstacle which before had held the English envoy in the +cavern of the Caraibe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE STORM. + + +Monsieur De Chemerant had scarcely left Fort Royal at the head of his +escort when a young mulatto of about fifteen, after having followed for +some time, hiding in the ravines or the swamps, on seeing the troop take +the road to Devil's Cliff, started with all haste for Macouba. + +Thanks to his perfect knowledge of the country and of certain roads not +open, this slave reached Father Griffen's parish very soon. It was about +four o'clock in the afternoon; the good priest was taking his afternoon +nap, comfortably extended in one of the hammocks so ingeniously made of +rushes by the Caribbeans. The young mulatto had the greatest difficulty +in persuading one of the priest's two slaves to awaken his master; +finally Monsieur concluded, after long hesitation, because of the deep +and peaceful sleep of the priest, to do so. + +"What do you want?" said the priest. + +"Master, a young mulatto has come in haste from Fort Royal and wishes to +speak to you at once." + +"A mulatto from Fort Royal," said Father Griffen, springing from his +hammock. "Let him come in quickly. What do you want, my child?" +continued he, addressing the young slave; "have you come by direction of +Monsieur Morris?" + +"Yes, Father. Here is a letter from him. He told me to follow an escort +of troops leaving Fort Royal this morning, and directed me, if they took +the road to Devil's Cliff, to come and tell you, Father. His letter will +explain the rest." + +"Very well, my child, the troop----" + +"Plunged into the Goyaviers valley, and took the road to the Black +Rocks; that leads only to Devil's Cliff." + +Father Griffen, much disturbed, broke the seal of the letter and seemed +overcome at its contents. He re-read it with evidence of the greatest +surprise, and then said to the mulatto, "Go quickly and find Monsieur." + +The mulatto went at once. + +"An envoy from France has arrived; he had a long interview with the +governor, and I fear he has started with armed men for Devil's Cliff, as +Monsieur Morris believes," said the priest, walking up and down +agitatedly. "Monsieur Morris does not know, cannot know more. But +I--I--I tremble to think of the consequences of this visit. Doubtless +the mystery has been unveiled. And how, how? Who can have put them on +the scent? Did not the secret die with De Crussol? His letter is my +guarantee. Did they not quiet the governor and cause him to give up all +pursuit of this unhappy woman?" Then, referring to Monsieur Morris' +letter, the priest continued: "'A French frigate which remains at anchor +outside the roadstead, an envoy who confers for two hours with the +governor, and who, after this interview, leaves for Devil's Cliff with +an escort'--there is more than suspicion, there is certainty? They have +come to carry her off. My God! can it be true? But, the secret--who but +myself knew it? for I only knew it, oh, yes, I alone, at least unless a +frightful sacrilege--but no, no!" said the priest, clasping his hands +with terror. "Such a thought on my part is a crime. No, it is +impossible. I would rather believe it was indiscretion on the part of +the only person who has an interest for life or death in the mystery, +than that it should be the most impious treachery. No, a thousand times +no; it is impossible! but I must start at once for Devil's Cliff. +Perhaps I can get the advance of this man who has left Fort Royal with +an escort. Yes, by hurrying, I may do it. I will find that unlucky +Gascon; they have nothing to fear there. His extraordinary appearance on +board made me believe the poor devil, for a time, to be an emissary from +London or Saint-Germain; but I have, as they say, turned him inside out, +in every way. I mentioned before him abruptly certain names which, had +he been in the secret, he would have found it impossible not to betray +it, however guarded he might be, and he remained impassible. I +understand men too well to have been deceived by him; the chevalier is +nothing but a crazy adventurer, a spoiled child, in whom, after all, +good qualities triumph over the bad ones." + +At this moment Monsieur appeared. + +"Saddle Grenadille at once." + +"Yes, master." + +"Unchain Colas." + +"Yes, master." + +"Do not forget to put my large traveling cloak behind my saddle." + +"Yes, master." + +The black went out, then returned almost immediately, saying, "Master, +shall I arm Colas?" + +"Certainly, we go through the forest." + +While his mare was being saddled, the priest continued to pace up and +down restlessly. All at once he cried, with fright, as if struck by a +sudden thought, "But if I have been deceived; if this adventurer, under +a guise of frivolity, concealed some plan coolly resolved upon--some +sinister design? But no! no! cunning and dissimulation could not attain +to such an odious perfection. But what if his errand coincides with that +of this man who has started out with an escort? And I, I who have +answered for this adventurer, I who in my letter of yesterday have +almost approved their decision concerning him, thinking, as they did, +that this Gascon by repeating the mysterious stories connected with +Devil's Cliff, would only advance the ends of those who live there. But +what if I have been deceived? if I have helped introduce a dangerous +enemy there? But no! he would have taken action before this if he had +known the secret. And still--no! no! perhaps he waited the arrival of +this frigate and this emissary before acting? Perhaps he is working with +him? Oh! I am in terrible uncertainty." + +So saying, Father Griffen went out quickly to hasten the preparations +for his departure. Monsieur was saddling Grenadille and Jean was arming +Colas. + +Some explanation is necessary in order to instruct the reader in regard +to a new actor of which we have thus far had no occasion to speak. Colas +was a boar, possessed of marvelous intelligence; this boar always +accompanied him and went ahead on these excursions. Thanks to their +long, rough hair, and to their thick coat of fat, which impedes and +congeals, so to speak, the sting of serpents, boars and even +domesticated pigs carry on in the colonies a desperate war with these +reptiles; Colas was one of their most intrepid enemies. His armor +consisted of a kind of muzzle of iron pierced with little holes, and +ending in a kind of very sharp crescent. This protected the end of the +boar's head, its only vulnerable part, and furnished him with a +formidable weapon against serpents. Colas always preceded Grenadille +some steps, clearing the road and putting to flight the serpents which +would have stung the mare. + +Father Griffen, if he had known of the abrupt departure of Croustillac +(the adventurer had, as we know, left the parsonage without any farewell +to his host), would have offered Colas to the chevalier, when he became +assured that Croustillac was absolutely determined to penetrate the +forest. The priest thought that the boar would protect Croustillac from +some of the dangers to which he would be exposed; but the early flight +of the latter rendered the thoughtfulness of Father Griffen futile. + +After placing the house in charge of the two blacks, on whose +faithfulness he knew he could count, the priest spurred Grenadille, +whistled to Colas, who responded with a joyful grunt, and like another +St. Antony, the good father took the road which would lead him to +Devil's Cliff, fearful of arriving too late, and also of encountering on +the way De Chemerant, whom he could with difficulty hope to head off. + + * * * * * + +The reader will remember that, thanks to the voracity of the wildcats +which had devoured the corpse of the sailor John, Colonel Rutler had +been enabled to emerge from the pearl-fisher's cave by way of the +underground passage. In order to understand the extreme importance and +difficulty of the expedition which Colonel Rutler had undertaken, we +must recall to the reader that the park contiguous to Blue Beard's +mansion ran from north to south, like a kind of isthmus surrounded by +abysms. On the east and west these abysms were almost without bottom, +for on these sides the furthermost trees of the garden overhung a peak +of tremendous height, whose granite face was washed by the deep and +rapid waters of two torrents. But on the north, the park jutted on a +steep incline, accessible, though dangerous in the extreme. +Nevertheless, this side of the garden was sheltered from attack, for in +order to climb these rocks, less perpendicular than those on the east +and west, it was necessary to first descend to the bottom of the abyss +by the opposite side, an undertaking physically impossible to attempt, +even with the aid of a rope of sufficient length, the face of the rock +sometimes jutting out and sometimes broken by the angles of the rocks +projecting or receding. + +Colonel Rutler, on the contrary, having passed through the underground +passage, had at once reached the foot of the precipice; there remained +for him only to essay the perilous ascent in order that he might gain +entrance into Devil's Cliff. It would take about an hour to climb these +rocks; he did not wish to enter the park surrounding the mansion until +night had fallen; he waited before starting on his road, until the sun +should be setting. The colonel had thrust the skeleton of John out of +the passage. It was thus, near these human remains, in a profound and +wild solitude, in the midst of a veritable chaos of enormous masses of +granite thrown up by the convulsions of nature, that the emissary of +William of Orange passed some hours, reclining in a cleft in the rocks +in order to escape the heat of a tropical sun. + +The oppressive silence of this solitary place was now and then +interrupted by the roar of the sea as it fell upon the beach. Soon the +golden light of the sun became more rosy; great angles of light outlined +the face of the rocks where one could discern the further trees of Blue +Beard's park, becoming fainter, little by little; and dull mists began +to envelop the bottom of the abyss where Rutler waited. The colonel +judged it time to depart. + +Notwithstanding his rare energy, this man of iron felt himself seized, +in spite of himself, with a kind of superstitious fear; the horrible +death of his companion had affected him keenly, the enforced fast to +which he had been subjected since the preceding evening (he could not +bring himself to eat the serpent), mounted to his head, causing singular +and sinister ideas; but, surmounting this weakness, he commenced the +ascent. + +At first Rutler found the points of support allowed him to rapidly climb +a third of the face of the cliff. Then serious obstacles began to +present themselves; but with dogged courage he surmounted them. At the +moment when the sun disappeared suddenly below the horizon, the colonel +reached the summit of the cliff; broken by fatigue and pain, he fell +half-fainting at the foot of the further trees of the park at Devil's +Cliff; happily among these were several cocoanut trees; a large quantity +of ripe nuts lay on the ground. Rutler opened one with the point of his +dagger; the fresh liquid inclosed within appeased his thirst, and its +nourishing pulp his hunger. This unexpected refreshment renewed his +strength, and the colonel penetrated resolutely into the park; he walked +with extreme caution, guiding himself by the instructions John had given +him, in order that he might reach the white marble fountain not far from +which he wished to conceal himself. After walking some time in this +obscurity, under a tall forest of orange trees, Rutler heard in the +distance a slight sound as of a stream of water falling into a basin; +soon after he reached the border of the orange grove, and by the faint +light of the stars--for the moon would not rise until later--he saw a +large vase of white marble, situated in the midst of a circular space, +on all sides surrounded with trees. The colonel, pushing aside some +thick shrubs of Indian plants, enormous reeds which grow abundantly in +that humid soil, hid himself some steps away from the fountain and +quietly awaited events. + + * * * * * + +In order to sum up the chances of the safety or danger to which the +mysterious dwellers at Devil's Cliff were exposed, we must remind the +reader that De Chemerant had started from Fort Royal in the afternoon, +and was advancing with all haste; that Father Griffen had hastily left +Macouba in order to head off the French envoy; and that Colonel Rutler +had secreted himself in the center of the garden. + +We must now relate all that since the morning had passed over the heads +of Youmäale, Blue Beard and the Chevalier de Croustillac. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +We left the adventurer under the unexpected attack of a passion as +sudden as it was sincere, and waiting impatiently the explanation, +possibly the hope, which Blue Beard was about to give him. + +After partaking of a repast respectfully served him by Angela, to the +despair of the chevalier, the Caribbean gravely withdrew and seated +himself on the border of a small lake, under the shadow of a mangrove +tree which grew on its bank; then resting his elbows on his knees and +his chin in the palms of his hands Youmäale gazed into space, and +motionless maintained for a long time the contemplative idleness so dear +to savage races. + +Angela had re-entered the house. The chevalier walked up and down in the +park, throwing, at intervals, a jealous and angry glance at the +Caribbean. Impatient at the silence and immobility of his rival, and +hoping, perhaps, to draw from him some information, Croustillac placed +himself near Youmäale, who, however, did not appear to notice him. +Croustillac moved and coughed; no change on the part of the Caribbean. +Finally the chevalier, with whom patience was not a favorite virtue, +touched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "What the devil have you +been looking at for the past two hours? The sun is nearly setting, and +you have not moved." + +The Caribbean turned his head slowly toward the chevalier, looked +fixedly at him, still resting his chin on his palms, and then resumed +his former attitude, without replying. + +The adventurer colored angrily, and said, "Zounds! when I speak, I wish +to be answered." + +The Caribbean maintained silence. + +"These grand airs do not impress me," cried Croustillac. "I am not one +of those to be eaten alive!" + +No answer. + +"Zounds!" continued the chevalier; "do you not know, stupid cannibal +that you are, I can make you take an involuntary bath in the lake as a +means to teach you manners, and in order to civilize you, you savage?" + +Youmäale arose gravely, threw a disdainful glance at the chevalier, then +pointed at an enormous trunk of a mahogany tree with gnarled roots which +formed the rustic bench upon which he had been sitting. + +"Well, what of it?" said the chevalier. "I see that trunk, but I do not +understand your gesture, unless it signifies that you are as deaf and +dumb and as stupid as that tree." + +Without responding to this, the Caribbean stooped, took the trunk of the +tree in his muscular arms, and threw it into the lake with a significant +gesture, which seemed to say, "That is how I could treat you." Then he +slowly withdrew, without having revealed in his features the slightest +emotion. + +The chevalier was stupefied by this proof of extraordinary strength; for +the block of mahogany tree appeared to him, and in fact was, so heavy +that two men could with difficulty have accomplished what the Caribbean +unaided had done. His surprise having passed, the chevalier hastened +after the savage, exclaiming, "Do you mean to say that you would have +thrown me into the lake as you threw that trunk?" + +The Caribbean, without pausing in his passage, bent his head +affirmatively. + +"After all," thought Croustillac, halting, "this eater of missionaries +is not lacking in good sense; I threatened him first with throwing him +into the water, and after what I have seen I am obliged to confess that +I should have found it hard to do so, and then it would have been rather +a dishonorable way in which to dispose of a rival! Ah, the evening is +slow in coming. Thank God! the sun is setting, the night will soon fall; +the moon will rise and I shall know my fate; the widow will tell me +everything, I shall unravel all the profound mystery which is hidden +from me now. Let me think over the sonnet which I have reserved for a +grand effect--it is intended to describe the beauty of her eyes. Perhaps +she has never heard a sonnet--possibly she will be sensible of its +beauty and spirit; but no, I cannot hope for that happiness." + +Pacing the path with long strides, Croustillac began to declaim his +verses: + + "They are not eyes, they are two gods, + Which are robed in power complete. + Gods? nay, they are the heavens----" + +The adventurer was not to finish his verse, for Mirette came to inform +him that her mistress was awaiting him at supper. The Caribbean never +partook of this meal, and Croustillac was to be alone with the widow. +She seemed dreamy and said little; she started involuntarily and +frequently. + +"What troubles you, madame?" said Croustillac, also preoccupied. + +"I do not know; strange presentiments, but I am foolish. It is your +gloomy face that gives me the blues," she added, with a forced smile. +"Come, amuse me a little, chevalier. Youmäale is doubtless at this +moment worshiping certain stars, and I am surprised at not seeing him; +but it rests with you to make me forget his absence." + +"Here is an excellent opportunity to produce my sonnet," said the Gascon +to himself. "If I dared, madame, I would recite some little verses which +might, perhaps, interest you." + +"Verses--how? are you a poet, chevalier?" + +"All lovers are, madame." + +"That is an admission--you are in love, in order to be entitled to be a +poet?" + +"No, madame," said Croustillac sadly. "I am in love by right of +suffering." + +"And to chant your sad martyrdom--let us hear the verses." + +"The verses, madame, do all in their power to picture two blue eyes, +blue and beautiful, like yours; it is a sonnet." + +"Let us have this sonnet." + +And Croustillac recited the following lines in a languorous and +impassioned tone: + + "They are not eyes, rather gods are they, + They are above kings in power true. + Gods, no! they are the heavens of tender blue, + And their radiant glance makes kings obey." + +"One must choose, chevalier," said Blue Beard; "are they eyes, or gods, +or the heavens?" + +Croustillac's reply was a happy one: + + "The heavens, no! each a radiant sun + Whose burning rays but blind the view. + Suns? not so, but light so strong, so true, + They predict the love but just begun!" + +"Really, chevalier, I am curious to know where you will stop. Suns, I +own, please me; gods also." + +Croustillac continued with a languorous softness: + + "Ah! if gods, would they work me ill? + If the heavens, would add more sorrow still? + Two suns? 'tis false--that orb is one----" + +"Ah, heavens, chevalier, you delight me; among all these charming +comparisons there remains nothing more for me but lightening----" + +Croustillac bowed his head: + + "Stars! no, the stars are too many, too clear, + Always my meaning shineth still, + Eyes, gods, suns, and stars appear." + +"How charming; at least, chevalier," said Angela, laughing, "you have +given me a choice of comparisons, and I have but to select; therefore I +shall keep them all--gods, heavens, suns and stars." + +The adventurer looked at Blue Beard a moment in silence; then he said, +in a tone the sadness of which was so sincere that the little widow was +struck by it, "You are right, madame; this sonnet is absurd; you do well +to mock at it, but what would you have? I am unhappy, I am justly +punished for my mad presumption, my stupidity." + +"Ah, chevalier, chevalier, you forget my request; I told you to divert +me, to amuse me----" + +"And if, in so doing, I suffer? if, in spite of my absurd situation, I +experience a cruel mortification; how can I play the buffoon?" + +The adventurer uttered these words quietly but in a penetrating tone, +and with considerable emotion. Angela looked at him in astonishment, and +was almost touched by the expression of the chevalier's face. She +reproached herself for having played with this man's feelings; after +all, he lacked neither heart, courage nor goodness; these reflections +plunged the young woman into the midst of melancholy thoughts. In spite +of the passing effort which she had made to be gay and to laugh at the +sonnet of the Gascon, she was a prey to inexplicable forebodings, +oppressed by vague fears, as if she felt instinctively the dangers that +were gathering about her. + +Croustillac had fallen into a sad reverie. Angela's eyes fell upon him +and she felt sorry for him; she would no longer prolong the mystery of +which he was a victim. She rose abruptly from the table and said to him, +with a serious air, "Come, we will walk in the garden and rejoin +Youmäale. His absence worries me. I do not know why, but I am oppressed +as if a violent tempest were about to break upon this house." + +The widow left the room, the chevalier offered her his arm, and they +descended into the garden, where they sauntered through the different +paths. The adventurer was so impressed by the anxious frame of mind in +which he saw Angela that he retained little hope, and hardly dared to +recall to her the promise which she had made him. Finally he said with +some embarrassment, "You promised me, madame, to explain the mystery +of----" + +Blue Beard interrupted the chevalier by saying, "Listen to me, sir; +whether it is owing to timidity or to premonition, I grow more and more +agitated--it seems to me that misfortune menaces us; on no account would +I at this time, and in the condition of my spirits, prolong any further +a jest which has already lasted too long." + +"A jest, madame?" + +"Yes, sir; but I beg of you, let us descend to the lower terrace. Do you +see Youmäale there?" + +"No, madame; the night is very clear, but I see no one. You say, then, a +jest only----" + +"Yes, sir; I learned through our friend, Father Griffen, that you +intended to offer yourself to me; I sent the buccaneer to meet you, +charging him to bring you here. I received you with the intention, I +confess, and I beg your pardon, of amusing myself a little at your +expense." + +"But, madame, this evening, even, you intended to explain to me the +mystery of your triple widowhood--the death of your husbands and the +presence successively, of the filibuster, the----" + +Angela interrupted the Gascon by saying, "Do you not hear a footfall? Is +it Youmäale?" + +"I hear nothing," said Croustillac, overwhelmed in the view of his +ruined hopes, though he held himself in readiness for anything, now that +a true love had extinguished his stupid and foolish vanity. + +"Let us go further," said Blue Beard; "the Caribbean is among the orange +trees by the fountain, perhaps." + +"But, madame, this mystery?" + +"The mystery," replied Angela, "if it is one, cannot, must not be solved +by you. My promise to reveal this secret to you to-night was a jest of +which I am now heartily ashamed, I tell you; and if I kept this foolish +promise it would be to make you the object of another mystery more +culpable still." + +"Ah, madame," said the chevalier quickly, "this is very cruel." + +"What more would you ask, sir? I accuse myself and beg your pardon," +said Angela, in a sweet and sad voice. "Forget the folly of what I have +said; think no longer of my hand, which can belong to no one; but +sometimes remember the recluse of Devil's Cliff, who is, perhaps, at +once very culpable and very innocent. And then," she continued +hesitatingly, "as a remembrance of Blue Beard, you will permit me, will +you not, to offer you some of the diamonds of which you were so enamored +before you had seen me." + +The chevalier blushed with shame and anger; the pure feeling which he +felt for Angela made him feel as derogatory an offer which at one time +would, doubtless, have been accepted without the slightest scruple. +"Madame," said he, with as much pride as bitterness, "you have accorded +me hospitality for two days; to-morrow I shall leave; the only request I +make of you is to give me a guide. As to your offer, it wounds me +doubly----" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, that you should believe me low enough to accept payment +for the humiliating circumstances----" + +"Sir, such was not my idea." + +"Madame, I am poor, I am ridiculous and vain; I am what is termed a man +of expediencies; but even I have my point of honor." + +"But, sir----" + +"But, madame, that I should barter my pride and will as an exchange for +the hospitality offered me, would be a bargain like another, worse than +another, perhaps; so be it; when one places oneself in dependence upon +another more fortunate than oneself, one must be content with anything. +I entertained the captain of the Unicorn in exchange for my passage, +which he gave me on board his vessel. We are quits. I have cut a +contemptible figure, madame; I know it more fully than any one else, for +I have known misfortune more fully." + +"Poor man!" said the widow, touched by his avowal. + +"I do not say this to be pitied, madame," said Croustillac proudly. "I +only desire to make you understand that if, from necessity, I have been +compelled to accept the part of a complacent guest, I have never +received money as a compensation for an insult." Then he continued, in a +tone of profound emotion, "Can you, madame, be ignorant of the wrong +which has been done me by this proposition, not so much because it is +humiliating, as because it was made by you? My God! you wished to amuse +yourself with me: that I would have endured without complaint; but to +offer me money to compensate for your raillery--ah! madame, you have +made me acquainted with a misery of which I was heretofore ignorant." +After a moment's silence he continued, with added bitterness, "After +all, why should you have treated me otherwise? Who am I? Under what +auspices did I come here? Even the clothes I wear are not my own! Why +concern yourself with me?" + +These last words of the poor man had an accent of such sincere grief and +mortification that the young woman, touched by them, regretted deeply +the indiscreet proffer she had made him. With bent head she walked +beside Croustillac. They arrived, thus, near the fountain of white +marble of which they had spoken. + +The young widow still leaned on the adventurer's arm. After a few +minutes of reflection she said, "You are right; I was wrong. I judged +you wrongly. The compensation I offered you was almost an insult; but do +not for a moment think that I wished to humiliate you. Recall what I +said to you this morning of your courage and the generosity of your +heart. Well, all this I still think. You say you love me; if this love +is sincere it cannot offend me; it would be wrong in me to receive so +flattering a feeling with contempt. So," she continued, with a charming +air, "is peace declared? Are you still angry with me? Say no, that I may +ask you to remain here some days as a friend, without fear of your +refusal." + +"Ah, madame," cried Croustillac, with transport "order, dispose of me--I +am your servant, your slave, your dog. These kind words which you have +spoken will make me forget all! Your friend! you have called me your +friend! Ah, madame, why am I only the poor younger son of a Gascon? I +should be so happy to have it in my power to prove my devotion." + +"Who knows but that I have a reparation to make you? Await me here; I +must go and look for Youmäale and find something, a present, yes, +chevalier, a present which I defy you to refuse this time." + +"But, madame----" + +"You refuse? Ah, heavens! when I think that you desired to be my +husband! Wait here, I will return." And so saying, Angela, who had +reached the marble fountain, turned quickly into the path in the park on +the side of the house. + +"What does she wish to say--to do?" asked Croustillac of himself, +looking mechanically into the fountain. Then he exclaimed, with fervor, +"It is all the same, I am hers for life and death; she has called me her +friend. I shall perhaps never see her again, but all the same, I worship +her; that cannot hurt any one; and I do not know but that it will make +me a better man. Two days ago I would have accepted the diamonds; to-day +I would be ashamed to do so. It is wonderful how love changes one." + +Croustillac was suddenly interrupted in the midst of his philosophical +reflections. Colonel Rutler, by the uncertain light of the moon, had +seen the adventurer walking arm in arm with Blue Beard; he had heard her +last words--"my husband; wait for me here." Rutler had no doubt that the +Gascon was the man for whom he was looking; he sprang suddenly from his +hiding-place, hurled himself upon the chevalier threw a cloak over his +face, and, profiting by Croustillac's surprise, felled him to the +ground. Then he passed a rope around his hands and had quickly mastered +his captive's resistance, thanks to great strength. The chevalier was +thus overpowered, garroted and captured in less time than it has taken +to write these words. + +This accomplished, the colonel held a dagger at Croustillac's throat, +and said, "My lord duke, you are dead if you make a movement, or if you +call Madame the Duchess to your aid. In the name of William of Orange, +King of England, I arrest you for high treason, and you will follow +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +MY LORD DUKE. + + +Suddenly attacked by an adversary of extraordinary strength, Croustillac +did not even attempt to resist. The cloak which enveloped his head +almost deprived him of breath. He could hardly utter a few inarticulate +cries. Rutler leaned over him and said in English, with a strong Dutch +accent, "My lord duke, I can remove this cloak, but beware, if you call +for aid you are a dead man; can you feel the point of my dagger?" + +The unfortunate Croustillac did not understand English, but he +understood the dagger's point, and exclaimed, "Speak French!" + +"I can understand that your grace, having been brought up in France, +should prefer that language," replied Rutler, who believed that his +Dutch accent made his words a little obscure, and he continued, "You +must pardon me, my lord, if I do not express myself very well in French. +I have the honor to inform your grace that at the slightest sound from +you I shall be compelled to kill you. It depends upon you, my lord, to +preserve your life or not, by preventing madame the duchess, your wife, +from calling for aid if she returns." + +"It is evident that he takes me for some one else," thought the +chevalier. "In what devil of a network am I entangled? What is this new +mystery? and who is this brutal Dutchman with his eternal dagger and his +'my lord duke?' After all, it is gratifying not to be taken for an +insignificant man. And Blue Beard is a duchess and passes for my wife!" + +"Listen, my lord," said Rutler after some moments of silence, "for your +grace's greater convenience, I can free you from the cloak which enwraps +you; but, I repeat, at the slightest cry from madame the duchess, the +slightest indication of a rescue by your slaves, I shall be compelled to +kill you. I have promised the king, my master, to bring you to him, dead +or alive." + +"I stifle! take off the cloak at once, I will not make any outcry," +murmured Croustillac, believing that the colonel would discover his +error. + +Rutler removed the cloak which enveloped the face of the adventurer, who +saw a man kneeling beside him and threatening him with a dagger. The +night was clear; the chevalier could distinguish perfectly the features +of the colonel; they were absolutely unknown to him. + +"My lord! remember your promise," said Rutler, who did not evince the +slightest surprise when the face of the adventurer was seen. + +"How! he does not perceive his mistake," thought the astonished +chevalier. + +"Meanwhile, my lord," replied the colonel, assisting Croustillac to seat +himself as comfortably as he could near the fountain, "meanwhile, my +lord, pardon the rudeness of my attack, but I was forced to this." + +Croustillac made no reply. Divided between fear and curiosity, he was +burning to know to whom these words were addressed: 'My lord duke.' +Naturally of an adventurous turn, he could not but be the gainer, +doubtless by being taken for another, above all, for the husband of Blue +Beard; and the chevalier resolved to play, as far as he could, the rôle +which he had involuntarily assumed, hoping, possibly, to thus learn the +secret of the dwellers of Devil's Cliff. He answered, however, "Are you +sure, sir, that it is I whom you are seeking?" + +"Your grace need not attempt to deceive me," said Rutler. "It is true +that I have not had the honor of seeing you before to-day, my lord; but +I heard your conversation with madame the duchess. Who but you, my lord, +would be walking with her at this hour? Who but you would be dressed in +this coat with the red sleeve, as shown by James Syllon, who painted you +in this costume?" + +"And I thought this costume so fantastic," reflected Croustillac. + +"It is not for me to express surprise at finding you wearing these +garments which must often recall memories so cruel," continued Rutler, +with a gloomy air. + +"Cruel memories!" repeated Croustillac. + +"My lord," said the colonel, "two years before the fatal day of +Bridgewater, dressed in this coat, did you not render homage to your +royal father, when hunting at Lancaster?" + +"To my royal father? a falcon?" said the chevalier, astounded. + +"I understand your grace's embarrassment, and that you do not wish to +recall these sad disputes for which you have been so severely and, +permit me to say it, my lord, so justly punished." + +"I will permit you to say anything to me, sir, in fact, I earnestly +insist upon it without delay," replied the Gascon; and, aside, "perhaps +I shall learn something in this way." + +"Time is precious," said Rutler. "I must hasten to inform your grace +that I only await your submission to the commands of my master, William +of Orange, King of England." + +"Speak, sir, and do not hesitate to enter into the most minute details." + +"In order to make you understand, your grace, what remains for me to +exact from you, it is very necessary to establish clearly your position, +my lord, however painful the duty may be." + +"Establish it, sir, speak frankly; hold back nothing. We are men and +soldiers; we should know how to hear all things." + +"You acknowledge, then, that from this moment you cannot escape." + +"That is true." + +"That your life is in my hands." + +"That is also true." + +"But that, which must be a very great consideration, my lord, is that, +in attempting to escape, or in refusing to obey the orders which I bear, +you put me to the hard necessity of killing you." + +"A hard necessity for both of us, sir." + +"Then your grace will give strict attention to what I have to say," said +the colonel, emphasizing the following words: "I can with the more +impunity kill you, my lord, because _you are already dead_--and +therefore it would not be necessary to render an account for shedding +your blood." + +The chevalier looked at Rutler with a stupefied air, thinking he must +have heard him wrong. "You say, sir, that you could with the more +impunity kill me?" + +"Since your grace is already dead," said Rutler, with a sinister smile. + +Croustillac looked at him more closely, believing he was dealing with a +madman; then he said, after a moment's silence, "If I understand you +aright, sir, you wish to make me believe that you could kill me with +impunity, under the pretext, specious enough, that I am already dead!" + +"Exactly, my lord; that is very simple." + +"You think that very simple, sir?" + +"I do not think you wish to deny, my lord, what is known to all the +world," said Rutler impatiently. + +"It seems to me that, without wishing to pass for a man who has lost his +head, and who is dominated with a desire to contradict the whole world, +I must still to a certain extent deny that I am dead." + +"I would not have believed, my lord, that you could jest at such a +moment, you who always carry with you such frightful memories," said the +colonel, with gloomy surprise. + +"Certainly, sir, at such a moment one cannot forget himself. That which +is more difficult is to retain memory," said Croustillac, smiling. + +The colonel could not prevent a gesture of indignation, and cried, "You +smile! when it is at the price of the noblest blood that you are here! +Ah, such then will always be the gratitude of princes!" + +"I must say to you, sir," impatiently replied Croustillac, "that it is +not of gratitude or ingratitude that we speak in this matter, and +that--but," he continued, fearing to make some blunder, "but it seems to +me that we wander strangely from the question at issue. I prefer to +speak of something else." + +"I can imagine that such a subject would be disagreeable to your grace." + +"It is not a lively one, sir, certainly; but return to the motive which +has brought you hither--what do you wish of me?" + +"I am ordered, my lord, to conduct you to the Barbadoes; from there you +will be transported and incarcerated in the Tower of London, of which +your grace has retained remembrance." + +"Zounds! to prison!" said the Gascon to himself, to whom this prospect +was not inviting; "to prison--in the Tower of London! I must inform this +Dutch animal of his mistake; this mistaken identity no longer pleases +me. The devil! to the Tower of London! this is paying for 'your grace' +and 'my lord' rather too dearly!" + +"It is unnecessary for me to say to you, my lord, that you will be +treated with the respect due to your misfortunes and your rank. Except +for liberty, which can never be accorded you, you will be surrounded by +care and consideration." + +"After all," thought Croustillac, "why should I hasten to dissuade this +northern bear? I have no hope, alas, of interesting Blue Beard in my +martyrdom. It seems to me that I perceive vaguely that the mistake of +this Dutchman in my person may serve this adorable little creature. If +that is so, I shall be delighted. Once having reached England, the +mistake will be discovered and I set free; and, as it is best, after +all, that I return to Europe, I should like better if it were possible, +to return in the character of a great prince, a lord, than as a free +passenger of Captain Daniel's. I shall not at least be compelled to +balance forks on the end of my nose nor be reduced to swallowing lighted +candles." + +The colonel, taking the Gascon's silence for despair, said to him, in a +gentler tone, "I suppose your grace perceives with pain the future +before you. There is enough occasion for it, it seems to me." + +"To be a prisoner always in the Tower of London?" + +"Yes, my lord; but you cannot enjoy much liberty here; perhaps this life +of agony and continual unrest is not so much to be regretted?" + +"You wish to gild the pill, as they say, sir; your motive is +praiseworthy; but you appear very certain of carrying me to Barbadoes, +and from there to the Tower of London?" + +"To accomplish this, my lord, I had brought with me a most determined +man. He is dead, however--a most frightful death." And Rutler trembled +in spite of himself at the remembrance of John's death. + +"And so, sir, you were reduced to accomplish this expedition yourself?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"And you flatter yourself that you can carry me off, unaided?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"You are sure of that?" + +"Perfectly sure." + +"And by means of what miracle?" + +"There is no need of a miracle; the thing is very simple, my lord." + +"May I know it?" + +"You must be informed of it, my lord, because I count principally upon +your assistance." + +"To enable you to carry me off?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"The fact is, that, without vanity, I can, under these circumstances, if +I mix myself in the matter, be of some help to you?" + +After a moment's reflection, Rutler said, "Your firmness has not been +exaggerated, your grace; it would be impossible to show a more resolute +spirit or more coolness under ill fortune." + +"I assure you, sir, that it would be difficult for me to bear it +otherwise." + +"If I have spoken thus my lord, it is because you, being a man of +coolness and resolution, can understand better than any one what must be +accepted with coolness and resolution, for I have no choice but to carry +you away from here." + +"Listen, sir; if the expedient is good, I will be the first to +acknowledge it. One moment, however; you seem to forget that I am not +here alone." + +"I know that, my lord; madame the duchess has but just quitted you, she +may return any moment." + +"And not alone, I warn you of that." + +"Were she accompanied by a hundred armed men I should not fear." + +"Truly?" + +"No, my lord, I will go further; I rather count upon the return of the +duchess to decide you to follow me in case you still hesitate." + +"Sir you speak in riddles." + +"I will tell you the word very soon my lord, but first I must inform you +that almost all is known concerning you since your flight from London." + +"In denying this to him I shall force him to speak; and I shall perhaps +learn something more," said the chevalier to himself. "As to that, sir +I, cannot believe it; it is not possible." + +"Listen to me, my lord; it is now four years since you espoused in +France the mistress of this house. Whether the marriage be legal or not, +having been contracted after your execution, and consequently during the +widowhood of your first wife, does not concern me--that is a matter for +your conscience and the church." + +"Decidedly my friend the duke has placed himself in an exceptional +position," said Croustillac to himself, "he can be murdered because he +is dead; and he can remarry because his wife is his widow! I begin to +have my ideas singularly mixed, for since yesterday very strange things +have come to my knowledge." + +"You see, my lord, that my information is exact." + +"Exact--exact--to a certain point. You believe me capable of having +remarried after my execution; that is rather risky. The devil! sir, one +must be very sure of his facts, at least, to attribute to men such +original proceedings." + +"Hold, my lord, you doubtless do not believe in my authority, and you +jest; but your gayety does not surprise me; your grace has kept his +freedom of spirit in circumstances more serious than this." + +"What would you wish, sir? gayety is the wealth of the poor." + +"My lord," cried the colonel, in a severe tone, "the king, my master, +does not merit this reproach." + +"What reproach?" said the Gascon, stupefied. + +"Your grace said that gayety is the wealth of the poor." + +"Well, sir, I do not see what there is to insult your master, the king, +in that." + +"Is it not equivalent to saying, my lord, that because you see yourself +in the power of my master that you look upon yourself as despoiled of +everything?" + +"You are sensitive, sir. Be assured this reflection was purely +philosophical and did not have reference to my particular position." + +"That is different, my lord; but I am astonished to hear you speak of +your poverty." + +"Zounds! that has often made me bitterly lament," said Croustillac, +laughing. + +"Few fortunes equal yours, sir. The enormous sum you received from the +sale of a portion of your precious stones will be secured to you and +yours. William of Orange, my master, is not one of those who enrich +themselves by confiscating the goods of their political enemies." + +"I did not know thou wast so rich, poor Croustillac," said the Gascon to +himself. "If I had known this, how little would I have swallowed candles +for the amusement of that brute of a sea captain." Then he continued, +aloud, "I am aware of the generosity of your master, sir; also of my +goods and treasures." And the Gascon said to himself, "It does me good +to say this for once in my life--my goods, my treasures." + +"The king, my master, my lord, has directed me to say to you that you +can charter a vessel to carry your wealth to England." + +"Oh, my old pink hose, my old green coat, my felt hat and my old sword!" +said Croustillac to himself; "those are my real possessions, my real and +personal estate! It would not take a merchant ship to transport them." +Then he continued aloud, "But let us return to the motive, sir, which +brought you here, and to the discoveries which you have made as to my +past life." + +"For the past three years, my lord, you have lived on this island, +remaining hidden to every one, and causing to be spread by a filibuster +and others in your pay the strangest stories concerning your house, in +order to keep the curious away." + +"I do not understand this at all," thought Croustillac. "Blue Beard--no, +the widow, that is to say--no, the duchess or rather the wife of the man +who is dead, who is a widower--in fact, the wife of no matter whom, is +not, then, behind the best of them with her three oddities. For I have +seen with my own eyes her strange familiarity with them. I have +heard--come, come, if this lasts but a little longer I shall become mad; +I am beginning to feel stupid and to see an endless succession of Roman +candles in my head!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +Rutler continued: "The maneuvers of your emissaries were crowned with +perfect success, my lord, and it was due to the merest chance that your +existence was revealed to my master, some two months since, and in order +to inform him that without your knowledge, or without your full consent, +they would make, my lord, a dangerous instrument of you." + +"Of me? an instrument of me? and what kind of an instrument, sir?" + +"Your grace knows that as well as I do; the policy of the cabinet at +Versailles and of the papal court at Saint-Germain recoils before no +means; it matters little to them that civil war shall lay waste an +unhappy country provided their plans succeed. I have no need to say +more, my lord." + +"Yes, sir, yes. I desire that you tell me everything; I would see to +what point your credulity has been abused. Explain, sir." + +"The proof that my credulity has not been abused, my lord, is that my +mission has for its end the ruin of the projects of an emissary from +France, who, with or without the co-operation of your grace, may arrive +at any moment at this island." + +"I give you my word of honor, sir, that I am ignorant of the arrival of +this French emissary." + +"I must believe you, my lord. However, certain rumors have caused the +king to think that your grace, forgetting his old resentment against +James Stuart, your uncle, had written to this dethroned king to offer +him his services." + +"James Stuart, being dethroned," said Croustillac, with an accent full +of dignity, "changes entirely the face of things, and I should have been +able to condescend in regard to my uncle to proceedings which my pride +would never have permitted me before." + +"Then, my lord, from your point of view, your resolve would not have +lacked generosity." + +"Doubtless I could perfectly well, without compromitting myself, have +been reconciled to a dethroned king," replied Croustillac courageously; +"but I have not done so; I swear it on the honor of a gentleman." + +"I believe you, your grace." + +"Well, then, your mission has no further object." + +"You understand, my lord, that, in spite of this guarantee, +circumstances may change, and your resolve change with circumstances. +The hope of ascending the throne of England causes one to forget many +promises and to evade many agreements. Far be it from me to wish to +reproach you for the past, but your grace knows what must be sacrificed +when one lays audacious hands upon the crown of three kingdoms." + +"Zounds!" said Croustillac to himself; "it seems that my hand is not +dead, and that I am, clearly, a courageous fellow to be well caged. If I +only knew how all this would end I should be very much amused." + +"The king can never forget, my lord, that you have your own aspirations +to the throne." + +"Ah, well, that is true," cried Croustillac, with an expression of +frankness--"it is true, I do not deny. But what would you have? +ambition, glory, the vigor of youth! But believe me, sir," continued he +with a sigh and speaking in a melancholy tone, "age robs us of all that +and makes us wise; with added years, ambition is extinguished and one +becomes content with very little in one's retreat. Once safely in port, +we can cast a philosophical glance on the storms of passion and +cultivate the paternal lands, if one has such, or at least look upon the +tide of life placidly when about to be swallowed up in the ocean of +eternity. In a word, you understand, sir, that if in our first youth we +have let ourselves go at an audacious pace it does not follow that in +our ripe age we should not realize that all is vanity. I live obscurely +and peacefully in the bosom of my retreat, with a young and lovely +wife; loved by those about me and doing some good. Ah, sir, this is the +only life that I desire; I do not hesitate, then, in confirmation of +these words, to swear to you that I will never raise the slightest +pretension to the throne of England; on the word of a gentleman, I have +not the slightest desire to." + +"Unhappily, my lord, I am not at liberty to take your oath; the king, +alone, could receive it, and accept it if it seemed well to him, as a +sufficient guarantee against fresh troubles. As for me, I have been +ordered to conduct your grace to London, and I must fulfill my orders." + +"You are very persistent, sir. When you have an idea, you keep to it." + +"At whatever cost, my lord, I must carry out the orders given me. You +can see by the perfectly calm interview between us that I do not doubt +the success of my undertaking; your grace fully understands the motives +that influence me; and I do not doubt that you will follow me without +the slightest resistance." + +Croustillac had prolonged this interview as far as he could; he had +decided either to follow the colonel or to tell him the whole truth. He +then said to Rutler, "And suppose, sir, that I consent to follow you +willingly, what will be the order of our march, as they say?" + +"Your grace, though your hands are tied, permit me to offer you my left +arm; I shall hold my dagger in my right hand, ready at any moment to +plunge it into you, in case of a surprise, and we will proceed to your +house." + +"And then, sir?" + +"Once having reached your house, my lord, you will order one of your +slaves at once to direct your negro fishermen to get their boat in +readiness; it will suffice to transport us to Barbadoes. In that place +we will find a man-of-war which awaits us, and on board which, my lord, +you will be transported to London, and placed in the custody of the +governor of the Tower." + +"And you seriously believe, sir, that I will myself give the order to +prepare for my own abduction?" + +"Yes, my lord, and for a very simple reason; your grace will feel the +point of this dagger." + +"Yes, doubtless; you always go back to that, you repeat it often, sir." + +"We Dutchmen have little imagination; what would you have? There is +nothing more churlish than our manner of acting; but to resume, what is +more to the point, this blade of steel will suffice, for if you refuse +to obey my slightest injunction, my lord, I have already said by way of +warning that I shall kill you without mercy." + +"I have also said to you, sir, that your manner of proceeding does not +lack originality; but I have slaves--friends, sir--and you see that, in +spite of your bravery----" + +"My God! your grace, if I kill you it is evident that I shall be killed +in turn, either by your slaves or your familiars, the filibuster or the +buccaneer, or by the French authorities, who would do perfectly right in +shooting me because I come from England, and I have come to this island, +which is considered as a stronghold in time of war." + +"You perceive, then, sir, that my death will not go unpunished?" + +"In accepting this charge I made, in advance, the offering of my life. +All that I desire, my lord, is that you shall no longer be the source of +fear to my master, a source of trouble for England. King William does +not love bloodshed, but he hates civil war. Your perpetual imprisonment +or your death alone can reassure him; choose, then, my lord, between the +dagger or prison; it must be one; you must become my prisoner or my +victim. Moreover, if you were not absolutely in my power I would not say +to you, at the price of my life, what I will now say." + +"Speak, sir." + +"This confidence, while showing you the evil which you can do to +England, my lord, also will show you what interest King William has that +an enemy like yourself should be rendered powerless to act; the +companions of your rebellion, who saw you beheaded before their own +eyes, cherish still for you the dearest memories." + +"Truly? This does not surprise me in them, and it is the more +disinterested in that they all believe that I can never thank them for +it." Then Croustillac said to himself, "It must be that this Dutchman, +who otherwise is reasonable enough, has a craze on this point--a fixed +idea concerning my execution." + +The colonel continued, "Ah, my lord, you pay dearly for your influence." + +"Very dearly, too dearly, sir, if this be so." + +"Why do you wish to deny it, when your enemies remember? when it is +known that your followers cherish portions of your clothing, stained +with your blood, as if holy relics, and each day lament your death? What +would be the result if you should suddenly appear before their eyes? +What enthusiasm would you not arouse? I repeat to you, my lord, it is +because your influence might be fatal in these troublous times, that it +must be neutralized at any cost." + +"To stab a man or imprison him for life is what you call _neutralizing +his influence_," said Croustillac. "Ah, well, this is probably a +political view of it. After all, I understand the distrust that I +inspire you with, for I am an incorrigible conspirator. They cut off my +head before my partisans, believing that thus I will be reformed. Not at +all! instead of taking warning by this paternal admonition, I conspire +still further. It is evident that this ends by making your master +impatient. Ah, well, sir, he is unnecessarily moved; for the last time, +I solemnly declare, before heaven, that I shall conspire no more; he can +rest in peace on his throne, and his crown does not excite in me the +slightest covetousness. Is this plain enough, sir?" + +"Very plain, and well put, my lord; but I must carry out the commands of +the king. When we shall have arrived at your house, I shall have the +honor to transmit to you an autograph letter of His Majesty King +William, which will leave you in no doubt as to the purpose and +authority of the mission with which I am intrusted. Come, my lord, +resign yourself; it is the fortune of war. Beside, if you hesitate, I +can count upon a powerful ally." + +"And that is----" + +"Informed by me of the fate which menaces you, you proceed under the +touch of my dagger." + +"Always his eternal dagger! he is insufferable with his dagger," thought +Croustillac. "He has but one word on his tongue." + +"The duchess," continued Rutler, "would far rather see you a prisoner +than killed; it is well known how she loves you, how devoted she is to +you. She would give her life for you. She will aid, then, I am sure, in +making you face your position wisely. Meanwhile, my lord, choose; either +summon some of your people, if they can hear you, or show me to your +house yourself, for your departure must be hastened." + +It must be said to Croustillac's credit, that, learning that Blue Beard +was the wife of an invisible lord whom she loved passionately, and that +he had been taken for this grand lord, he generously resolved to be of +some use to this young wife by prolonging as far as possible the +mistaken identity of which he was the victim, and to allow himself to be +carried off in place of the unknown duke. Happy at the thought that +Angela would be under a great obligation, the Gascon resigned himself +courageously to submit to all the consequences of the position which he +had accepted, only he did not know in what manner he could leave Devil's +Cliff without the discovery of his stratagem. + +"My lord, I am at your service; it is absolutely imperative that we +depart at once," said the colonel impatiently. + +"It is I who am at your service," replied the chevalier, who viewed with +some disquiet the approach of the critical moment of this interview. + +A brilliant idea struck Croustillac; he saw a means of escaping from +this danger and of saving the mysterious husband of Blue Beard. "Listen, +sir," said the adventurer, assuming an impressive manner. "I give you my +word as a gentleman that I will follow you willingly wherever you lead +me, but I desire that my wife, the duchess, shall not be informed of my +arrest until I have gone." + +"How, my lord, you are willing to thus abandon your wife without telling +her of your sad situation?" + +"Yes, because of reasons known to me alone, and then I would spare +myself farewells, which must always be distressing." + +"My orders concern you alone, my lord," said the colonel; "you are free +to act as seems best to yourself, as far as the duchess is concerned. +Nothing could be easier, it seems to me, than to do what you propose. If +your wife is astonished at your departure, you can plead the imperative +necessity of a journey of some days' duration to St. Pierre. As to my +presence here, you can easily explain that. We will go, and your boat +will take us to the Barbadoes." + +"Doubtless, doubtless," said the embarrassed Gascon, for he saw a number +of dangers in the proposition which the colonel made. "Doubtless my +departure might be easily explained so, but to give my orders to the +negroes, to cause a commotion in the house, would attract my wife's +attention. She is extremely timid and is alarmed at everything. Your +presence here would arouse her suspicions, and they would necessarily +lead up to the painful scene which I would avoid at all cost." + +"But, then, my lord, what shall we do?" + +"There is a sure way, sir; however dangerous may have been the road by +which you have arrived, let us follow it; we will leave the island by +the same method by which you reached it. Once at the Barbadoes I will +inform my wife of my abduction--the cruel abduction which separates me +forever from her; and you will swear to me that she shall not be +disturbed after my departure." + +"Unfortunately, my lord, what you propose is impossible." + +"How is that?" + +"I came by way of the pearl diver's cavern, my lord." + +"Well, can we not leave by the pearl diver's cavern?" + +"Is it possible that you are ignorant, my lord, of the secret +communication which exists between this cavern and the abyss which +surrounds your park?" + +"I am entirely ignorant as to it, but if this communication exists, can +we not use it to leave by?" + +"That is impossible, my lord; no one can enter the cavern except by +allowing the waves to precipitate him to the bottom of a subterranean +lake, after having descended a cataract." + +"And in order to get out of this cavern?" + +"You must ascend a waterfall twenty feet in height." + +"That is too much for me. So, the vessel that brought you to the outside +of this cavern----" + +"Has already left for the Barbadoes, my lord. It could approach this +island in spite of the French cruisers only because this coast is +inaccessible." + +"I thought that this road was impenetrable," said the chevalier, +overcome. + +"If you will believe me, my lord, you will limit yourself to announcing +to madame the duchess that you will be absent for several days only. I +have faith in your word as a gentleman that you will make no attempt to +escape from my hands." + +"I have given you my word, sir." + +"I believe you, my lord, and my dagger answers to me for its +fulfillment." + +"I should have been very much astonished if the dagger had not +reappeared," thought Croustillac. "He trusts implicitly in my word; that +does not prevent his trusting as much to his dagger. Zounds! what +distrust! But that is not what concerns me. What shall I do? The duchess +is not prepared; the slaves will not obey me if I give them orders. It +is no use; behold me at the end of my falsehoods." + +Croustillac had forced himself to become resigned to his assumption. He +regretted sincerely that he was not to be permitted to devote himself +more efficaciously to the service of Blue Beard; for he did not doubt +that his ruse would be discovered the moment he put foot in the house. +He had shortly another apprehension. The Caribbean, seeing Croustillac +return accompanied by a stranger armed to the teeth, would attack the +colonel. Now, the latter had assured the adventurer that at the first +attack he would be compelled to kill him without mercy. + +The chevalier began to find his rôle less diverting and to curse the +stupid curiosity, the imprudent heedlessness which had thrown him into a +position as complicated as it was dangerous. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +The spirit of Croustillac was too mercurial and too adventurous to +remain long under the weight of fear or sadness. He reasoned as follows: +To-day, as heretofore, I have little or nothing to lose; if I decide to +go out from this house, I continue to pass for the duke, and I am +treated like a prince until some one discovers the imposition; then I +shall become big John as heretofore, and I shall have rendered a great +service to this pretty little Blue Beard, who has mocked at me, but who +enchants me, for she interests me more than I wish, more than she merits +perhaps, for, in spite of her love for this invisible husband, she +appears to me madly tender with the buccaneer and that other brute, the +cannibal. Well, what does it matter if it is my caprice to devote myself +to this little woman? I am surely my own master; yes! but if, on the +other hand, I do not leave this place? Suppose the Caribbean mixes +himself in the affair, this would spoil all; it is clear that I shall be +killed like a dog by this thick-headed Belgian. How, then, can I escape +such a catastrophe? Say at once to the man with the dagger that I am not +the duke? This might save me, perhaps, but no! this would be cowardice, +and useless cowardice; for, to prevent my alarming the house, this +beer-drinker would dispatch me at once. Yes, yes, in spite of my word as +a gentleman not to seek to escape, he presses near me. Zounds! this man +with his dagger is absurd! Bah! his dagger! he can only kill me once, +after all. Come, then, courage! courage! Croustillac! and above all do +not deliberate--this brings you sorrow; you never commit greater +stupidities or more tremendous mistakes than when you deliberate. +Commend yourself to your lucky star, shut your eyes, as usual, and go +ahead. + +Reassured by this excellent logic, the chevalier said aloud, "Well, sir, +as we must absolutely pass the house in order to get out of this, let us +go on." + +"Sir," said the colonel, after a moment's reflection, "you have given me +your word as a gentleman not to escape." + +"Yes, sir." + +"But your people will wish to free you?" + +"My life is in your hands, sir; you have my word; I can do no more." + +"That is true, my lord; but then, in your interest, warn your slaves +that the slightest act against me, on their part, will cost your life, +for I have sworn, also, that I will carry you away, dead or living." + +"It will not be my fault, sir, if you do not keep your word; come on." +And the chevalier and the colonel advanced toward the house. + +Rutler held the arm of Croustillac under his left arm, and had his hand +constantly on his dagger; not that he doubted the word of his prisoner, +but the slaves at Devil's Cliff might wish to rescue their master. + +Croustillac and Rutler were not more than a few steps from the house +when from an obscure path a woman advanced dressed in white. The colonel +stopped, pressed firmly the arm of his prisoner, and said aloud, "Who is +this? My lord, warn this woman not to cry out." + +"It is Blue Beard! I am lost; she will scream like a peacock, and all +will be discovered," thought Croustillac. To his great astonishment the +woman paused and did not speak. The Gascon said, "Who is it, then?" + +"Is it so dark that my lord cannot recognize Mirette?" said the +well-known voice of Blue Beard. + +Croustillac was speechless with astonishment. Blue Beard also called him +my lord, and assumed the name of Mirette! "Zounds!" he said to himself, +"I understand nothing, nothing at all; all becomes more and more +obscure; all the same, hold steady and play out the game." + +"Who is this woman?" said the colonel, in a low tone. + +"She is the confidential maid of my wife," responded the chevalier. + +Angela spoke: "My lord, I come to say to your grace that my lady retired +not feeling very well; but she is asleep now." + +"All is in our favor, sir," said the colonel, in a low voice to +Croustillac. "Madame the duchess is asleep; you can depart without her +knowing anything about it." + +Angela, who had approached, said with a frightened manner, and +retreating a few steps, "Heavens! your grace is not alone, then?" + +"My lord," said the colonel, "if she gives a cry it is all over with +you." + +"Do not be afraid, Mirette," said the chevalier; "while you were with my +wife this gentleman arrived; he came from Fort Royal on pressing +business; it is necessary that I should accompany him back." + +"So late, my lord, but you must not think of it! I will go and inform +madame." + +"No! no! I forbid it; but I shall have need at once of the negro +fishermen and their canoe; go and notify them." + +"But, my lord----" + +"Obey." + +"That is not hard; to-morrow morning they fish in the open sea; the +negroes must be nearly ready to go; in order to be before dawn at the +Creek of Caymans, where their boat is moored." + +"My lord, all favors us; you see it; let us go," said the colonel in a +low voice. + +"It is astonishing how Blue Beard anticipates my demands; and how she +facilitates my departure," said Croustillac to himself; "there is +something very strange under this. I was not, perhaps, altogether wrong +in accusing her of magic or necromancy." Then he continued aloud, "You +will go and open the outer gates, Mirette, and tell the blacks to +prepare themselves at once. Well," said Croustillac, seeing the woman +remain motionless, "did you not hear me?" + +"Certainly, my lord, but then your grace is determined----" + +"'My lord! your grace!' you have repeatedly called me this before a +stranger," said the Gascon with a threatening manner, thinking thus to +make a master stroke. "What would happen if this gentleman were not in +the secret?" + +"Oh, I know well that if this stranger is here at this time, it follows +that one may speak before him as before your grace and before madame. +But is it possible, my lord, that you intend to go away?" + +"The little fox wishes to have the air of detaining me in order to +better play her part," thought Croustillac. "But who has informed her? +who has designed this rôle for her so well? Decidedly, there must be +jugglery going on here." + +"But, my lord," continued Mirette, "what shall I say to madame?" + +"You may say to her," said poor Croustillac, with a tenderness which the +colonel attributed to most natural regrets, "you may say to this dear +and good woman not to be afraid, do you hear, Mirette? not to be afraid; +assure her that the short journey I am going to take is absolutely in +her interest; tell her to think sometimes of me." + +"Sometimes, my lord! why madame thinks of you and will think of you +always," replied she, in an agitated voice, for she understood the +hidden sense of Croustillac's words. "Be easy, my lord, madame knows how +you love her, and she never forgets. But you will be here to-morrow, +before she awakens, will you not?" + +"Yes," said Croustillac, "certainly, to-morrow morning. Come, Mirette, +hurry and warn the negro fishermen and open the gates; it is necessary +to leave without delay." + +"Yes, my lord, and at the same time I will bring your sword and your +mantle in the _salon_, because the night is cold in the mountains. Ah! I +had forgotten; here is your _bonbonière_ which you carry always with +you, and which you left in madame's room." So saying, Angela gave Gascon +the box, warmly pressed his hand and left. + +"Heaven be praised, my lord duke, that things are turning out better +than I hoped," said the colonel. "Is the house very far off?" + +"No; after we have climbed this last terrace we shall arrive there." + +At the end of several minutes, Rutler and his captive entered the +drawing room; the chevalier found Angela, who had put on a large veil +and a long cloak which hid her figure; the young woman offered the +chevalier a cloak which she had placed on a sofa. + +"Here are your cloak and sword, my lord," she said to Croustillac, +giving him a magnificent sword. "Now I will go and see if the slaves are +ready." So saying she left the room. + +The sword of which we have spoken was as rich in workmanship as curious +in shape; the hilt was of massive gold; the scabbard enameled with the +coat of arms of England; the hilt bore on it a rampant lion whose head, +surmounted by a royal crown, served as a handle; the belt of great +richness, although worn by frequent use, was of red velvet embroidered +with fine pearls, in the midst of which the letters "C. S." were +reproduced repeatedly. + +Before putting on his sword Croustillac said to the colonel, "I am your +prisoner, sir; may I retain my sword? I repeat my word not to make any +use of it against you." + +Doubtless this historic weapon was known to the colonel, for he replied, +"I knew that this royal sword was in the hands of your grace; I have +been ordered to respect it in case you followed me willingly." + +"I understand," said Croustillac to himself. "Blue Beard continues to +act with consummate cunning. She has decorated me with a part of the +outfit of this mysterious duke, in order to clinch the error of this +Flemish bear. My only regret is not knowing my name. I know, it is true, +that my head was cut off; that is something; but that is not sufficient +to prove my identity, as the lawyers say. Finally this will last as long +as God pleases; once I have turned my back, Blue Beard will, doubtless, +put her husband in some safe place. That is the principal thing. +Meanwhile, let me put on his cloak and my disguise will be complete." + +The mantle was of peculiar cut and was of blue with a kind of cape of +red cloth trimmed with gold lace; it was easy to see that it had been in +use a long time. + +The colonel said to the chevalier, "You are faithful to the memory of +the day at Bridgewater, my lord!" + +"Hum, hum--faithful--here or there; that depends on the disposition in +which I find myself." + +"Nevertheless, my lord," returned the colonel, "I recognize the mantle +of the red troops who fought so gallantly under your orders on that +fatal day." + +"That is what I tell you; whether I am cold or warm, I wear this mantle, +but it is always in commemoration of that battle, when the red troops, +as you say, fought so valiantly under me." The chevalier had placed the +snuff box on the table. He took it up and looked at it mechanically; on +the cover he recognized a very characteristic face which he had several +times seen reproduced in engravings or paintings. After having searched +his memory he remembered that the features were those of Charles II. of +England. + +Rutler said, "My lord, may your grace pardon me for recalling you from +thoughts it is easy to divine on seeing the portrait on that box--but +time is precious." + +Angela entered at this moment and said to Croustillac: "My lord, the +negroes are waiting with torches to light the way." + +"Let us go, sir," said the chevalier, taking his hat from the hands of +the young woman, who said to him in a low voice, "Next to my husband, it +is you whom I love most in the world, for you have saved him." + +The massive doors of Devil's Cliff closed on the chevalier and the +colonel, and they at once started on their road, preceded by four blacks +carrying torches to light the way. + + * * * * * + +While the adventurer left Devil's Cliff as Colonel Rutler's prisoner, we +will introduce the reader into a secret apartment belonging to Blue +Beard. + +This was a large room very simply furnished; here and there, hung on the +walls, were costly arms. Above a couch was a beautiful portrait of King +Charles II. of England; beyond this was a miniature representing a woman +of most enchanting beauty. In an ebony frame were many studies in +crayon, well designed, and representing always the same people. It was +easy to see that they were drawn as portraits from memory. The frame was +supported by a kind of stand in chased silver, representing funeral +symbols, in the midst of which one might read the date, "July 15, 1685." + +This apartment was occupied by a young man in the prime of +manhood--large, supple and robust. His noble proportions recalled +vividly the height and figure of Captain Whirlwind, of the buccaneer +Rend-your-Soul, or of the Caribbean Youmäale. By coloring the fine +features of the man of whom we speak to the copper-colored tint of the +mulatto, the ruddy color of the Caribbean, or by half-concealing them +under the thick black beard of the buccaneer, one could almost see the +three individuals in the same person. + +We will here say to the reader, who has doubtless penetrated this +mystery, that the disguises of the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the +Caribbean, had been successively assumed by the same man, who was none +other than the natural son of Charles II., James, Duke of Monmouth, +_executed_ at London, July 15, 1685, as guilty of high treason. All +historians agree in saying that this prince was very brave, very +affable, and of a very generous nature and a face beautiful and noble. +"Such was the end of a prince," says Hume, in (speaking of Monmouth) +"whose great qualities would have made him an ornament to the court, and +who was capable of serving well his country. The tenderness which his +father, the king, bore for him; the praises of a large faction and the +blind devotion of the populace, drew him into an enterprise beyond his +strength. The love of the people followed him in all the vicissitudes of +fortune; even after his execution, his followers cherished the belief +that they would some day see him at their head." + +We will explain later the cause of this singular hope of the prince's +adherents, and how Monmouth had, in effect, survived his execution. + +Having removed his disguise as the Caribbean, and the dye which stained +his features, Monmouth wore an ample gown of light blue covered with +orange flowers, and read attentively a large number of papers spread +before him. + +In order to explain the mistake of which the chevalier was the voluntary +victim, we must explain that Croustillac, without really resembling +Monmouth, was of the same age, the same height, brown as the other, as +slender, and that the duke had, in common with the Gascon, a nose +decidedly prominent, and a strong chin. Others beside Rutler, a Dutch +officer arrived from the United Provinces in the suite of William of +Orange, would have fallen into the same error, above all, seeing in the +hands of Croustillac certain priceless objects known to have belonged to +the son of Charles II. + +As to the choice of Rutler, one must understand that in order to fulfill +such a mission with all its consequences, it needed a man careful, +fearless, blindly devoted, and capable of pushing that devotion even to +assassination. The choice of William of Orange was necessarily +circumscribed by such exigencies; it would have been probably impossible +for him to have found a man who knew Monmouth personally who would not +have recoiled before such terrible extremities as were entailed in this +perilous and cruel undertaking. + +Monmouth was deeply absorbed in reading several English journals. All at +once the door of his room opened violently, and Angela threw herself on +his neck, crying, "Saved! saved!" + +Then, bursting into tears, laughing and sobbing by turn, kissing his +hands, his forehead, his eyes, she repeated, in a stifled voice, "Saved! +my beloved James! Saved! there is no longer any danger for thee, my +lover, my husband. God be praised, the danger is past! But what terror +has been mine! Alas! I tremble still!" + +Startled by the transports of Angela, Monmouth said to her with infinite +tenderness, "What is the matter, child? What do you say?" + +Without replying to him, Angela cried, "But this is not all; we must +fly, do you understand? King William of England is on our track; +to-morrow we must quit this island. All will be ready; I have given the +order to one of our negro fishermen to go and say to Captain Ralph to +have the Chameleon ready to set sail; it is anchored at Cayman's Creek; +and in two hours we shall have left Martinique." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE BETRAYAL. + + +The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in +agony. "What do you say?" cried he. "King William knows that I am on +this island?" + +"He knows it. One of his emissaries has obtained entrance here this +night. But be calm; he has gone; there is no danger," cried Angela, +seeing Monmouth run to arm himself. + +"But this man--this man?" + +"He has gone, I tell you; the danger is past. Should I be here if not +so? No; you have nothing to fear, at present, at least. But do you know +who has aided me in overcoming this threatening cloud?" + +"No; for mercy's sake explain." + +"It was the poor adventurer whom we have made our butt." + +"Croustillac?" + +"Yes, his presence of mind saved us; God be praised, the danger is +past." + +"Truly, Angela, I believe I am dreaming." + +"Listen to me, then. It was an hour ago, when you left me to read the +papers arrived from England. I went into the garden with the chevalier. +I had a presentiment of our danger and I was sad and thoughtful. I +wished to get rid of our guest as soon as possible, not caring to amuse +myself with him longer. I said to him that I could not explain the +mystery of my three widowhoods; that my hand could belong to no one, and +that he must leave the house at break of day. Our object was thus +accomplished. The Gascon, by his exaggerated tales of what he had seen, +will give more credence still to the stories which have been circulated +during the past three years on the island, absurd stories but useful, +and which until now alas! have been our safeguards by so confusing +events that it has been impossible to separate the true from the false." + +"Doubtless, but through what fatality this mystery? Tell me!" + +"Having informed the chevalier that he could no longer remain here, I +told him that we wished, nevertheless, to give him a valuable token of +his sojourn at Devil's Cliff. To my great surprise he refused with a +manner so painfully humiliated that I pitied him. Knowing how poor he +was, and wishing, for the very reason that he showed some delicacy, to +oblige him to accept a present, I came here to seek a medallion +surrounded by diamonds on which was my monogram, hoping that the +chevalier would not refuse that. I returned carrying this token, when in +approaching the inclosure where I had left him, at the end of the park, +near the fountain--Ah! my love, I tremble still!" And the young woman +threw her two arms around James' neck, as if she would protect him +against this past danger. + +"Angela, I beg of you, calm yourself," said Monmouth tenderly. "Finish +your story." + +"Ah, well," she continued, "when I approached the fountain I heard +voices; frightened, I listened." + +"It was this emissary, I presume?" + +"Yes, my beloved." + +"But how had he effected an entrance? How did he leave? How did he +confide his designs to the Gascon?" + +"He mistook the chevalier for you!" + +"He mistook the chevalier for me?" cried Monmouth. + +"Yes, James. Doubtless he was deceived by the resemblance in figure, and +by the suit that the Gascon wore, and which you had had made, in order +to satisfy one of my caprices in dressing yourself like the portrait of +which you have told me." + +"Oh," said Monmouth, passing his hand across his forehead, "Oh! you do +not realize the terrible memories that all this awakens in me." + +Then, after having heaved a deep sigh and looking sadly at the ebony +frame encrusted with silver containing the drawing of a portrait, the +duke resumed: "But what was the result of this strange encounter? What +did the chevalier say? What did _you_ do? Truly, if your presence and +your words did not assure me, I should go myself----" + +Angela interrupted the duke. "Again, my beloved James, should I be so +calm if there was anything to fear at this hour?" + +"Very well. I hear you, but you can understand my impatience." + +"You shall not be in doubt long. From the few words I overheard I +divined that the chevalier, leaving our enemy in error, did not know how +to get him out of the place, fearing he would not be obeyed by our +servants. Counting, with reason, on the Gascon's intelligence, I +presented myself to him at the moment when he approached the house, +taking care to warn him, indirectly, that he must take me for Mirette. +Having seen that the emissary of King William, believing he was +addressing you, called him 'my lord duke' or 'my lord,' I called him so +also; I caused the doors to be opened, and, in order to complete the +illusion, I gave the Gascon your sword, your enameled snuff box, and the +old cloak to which you are so attached." + +"Ah! What have you done, Angela?" cried the duke, "my father's sword, +the snuff box my mother gave me, and the cloak which belonged to the +most saintly, the most admirable martyr who ever sacrificed himself to +friendship." + +"James, my love, pardon. I thought I was doing for the best," cried +Angela, overcome by the expression of bitterness and chagrin which she +read in the features of James. + +"Poor beloved angel," replied Monmouth, taking her hands in his, "I do +not reproach you, but I have so great a respect for these holy relics +that it grieves me to see them profaned by a falsehood, even of a few +moments' duration. I repeat, you do not know the terrible memories which +are attached to the cloak. Alas! I have not told you all!" + +"You have not told me all?" said Angela in surprise. "When you came to +seek me in France in the name of my second father, my benefactor, dead +on the field of battle," and Angela sighed sorrowfully, "did you not +offer to share your life with me, poor orphan that I was, did you not +say that you loved me? what matters the rest? If it did not concern your +well-being, your life, should I ever have dreamed of speaking to you of +your condition, of your birth? I married you proscribed, flying from the +furious hate of your enemies. We have escaped many dangers, evaded many +suspicions, thanks to my pretended marriages, and your various +disguises. Then, what can you have hidden from me? If it is some new +danger, James, my beloved husband, my lover, I will never forgive you, +for I must partake all with you, good or bad fortune. Your life is my +life; your enemies my enemies. Although this attempt happily failed, now +that they know your retreat, they will continue to seek you with +increased malignity. You must fly. In two hours the Chameleon will be +ready to set sail." + +Deeply occupied with his thoughts, Monmouth had not heard Angela. He +walked up and down with long strides, repeating to himself, "There is no +doubt, they know I am living; but how has William of Orange penetrated +this secret which was known only to Father Griffen and myself, because +the holy martyr who carried this secret to the tomb, and De Crussol, +last governor of this island, are dead. When I think that for greater +safety I have concealed my real name from my devoted and adored wife, +who then can have betrayed me? Father Griffen is incapable of such +sacrilege; for it is under the seal of the confessional that the +governor made the revelation to him." + +After some minutes of silent thought the duke said, "And what means did +the chevalier employ to discover the designs of the emissary of William +of Orange?" + +"His designs, my love, were not concealed; I heard them; he wished to +carry you away, dead or alive, to the Tower of London." + +"Without doubt. Since the Revolution of 1688 they fear that I may become +reconciled to the dethroned king; the public prints even announce that +my old partisans are moving," said Monmouth, speaking to himself. "I +recognize there the policy of my old friend William of Orange. But by +what right does he suspect me capable of ambitious designs? Again, who +has aroused in William these unjust suspicions, these ill-founded +fears?" + +After another silence he said to Angela, "God be praised, my child, the +storm is past; thanks to thee; thanks to this brave adventurer! +Nevertheless I am not sure if, in spite of the devotion which he has +shown on this occasion, I can confide to him a part of the truth; +perhaps it would be wiser to have him in ignorance and to persuade him +that the emissary had been misled by false information. What do you +think, Angela? Dare I appear to the chevalier under any other form than +that of Youmäale, or shall I charge you to-night to see and thank this +brave man? As to recompense, we will find a way to do that without +wounding his delicacy." + +Angela looked at her husband with growing astonishment. Monmouth had not +understood her; he thought that the Gascon had succeeded in removing +this emissary of William of Orange from Devil's Cliff; he did not know +he had accompanied him as a prisoner. + +"I do not know when the chevalier will return. He will doubtless make +this mistake last as long as possible in order to give us time to +escape." + +"The chevalier is no longer here, then?" cried the duke. + +"No, he has gone as a prisoner, under your name, with this man. Our +negro fishermen accompany them to the Cayman's Creek, where the emissary +will embark for the Barbadoes in one of our boats with the chevalier." + +The duke could hardly believe what he heard. "Gone under my name!" cried +he. "But this emissary, discovering his mistake, will be capable of +killing the chevalier. By heavens! I cannot allow that! Too much blood, +oh my God! has already been spilled for me." + +"Blood! oh, do not fear that; the chevalier will run no danger. In spite +of my desire to avert the danger that threatened from ourselves, I would +never have exposed this generous man to certain destruction." + +"But, unhappy woman," cried the duke, "you do not know the terrible +importance of the secret of state which the chevalier is now possessed +of?" + +"My God! what do you mean?" + +"They are capable of killing him." + +"Oh, what have I done? Where are you going?" cried the young wife, +seeing the duke preparing to leave the room. + +"I am going to join them and save this unfortunate man. I will take some +blacks with me. The Gascon has hardly an hour's advance of me." + +"James, I implore you, do not expose yourself." + +"What! cowardly abandon this man who has devoted himself to me? I give +him up to the resentment of William's emissary? never! Ah, you do not +know, unhappy child, that certain sacrifices impose on one gratitude as +dolorous as remorse. Go, I pray you, tell Mirette to order some slaves +to be in readiness to follow me at once. Thanks to the tide, the +chevalier cannot put to sea before daybreak, I can then overtake him." + +"But this emissary is capable of anything! if he sees you come to the +aid of the chevalier, he will understand, perhaps, and then----" + +"That it is not James of Monmouth, but the mulatto filibuster, who is on +his track. Beside, I have faced other dangers than these, I believe." + +So saying, the duke entered a small room connected with his apartments. +There he found all that was necessary for his disguise. Left alone, +Angela gave herself up to the most cruel regrets. She had not supposed +that the consequences of the mistake into which the Gascon had led +Rutler could be so fatal. She feared also that Monmouth would be +recognized in spite of his disguise. In the midst of her distress she +heard a sudden violent knock at the outer door of the apartment where +she was, apparently rigorously closed to all the servants in the house. + +Angela ran to this door and saw Mirette. The mulattress, with a +frightened air, said to Angela that Father Griffen sent an imperative +request to enter, having the most important matters to confide to her. + +The order was given to admit him at once into the reception hall on the +ground floor. At the same moment Monmouth came out of his room +completely disguised as the mulatto filibuster. + +"My love," said Angela, when the maid had gone, "Father Griffen has just +arrived, he has things of the utmost importance to say to us. In the +name of heaven, wait and speak to him." + +"Father Griffen!" exclaimed the duke. + +"You know he never comes here unless circumstances of the gravest +importance brings him. I beg you see him," said Angela. + +"I must; but each minute of delay may risk the life of this unhappy +chevalier," said the duke. + +He descended with Angela. Father Griffen, pale, agitated, broken with +fatigue, was in the hall. + +"In fifteen minutes they will be here," he cried. + +"Who, then, Father," said Monmouth. + +"That miserable Gascon," said the priest. + +"Oh, James! everything is discovered; you are lost!" said Angela, +uttering a cry of despair; and she threw herself into the arms of +Monmouth. "Fly; there is still time." + +"Fly, and where? there is but one road to Devil's Cliff, and from it. I +tell you that they follow me," said the priest; "but be calm, nothing is +hopeless." + +"Explain yourself, Father, what is it? In mercy speak, speak!" said +Angela. + +"Father, you alone knew my secret; I would rather believe the impossible +than doubt your sacred word," said the duke gravely. + +"And you are right not to doubt it, my son. There is some unaccountable +mystery, which will come to light some day, believe me; but the minutes +are too precious to seek now for the cause of the misfortune which +menaces you. I hurried to you, then I have not betrayed you. Let us +think of what is most pressing. Under this disguise it is impossible +that you should be recognized," said the priest. "But that is not all; +your situation has become almost inextricable." + +"What do you say?" + +"This Gascon is a traitor; a scoundrel. May God pardon me for having +been so deceived in him and having made you partake of my error. Cursed +be the hypocrite." + +"On the contrary," said Angela, "he is the most generous of men; he has +voluntarily devoted himself for my husband." + +"Yes, he has assumed your name," said the priest to the prince, "but do +you know for what vile purpose?" + +"Tell me, oh, tell me! I am dying of fear," cried Angela. + +"Listen, then," said the priest, "for the moments fly and the danger +approaches. This morning I received at Macouba a letter from Captain +Morris, of Fort Royal, in compliance with the order he had received from +you to warn me of all arrivals of vessels and of those whose appearance +seemed unusual. He sent me a special message to inform me that a French +frigate had dropped anchor in sight of the harbor, after having sent an +unknown passenger ashore. This person, after a long conference with the +governor, started at the head of an escort in the direction of Devil's +Cliff. In fact, he comes here." + +"An agent of France," said Monmouth; "what have I to fear at present, +even if my secret was known at Versailles? Is not France at war with +England?" + +"My God! my God! have pity on us!" cried Angela. + +"Listen! I started with all haste," continued the priest, "in order to +warn you, hoping to arrive before this man and his escort, in case he +was really coming here, and, unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, +joined him at the foot of the cliff. He recognized my robe; he said to +me that he was sent by the King of France; that he came to fulfill a +mission of state, and he begged me to be his guide and to introduce him, +because I knew the dwellers in this house. I could not refuse to do this +without arousing suspicions. I remained near him. He told me his name +was De Chemerant. He began to ask me some very embarrassing questions as +to you and your wife, my lord, when all at once, at some distance, we +heard a loud voice cry, 'Who goes there?' 'An agent of France,' replied +De Chemerant. 'Treason!' continued the voice, and a dull groan reached +us with these words, 'I am killed!' 'To arms!' cried De Chemerant, +taking his sword in hand, and running after two of our sailors who +served as guides. I followed him. We found the Gascon stretched on the +side of the road, four blacks kneeling, petrified with fear, while our +two sailors had thrown on the ground, and held there with difficulty, a +strong man clothed like a mariner." + +"And the chevalier?" exclaimed Monmouth, "was he wounded?" + +"No, sir; and although this is a very wicked man, we must return thanks +to heaven for the wonderful chance which saved him. The man dressed as a +mariner, hearing the noise of our escort, and the words of De Chemerant, +who had responded 'Agent of the King of France,' believed himself +betrayed, and led into ambush; he had then given the Gascon such a +furious blow with his dagger that the unhappy adventurer would have been +killed if the blade had not broken on his shoulder-belt. Nevertheless, +thrown down by the violence of the shock, he fell to the ground, +exclaiming, 'I am killed,' and remained motionless. It was at this +moment we reached the group. Seeing us the assassin of the Gascon cried +with a ferocious laugh as he kicked the body of what he supposed his +victim, 'Mr. Agent of France, your designs have been unmasked, they are +frustrated. You have come to seek James, Duke of Monmouth, in order to +raise a standard for sedition; the standard is broken; take up the +corpse, sir. It is I, Rutler, colonel in the service of King William, +whom God preserve, who has committed this murder.'" + +"'Unhappy man,' exclaimed De Chemerant. + +"'I glory in this murder,' replied the colonel. 'Thus have I foiled the +odious projects of the enemies of my master, the king; thanks to me, the +sword of Charles II., which James of Monmouth carried at his side, will +no more be drawn against England.' + +"'Colonel, you will be shot in twenty-four hours,' said De Chemerant. 'I +know my fate,' replied the colonel; 'a traitor is dead. Long live the +King of England.'" + +"But the chevalier?" asked the duke. + +"When he heard these words of Rutler's he made a slight movement, and +heaved a sigh; and while some of the escort held the colonel, who yelled +with rage at seeing that his victim was not dead, De Chemerant hurried +to reach the Gascon, to whom he said, 'My lord, are you dangerously +wounded?' I understood at once, without knowing why, that the chevalier +was playing a rôle and had assumed your name; this error would serve +you--I held my tongue. 'The blow had struck the belt of my father's +sword,' said the rascal, in a faint voice as they raised him. 'My lord +duke, lean on me,' replied De Chemerant, 'I come to you in the name of +the King of France, my master. Mystery is now unnecessary. In two words +I will tell you, sir, the object of my mission, and you can then judge +whether or not you will return as quickly as possible to Fort Royal to +embark with us.' 'I hear you, sir,' said the chevalier, feigning a +slight English accent, doubtless to better play his part. Then at the +end of several moments of thought, the Gascon said in a loud voice, 'If +this be so, sir, I cannot be separated from my wife, and I desire to go +and seek her at Devil's Cliff. She will accompany me; such is the +destiny which is reserved for me.'" + +"The wretch!" exclaimed Angela. + +"Then he continued," said the priest, "'I feel giddy from my fall; I +will rest here a moment.' 'That shall be as you wish, my lord,' said De +Chemerant. Then, turning to me, 'Will you be so good, Father, as to go +and announce to Madame the Duchess of Monmouth that the duke will come +to seek her to take her away; and request that she make hasty +preparations, for we must be at Fort Royal at daybreak and set sail the +same morning.' Now," said the priest to Monmouth, "do you understand the +plan of this traitor? He abuses the name that he has taken in order to +carry off your wife, and you will be compelled either to declare who you +are, or to consent to the departure of madame the duchess." + +"Rather a thousand times death!" cried Angela. + +"Cursed be the Gascon!" said the priest; "I believed him but a sot and +an adventurer, and he is a monster of hypocrisy." + +"Do not let us despair," said Angela suddenly. "Father, will you return +to the outer buildings and order Mirette to open the door to the Gascon +and the French agent when they come. I will take care of the rest." + + + + +PART THIRD. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE VICEROY OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. + + +While the Duke of Monmouth and his wife, informed by Father Griffen of +the infamous treachery of Croustillac, were seeking to escape this new +danger, we will return to the adventurer, who, carelessly leaning on the +arm of De Chemerant, climbed the steep ascent of Devil's Cliff. + +Colonel Rutler, furious at having been thwarted in his attempt, was led +away by a guard of two soldiers. + +Chemerant did not know Croustillac; not having the slightest doubt as to +the identity of the Gascon with the Duke of Monmouth, the action and +words of Rutler confirmed his error. In the colonel's possession was +found an order from William of Orange for the capture of James, Duke of +Monmouth. What doubt could he then have when the emissary of King +William recognized Croustillac as the duke, so fully that he was ready +to pay with his life for his attempt to assassinate this pretended +prince. + +Seeing the new aspect this adventure was taking, Croustillac felt the +necessity of being more guarded, so as to complete the illusion which he +desired in order to accomplish his own ends. + +He at least knew, now, the name of the person whom he represented and to +what country he belonged. These points, however, were not very useful to +the adventurer as yet, for he was absolutely ignorant as to +contemporaneous history; but at any rate, the knowledge that the man he +personated was English led him to endeavor to modify his Gascon +pronunciation, and he gave it an English accent so strange that De +Chemerant was far from suspecting that he spoke with a Frenchman. + +Croustillac, in order not to compromise the part he was playing, deemed +it wisest to maintain an extreme reserve; De Chemerant was not +surprised; he knew the reserved character of the English. + +Some words which were exchanged by the two persons who walked at the +head of the escort will give an idea of the new and embarrassing +position of the chevalier. + +"When we arrive at your house, sir," said De Chemerant, "I shall +communicate to you the full powers which his majesty has charged me to +place before the eyes of your highness." + +"Highness--the devil!" thought Croustillac: "this man pleases me better +than the other; beside subjecting me to the inconvenience of his +everlasting dagger, he called me only my lord or your grace, while this +one calls me highness. This is progressive. I go on. I touch the +throne." + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I shall also have the honor to hand to +you, sir, a number of letters from England which will prove to you that +the moment was never more favorable for an insurrection." + +"I know it," said the Gascon, with effrontery, remembering that this was +what Rutler had said to him; "I know it, sir; my partisans are acting, +and bestirring themselves greatly." + +"Your highness is better informed of affairs in Europe than I had +thought." + +"I have never lost sight of them, sir, never." + +"Your highness fills me with joy in speaking thus. It depends on you to +assure to yourself the brilliant position which is your due, and which +you will acquire if you obtain a decisive advantage." + +"And how, sir?" + +"By putting yourself at the head of the partisans of your royal uncle, +James Stuart; forgetting the dissensions which have heretofore separated +you, for the king no longer desires to see in you other than his worthy +nephew." + +"And, between us, he is right; it is always necessary to turn to one's +family. My God, if each one puts in a little of his own, it will end by +arranging itself." + +"Thus, your highness, King James gives you a mark of the highest +confidence in intrusting to you the defense of his rights and those of +his young son."[A] + + {[A] The Pretender, born in 1688.} + +"My uncle is dethroned; he is unhappy; this makes me overlook much," +said Croustillac gravely. "I will not betray his hopes. I will devote +myself to the defense of his rights and those of his young son, if the +circumstances permit." + +"Your highness need not have the slightest doubt as to the opportunity +to do so when you will have heard, in this respect, the large number of +your old companions at arms; of your most enthusiastic followers." + +"In fact, they, better than any one, will be able to give certain +information, but alas! before I can see them, these brave men, these +loyal and faithful men, much time must, unhappily, elapse." + +"I am going to give your highness a very delightful surprise." + +"A surprise?" + +"Yes, your highness. Several of your partisans, having learned by what +happy occurrence the life of your highness has been preserved, have +asked permission of the king to accompany me here." + +"To accompany you?" cried the chevalier. "And where are they, then?" + +"They are here, aboard the frigate which brought me, your highness." + +"Aboard your frigate!" exclaimed Croustillac, with an expression of +surprise that De Chemerant interpreted in a very favorable manner to +affectionate memories of the chevalier. + +"Yes, your highness. I understand your astonishment, your happiness, +your joy in the prospect of shortly seeing your old companions-in-arms." + +"You have not the slightest idea of the impatience with which I await +the moment when I shall again see them, sir," said Croustillac. + +"And their conduct justifies your eagerness, your highness; they will +bring you the loyalty of all your English friends; and they will very +soon put you in touch with the affairs of that country. Who can better +inform you on these subjects than Dudley and Rothsay?" + +"Ah! that dear Rothsay, has he also come?" said the Gascon with an easy +manner. + +"Yes, your highness, but he is suffering so from his old wounds that he +can hardly walk, still he said, 'It is no matter if I die--if I die at +the feet of our duke,' for it is thus they speak of you in the +familiarity of their devotion." + +"The poor Rothsay, always the same!" said Croustillac, passing his hand +across his eyes, with a touching air. "The dear friends." + +"And Lord Mortimer, then, your highness; he is as if mad. If it were not +for the king's orders, which were of the strictest, it would have been +impossible to have prevented his coming on shore with me." + +"Mortimer also--brave Mortimer!" + +"And Lord Dudley, your highness." + +"Lord Dudley is as wild as the others, I wager?" + +"He threatened to swim ashore as the captain had refused to give him a +boat." + +"Such a friend is a true spaniel for fidelity and love of the water!" +thought Croustillac, very much embarrassed. + +"Ah, your highness, and to-morrow?" + +"Well, what of to-morrow?" + +"What a great day it will be for your highness." + +"Yes, superb." + +"Ah, your highness, what a touching scene! what a moment for you and for +those who are so devoted to you. Happy indeed are the princes who find +such friends in adversity." + +"Yes it will be a very touching interview," said Croustillac aloud; then +he continued, inaudibly, "To the devil with this animal of a Mortimer +and his companions! _Peste!_ these are very stupid friends; what fly is +stinging them? They will recognize me, and I shall be lost, now that I +know De Chemerant's state secret." + +"The presence of those valiant nobles," replied De Chemerant, "has yet +another object. Your highness ought not to be ignorant of it?" + +"Speak, sir; they seem to me to have excellent ideas, these dear +friends." + +"Knowing your courage, your resolution, sir, the king, my master, and +the king, your uncle, have ordered me to make you an overture which you +cannot fail to accept." + +"What is it, sir? this begins excellently." + +"Not only are your most courageous partisans on board the frigate, which +is at anchor, sir, but the ship is filled with arms and ammunition. +Sentinels have been stationed on the coast of Cornwall; the whole +country awaits only a signal to rise in your favor. It but remains for +your highness to disembark at the head of your partisans, and give the +people the necessary arms. The movement will spread even to London, the +usurper will be driven from the throne, and you will restore the crown +to the king, your uncle." + +"I will do it, by the gods! I am capable of that. Of a surety here is a +magnificent project, but there must be contrary chances, and above all, +I must be careful, very careful of the lives of my partisans and of the +safety of my uncle's subjects." + +"I recognize the habitual generosity of the character of your highness; +but there are hardly any contrary chances to fear; all is ready, loyalty +prevails. You will be received with enthusiasm. The remembrance of you +is so lasting, they say, so ever present to the people of London, that +they have never believed in your execution, sir, not even those who were +present. Live, then, for this noble country which has so deeply mourned +you, and which awaits your coming as they await the day of their +deliverance." + +"Come! he also," thought Croustillac; "he thinks that I have been +executed; but this man is more reasonable than the other, who wished to +kill me in the name of the regrets that my death had caused; at least, +this one desires me to live in the name of these same regrets, and I +prefer this." + +"In a word, sir, set sail from Martinique for the coast of Cornwall, and +if, as all believe, the English people rise at the sound of your name, +my master, the king, will support this insurrection with his strong +forces, and make the movement a success." + +"Ah! ah! I see, my good fellow, I see. Although I am not a political +end," said the Gascon to himself, "in my humble opinion I understand +that the king, your master and mine, wishes to make use of me as a +forlorn hope. If I succeed, he will support me; if I do not, he will +leave me to be captured. All the same this tempts me; my ambition +awakens. To the devil with the Mortimers, the Rothsays, and my other mad +friends! Without these rogues I shall be curious to see Polyphème de +Croustillac revolutionizing Cornwall, driving William of Orange from the +throne of England, and generously restoring this same throne to King +James. Without being tempted to seat myself upon it--hum, perhaps I +shall seat myself a little, to see--there, there, Polyphème, no more of +that! give the throne to the old man, Polyphème, restore him his throne. +So be it, I will give it to him, but decidedly, for some time, very +strange things have happened to me, and the Unicorn which brought me +here must be an enchanted vessel." The chevalier then spoke, with a +thoughtful air: "This is a very serious thing, at least, sir; there is +much to be said for, and also much against it. I am far from wishing to +temporize too long, but it would be, I think, wisdom to consider more +fully before giving the signal for this uprising." + +"Your highness, permit me to say to you that the conditions are +pressing; action necessary; the secret projects of the king, my master, +have been betrayed. William of Orange has deputed Colonel Rutler to +carry you off, living or dead, so much does he fear to see you the +leader of an insurrection. Sir, we must strike a quick, decisive blow, +such as a sudden disembarkment on the coasts of Cornwall. I repeat, this +expedition made in the name of King James will be received with +enthusiasm and the all-powerful influence of Louis XIV., will +consolidate the revolution you will have so gloriously begun; and, +thanks to you, the rightful King of Great Britain will once more ascend +his throne." + +"This seems to me assured, if my side has the advantage." + +"It will have, sir, it will have!" + +"Yes, unless it is defeated, and then if I am killed, this time it will +be without pardon. It is not through unworthy egotism that I make this +reflection, sir; you can understand that, after the antecedents which +they attribute to me, I must be thoroughly accustomed to being dead, but +I would not leave my party orphaned; and then, consider, sir!--to plunge +this country once more into the horrors of civil war! Ah!" and +Croustillac heaved a sigh. + +"Doubtless, sir, this is a sad thought; but to these passing troubles +would succeed a most profound calm. Doubtless, war has fatal chances, +but it has, also, happy ones; and then, what a future awaits you! The +letters I bring you will show you that the viceroyship of Ireland and +Scotland is reserved for you, without counting other favors which are +likewise reserved for you and my master, and James Stuart, your uncle, +when he is once more on the throne which he will owe to you." + +"_Peste!_ Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland!" said Croustillac to himself. +"With this, husband of Blue Beard, and, in the bargain, son and nephew +of a king, ah Croustillac, Croustillac, I have well said thy star is in +the ascendent--it would be too bad that this should be for another. Come +on, while it lasts!" + +Monsieur de Chemerant, seeing the chevalier's hesitation, made use of a +more powerful means of forcing him to act conformably to the wishes of +the two kings, and said to him, "There remains, your highness, a last +communication to make you, and, painful as it is, I must obey my +master's orders." + +"Speak, sir." + +"It is almost out of the question to refuse to put yourself at the head +of the uprising, your highness; your ships are burned!" + +"My ships burned?" + +"Yes, your highness, that is, figuratively." + +"Very well, sir, I understand, the king would compel me to act as he +desires?" + +"Your habitual keensightedness does not allow you to be deceived, your +highness. In case you do not believe it your duty to follow the +pressing counsel of my master, the king, in case you thus show his +majesty King James that you are unwilling to make him forget these sad +and annoying memories, in devoting yourself to his cause, as he had +hoped----" + +"Well, sir," said the adventurer, becoming cautious, believing he was +going to see, as is said, the reverse side of the medal. + +"Well, your highness, the king, my master, for pressing reasons of +state, in such a case would see himself, with much regret, obliged to +possess himself of your person. That is why I have an escort with me." + +"Sir! violence?" + +"Unfortunately, your highness, my orders are explicit. But I am sure +your highness will not put me to the hard necessity of carrying them +out." + +This menace caused Croustillac to reflect. + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I must add, sir, that prudence demands +(seeing your execution has taken place) that your features should be +henceforth concealed, and your face must be covered with a mask that +will never be removed. In fact, in compliance with the orders of his +majesty, I shall have the honor of conducting you, sir, at once to the +Saint Margaret Islands, where you will remain henceforth a prisoner. I +leave to you to imagine the regrets of your partisans, who have come so +far in the hope of seeing you once more at their head." + +After remaining for a long time in the attitude of a man who was +thinking deeply and who struggled inwardly against many conflicting +thoughts, Croustillac raised his head proudly, and said to De Chemerant, +in a dignified manner, "Upon reflection, sir, I will accept the +viceroyship of Ireland and Scotland, you have my word. However do not +think that fear of a perpetual prison forces me thus to act. No, sir, +no; but after mature reflection, I am convinced that I would be culpable +not to yield to the wishes of an oppressed people, who are stretching +out their arms to me, and not to draw my sword for their defense," said +the adventurer with a heroic air. + +"If that is so, your highness," cried De Chemerant, "long live King +James and his Royal Highness the Duke of Monmouth. Long live the +Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland." + +"I accept the augury," gravely replied the chevalier, while he said to +himself, "Devil of a man! with his sweet manner, I do not know if I do +not like the other better in spite of his eternal dagger. This is a +difficult choice. To go with the Dutchman a prisoner to London Tower, +that was not difficult; while now my rôle is complicated and becomes +diabolical, thanks to my mad friends who like vultures are awaiting me +on board the frigate. To-morrow, I dare say, all will be discovered. And +Blue Beard? But I who believed I had made a master stroke in coming to +seek her at Devil's Cliff? What will happen from all this? Bah! after +all, what can happen me? Taken prisoner? or hanged? Prisoner?--that +gives me a future. Hanged?--it is a trifle, the dropping of an eyelid, a +gasp. Come, come, Croustillac! no cowardice! console yourself by mocking +at these men, and amuse yourself with the strange adventures the devil +sends you! It is all the same, cursed be my partisans! except for them +all would go well. Let us see if there is not some way of sending them +to love me--elsewhere." + +"Tell me, sir," said he, aloud, "are my followers on board many?" + +"Your highness, there are eleven." + +"That must incommode you; they must be uncomfortable themselves." + +"They are soldiers, your highness, they are accustomed to the rough life +of a camp; beside, the end which they propose to attain is so important, +so glorious, that they do not dream of privations which the sight of +your highness will make them quickly forget." + +"It is all the same--is there not a means of finding a place elsewhere? +sending them to another vessel would be infinitely better, that I and my +wife may accommodate ourselves on the frigate? And then, for reasons +known to myself, I shall not discover myself to these dear and good +friends until the moment arrives to disembark in England." + +"That is impossible! to be on the same vessel with you, your friends +will sleep on deck in their clothes." + +"It is terrible to inspire such devotion," said Croustillac to himself. +"Then think no more of it," said he aloud. "I shall be very sorry to +thwart such faithful partisans. But what accommodations have you for +myself and wife?" + +"They will be very plain, sir, but your highness will deign to be +indulgent in recognizing the imperative necessity of the case. Beside, +the well-known attachment of your highness for the duchess," replied De +Chemerant, smiling, "will make you, I am sure, excuse the smallness of +the apartment, which is none other than the captain's cabin." + +The adventurer could not prevent a smile in return, and answered, "The +room, sir, will be sufficient." + +"Then, your highness, you have fully decided that you will bring madame +with you?" + +"More than ever, sir; when I was the prisoner of Colonel Rutler, when I +was destined to perish, perhaps, I left her ignorant of my peril, and +abandoned her without warning her of the fate that awaited me." + +"So the duchess is ignorant----" + +"Of everything, sir; the poor woman is ignorant of everything. Surprised +by Colonel Rutler, while she was asleep, I left word in quitting Devil's +Cliff, that my absence would extend over but a day or two. But +circumstances have suddenly changed. There are no more dangers that I am +going to run. I know my wife, sir; glory and danger, she would partake +all. In going to seek her, to carry her away with me, I am furthering +her dearest wish." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE ARREST. + + +Monsieur de Chemerant and Croustillac walked on in silence for some +little time toward Devil's Cliff. Meanwhile the guard reached the +heights of the rocks. From this spot were discerned at a distance the +platform and the wall of the park surrounding Blue Beard's home. + +At the sight of this species of fortification De Chemerant said to the +chevalier, "This retreat is well chosen, your highness, to keep at a +distance curious persons; to say nothing of the fact that the reports +that you have caused to be made by the three fellows in your service, +are not such as to encourage many visitors." + +"You allude, I presume, to the buccaneer, the filibuster and the +Caribbean?" + +"Yes, your highness, it is said that they are devoted to you, for life +and death." + +"They are singularly attached to me. Nevertheless," said Croustillac to +himself, "I do not yet know what right these three miscreants have to an +intimacy with the duchess, nor how, in fact, her husband, the Duke of +Monmouth, can permit such bandits to be so very familiar with his +wife--speaking tenderly to her and embracing her. The Caribbean, above +all, with his grave air like a donkey that one has curried--he has above +all the faculty of setting my nerves on edge. And then, how can the duke +permit these familiarities? Doubtless it is to mislead people. It saves +appearances. But, zounds! it seems to me that this misleads a little too +much. Ah, Croustillac, Croustillac! you are becoming more and more in +love, my friend; it is jealousy you feel for these bandits. Ah, well, I +shall unravel this mystery shortly. Meanwhile, I must endeavor to learn +how it was discovered that the prince was hidden at Devil's Cliff." +"Sir," continued Croustillac aloud, "I desire to ask you a very +important question." + +"I am all attention, your highness." + +"If you are permitted to answer this, tell me how it became known at +Versailles that I was hidden in Martinique?" + +After a moment's silence De Chemerant replied, "In telling you what you +wish to know, your highness, I do not in any way betray a state secret. +Neither the king nor his ministers have confided to me anything on this +point. It is entirely due to a circumstance which it would take too long +to tell you now, that I had discovered that of which they thought I was +in ignorance. I can, however, count upon your silence on this subject, +your highness." + +"You may be sure of that, sir." + +"Then, I believe, your highness, that the late Governor of Martinique, +the late Chevalier de Crussol, had known you in Holland, where he owed +his life to you. At the battle of Saint Denis, where you commanded a +Scotch regiment in the army of the stadtholder, while the Chevalier de +Crussol served in the army of the Marshal Luxembourg----" + +"This is true in every particular," said Croustillac imperturbably. +"Proceed." + +"I believe, also, your highness, that the late Chevalier de Crussol +having been, by a combination of events, chosen governor of this colony, +and, having believed it his duty to inquire into the mysterious +existence of a young widow called Blue Beard, went to Devil's Cliff, +entirely ignorant of the fact that you had found refuge there." + +"That also is true, sir; you see I am frank," said Croustillac, charmed +at penetrating, little by little, this mystery. + +"Finally, it appears certain that Chevalier de Crussol, recognizing in +you the prince who had saved his life, swore to you that he would guard +your secret----" + +"He swore it, sir, and if anything surprises me on the part of so +gallant a man, it is that he failed to keep his word," said the Gascon +severely. + +"Do not be too hasty in accusing Chevalier de Crussol, your highness." + +"I will reserve my judgment, then." + +"You know, your highness, there were few men more religiously inclined +than De Crussol?" + +"His piety was proverbial; it is that fact which so surprises me at his +failure to keep his word." + +"When dying, your highness, Chevalier de Crussol felt it a point of +conscience that he had not made known to his master, the king, a state +secret of such importance. He therefore confessed the truth to Father +Griffen." + +"I know all that, sir; go on," said Croustillac, who did not desire that +the devouring curiosity with which he listened to De Chemerant should +appear. + +"As for that, your highness, I speak of what occurred then only from +memory. I shall touch upon certain particulars unknown, I think, to your +highness. At the point of death, Chevalier de Crussol, wishing so far as +possible, to continue to you the protection which had surrounded you +during his life, and, fearing that his successor would begin a search +against the mysterious residents at Devil's Cliff, he wrote a letter to +the governor who would succeed him. In this letter he affirmed on his +guarantee and on that of Father Griffen that the conduct of Blue Beard +was in no wise to be suspected. It is believed, your highness, that the +dying governor had warned you that scruples of conscience having +compelled him to confess all to Father Griffen, under the seal of the +confessional, he did not consider he had broken the promise that he had +given you." + +"If this is so, sir, this poor man remained until the close of his life +the pious and loyal gentleman that I always knew him to be," said +Croustillac, deeply affected; "but must one then, accuse the good Father +Griffen of a sacrilege? This would be cruel. I can with difficulty +reconcile myself to that, sir." + +After a moment's silence, De Chemerant said to the adventurer: + +"Do you know, your highness, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot?" +The Gascon looked at the envoy with surprise. "Is this a pleasantry, +sir?" + +"I would not take such a liberty, your highness," said De Chemerant, +bending his head. + +"Then, sir, what connection----" + +"Permit me, your highness, to explain to you what this game is, and by +the aid of this figure, I shall perhaps be able to also explain to your +highness the fortunes of the state secret. + +"Explain this figure, sir." + +"Well, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot consists in this: a circle +of men and women is made; one man takes one of the shoulder-knots from +his coat and seeks to slip it into his neighbor's pocket as secretly as +possible, for the person who is found in possession of it is obliged to +give a forfeit." + +"Very well, sir," said the Gascon, "the skill of the play resolves +itself into getting rid as soon as possible of the shoulder-knot, by +passing it, adroitly, on to another." + +"There you have it, your highness." + +"But I do not see what connection there is between the state secret +which concerns me and this game." + +"Pardon me, sir, to some consciences, at once scrupulous and timid, +certain confidences, or rather certain confessions, have the same effect +as the poisoned shoulder-knot in the play of that name; the aforesaid +consciences think only of getting rid of the secret to a neighboring +conscience in order to protect themselves from all responsibility." + +"Well, sir, I see the analogy; it seems that the game of the poisoned +shoulder-knot has been played with the confessor of this unhappy +Chevalier de Crussol." + +"That is just what happened, your highness. Father Griffen, seeing +himself the depository of such an important state secret, found himself +terribly embarrassed; he feared to commit a culpable action toward his +sovereign in keeping silent; he feared by speaking to violate the seal +of the confessional and to ruin you. In this quandary, and desiring to +quiet his conscience, he resolved to go to France, to confess all to the +general of his order, and to thus free himself of all responsibility." + +"I understand, now, your comparison, sir; but as this secret has been +noised abroad, it necessarily follows that, in order to carry out your +comparison, some one has cheated." + +"I can assure your highness that it is many months since Father Griffen, +after his resolution had been taken, arrived in France and confided all +to the general of the order; he, in turn, took all the responsibility +upon himself, and completely absolved Father Griffen, recommending to +him the greatest secrecy." + +"And to whom the devil did the general of the order pass the +shoulder-knot?" said the Gascon, who was much amused by this story. + +"Before answering your highness, I must say that the general of the +order concealed beneath an austere exterior a most unbridled ambition; +that few men possessed to so high a degree the genius for intrigue; or +played more audaciously with what the world reveres. Once master of the +important secret that Father Griffen had confided to him, as his +spiritual superior, in order to quiet his conscience, the general of the +order desired to use this secret for his own personal advancement. +Intimately linked with the confessor of his majesty, King James, Father +Briars, a cunning Jesuit, who understood perfectly the condition of +affairs in England, he led the conversation one day to the location of +this island, and the general of the order asked Father Briars if, in +case you had been still living, your highness, you would not have many +opportunities for rallying about you the partisans of the Stuarts, and +thus placing yourself at the head of a movement against the Prince of +Orange. Father Briars replied that if you had lived your influence would +have been immense, if you were sincerely devoted to the cause of King +James; that this prince had often regretted your death, when thinking of +the services you could have rendered to the cause of the Stuarts. You +can imagine, your highness, the joy of the general of the order. The +secret of the confessional was betrayed, your highness, and your +existence revealed. + +"But this is an abominable man, this general of the order," cried +Croustillac. + +"Doubtless, sir; but he was ambitious to wear the cardinal's hat; and as +the prime mover of the enterprise, he would be a prince of the church +if King James, your uncle, ascended the throne of England. It is +unnecessary to tell you, sir, that once Father Briars was master of this +secret, he availed himself of it with his royal penitent, and that the +remainder of the arrangements were converted between Louis XIV. and +James Stuart." + +"All is clear now," said Croustillac to himself. "I am not surprised at +the uneasiness of Father Griffen when I persisted in going to Devil's +Cliff. Knowing the secret of the place, he doubtless, believed me to be +a spy. I can now understand the questions with which he overwhelmed me +during our journey, and which seemed so absurd." + +Monsieur de Chemerant attributed to astonishment the silence of +Croustillac at this recital, and he said, "Now all should be clear to +you. Without doubt, the preparations of this enterprise have not been so +secret that William of Orange has not been kept posted by spies who +gained entrance into the cabinet at Versailles, and even into the inner +circle of the lesser court at Saint Germain. In order to baffle the +projects which rest entirely upon your highness, the usurper has given +to Colonel Rutler the mission which came so near being fatal to you, +your highness. You see, then, in all this Father Griffen has been +perfectly innocent. Some one has abused his confidence most +sacrilegiously; but, after all, sir, you must exercise forbearance, for +it is to this discovery that you will have the glory, some day, of +re-establishing James Stuart upon the throne of England." + +Although this confidence had satisfied the adventurer's curiosity, he +regretted having provoked it; if he was discovered, he would, no doubt, +be made to pay dearly for his knowledge of this state secret, which he +had involuntarily surprised; but Croustillac could not retrace his +steps; he was to become more and more involved in the dangerous way +wherein he walked. The escort arrived on the plain at the foot of the +wall of the house. It was agreed that Rutler, still bound, should remain +outside, and that six soldiers and two sailors should accompany +Chemerant and Croustillac. On reaching the foot of the wall, the Gascon +called, resolutely, "Ho, slaves!" + +After waiting some moments, the ladder was lowered. The adventurer and +De Chemerant, followed by their men, entered the house; the arched door +used exclusively by Blue Beard was opened by Mirette. Chemerant ordered +the six soldiers to remain outside the arch. + +Mirette, instructed by her mistress, as to what she should do and say in +response to questions, appeared struck with surprise at the sight of the +Gascon, and exclaimed, "Ah, my lord!" + +"You did not expect me? and Father Griffen?" + +"What, my lord is it you?" + +"Certainly it is I; but where is Father Griffen?" + +"Learning that you were going away for some days, madame had ordered me +to allow no one to enter." + +"But the reverend Father, who came here on my account--has he not seen +your mistress?" + +"No, my lord; madame told me to allow no one to enter, so the reverend +priest has been shown to a room in the outer building." + +"Then your mistress is not expecting my return?" + +"No, my lord; but----" + +"It is well; leave us." + +"But, my lord, I will go and inform Madame de----" + +"No, it is no matter; I will go myself," said the Gascon, passing before +Mirette and walking toward the drawing room. + +"Your highness, you are about to give a pleasant surprise to the +duchess, who does not expect you for some days, and will thus change her +regrets to a very tender joy, since Father Griffen has not yet been able +to see your wife," said De Chemerant. + +"She is always thus, poor dear child, she is very timid; when I am not +here," said Croustillac, tenderly, "she will not see a human face, not +even this good priest; my shortest absence causes her sadness, +desolation and tears; this is what worries me; all this is very simple; +since I have been condemned to this absolute retirement I have never +left my wife, and this absence to-day, short as she believes it to be, +is terribly hard for her, poor, dear soul." + +"But then, your highness, what a delightful surprise! If your highness +will permit me to advise, I will promise to persuade the duchess to +leave this night, for you know, our enterprise cannot succeed except it +be by a very rapid move." + +"My wish also is to carry away my wife as soon as possible." + +"This hasty journey will unfortunately cause the duchess some +inconveniences." + +"She will not think so, sir; it concerns following me," said +Croustillac, with a triumphant manner. + +Monsieur de Chemerant and the adventurer reached the little gallery +which gave entrance to the drawing room of Blue Beard. As we have said, +this room was separated from the drawing room only by _portières_; a +thick Turkish carpet covered the floor. + +Monsieur de Chemerant and Croustillac approached the inner room +noiselessly, when they suddenly heard peals of laughter. The chevalier +recognized the voice of Angela, and, seizing the hand of De Chemerant, +he said in a low voice, "It is my wife--listen." + +"The duchess appears to me less overcome than your highness believed." + +"Perhaps, sir; there are sobs, you know, which in their violence have +something of the sound of convulsive laughter. Do not move; I wish to +surprise her in the abandon of her grief," said the Gascon, making a +sign to his companion to remain motionless and to keep silent. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE INTERVIEW. + + +In order to explain the confidence of the Gascon, we must say that, +having heard Mirette address him as master, he was fully persuaded that +Blue Beard was on her guard, and that Monmouth was securely hidden. In +spite of what the mulattress said, he was convinced, with reason, that +Father Griffen had informed Angela that her supposed husband would come +to see her. The situation was so grave that the priest, knowing all the +mysteries of Devil's Cliff, could not but have insisted on warning Blue +Beard of the fresh peril which menaced her. + +If Mirette had stated that Father Griffen had not seen Blue Beard, it +was because it was in accord with her wishes that it should appear that +he had not communicated with the inhabitants of Devil's Cliff. + +This explains at once what will seem contradictory in Croustillac's +conduct, and will answer the question "if he wished to take advantage of +the name he had assumed, to carry off Blue Beard, why had he warned +Father Griffen of his intention?" + +Croustillac, having warned De Chemerant to be silent, advanced on +tiptoe, to the half-drawn _portière_, and looked into the room, for the +peals of laughter still continued. He had scarcely cast a glance into +the room when he quickly turned toward De Chemerant; and with a +distorted face and outraged manner said, "See and listen, sir! this is +the reward of surprises. I had a presentiment when I sent Father Griffen +here. By heavens! prudent husbands should be preceded by an escort of +cymbals to announce their return!" + +In spite of these ironical words, the features of Croustillac were +convulsed; his whole physiognomy expressed a singular mixture of sorrow, +anger and hatred. + +Rapidly glancing into the room, De Chemerant, in spite of his assurance, +lowered his eyes, colored, and for some moments remained perfectly +overwhelmed with confusion. + +Let one judge of the spectacle which caused the confusion of De +Chemerant, and the rage, not feigned but sincere, even cruel, of +Croustillac, who, as we have said, passionately loved Blue Beard, +devoted himself generously for her, and was not in the secret of the +prince's different disguises. + +Monmouth, in the disguise of the mulatto filibuster, Whirlwind, was +negligently extended on a sofa; he was smoking a long pipe, the bowl of +which rested on a low stand. + +Angela, kneeling beside the latter, quickened the flame of the pipe with +a long golden pin. + +"Good! that is all right," said Monmouth, whom we will call Whirlwind, +during this scene. "My pipe is lighted, now for something to drink." + +Angela placed on a table a large Bohemian glass and a crystal _carafe_, +and, going over to the divan, while the filibuster puffed several +mouthfuls of tobacco, poured out a brimming glass of Muscatel wine and +handed it to him with a charmingly graceful air. + +The filibuster emptied it at a single draught, after which he kissed her +roughly, saying, "Wine is good, and the woman is pretty; to the devil +with the husband!" + +Hearing these very significant words, De Chemerant wished to retire. +Croustillac took hold of him and said, in a low tone, "Remain, sir, +remain, I desire to surprise, to confound them, the miserable wretches!" + +The face of Croustillac clouded more and more. The warning which he had +given in begging Father Griffen to go and prepare Blue Beard that he was +about to seek her, concealed a very praiseworthy and generous purpose, +which we will explain later. + +The sight of the filibuster exciting the adventurer's jealousy into rage +quickly changed his good intentions. He could not understand the +audacity of this young woman. He could not be blind to the evidence of +these familiarities on the part of the mulatto whom he had not yet +seen. He remembered those, no less shocking, of the Caribbean and the +buccaneer. He believed himself to be the dupe of a frightfully depraved +creature; he believed that Monmouth, her husband, no longer existed or +no longer lived at Devil's Cliff; and if Angela had co-operated with +himself (Croustillac) in his strategy, it was in order to rid herself of +an awkward witness. + +Furious at being thus deceived and played with, deeply wounded in a true +love, Croustillac resolved to avenge himself without pity, and, this +time, to really abuse the power his assumed name and the situation which +he assumed with such honorable motives had given him. He said to De +Chemerant, in a stifled voice, but with an expression of concentrated +wrath, which entered admirably into the spirit of his rôle, "Not a word, +sir; I wish to hear all, because I wish to punish both without mercy." + +"But, your highness----" + +An imperious gesture from Croustillac closed De Chemerant's mouth; both +of them gave an attentive ear to the conversation of Angela, and the +filibuster, who, we must say, knew perfectly that they were overheard. + +"At last, my beautiful child," said Whirlwind, "you are free for a time +at least." + +"If not forever," said Blue Beard, smiling. + +"Forever? what do you mean, you little demon," returned the filibuster. + +Angela arose and seated herself near the mulatto. While talking to him +she passed her hand through his hair with a cajoling coquetry which put +the unhappy Croustillac beside himself. + +"Your highness, one word, and my men shall rid you of this scoundrel," +said De Chemerant, in an undertone, in pity for the Gascon. + +"I shall know well how to avenge myself," said the adventurer sullenly, +who no longer desired to prolong the scene; and so, turning to De +Chemerant, continued, "Sir, leave me alone with these two wretches." + +"But, your highness, this man appears strong and robust." + +"Be easy, I will give a good account of him." + +"If you will listen to me, your highness, we will leave at once; you +will abandon to her remorse, a woman so unhappy as to thus forget her +duty." + +"Leave her? No, my heavens! Willingly or otherwise, she shall follow +me--that will be my revenge." + +"If your highness will permit me a remark: After a disclosure so +scandalous, the sight of the duchess can only be forever odious to you. +Let us go; forget such a guilty spouse; glory shall console you." + +"Sir, I desire to speak to my wife," said Croustillac impatiently. + +"But, your highness, this miserable----" + +"Once more, am I a man without courage and without force, that such a +rascal should intimidate me? Some domestic scenes must be secret. Will +you await me in the next room? In a quarter of an hour I will be with +you." + +Croustillac said these words with an intonation so imperious, and with +such an agonized manner, that De Chemerant bowed without persisting +further. He went into a room the door of which the chevalier had opened, +and which he immediately closed upon him. + +Crossing the drawing room with quick steps, the adventurer entered +suddenly into the room where the mulatto and Blue Beard were. + +"Madame," said the Gascon with sorrowful indignation, "your conduct is +abominable." + +The mulatto, who was extended on the divan, arose quickly; he was about +to speak; Angela with a glance begged him to do nothing. As much as +Monmouth had generously desired to prevent the sacrifice of the +chevalier when he believed this sacrifice disinterested, he was as much +resolved not to make himself known when he believed the adventurer +capable of an unworthy betrayal. + +"Sir," said Angela coldly, to the Gascon, "the French emissary may still +overhear us; let us go into another room." + +She opened the door of Monmouth's own room, and entered, followed by the +filibuster and Croustillac. The door once closed, the adventurer cried: +"I repeat that you have shamefully abused my trust in you." + +"I demand an explanation of your disloyal conduct," said Angela proudly. +"Explain yourself at once." + +During this scene, Monmouth, gravely preoccupied, walked up and down the +room with his arms folded, his eyes fixed on the carpet. + +"You desire that I explain myself, madame? Oh, that will not take long! +First know that, right or wrong, I love you," cried Croustillac, in a +burst of tenderness and anger. + +"That is to say, that you have boasted to your fellow-travelers that you +would marry the rich widow of Devil's Cliff?" + +"So be it, madame; on board the Unicorn my language was impertinent, my +pretensions absurd, madame; covetous, I admit. But when I spoke thus, +when I thought thus, I had not seen you." + +"The sight of me, sir, has not inspired you with ideas much more +honorable," said Angela severely, still convinced that Croustillac +wished to cruelly abuse the position in which he found himself. + +"Hear me, madame; I love you truly; that is to say, that I was capable +of anything to prove to you my love, absurd and stupid as it appears to +you. Yes, I loved you, because my heart told me I did well to love you; +because I felt myself better for loving you. You may laugh at this love; +I was sufficiently repaid by the happiness it gave me. When you have +said, 'Sir, I mock at you, I use you for a plaything, you are a poor +devil, I have bestowed charity upon you, and you should be content +therewith---- '" + +"Sir!" + +"When you have said all this, do not think that I was humiliated. No, +that hurt me, hurt me much, but I quickly forgot this injury, when I saw +that you understood that, poor as I am, I could be touched by something +else than money. Then you said to me some kind words, you called me your +friend--your friend! After this I would have thrown myself into the fire +for you, and that for the sole pleasure of throwing myself into it, for +I had nothing more to hope for from you; the time of my folly is past; I +see too clearly into my heart not to recognize that I was a kind of +mendicant buffoon; I can never have anything in common with a woman as +beautiful and as young as you. My only ambition--and this can offend no +one--would have been to devote myself to you. But how to have such +happiness? I, a vagabond, with nothing but my old sword, my old hat, and +my pink hose! Ah! well, by a chance which I at first blessed, Colonel +Rutler to-night mistook me for him they call your husband; this mistake +might be useful to you. Judge of my joy--I could save the man whom you +so passionately loved. I should have preferred to save something else, +but I had no time to choose. I risked all, including the everlasting +dagger of the colonel. I augmented, by every means possible, his double +mistake. You came to my assistance; that is, you buried me in the mud up +to the neck, by means of the bagatelles with which you loaded me. It is +all the same--I go with all my heart; I am satisfied to do so, and I +leave this house without hope of ever seeing you again, with the gallows +or prison in prospect, not to count the everlasting dagger of the +Dutchman. Ah, well, in spite of all, I repeat, I was content: I said to +myself, I know not what awaits me, rope or dungeon; but I am sure Blue +Beard will say, 'It is fortunate, very fortunate for us at least, that +this eccentric Gascon came here. Poor devil! what has happened to him?' +There! that was my ambition. But I did not ask even a regret, a +memory--a memory," said the Gascon, moved in spite of himself. + +"Sir," said Angela, "as long as I believed you really generous, my +gratitude did not fail you." + +These words increased the Gascon's wrath; he exclaimed, "Your gratitude, +madame! Zounds! it is beautiful. But to proceed. We started from this +place with the Belgian. In descending the hill we met the French +emissary. Rutler at once believed himself betrayed, and made a furious +lunge at me with his everlasting dagger. These are the fruits of +devotion. If the blade had not broken, I should have been killed. +Nothing is simpler; when one sacrifices oneself for others, it is hardly +with the expectation of being crowned with roses, or caressed by nymphs +of the woods. Well, the dagger broke; one of the men throttled Rutler; +I found myself face to face with the French emissary. I did not lose my +head. It was a matter touching you and the unhappy exile whom you loved +passionately. I would rather it had been your father or your uncle, but +I had no choice. Beside, the idea of being useful to two young and +interesting people threw my egotism into the background. The greater the +complications the more my pride incited me to save you. I redoubled my +audacity and coolness. The great but honest falsehoods I have uttered +for you should absolve me from those which I have spoken for an unworthy +cause. The good God took up the cause; I was inspired to the greatest +falsehoods you can imagine; they were swallowed up as eagerly by the +French envoy as if it had been manna from on high. I played my rôle with +all my might. Monsieur De Chemerant told me in two words the object of +his mission; an insurrection favored by the King of France was on foot +in England; if the Duke of Monmouth were to put himself at the head of +the affair its success was assured." + +Monmouth made a movement and stealthily exchanged glances with Angela. + +The Gascon continued: "When I was on the way to an English prison with +the Belgian and his everlasting dagger I did not breathe a word. I was +well protected from any wish to return here. But when De Chemerant +confided to me a thing of possible advantage to the prince, I had no +right to refuse it for him. I therefore accepted in his name all manner +of viceroyalties. But, if he really desired to take part in this +uprising, how was I to let him know? Monsieur De Chemerant desired to +set sail at once. By what means could I return here with the envoy of +France without exposing the duke, who was ignorant of my last adventure +and believed me still to be the Belgian's prisoner, thinking, doubtless, +that he was secure here? An idea seized me. I said to De Chemerant, +'Things have changed their aspect; I desire to take my wife with me. +Come, let us return to Devil's Cliff.' Faith, it was the only way in +which I could manage an interview with you, madame--of warning the +prince of this proposal. If he accepted it, I would throw off the +prince; if he refused, I would refuse as before, and he would be saved." + +"How, sir!" cried Angela. "Such was your generous intention? You +would----" + +"Oh, wait, madame, wait; do not think me either more stupid or more +generous than I am," said the Gascon bitterly. "I begged Father Griffen +to come and prepare you, madame, that I desired to take you with me. +Chemerant heard me; I could say no more to the priest, but this +sufficed. One of two things would result: either you would understand +the situation or you would believe me guilty of infamous intentions; in +either case, you would be on your guard, and the prince saved; for it +was my fixed idea----" + +"So, sir," cried Angela, looking at him with mingled surprise and +gratitude, "you did not really intend to abuse----" + +The Gascon interrupted her shortly. "No, madame, no. I had then no such +wicked intentions, though certain particulars of your life appear to me +inexplicable. I believed you sincerely attached to an unhappy prince, +and at any cost I would have saved the duke." + +"Ah! sir, how I have misjudged you? You are the most generous of men," +cried Angela. + +The adventurer burst into a sardonic laugh, which stupefied the young +woman; then he continued with a somber air: + +"Thank God, my eyes have been opened. I see now that generosity would be +stupid, devotion foolish. I shall profit by this lesson. Polyphème de +Croustillac rarely revenges himself, but when he does, he revenges +himself well; above all, when the vengeance is as charming as that which +awaits him." + +"You would be revenged, sir," said Angela, "and on whom?" + +"On whom, madame? You have the audacity to ask me that?" + +"Why, certainly, what have I done; why this hatred?" + +The adventurer stamped his foot so violently that the mulatto made a +step toward him; but Croustillac curbed himself and said to Angela +shortly, and with ironical bitterness, "Listen to me, madame. It seems +to me, that without being possessed of colossal pride, I deserved +something, when for you I threw myself into the midst of the most +dangerous situations. It seems to me, madame," continued the Gascon, who +could not contain his indignation, which increased in measure as he +spoke, "It seems to me that it was not at the moment when, at the risk +of my life, I was doing all I could to save the husband whom you love so +passionately, as they say, that it was not at such a time that you +should forget all modesty----" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, forget all modesty, all shame, by throwing yourself into +the arms of this miserable mulatto, and go to the depth of lighting his +pipe. Truly, I was very stupid," continued the Gascon with an increase +of rage. "In my devotion to you I risked my skin for the husband of +madame! while madame, outrageously mocking her husband and me, abandoned +herself to orgies with a lot of scamps. I am beside myself! My mother's +son does not merit having been born in my country and having played all +manner of pranks, as they say, in the capital of the world, if he cannot +find something, in his turn, to laugh at in this adventure. In a word, +madame," he said, sullenly, "you can believe me to entertain the +wickedest intention in the world, and you will not overstep the reality, +for I am now as much your enemy as I was your friend. As for the rest, I +am well pleased; nothing is more wearying than fine sentiments. I should +have resumed my shepherd songs and my morning sonnets. I shall take good +care not to do so. I prefer the fashion in which I love you now, rather +than heretofore," said Croustillac, throwing a glittering look at +Angela. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +REVELATIONS. + + +The poor Gascon, carried away by anger and jealousy, appeared more +furious than he was in reality. Unhappily, the Duchess of Monmouth did +not know him well enough to understand the exaggeration of this +ferocious appearance. + +Angela thought the adventurer seriously regretted having shown a +generous spirit; in doubting him she naturally hesitated to calm the +Gascon's jealousy by imparting the disguise of the duke; this avowal +would ruin everything if the chevalier was not faithful. It was, then, +prudent to hold this in reserve. + +"Sir," said Angela, "you deceive yourself; there is a certain mystery in +my conduct which I cannot yet explain to you." + +These words redoubled Croustillac's irritation; for the past three days +he had been surrounded by mysteries; therefore he exclaimed, "I have had +enough mystery; I have had too many concerning yourself. I do not wish +to be your dupe any longer, madame. I do not know what may await me; I +do not know how all this will end, but I _swear_ you shall follow me!" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, I have all the inconveniences of the rôle of your +well-beloved husband; I will at least have its pleasures; as to this +unworthy scoundrel of a mulatto, who says nothing, but thinks evil and +would do it, I will deliver him over to De Chemerant, who will give me a +good account of him. If it was not for soiling the sword of a gentleman +by dipping it in his slave blood, I myself would take this vengeance." + +Angela exchanged glances with Monmouth, whose imperturbability +exasperated the Gascon. Both of them realized the necessity of calming +the chevalier; his anger might prove dangerous; he must be quieted at +once, without betraying the secret of the prince's disguise. + +The young woman said to the adventurer, "All will be explained, sir; my +greatest, my only wrong toward you has been in doubting the generosity +of your character, and the loyalty of your devotion. Father Griffen, +although he answered for you, has been, like myself, deceived as to the +real motive of your intentions; we have believed, and we have been wrong +in so believing, that you were capable of abusing the name which you +have taken. In order to escape a fresh danger with which you seemed to +threaten us, it became necessary to attempt a means, very uncertain, +doubtless, but which might succeed. I could not escape--that would be +only to meet you. I gave the necessary orders, then, that you should be +introduced here with De Chemerant, hoping that you would surprise me, +suddenly, and thus become a witness of the tender intimacy which linked +me with the captain----" + +"How! did you arrange this agreeable scene for me?" cried the Gascon +furiously, "and you dare say it to my face? But this is the last degree +of degradation and shame, madame. And for what purpose, if you please, +did you wish to prove to me the abominable intimacy which binds you to +this bandit?" + +"To the end that it should be impossible for you to take me with you. +Monsieur De Chemerant being a witness to my culpable intimacy with +Captain Whirlwind, you could not, you who are passing as the Duke of +Monmouth, take with you a woman, who, in the eyes of the French envoy, +is as culpable as I would appear to him--as culpable as I am." + +"You acknowledge it, then, madame?" + +"Yes, and again yes, sir! Do not be generous by halves; what does it +matter to you whom I love--a slave, as you say?" + +"How, madame? What does it matter to me? have you then sworn to drive me +mad? And what does it serve that I play the part of your husband? Does +he really exist? Is he here, and do you not avail yourself of the +mistakes of which I am a victim to get rid of me? Is he not already +safely at a distance, this husband of yours? This is enough to drive one +mad!" cried the Gascon wildly. "I believe my head is turned; am I or am +I not for the past two days the sport of an abominable nightmare? Who +are you? Where am I? Who am I? Am I Croustillac? Am I my lord? Am I the +prince, am I a viceroy, or even a king? Have I had my throat cut or not? +How is this to be explained? This thing must stop! If there _is_ a Duke +of Monmouth, where is he? Show him to me," cried the unhappy adventurer, +in a state of excitement impossible to describe, but easy to imagine. + +Angela, frightened and less ready than ever to tell the Gascon +everything, said hesitatingly, "Sir, certain mysterious +circumstances----" + +Croustillac did not give her time to go on, but cried, "Still more +mysteries! I tell you I have had enough mystery. I do not believe my +brain is weaker than any other, but one hour more of this and I shall be +a lunatic!" + +"Sir, if you could understand----" + +"Madame, I do not wish to understand," cried the chevalier, stamping his +foot in a rage. "It is just because I have wished to understand that my +head is almost turned." + +"Sir," said Angela, "I beg you to be calm and reflect----" + +"I do not wish to reflect nor to comprehend," cried Croustillac, +exasperated afresh. "Right or wrong, I have determined that you +accompany me, and you _shall_ accompany me. I do not know where your +husband is and I do not wish to know; what I do know is that you have +not been obdurate either to Caribbeans, or buccaneers, or mulattoes; +very well you shall not be obdurate to me. You see that clock--if in +five minutes you do not consent to accompany me, I will tell De +Chemerant everything, come of it what will. Decide, then; I shall speak +no more; I shall be deaf, for my head will burst like a bombshell at the +slightest word." + +Croustillac threw himself into a chair, put his hands over his ears in +order to hear nothing, and fixed his eyes on the clock. + +Monmouth had walked up and down the room incessantly; he, as well as +Angela, was in terrible perplexity. + +"James, perhaps he is an honest man," said Angela in a low tone, "but +his excitement terrifies me; see how wild his manner is." + +"We must risk confiding to his loyalty, otherwise he will speak." + +"But if he deceives us--if he tells all?" + +"Angela! between two dangers we must choose the least." + +"Yes, if he consents to pass for you, you are saved, at least this +time." + +"But in this case I cannot leave him in the power of De Chemerant." + +"Oh! it is frightful!" + +"Never will I consent to again plunge England into a civil war. I would +a thousand times prefer prison and death; but to leave you, my God!" + +"What shall we do, James? What danger does this man run?" + +"Immense! the possessor of such a state secret." + +"But then, I must lose you or follow him. Ah, what shall I do? Time +presses." + +After a moment's reflection, Monmouth said, "We must not hesitate. Tell +him everything. If he then consents to play my rôle for some hours, I am +safe, and will have the means to place him beyond the resentment of the +French envoy." + +"James! if this man should be a traitor? Heavens! take care." + +At this moment the adventurer, seeing the hand of the clock reach the +fifth minute, said to Angela, "Well, madame, what have you decided upon? +Yes or no? For I am incapable of listening to or understanding anything +beyond. Will you follow me or will you not? Speak." + +Monmouth approached him with a grave and imposing air. "I am going, sir, +to give you a proof of the highest esteem and of----" + +"Your esteem, scoundrel," cried Croustillac indignantly, interrupting +the duke. "Is it, indeed, to me that you dare speak thus? Your +esteem----" + +"But, sir----" + +"Not another word," continued Croustillac, turning toward Angela. +"Madame, will you follow me? Is it yes or no?" + +"But listen----" + +"Is it yes or no?" exclaimed he, walking toward the door; "answer, or I +will call De Chemerant." + +"But by St. George!" cried Monmouth. + +The chevalier was about to open the door when the young woman seized him +by the hands with such a beseeching air that he paused in spite of +himself. + +"Yes, yes, I will go with you," she said, in a frightened manner. + +"At last!" said the Gascon, "so be it. Take my arm and let us go; De +Chemerant has waited a long time." + +"But just a moment--you must know all," said the poor woman hastily. +"The Caribbean is in reality the filibuster, or rather the buccaneer and +the Caribbean are----" + +"Ah, there you go again; do you wish that I should retain my senses?" +cried the Gascon, making a desperate effort and running toward the door +in order to call De Chemerant. + +The prince flung himself upon Croustillac, and, seizing his two wrists +in one hand, placed the other over his mouth at the moment Croustillac +called "Help, De Chemerant!" then he said, "I am the Duke of Monmouth!" + +The prince thought the chevalier would understand everything the moment +he spoke, but in the exasperation which Croustillac felt, he only saw in +this statement a new artifice or a new provocation, and he redoubled his +efforts to escape. Though much less strong than the duke, the chevalier +was not without energy; he began to struggle violently, when Angela, +terrified, ran and took up a flask, and, putting on her handkerchief a +drop of the liquid, rubbed the hand of the prince, removing the stain +upon it and showing the white skin. + +"Do you understand now, sir, that the three persons are one?" said the +prince, releasing Croustillac and showing him his white hand. + +These words were a revelation to Croustillac, and he understood all. + +Unfortunately, at the moment when the prince took his hand from the +mouth of the Gascon, the latter had uttered the words, "Help! De +Chemerant!" + +The sound of the struggle had already attracted the attention of the +French envoy, and, hearing the cry of Croustillac, he rushed into the +room, sword in hand. It would be impossible to depict the stupefaction, +the fright of the three when De Chemerant appeared. The duke put his +hand upon his sword. Angela fell back into a chair and hid her face in +her hands. Croustillac looked about him with an agonized air, regretting +his imprudence, but too late. + +Nevertheless, the adventurer's presence of mind returned to him little +by little; as it needs but a ray of the sun to dispel the thick mist, so +the moment that the good chevalier had the key to the three disguises of +the prince, everything became clear to him. His mind, until then so +sadly agitated, became calm; his unworthy doubt of Blue Beard ceased; +there only remained his regret at having accused her, and the desire to +devote himself to her and the prince. + +With wonderful quickness of invention (we are familiar enough with the +Gascon now to say with a marvelous facility for lying) Croustillac +formed his plan of campaign against De Chemerant, who still, sword in +hand, stood on the threshold and said for the second time, "What is it, +your highness? what has happened? I thought I heard a cry and struggle, +and an appeal for aid." + +"You were not deceived, sir," said Croustillac gloomily. + +Monmouth and his wife experienced a terrible anxiety. They were ignorant +of the Gascon's intentions; knowing Monmouth's secret, he was now +completely master of their fate. + +If Angela and her husband had had enough presence of mind to scrutinize +Croustillac's face, they would have seen a kind of triumphant and +malignant joy, which betrayed itself in spite of him in the menacing +frown of his forehead. + +Monsieur De Chemerant asked him a third time why he had called. + +"I called you, sir," said the chevalier in a dismal voice, and with the +air of coming out of a deep study, "I called you to my aid----" + +"Was it this wretch? your highness," said the envoy, pointing to +Monmouth, who, standing with arms crossed, remained by the chair where +Angela had seated herself, ready to defend her and to sell his life +dearly, for, as we have said, he was ignorant of the adventurer's +intention. "Speak the word, your highness," continued De Chemerant, "and +I will hand him over to my guards." + +The Gascon shook his head, and answered, "I charge myself with this man; +this is my affair. It is not against such a creature as this that I +called you to my assistance, sir, it is against myself." + +"What do you say, your highness?" + +"I mean that I was afraid that I would allow myself to be softened by +the tears of his woman, as dangerously hypocritical as she is +audaciously culpable." + +"Your highness, it often takes courage--much courage--to be just." + +"You are right, sir; that is why I feared my weakness. I called you in +order that the sight of you might keep alive my indignation and rekindle +my wrath, for you have been a witness of my dishonor, sir. So, tell me +that if I pardon I would be a coward, that I should merit my fate. Is it +not so, sir?" + +"Your highness----" + +"I understand you--you are right--yes, by St. George!" Croustillac +remembered having heard the prince use this oath; "by St. George, I will +be revenged." + +Angela and the duke breathed again. They understood that the chevalier +wished to save them. + +"Your highness," said De Chemerant severely, "I do not hesitate to +repeat to your highness, before madame, what I had the honor to say to +you some short time ago, that an insurmountable barrier now separates +you from a guilty spouse," continued the envoy, with an effort, while +Angela hid her confusion by covering her face with her handkerchief. + +Croustillac raised his head, and cried in a heartbroken tone, "Deceived +by a mulatto; think of it, sir, a miserable mulatto, a mongrel, a +copper-colored animal!" + +"Your highness----" + +"In a word, sir," said Croustillac, turning toward the envoy with an +indignant and sorrowful manner, "you know why I returned, what my plans +were; what I would have placed upon the brow of madame. Ah, well, is it +not a frightful irony of fate that at this very moment a wife--a +criminal----" + +"Your highness," cried De Chemerant, interrupting the Gascon, "at +present these projects must be a secret from madame." + +"I know it; I know it! but then what a horrible surprise! I enter with a +heart beating with joy, into the home circle, into my peaceful home, and +what is it that I hear?" + +"Your highness----" + +"You have heard it as well as I. That is not all--what is it that I +see?" + +"Your highness, calm yourself." + +"You have seen, as I have, a mulatto outlaw. But this shall not stop +here, no, by St. George! Yes, I did well to call you. Now my anger +boils; the most cruel plans crowd in upon my imagination. Yes, yes, that +is it;" said Croustillac, with a meditative air. "I have it at last! I +have found a revenge fitting the offence!" + +"Your highness, the contempt----" + +"The contempt--that is very easy for you to say, sir, contempt. No, sir, +there remains another thing; I have found something better, and you +shall assist me." + +"Your highness, anything that depends upon my zeal, without prejudice to +the orders which I have received, and the success of my mission." + +"I renounce and cast off this unworthy woman. From this day, from this +moment, all is forever at an end between her and me." + +"Thank God!" cried De Chemerant, delighted with this resolve; "you could +not act more wisely." + +"To-morrow at daybreak," said the Gascon, in a curt tone, "she and her +odious accomplice will embark on board of one of my vessels." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +DEVOTION. + + +"Yes, sir!" repeated the Gascon, "to-morrow my wife and this miserable +wretch shall go aboard one of my vessels. That is all my vengeance," +continued he, dwelling on these words with savage irony. "Oh, I know +what I am doing. Yes, by heaven! She and her guilty accomplice, those +two, as if they were really husband and wife, the miserable wretches! +shall embark together. As to the destination of the vessel," said the +chevalier, with a glance of such horrible ferocity that De Chemerant was +struck by it, "as to the fate that awaits these guilty ones, I cannot +tell you, sir; that concerns no one but myself." + +Then, taking Angela roughly by the arm, Croustillac exclaimed, "Ah, you +desire a mulatto for a lover, duchess? very well, you shall have him. +And you, scoundrel, you must have a white woman, a duchess? very well +you shall have her. You shall never separate, tender lovers that you +are, never again; but you do not know at what a terrible price you will +be reunited." + +"Your highness, what do you intend to do?" + +"That is my affair; your responsibility will be at an end; the rest will +take place on neutral ground," returned the Gascon with a smile at once +mysterious and ferocious; "yes, on a desert island; and since this +tender couple love one another, love each other to death, there will be +time for them to prove it--until death." + +"I understand you, your highness; I see perfectly; but that will be +terrible," said De Chemerant, who thought that Croustillac intended to +starve his wife and the mulatto. + +"Terrible! you have said it, sir. All that I ask of you, and as a +witness of my injury you cannot refuse me, is to give me the necessary +assistance in order to conduct this guilty pair on board one of my +ships. I will, myself, place them with the captain and give him his +orders; orders which, perhaps he would not dare to obey if I did not +give them in person." + +Monsieur de Chemerant, in spite of his cunning, was duped by the seeming +rage of Croustillac; he said to him respectfully, "Your highness, +justice is severe, but should not be cruel." + +"What do you say, sir?" cried Croustillac proudly, "am I not the sole +judge of the punishment due this guilty pair? Do you refuse me your +assistance when it only requires you to take this man and his accomplice +on board a vessel belonging to me?" + +"No, sir, but I would say to your highness that it would be, perhaps, +more generous----" + +Angela, seeing that she must no longer remain inactive, threw herself at +the feet of Croustillac, crying, "Have mercy!" while Monmouth seemed to +be wrapped in a deep and sad silence; then, addressing De Chemerant, the +young woman continued, "Oh, sir, you seem to be sensible and good; +intercede for me with my dear lord, that he condemn me to less cruel +pain. I have merited it all, I will suffer all, but that my dear +lord----" + +"I forbid your calling me your 'dear lord,' madame," said Croustillac. +"I am no longer your dear lord." + +"Ah well, your highness, do not send me on board the vessel of which you +speak." + +"And why not, madame?" + +"My God! because that the brigantine is the Chameleon, commanded by +Captain Ralph; your highness, this man is cruel; he succeeded the +filibuster Whirlwind in this command." + +"And that is just why I have chosen the Chameleon, madame; it is just +because Captain Ralph is the most cruel enemy of your unworthy lover," +said Croustillac, who understood perfectly Angela's meaning. + +"But, your highness, you know very well that this vessel will be +anchored to-morrow morning very near here, almost at the foot of the +cliff in the alligators' cave." + +"Yes, madame, I know it." + +"Oh, your highness, would you compel me to embark there when nothing in +the world would make me even approach its banks? My God! have you +forgotten the frightful memories that this place is connected with in my +mind?" + +"Oh! the cunning creature," thought Croustillac; "she wishes to say, +what I did not know, that there is a vessel of hers called the +Chameleon, whose captain is devoted to her, and who will anchor +to-morrow near here. I have it! This is just her own vessel she had +prepared hastily to furnish her and the duke a means of escape, when she +saw me carried off by Colonel Rutler; one of the negro fishermen was +doubtless sent ahead to deliver her directions." + +The Gascon, after some little reflection, said aloud, "Yes, those +memories are terrible to you, I know it, madame." + +"Then, your highness, have you the heart----" + +"Yes, yes," cried the chevalier, in an explosion of rage, "yes, no pity +for the infamous creature who has so unworthily outraged me! All the +better, my vengeance commences but the sooner. I will show you that you +have no pity to look for from me; you shall see!" He struck a bell. + +"What are you going to do, your highness." + +"Your faithful Mirette will come; you shall yourself give her the order +to send to Captain Ralph to prepare everything on board the Chameleon to +set sail at daybreak." + +"Ah, your highness, it is barbarous to make me give the order, myself." + +"Obey, madame, obey." + +Mirette appeared. Angela gave the order in a broken voice. + +"I have obeyed you, and now your highness, in pity grant me a last favor +in the name of our past love." + +"Oh, yes, by St. George!" cried Croustillac, "past? oh, past, +decidedly." + +"Allow me one moment, your highness, the favor of an interview." + +"No, no, never!" + +"Do not refuse me; do not be so pitiless?" + +"Out of my sight, faithless woman!" + +"My lord!" said Angela, clasping her hands. + +"Your highness," said De Chemerant, "at the moment of quitting madame +forever, do not refuse her this last consolation." + +"You also, De Chemerant, you also? and though you have been a +witness?--Ah, well, I consent, madame, but upon one condition." + +"You have but to order." + +"That your paramour remain during our conversation." + +"Really, this is not so bad, I think," said Croustillac to himself; "I +hope the duchess will understand me and at first refuse." + +"But, my dear lord," said Angela; "the last interview that you grant me +should be between us alone." + +"Marvelous! oh, she comprehends a half word," said Croustillac to +himself; then aloud, "And why, then, should our interview be private? +Have you something you desire to hide from your best beloved--from the +lover of your choice?" + +"But if I desire to beg your forgiveness, sir?" + +"You can do so before your accomplice. The more you accuse yourself, the +more you depict your conduct as disloyal, infamous, unworthy, the more +you affirm the lowness of your choice. This will be your punishment and +this scoundrel's also." + +"But, my lord?" + +"That is my ultimatum," replied Croustillac. + +"Do you not fear the despair of this man?" said De Chemerant in a low +tone. + +"No; traitors are always cowards. Behold this one--what a gloomy, +downcast air. He does not dare as much as lift his eyes to me. In any +case, sir, send, I beg, some men of yours to the gallery outside, +instructed to enter at my first signal." Then, turning with an air of +reconsidering, and desiring to make a master stroke, Croustillac said, +"In fact, if you will be present at this interview, Monsieur De +Chemerant, the punishment of this guilty couple will be complete." + +"Oh, sir, in pity do not condemn me to such a depth of shame and +humiliation," cried Angela, in despairing tones. "And you, sir, have the +generosity not to consent to this," she said to De Chemerant. + +Monsieur De Chemerant had the delicacy to excuse himself to the Gascon; +he left the room, and left Monmouth, Angela, and the adventurer +together. + +The envoy had hardly left the room before Monmouth, after assuring +himself that he could not be overheard, held out his hand cordially to +Croustillac, and said to him, feelingly, "Sir, you are a man of spirit, +courage, and resolution; accept our thanks, and pardon us for having +suspected you even for a moment." + +"Yes, yes, pardon our unjust suspicions," said Angela, on her part +taking the Gascon's hand between her own. "We were so disturbed, and +your manner was so furious, so wild!" + +"We all had reason, madame;" said the adventurer, "you had reason to be +disturbed, because my return was not very reassuring. I had reason to be +furious, because I supposed the duke to be a bandit. As to my wild +manner, by heavens! it may be said without offense, you will acknowledge +that enough strange things have occurred during the last two days, and I +may be excused for being a little astounded. Fortunately, I recovered my +self-possession when I saw I had been a fool and had risked everything." + +"Brave and excellent man," said Monmouth. + +"Bravery is in the blood of the Croustillacs, sir; as to being +excellent, I do not know about that; if such be the case, it is not my +fault; it is your wife's work, who has aroused in me the desire to be +better that I really am. Ah, well, prince, time is precious; everything +is in train to raise a county of England in your favor; Louis the XIV. +will support this insurrection. There is offered you the viceroyship of +Ireland and Scotland, and all kinds of other favors." + +"Never will I consent to profit by these offers. Civil wars have cost me +too dear," cried Monmouth; "and"--looking at Angela, "I no longer have +ambitions." + +"Your highness! reflect well! If your heart counsels remove the bronze +color from your face, and say to De Chemerant that reasons known only to +yourself obliged you to guard your secret until now. You will prove to +him who you are; I will return your duchy to you, and ask your +permission to go and fight at your side in Cornwall, or elsewhere, in +order to serve you, as they say, as a living armor. I am sure this will +please the duchess." + +"And we have suspected him," said Angela, looking at her husband. + +"He must forgive us," said the duke. "Men like him are so rare that it +is not unnatural to doubt them when one encounters them." + +"Hold on, my lord, you embarrass me. Let us speak of other matters. Do +you, or do you not, accept the viceroyship? After that, do not think I +shall press you to speak in order to relieve me from your rôle; it +pleases me, it amuses me. I have become quite accustomed to it. +Nevertheless, it will be somewhat unpleasant to no longer hear myself +addressed as 'my lord duke,' to say nothing of my laughing in my sleeve +when I think of all the absurdities which I have made that good De +Chemerant, with his important air, swallow. If I persist, your highness, +in praying that you resume your rank, as it seems they are terribly in +need of you in England in order to secure the happiness of the people in +general and that of Cornwall in particular; you must know that better +than I do----" + +"Ah! I know only too well the vain pretexts that one offers to +ambition." + +"But, your highness, all appears to be perfectly prepared. The frigate +which has brought the good De Chemerant is filled with arms and +ammunition; there is in it enough to arm and revolutionize all the +Cornishmen in the world; moreover, you can count on a dozen of your +partisans." + +"Of my partisans! and where, then?" cried Monmouth. + +"On board Chemerant's frigate. These brave men are waiting for me, that +is to say, waiting for you, your highness, with great impatience. There +is above all a madman named Mortimer, whom De Chemerant had the +greatest difficulty in the world to keep on board, so much was he +possessed with the desire to embrace me--I would say embrace you, for I +confound us all the time." + +Angela, seeing the troubled manner of her husband, said to him, "My God! +what ails you?" + +"I can no longer hesitate," replied Monmouth, "I must tell De Chemerant +the whole truth." + +"Heavens, James! what are you saying?" + +"You wish to be viceroy, your highness?" interposed Croustillac. + +"No, sir, I desire to prevent your ruining yourself on my account. My +gratitude will be no less lasting for the service that you wished to do +me." + +"How, your highness? Is it not, then, to become viceroy that you would +dispossess me of my principality?" + +"My partisans are on board the frigate; if I should accept your generous +offer, sir, to-morrow you would be known--lost." + +"But, your highness----" + +"Except for this circumstance which, I repeat, would cause your +discovery in a moment, I would, perhaps, have excepted your generous +devotion, the mistake of De Chemerant might have continued for a few +days, and I could have put you beyond the reach of his resentment; but +to accept your offer, sir, knowing the presence of my friends on board +the frigate, would be to expose you to certain danger. I can never +consent to do that." + +"Your highness forgets that it means perpetual imprisonment for you if +you do not place yourself at the head of this movement?" + +"It is because it means for me the escape from a danger that I do not +choose to sacrifice you, sir. When I learned that you were taken +prisoner by Rutler I was going to rush to your assistance in order to +release you." + +"My God, James! think of the prison! of eternal confinement! but it is +not possible! and what will become of me, if I should be forbidden to +accompany you? No, no! you will not reject the sacrifice which this +generous man offers to make!" + +"Angela!" said the duke, in a tone of reproach; "Angela! and this +generous man, shall we abandon him shamefully when he is devoted to +us--to escape imprisonment, shall we condemn him to an eternal +captivity?" + +"Him?" + +"Doubtless! is he not the possessor of a state secret? Will not De +Chemerant be furious at seeing himself tricked. I tell you, he cannot +escape prison when the trick shall be discovered." + +"Confound it! my duke, attend to your own affairs!" cried Croustillac, +"and do not take the bread out of my mouth, as they say. Prisoner of +state! that disgusts you, but do you not know that that would be an +assured retreat for me, a refuge for my old days? To be frank, the life +of an adventurer palls upon me; there must be an end to it. I would have +something more sure; judge, then, if that would not suit me? Prisoner of +state! can I not secure that? I beg of you not to take from me the last +resource of my old age; do not destroy my future." + +"Listen to me, you brave and worthy man," responded Monmouth, +affectionately pressing his hand. "I am not deceived by your ingenious +pretenses." + +"Your highness, I swear----" + +"Listen, I beg of you; when you have heard me you will no longer be +surprised at my refusal. You will see that I cannot accept your generous +offer without being doubly culpable. You will understand the sad +memories, not to say remorse, that your devoted offer and the present +chain of circumstances awake in me. And you, Angela, my dearly beloved, +you shall at last learn a secret that until this present moment I have +hidden from you; it needed circumstances as grave as these in which I am +now placed to force me to make this sad revelation." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE MARTYR. + + +"James! James! what are you saying? you terrify me!" exclaimed Angela, +as she witnessed the duke's emotion. + +"You know," said the duke to Croustillac, "in consequence of what +political events I was arrested and confined to the Tower of London in +1685?" + +"You will excuse me, your highness, if I know not a word of it; I am as +ignorant as a fish of contemporaneous history, which, be it said in +passing, and without boasting, rendered my part outrageously difficult +to play; for I was always afraid I should make some ridiculous +statement, and thus compromise, not my reputation as a scholar--I am no +priest--but your fortune which I so imprudently assumed." + +"Very well then," said the duke; "after the death of my father; when the +Duke of York, my uncle, ascended the throne under the title of James +II., I entered into a conspiracy against him. I shall not seek to +justify my conduct; years of reflection have made things clear to me. I +know now that I was as culpable as I was insane; the young Duke of +Argyle was the soul in this plot. All this was carried on under the very +eyes of the Prince of Orange, then a stadtholder, now King of England. +Argyle knew my views of the Protestant action, my ambition, my +resentment against James II.; he had no trouble in associating me with +his plans. At once, owing to my name and influence, I was at the head of +the conspiracy. I had news from England which only waited my presence +there to overthrow the throne of the papist king to proclaim me king in +his place. I departed from the Texel with three vessels transporting +soldiers whom I had recruited. Argyle, having preceded me in Scotland, +had paid with his head for the audacity of his attempt. I landed in +England at the head of a number of devoted partisans. I realized then +how greatly I had been deceived. Three or four thousand men at the most +joined the handful of brave men who were pledged to my cause, and among +others were Mortimer, Rothsay and Dudley. The son of Monck, the young +Duke of Albemarle, advanced against me at the head of a royal army; and +I, desiring to bring fortune to the point, made a decisive move. I +attacked the enemy at Sedgemore, near Bridgewater; I was beaten in spite +of the prodigies of valor shown by my little army, and, above all, by my +cavalry, commanded by the brave Lord George Sidney." In pronouncing this +name, the voice of the prince failed him, and deep emotion was depicted +upon his face. + +"George Sidney! my second father! my benefactor!" cried Angela. "It was +in fighting for you he was killed! it was at that battle, then, that he +was killed? This is the secret you have hidden from me?" + +The duke bent his head, and after a few minutes' silence, said, "You +will know all, very soon, child! Our rout was complete. I wandered off +at hazard; my head had a price upon it. I was seized the day after this +fatal defeat and conducted to the Tower of London. My case was tried. +Convicted of high treason, I was condemned to death." + +"Oh," cried Angela, throwing herself into the duke's arms; "you deceived +me; I believed you to be only exiled." + +"Be calm, Angela; yet I have hidden this from you, as much that you +should not be troubled as--." Then, after a moment's hesitation, +Monmouth continued, "you shall know all; it requires much courage to +make this revelation." + +"Why? What have you to fear?" said Angela. + +"Alas! poor child, when you have heard me, perhaps you will regard me +with horror!" + +"You, James? do you believe that I can ever do that?" + +"Well," said Monmouth, "whatever the result, I must speak, at the risk, +perhaps, of separating us forever." + +"Never, never!" cried Angela despairingly. + +"Zounds! I will sooner throw De Chemerant from these cliffs at the least +pretense," cried Croustillac. "And, as for that, with your slaves, we +could furnish him a fine escort. But I think--will you try this method? +How many slaves can you arm, sir?" + +"You forget that De Chemerant's escort is considerable; the negro +fishermen have gone--there are not more than four or five men here. +Violent means are impossible. Providence doubtless wills that I shall +expiate a great crime. I will be resigned." + +"A crime, James? guilty of a great crime? I will never believe it!" +cried Angela. + +"If my crime was involuntary, it was none the less horrible. Angela, it +is now my duty to tell you what I owe to Sidney, your noble relative who +took such care of you in your infancy, poor orphan! While you were +receiving your education in France, where he had himself taken you, +Sidney, whom I had seen in Holland, attached himself to my fortunes; a +singular similarity of tastes, of principles and thoughts, had drawn us +together; but he was so proud that I was obliged to make the advances. +How happy I was at having first pressed his hand! Never was there a +living soul as beautiful as Sidney's. Never was there a nobler character +or a more generous and ardent heart! Dreaming of the happiness of the +people, deceived as I was myself as to the true end of my plans, he +believed that he was serving the holy cause of humanity, when he was in +reality only serving the fatal ambition of a man! While the conspiracy +was organizing, he was my most active emissary and my most intimate +confidant. To describe to you, my child, the profound, blind attachment +of Sidney for myself would be impossible; one affection only struggled +in his heart with that which he had vowed to me; it was his tenderness +for you--you, his distant relative of whom he had assumed the care. Oh! +how he cherished you! Through all the agitations, and the perils of his +life as a soldier and conspirator, he always found some moments in which +to visit his Angela. There were ever tears in his eyes when he spoke to +me of you. Yes, this man, of intrepid courage and indomitable energy, +wept like a child in speaking of your tender grace, the qualities of +your heart, and your sad and studious youth, poor little abandoned one, +for you had no one in the world but Sidney. On that fatal day at +Bridgewater he commanded my cavalry. After prodigies of valor, he was +left for dead on the battlefield; as for me, carried away in a rush of +flying troops, grievously wounded, it was impossible for me to find +him." + +"Was not that the day when he died?" said Angela, wiping her eyes. + +"Listen, Angela; oh, you do not know how these sad memories break my +heart!" + +"And ours also," said Croustillac. "Brave Sidney! I do not know what it +is that tells me that he did not die that day at Bridgewater, and that +we shall hear of him again." + +Monmouth trembled, remained silent a moment, and then continued: "I must +have courage. I will tell you all. Sidney was left for dead on the +battlefield; I was arrested, condemned to death, and my execution fixed +for the 15th of July, 1685. When they told me I was to be executed the +following day, I was alone in my prison. + +"In the midst of the terrible thoughts to which I was a prey during +those dreadful hours that preceded the moment of my execution, I swear +to you, Angela, before the God that hears me, if I had any sweet and +consoling thoughts to calm me, they were those I gave to Sidney, in +recalling the beautiful days of our friendship. I believed him dead and +I said, 'In a few hours I shall be united to him forever.' All at once +the door of my cell opened and Sidney appeared!" + +"Zounds! so much the better! I was sure he was not dead," exclaimed +Croustillac. + +"No, he was not dead," replied the duke with a sigh. "Would to God he +had died as a soldier on the field of battle." + +Angela and Croustillac looked at Monmouth in astonishment. He continued: +"At the sight of Sidney I believed myself the dupe of a fancy conjured +up by my extreme agitation; but I soon felt his tears on my cheek, and +myself pressed within his arms. 'Saved! you are saved!' he said, +through his tears. 'Saved?' said I, gazing at him stupidly. 'Saved, yes; +listen to me,' said he, and this was what he told me: My uncle the king +could not openly show me mercy; policy forbade; but he did not wish his +brother's son to perish on the scaffold. Informed by one of his +courtiers who was, notwithstanding, one of my friends, of the +resemblance between Sidney and myself, a resemblance which so struck you +the first time you saw me," said Monmouth to Angela, "King James had +secretly provided Sidney with means to get into my prison. This devoted +friend was to assume my clothes, and I to put on his, and go out of the +Tower by means of this strategy. The next day, learning of my escape and +the devotion of Sidney remaining prisoner in my stead, the king would +put him at liberty and give orders to seek me out; but these orders +would only be in appearance. He favored, secretly, my departure for +France. I was only to write to the king and give him my word to never +return to England." + +"Ah, well," said Angela, interested to the last degree by this recital; +"you accepted Sidney's offer, and he remained a prisoner in your stead?" + +"Alas! yes, I accepted it, for all that Sidney said to me seemed so +probable; his presence at that hour in the prison, in spite of the +severe watch to which I was subjected, made me believe that an +all-powerful will aided mysteriously in my flight." + +"It was not so, then?" cried Angela. + +"Nothing could be more naturally arranged, it seems to me," said +Croustillac. + +"In effect," said Monmouth, smiling bitterly, "nothing was more +naturally arranged; it was only too easy for Sidney to persuade me, to +turn aside my objections." + +"And what objections could you make?" said Angela. "What was there +astonishing in that King James, not wishing to shed your blood on the +scaffold, should connive at your escape?" + +"And how could Sidney succeed in getting into the prison, sir, without +the assistance of some powerful influence?" said the adventurer. + +"Oh, is it not so?" said the duke with sad satisfaction, "was it not +that all that Sidney said to me might seem probable, possible? Was I not +justified in believing him?" + +"Undoubtedly," said Angela. + +"Was it not," continued Monmouth, "was it not possible to put faith in +his words without being misled by the fear of death, without being +influenced by a cowardly, horrible egotism? And still, I swear to you, I +did not agree to what Sidney said to me. Before accepting life and +liberty which he came to offer me in the name of my uncle, I asked +myself what would happen to my friend if James did not keep his promise? +I said to myself that the greatest punishment that could befall a man +who was an accomplice in aiding another to escape, was imprisonment in +turn; thus, admitting this hypothesis, once free, although compelled to +hide myself, I had sufficient resources at my disposal not to quit +England before having, in my turn, liberated Sidney. What more can I say +to you? The instinct of life, the fear of death, doubtless obscured my +judgment, troubled my discernment. I accepted, for I believed everything +Sidney said to me. Alas! why was I so insane?" + +"Insane? Faith, you would have been insane had you not accepted!" cried +Croustillac. + +"Who, indeed, would have hesitated in your place?" added Angela. + +"No, no, I tell you that I should not have accepted; my heart, if not my +head, should have revolted at this deceptive thought. But what did I +know. A strange fatality, perhaps a frightful egotism, pushed me on. I +accepted. I pressed Sidney in my arms, I took his clothes, and I said to +him, 'To-morrow!' with the conviction that I should see him the +following day. I left my cell; the jailer escorted me to the gate; +thanks to my resemblance to Sidney, he noticed nothing wrong, and led me +in haste by a secret road as far as a door of the Tower. I was free! I +forgot to tell you that Sidney had informed me of a house in the city +where I could wait for him safely, for he would return, he said, to me +the following day, in order to plan our departure. At last I found, at +this house in the city, the precious stones I had confided to Sidney on +my departure from Holland, the value of which was enormous. Wrapped up +in his mantle, a mantle which you wear to-day, and which has remained +sacred to me, I directed my steps toward the city. I rapped at the door; +an old woman opened it, and leading me into a secluded chamber, she gave +into my hands the iron casket, the key of which Sidney had handed me. I +found there my precious stones. Broken with fatigue, for the sleepless +hours I had passed were frightful, I fell into a slumber. For the first +time since my sentence to death, I sought sleep without saying to myself +that the scaffold awaited me on my awakening. When I arose the following +day it was broad daylight; a bright sun penetrated between my curtains. +I raised them; the sky was clear; it was a radiant summer day. Oh! I +felt such rapturous joy and such inexpressible happiness. I had seen my +open tomb, and I still lived. I breathed the air in every pore. Seized +with gratitude, I threw myself upon my knees, and blessed God, the king, +and Sidney. I waited to see this dear friend from one moment to another. +I did not doubt, no, I could not doubt, the king's clemency. All at once +I heard in the distance the criers announcing important events; it +seemed to me that I heard my name. I thought it was an illusion, but, in +fact, it was my name. Oh, then, a frightful presentiment seized me; my +hair stood on end. I remained on my knees. I listened with my heart +beating violently; the voices came nearer; I still heard my name mingled +with other words. A ray of joy, as foolish as my presentiment had been +horrible, changed my terror into hope. Madman! I believed they were +crying the details of the _escape of the Duke of Monmouth_. In my +impatience, I descended to the street; I bought the account; I mounted +again with palpitating heart, holding the paper in my hands." + +Saying these words, Monmouth became frightfully pale, and could hardly +support himself. A cold perspiration bathed his forehead. + +"Well?" cried Angela and Croustillac, who experienced a piercing agony. + +"Ah," cried the duke despairingly, "it was the details of the _execution +of the Duke of Monmouth_."[B] + +"And Sidney?" cried Angela. + +"Sidney had died for me, died a martyr to friendship. His blood, his +noble blood, had been shed upon the scaffold instead of mine. Now, +Angela, you see, unhappy child, why I have always hidden this terrible +secret." + +At these words the duke fell back on the sofa, hiding his face in his +hands. Angela threw herself at his feet, sobbing bitterly. + + {[B] Hume says: "After his execution, his partisans held to the + hope of yet seeing him at their head; they flattered themselves + that the prisoner who had been beheaded was not the Duke of + Monmouth, but one of his friends, who resembled him greatly, and + who had had the courage to die in his stead." + + Sainte-Foix, in a letter on the Iron Mask (Amsterdam, 1768), says: + "It is true that the report spread through London that an officer + of Monmouth's army who greatly resembled the duke, having been + taken prisoner, and knowing death to be inevitable, received a + proposition to represent the duke with as much joy as if life had + been offered him; and hearing this, that a great lady, having + bribed those who could open his coffin, and having looked at the + form, cried, 'Ah, that is not the Duke of Monmouth.'" Furthermore, + Sainte-Foix, who sought to prove that the Iron Mask was no other + than the Duke of Monmouth, cited a passage of another English work + by Pyms, in which he says: "Count Landy sent to seek Colonel + Skelton, who was the ex-lieutenant of the Tower, and whom the + Prince of Orange had dismissed to give the place to Lord Lucas." + "Skelton," said Count Landy to him the previous evening, in dining + with Robert Johnston, "you say that the Duke of Monmouth is living + and imprisoned in an English castle?" "I cannot vouch for this, + because I do not really know," said Skelton, "but I affirm that the + night after the pretended execution of the Duke of Monmouth, the + king, accompanied by three men, came himself to the tower and + carried the duke away." + + Sainte-Foix cites still another conversation with Father + Tournemine, saying, "The Duchess of Portsmouth said to Father + Tournemine and to the confessor of King James that she always + imputed to that prince the execution of the Duke of Monmouth, + because Charles II., at the moment of his death and when about to + receive the last communion, had made King James (then Duke of York) + promise on the Host, which Huldeston, a Catholic priest, secretly + carried, that whatever revolt the Duke of Monmouth might attempt he + (James) would never punish him with death; so King James did not + put him to death," said Father Sanders. + + We will not multiply citations. We only desire to establish that + the foundation of this story is not merely a romantic fiction, and + that if it is not based upon a historic certainty, it is at least + based upon a likely supposition.} + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE DUKE RELATES THE SACRIFICE TO WHICH HE OWES HIS LIFE. + + +The chevalier, profoundly moved by the recital of Monmouth, furtively +brushed aside his tears, and said, "I understand now what that animal +Rutler, with his everlasting dagger, meant by speaking to me of my +execution." + +"Angela, Angela, my child," exclaimed the duke, lifting his noble +countenance bathed in tears, and pressing the young woman to his heart, +"how can you ever forgive me the murder of Sidney, my friend, my +brother, your only relative, your only protector." + +"Alas! have you not replaced him to me, James? I have bewailed his +death, believing him killed on the field of battle. Do you believe that +my regrets will be greater, now that I know that he sacrificed his life +for you--that he did what I would gladly do for you, James, my lover, my +husband!" + +"Angela! best beloved guardian angel of my life!" cried the duke; "your +words cannot assuage the violence of my remorse, but at least you know +what religious gratitude I have always had for Sidney, this holy martyr +to friendship. What more can I tell you? I passed two days in a state +bordering on madness; when I returned to myself I found a letter of +Sidney's. He had arranged that I should not receive it until the evening +of the day on which he died for me. He explained his pious falsehood; he +had not seen King James." + +"He had not seen him!" exclaimed Angela. + +"No; all that he had said to me was false. So you can understand that I +had reason to forever curse the culpable facility with which I had +allowed myself to be persuaded. Meanwhile he had died for me; the fable +which I had believed in now seemed monstrous folly. No, he had not seen +the king! From the depository of my precious stones, he had subtracted +wherewith to procure a sum sufficient to gain over one of the officers +of the Tower, whom he besought to allow him to see me for the last time. +Was this officer in league with Sidney as to the substitution of some +one who desired to save me? or was he deceived by the resemblance to +such an extent that he suspected nothing. I do not know. The following +day, when they went to seek Sidney, he followed the hangman, but he +refused to speak for fear his voice would be recognized. The sacrifice +was accomplished," said Monmouth, wiping his tears away, which had not +ceased to fall during his recital. "I quitted London secretly and went +to France under a false name, in order to seek you, Angela. Sidney had +given me full power to take her away from the persons to whom he had +confided her," said the duke, addressing Croustillac. "Struck by her +beauty, her candor, and her other adorable traits, I, believing myself +worthy and able to fulfill the last wishes of Sidney in making his +adopted child happy, married this angel. We started for the Spanish +colonies, where I believed we would be safe. We took the greatest +precautions not to be recognized. By chance I encountered an English +captain at Cuba whom I had seen at Amsterdam. I believed myself +discovered. We left. After a journey of some months, we established +ourselves here. In order to divert suspicion, to watch over my wife, and +not wishing to be condemned to an imprisonment which would have been +fatal to me, I assumed, by turns, the disguises which you are aware of, +and I could, with impunity, traverse the island. Thanks to my precious +stones, we were able to purchase a number of small vessels, through the +good offices of Master Morris, a man of great probity, who knew, without +being in the secret, what to think of the pretended widowhoods of my +wife. Not only our commercial vessels increased little by little our +fortune, which we shall bequeath to our children, but they afford us +always a means of flight. The Chameleon was built for this very purpose, +and I have sometimes commanded in the guise of a filibuster, and +encountered a Spanish pirate, much to the fright of Angela. We were +living here very happily, almost peacefully, when I learned that the +Chevalier de Crussol, whose life I had once saved, had become the +governor of the island. Although he was a man of honor, I feared to tell +him who I was. My first idea was to quit Martinique with my wife; but I +then learned of the declaration of war from France to England, Spain and +Holland, and that certain rumors began to circulate in England as to the +miraculous manner in which I had been saved. My partisans were +bestirring themselves, it was said. I could expect no justice from +William of Orange, and believed myself safer in this colony than +anywhere else. I remained, therefore, in spite of the presence of De +Crussol, but redoubled my precautions. The pretended widowhoods of my +wife, the frequent visits of the filibuster, the Caribbean, and the +buccaneer, furnished a collection of facts so incomprehensible that it +was impossible to distinguish the truth, which was in our favor. We +were, however, much troubled. + +"Monsieur de Crussol, curious to know the strange woman of whom such +different tales were related, came to Devil's Cliff. Fate ordained that +I should be there, also, in the disguise of the buccaneer. I could not +avoid meeting the governor, whom we were far from expecting. In spite of +the thick beard which disguised my features, De Crussol had preserved +too clear a remembrance of me not to recognize me; but, in order to +assure himself of the truth, he said to me abruptly, 'You are not what +you appear.' Fearing that all would be disclosed to Angela, who knew +that I was a fugitive, but who was ignorant of the dangers to which I +would be exposed if my existence was known, I said to De Crussol, 'In +memory of a past service, I ask silence, but I will tell you all;' and I +did not hide anything from him. He swore on his honor to keep my secret +and do everything in his power to prevent our being disturbed. He kept +his promise, but in dying----" + +"He told Father Griffen everything from scruples of conscience," said +Croustillac. + +"How do you know that?" said the duke. + +Croustillac then told Monmouth how the mystery of Devil's Cliff had been +revealed to the confessor of King James, and how Father Griffen had +unintentionally betrayed him. + +"Now, chevalier," said Monmouth, "you know at the price of what an +admirable sacrifice I owe this life which I have sworn to consecrate to +Angela. I have related to you the frightful remorse which the devotion +of Sidney causes me. You understand, I hope, that I cannot expose myself +to new and cruel regrets by causing your destruction." + +"Ah, you think, your highness, that what you have told me will take from +me any desire to devote my life to you? Zounds! you are greatly +mistaken." + +"How?" exclaimed the duke, "you persist?" + +"I persist? I persist more than ever, if you please, and for a very +simple reason. Hold, sir! why should I hide it from you? A short time +since it was more for the sake of the duchess that I wished to serve +you, than for interest in you; this is no offense to you, for I did not +know you; but now, that I see what you are; now, that I see how you +regret your friends, and how gratefully you remember them, and what they +do for you, your wife may be a real Blue Beard, she may be the devil in +person, she may be in love with all the buccaneers and the cannibals of +the Antilles, but I will do for you all that I would have done for the +duchess, sir." + +"But, chevalier----" + +"But, your highness, all I can say to you is that you have inspired me +with the desire to be a second Sidney to you; that is all. Zounds! it is +very simple; one never inspires such devotion unless one merits it." + +"I wish to believe you, chevalier, but a person is unworthy such +devotion when he accepts it willingly." + +"Zounds, sir; without offense, I must say you are as pig-headed in your +generosity as that Flemish bear was insupportable with his everlasting +dagger. Come, let us reason together. What you most desire, is it not, +is to save me from prison?" + +"Doubtless." + +"Now I do not think you are very anxious to abandon the duchess. Well, +by telling De Chemerant who you are, would you save me? I am not much of +a lawyer but it seems to me that that is the question, is it not, +madame?" + +"He is right, my love," said Angela, looking at her husband +beseechingly. + +"To proceed," said Croustillac proudly. "Now, you say to this good +Chemerant, 'Sir, I am the Duke of Monmouth, and the chevalier here is +only a scapegoat.' So be it; so far all goes well. But at this stage the +good Chemerant will reply, 'Your highness, do you or do you not consent +to head this insurrection in England?" + +"Never! never!" cried the duke. + +"Very well, your highness, now I know what insurrection has cost you. +Now I have the honor of knowing the duchess; like you I say, 'Never!' +only what will the good Chemerant say to this? The good Chemerant will +say, 'You are my prisoner,' is it not so?" + +"Unhappily it is very likely," said Monmouth. + +"Alas! it is only too true!" said Angela. + +"'As to this rascal, this schemer,' the good Chemerant will continue, +addressing himself to me," said Croustillac, "'as to this imposter, this +sharper, as he has impudently imposed upon me, so that I confided to him +a half-dozen secrets of state, each more important than the other, +particularly as to how the confessors of the great kings have played the +game of the poisoned shoulder-knot with their penitents, he shall be +treated as he deserved.' Now the said Chemerant, so much the more +furious that I had caused him to make such a fool of himself, will not +handle me very gently, and I may consider myself very lucky if he leaves +me to perish in a dungeon, instead of hanging me quickly (seeing his +full power), which would be another method of reducing me very +effectually to silence." + +"Oh! do not speak so, the idea is frightful," cried Angela. + +"You see well, then, generous madman, the imminent danger to which you +are exposed," said the duke to him tenderly. + +"Now, your highness," said the Gascon with imperturbable calm, "as I +said a short time ago, to madame, as I believed her madly in love with a +certain fellow of leathern tint, it is clear that one does not devote +oneself to people to the sole end of being crowned with roses and +caressed by sylvan nymphs. It is the danger that constitutes the +sacrifice. But that is not the question. In delivering yourself up as +prisoner to the good Chemerant, do you in any way spare me prison or +scaffold, sir?" + +"But, chevalier----" + +"But, sir, I shall pursue you constantly with this argument _ad hominum_ +(that is all my Latin), as the Belgian pursued me with his everlasting +dagger." + +"You deceive yourself, my worthy and brave chevalier, in believing that +your situation is so desperate, when I shall have delivered myself up to +Chemerant." + +"Prove it to me, your highness." + +"Without insisting too much upon my rank and my position, they are such +that one would be always obliged to account for with me. So, when I say +to De Chemerant, that it is my desire that you be not punished for a +trait which does you honor, I do not doubt that De Chemerant will be +eager to please me and put you at liberty." + +"Your highness, allow me to say that you are entirely mistaken." + +"But what more could he ask? Should I not be in his power? What would +your capture amount to to him?" + +"Your highness, you have been a statesman; you have been a conspirator; +you are a great nobleman, consequently you must know men; you reason, +pardon my bluntness, as if you did not know them at all, or rather, your +generous desires in my behalf blind you." + +"No, indeed, sir----" + +"Listen to me, your highness. You concede, do you not, that the news +that comes from England, and the part Louis XIV. has taken in this +conspiracy, prove the importance of Chemerant's mission?" + +"Without doubt." + +"You will, therefore, concede, your highness, that Chemerant relies upon +the success of this mission for his good fortune?" + +"That is true." + +"Well, your highness, by refusing to take part in this insurrection, +you leave Chemerant only the part of a jailer; your capture cannot make +a success of the enterprise in which these two kings have so lively an +interest. Then, believe me, you will cut a very sorry figure asking +clemency of Chemerant, above all, at a time when he will be furious at +seeing his hopes destroyed; above all, when he knows that the man in +whose favor you intercede has made him see numberless stars at full +noon. Believe me, then, your highness, by accepting all Chemerant's +propositions, by seconding the plans of these two kings, you could +scarcely hope to secure my pardon." + +"James! what he says is full of wisdom," said Angela. "I would not +counsel you to be cowardly or egotistical, but he is right, you cannot +deny it." + +The duke bent his head without answering. + +"I indeed believe I am right," said Croustillac. "I am wrong often +enough once, by chance, to have common sense." + +"But, for the love of heaven, at least look things in the face, if I +accept," said the duke, taking both hands of Croustillac in his own. +"You must conduct me and my wife on board the Chameleon; we will hoist +sail and will be saved." + +"All right, your highness, that is how I like to hear you speak!" + +"Yes, we shall be saved, but you, unhappy man, you will return on the +frigate with Chemerant, and when you are brought face to face with my +friends, your ruse will be discovered and you will be lost!" + +"Zounds! sir, how you go on! Without offending you, you then look upon +me as a pitiful fellow; you deprive me of all imagination, of all +ingenuity. If I am not mistaken, it is some distance to the Cayman's +Creek, at Fort Royal?" + +"About three leagues," said the duke. + +"Very well, your highness, in this country three leagues are three +hours, and in three hours a man like myself has at least six chances of +escaping. I have long legs and strong as a stag's. The companion of +Rend-your-Soul has taught me how to walk," replied the Gascon, smiling +with a malicious air. "Now I swear to you that it will make the good +Chemerant's escort take some pretty lively strides to keep up with me." + +"And you desire that I should allow you to stake your life on a chance +as doubtful as that of an escape, when thirty soldiers, used to the +country, would instantly be on your track?" said the duke. "Never!" + +"And you desire, your highness, that I place my life, my salvation on a +chance as uncertain as the clemency of the good Chemerant?" + +"At least I should not sacrifice you to a certainty, and the chances are +equal," said the duke. + +"Equal!" cried the adventurer indignantly. "Equal, your highness? Do you +dare compare yourself with me? Who am I? and what purpose do I serve +here below if not to carry an old sword at my side, and to live here and +there according to the whims of humankind? I am nothing, I do nothing, I +have nothing to care for. To whom is my life of any use? Who interests +himself about me? Who even knows if Polyphème de Croustillac exists or +not?" + +"Chevalier, you are not right, and----" + +"Zounds! your highness, you belong to the duchess, the adopted child of +Sidney. If he died for you, it is the least you can do to live for her +whom he loved as his own child! If you reduce her to despair, she may +die of grief, and you will have two victims instead of one to lament." + +"But once more, chevalier----" + +"But!" cried Croustillac, with a significant glance at Angela, and +beginning to talk loudly enough to deafen one, thus drowning the voice +of the duke, "But you are a miserable wretch! an insolent fellow! to +speak so to me! Help! help! come to my assistance!" + +Then Croustillac said rapidly, and in a low tone, to the duke, "You +force me to do this, your highness, for I have no alternative." And the +adventurer began to shout at the top of his lungs. + +The duke, paralyzed with surprise, remained motionless and looked at him +in stupefaction. + +At the cry of the Gascon, six men, forming a portion of the escort, +which De Chemerant had stationed as sentinels in the gallery by the +request of Croustillac, rushed into the room. + +"Gag this rascal! gag him instantly!" cried Croustillac, who trembled at +the fear that Chemerant might enter at this juncture. + +The soldiers obeyed the chevalier's order; they threw themselves upon +the duke, who cried, as he struggled with them, "I am the prince; I am +Monmouth." + +Happily, these dangerous words were stifled by the loud cries of the +chevalier, who, from the beginning of this scene, pretended to be a prey +to the greatest anger, and stamped his foot with rage. + +One of the soldiers, with the aid of his scarf, succeeded in gagging the +duke, who was thus prevented from speaking. + +Chemerant, attracted by the noise, entered quickly. He found Angela pale +and greatly agitated. While she understood the reason of this struggle, +she could not help being deeply moved. + +"What has he done, then? your highness," cried Chemerant. + +"That miserable wretch made such abominably insolent propositions to me +that, in spite of my contempt for him, I was obliged to have him +gagged." + +"Your highness, you were right; but I foresaw that this miserable wretch +would break his ominous silence!" + +"This scene, however," cried Croustillac, "was not without its use. I +was still hesitating, yes, I avow it, I was weak enough to. Now the die +is cast; the guilty ones shall suffer for their crime. Let us start at +once for the Cayman's Cove; I have sent my orders to Captain Ralph; I +shall not be content until I have seen them embark, under my own eyes; +then we will return to Fort Royal." + +"Do you really wish to be present at this sad scene, your highness?" + +"Do I wish to? I would not give up that precious moment for the throne +of England! I shall go to the vessel, and see these two criminals set +sail for their destination where the breath of my vengeance will take +them!" + +"It is final, then, that you insist upon this?" said De Chemerant, still +hesitating. + +"It is final," returned Croustillac, in a most imposing and threatening +voice, all in admirable accord with the part he played; "I expect to be +obeyed when my orders are just. Make all preparations for the departure, +I beg of you; if this miserable wretch does not choose to walk, he shall +be carried; but above all, see that he is securely gagged, for if he +should offer any further insolence I do not desire to hear it at any +price." + +One of the soldiers assured himself that the gag was securely tied; +taking the duke, they tied his hands behind his back, and marched him +off under guard. + +"Are you ready, De Chemerant?" said Croustillac. + +"Yes, your highness, I have only to give some orders to my men." + +"Go, then, I will await you; I also have some orders to give." + +The governor saluted and withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +Angela and the chevalier were alone. + +"Saved! saved by you!" cried Angela. + +"I would have wished to use different means, madame, but, without +reproach to the duke, he is as obstinate as I am. It was impossible to +do differently. There only remain a few moments now in which we may act. +Chemerant will return; let us think of what is most pressing. Your +diamonds--where are they? Go quickly and get them, madame. Take them +with you. Once all is discovered, beware of confiscation." + +"The stones are there, in a secret box, in the duke's apartment." + +"Go quickly and get them. I will ring for Mirette to get you some +clothing." + +"Generous friend! But you! Oh God!" + +"Be quiet; when I have no longer need to protect you, I will look out +for myself. But quick! get your diamonds. Chemerant will be here +shortly; I will ring for Mirette." The chevalier touched the bell. + +Angela disappeared through the door leading to the duke's private +apartments. + +Mirette appeared. + +"She is very pretty, this little duchess," mused Croustillac to himself, +"very pretty. Oh, this time I am struck to the heart, I know it only too +well. I shall never forget her. This is love; yes, this is true love. +Happily this danger will distract me, or these emotions would make me +dizzy. Ah! there she comes!" + +Angela entered carrying a small box. "We have always kept these stones +in reserve, in case we should be suddenly compelled to fly," said she to +Croustillac. "Our fortune is a thousand times assured. Alas! why is it +that you----" + +The young woman paused, fearing to offend the Gascon; then she continued +sadly, with tears in her eyes, "You must have thought me very ignoble, +did you not, in accepting without hesitation your noble sacrifice? But +you will be kind and indulgent. It was necessary in order to save the +one who is the dearest object in the world to me--the man for whom I +would give my own life a thousand times over. But wait, this is +frightful egotism, to speak to you thus, to you whom I owe everything, +and who are going, perhaps, to death for me. I am mad! Forgive me." + +"Not another word on this subject, madame, I beg of you. Here is the +duke's sword, it was his father's; here also is this little box which +his mother gave him. These are precious relics; put them all in this +large basket." + +"Good and generous man!" exclaimed Angela, who was deeply moved; "you +think of everything!" + +Croustillac made no reply; he turned his head away in order that the +duchess should not see the great tears rolling down his cheeks. He +extended his large, bony hands to the duchess, and said, in a stifled +voice, "Adieu, forever adieu! You will forget that I am a poor devil of +a fellow and you will remember me sometimes as----" + +"As our best friend, as our brother," said Angela, bursting into tears. + +Then she took from her pocket a small medallion containing her cipher, +and said to Croustillac, "See what I returned to the house to seek this +evening. I desired to offer you this token of our friendship; it was in +bringing it to you that I overheard your conversation with Colonel +Rutler. Accept it, it will be a double souvenir of our friendship and of +your generosity." + +"Give it to me! oh, give it to me!" cried the Gascon, and then, pressing +it to his lips, he said, "I am more than paid for what I have done for +you, for the duke----" + +"We are not ingrates. As soon as the duke is safe, we shall not leave +you in the power of Chemerant, and----" + +"Here is Mirette; let us resume our rôle," cried Croustillac, +interrupting the duchess. + +Mirette entered, followed by the slave, carrying in her hand +Croustillac's old sword; a soldier bore the basket containing the +clothes. + +Angela placed the box of diamonds and Monmouth's sword in the basket. + +Chemerant entered the room, saying, "Your highness, all is in +readiness." + +"Offer madame your arm, if you please," said the chevalier to Chemerant, +with a gloomy manner. + +Angela appeared struck with a sudden thought and said to the chevalier, +"Sir, I wish to say something, privately, to Father Griffen. Do you +refuse me this last petition?" + +"Just now, your highness, the good Father, hearing the noise, came to +ask if he might speak to madame." + +"He is here!" cried Angela, "God be praised!" + +"Let him enter," said the Gascon gloomily. + +Chemerant bowed and the guard withdrew. + +Father Griffen entered. He was grave and sad. + +"My Father," said Angela, "can you give me some moments' interview?" + +So saying, she entered a room near by, followed by the priest. + +"Your highness," said Chemerant, showing a paper to the Gascon, "here is +a letter which was found on the person of Colonel Rutler; it leaves no +doubts as to the plots of William of Orange against your highness. +Rutler will be shot upon our arrival at Fort Royal." + +"We will speak of that later, sir, but I lean toward clemency in the +colonel's case--not through weakness, but from policy. I will explain to +you another time my reasons for this." + +The little bay in which the Chameleon lay at anchor was not very far +from the residence of Blue Beard. When the escort arrived there the +horizon was tinged with the first rays of the rising sun. The Chameleon +was a brigantine, light and swift as a kingfisher, riding gracefully on +the waves, at her mooring. Not far from the Chameleon was seen one of +the coast guards who traversed in his rounds the only point of +Cabesterre which was accessible. + +The launch of the Chameleon, commanded by Captain Ralph's first mate, +waited at the landing; in it were four sailors seated, with oars raised, +ready to row at the first signal. + +The Gascon's heart beat as if it would burst. At the moment of attaining +the price of his sacrifice, he trembled lest an unlooked-for accident +should upset the fragile scaffolding of so many stratagems. + +The litter in which Monmouth was shut up arrived on the bank, and was +quickly followed by that containing Angela. + +The soldiers ranged themselves along the landing. The Gascon said to +Angela, in an agitated tone, "Go on board ship, madame, with your +accomplice; this package (and he put into the hands of the mate a paper) +will inform Captain Ralph of my final orders. Meanwhile," said the +chevalier all at once, "wait--I have an idea!" + +Chemerant and Angela gazed at Croustillac with surprise. + +The adventurer believed he had discovered a means of saving the duke, +and of himself escaping from Chemerant; he had no doubt of the +resolution and devotion of the five sailors in the boat; he thought of +precipitating himself with Angela and Monmouth into the boat and +ordering the sailors to make all speed over the waves in order to join +the Chameleon, and to set sail with speed. The soldiers, though thirty +in number, would be so surprised by this sudden flight that success +would be possible. A new incident upset this project of the chevalier. + +A voice which, though distant, was very powerful, cried, "In the name of +the king, stop; allow no one to embark!" + +Croustillac turned suddenly toward the direction from which the voice +came, and he saw a marine officer who was coming out of a redoubt +erected near Cayman's Cove. + +"In the name of the king, allow no one to embark," came the voice again. + +"Be easy, lieutenant," responded a subordinate, who until then had not +been perceived, for he was hidden by the piles of the wharf, "I will +not allow the tender to leave without your orders." + +"That is well, Thomas, and beside," replied the officer, firing a shot +from his gun as a signal, "the coastguard will not permit the brigantine +to sail." + +It would be impossible to paint the frightful agony of the actors in +this scene. Croustillac saw that his plan for flight was out of the +question, because the slightest signal from the coastguard would prevent +the departure of the Chameleon. + +The officer who had just appeared stopped in front of Croustillac and +Chemerant, and said to them, "In the name of the king, I order you to +tell me who you are and where you are going, gentlemen; by the +governor's orders no one can sail from here without a permit from him. + +"Sir," said Chemerant, "the soldiers who are with me are part of the +governor's guard; you see, I am acting by his consent." + +"An escort, sir! you have an escort!" said the astonished officer. + +"There, near the mole, sir," said Croustillac. + +"Oh, that is another matter, sir; the light was so feeble that I had not +noticed the soldiers. I hope you will pardon me, sir." + +This man, who seemed extremely talkative, approached the governor's +guard, examined them a moment, and said with excessive volubility, "My +orders are simply to prevent persons going toward the wharf, just now +the Chameleon, and a fine vessel she is, belonging to Blue Beard, and +which has bravely run down a Spanish pirate--came last night to the +mooring." + +"Sir, I beg you to silence this insupportable babbler," said the +chevalier to Chemerant, "you must see how painful this scene is to me." + +"You see, sir," said Chemerant to the lieutenant of marines, "the +persons who are going to embark, do so under my personal responsibility. +I am Chemerant, commissioner extraordinary to the king, and am furnished +with full powers." + +"Sir," said the lieutenant, "it is unnecessary to cite your authority; +this escort is sufficient guarantee, and----" + +"Then, sir, remove the order." + +"Nothing is easier, sir; the order being now useless, it is useless to +maintain it." "Thomas," cried this irrepressible talker to his +subordinate, "you know the order that I gave you?" + +"Which, lieutenant?" + +"How! brainless one!" + +"Sir, my time is valuable, I must return shortly to Fort Royal," said +Chemerant. + +The lieutenant continued, recklessly, "How! you have forgotten the order +I gave you?" + +"The last one? no, lieutenant." + +"No, lieutenant! well, repeat it, then; let us hear the order." Then, +addressing Chemerant, he said to him, while pointing to his soldier, "He +hasn't the memory of a gosling! I am not sorry to give him this lesson +before you, it will profit him." + +"Confound it! I am not here to assist in educating your functionaries," +said Chemerant. + +"Well, Thomas, this order?" + +"Lieutenant, it was to let no one embark on the vessel." + +"Very well, that is all right; now I remove the embargo." + +"Go on board at once, madame," said Croustillac, unable to moderate his +impatience. + +Angela cast a last look at him. + +The duke made a despairing effort to break his fetters, but he was +quickly carried off to the tender by the soldiers. + +At a sign from Blue Beard, the sailors dipped their oars into the sea +and headed for the Chameleon. + +"Are you satisfied now, your highness," said Chemerant. + +"No, no; not yet, sir. I shall not be content until I see the vessel set +sail," replied the Gascon in a changed voice. + +"The prince is implacable in his hate," thought Chemerant; "he trembles +still with rage, although his revenge is assured." + +All at once the sky was irradiated by the rays of the sun which made +more somber still the line of azure which the sea formed on the horizon; +the sun rose majestically, pouring torrents of red upon the water, the +rocks, and the bay. + +At this instant the Chameleon, which had been joined by the small boat, +flung to the breeze its white sails, and began to draw in its cable, by +which it was attached to the mooring. The brigantine, with a graceful +movement, began to tack; during a few seconds it completely hid the disk +of the sun, and appeared enveloped in a brilliant aureole. Then the +swift vessel, turning its prow toward Cayman's Cove, began to make +toward the open sea. + +Croustillac remained motionless in sorrowful reverie, with his eyes +fixed upon the vessel, which was carrying away the woman whom he so +suddenly and so madly loved. + +The adventurer, thanks to his keen sight, could perceive a white +handkerchief which was waved from the stern of the vessel. It was the +last farewell of Blue Beard. + +Shortly the breeze freshened. The little vessel, with swift movement, +bent under her sails, and went so rapidly that it was, little by little, +lost in the midst of the warm mist of the morning. Then it entered into +a zone of torrid light which the sun threw on the waves. + +For some time Croustillac could not follow the Chameleon with his eyes; +when he saw her again, the brigantine drew nearer and nearer to the +horizon, appearing but a speck in space. Then, doubling the last point +of the island, she disappeared all at once. + +When the poor chevalier could no longer see the vessel, he experienced a +profound sorrow. His heart seemed as empty and as solitary as the ocean. + +"Now, sir," said Chemerant, "let us go and find the friends who are +awaiting you so impatiently. In an hour we will be on board the +frigate." + + + + +PART IV. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +REGRETS. + + +As long as Croustillac contemplated his sacrifice; as long as he had +been exalted by its dangers and upheld by the presence of Angela and +Monmouth; he had not realized the cruel consequences of his devotion; +but when he was alone, his thoughts became very painful. Not that he +feared the danger which menaced him, but he felt keenly the absence of +Angela, for whom he had braved everything. Under the eye of Angela, he +had gayly faced the greatest peril; but he would never see her again. +This was the real reason of his gloomy dejection. + +With arms crossed upon his breast, bowed head, fixed gaze and somber +manner, the adventurer remained silent and motionless. Twice De +Chemerant addressed him: "Your highness, it is time to go." + +Croustillac did not hear him. Chemerant, realizing the uselessness of +words, touched him lightly on the arm, repeating louder, "Your highness, +there still remain more than four leagues to travel before arriving at +Fort Royal." + +"Zounds! sir; what do you want?" cried the Gascon, turning impatiently +toward De Chemerant. + +The face of the latter expressed so much surprise at hearing the man +whom he believed to be the Duke of Monmouth give vent to such a peculiar +exclamation, that the Gascon realized the imprudence of which he had +been guilty. He quickly recovered his usual coolness, looked at De +Chemerant in an abstracted manner; then, as if he had awakened from a +profound meditation, he said, in a short tone, "Very well, sir, let us +go." Again mounting his horse, the Gascon took the road to Fort Royal, +still followed by the escort and accompanied by De Chemerant. + +Croustillac was not a man, in spite of his chagrin, to entirely despair +of the present. Chemerant, recovering from his surprise, attributed the +somber taciturnity of the Gascon to the painful thoughts which the +criminal conduct of the Duchess of Monmouth must cause him; while the +adventurer, summing up the chances of escape which remained to him, +analyzed the state of his heart, reasoning as follows: "Blue Beard (I +shall always call her that--it was thus I heard her name for the first +time, when I thought of her without knowing her), Blue Beard is +gone--forever gone; I shall never see her again, never, never, it is +evident. It will be impossible to escape from the memory of her. It is +absurd, stupid, not to be imagined, but so it is--this proves it that +this little woman has completely subjugated me. I was gay, careless and +loquacious as a bird on the bough, but little scrupulous as to delicacy, +and now behold me, sad, morose, taciturn, and of a delicacy so +inordinate that I had a horrible fear lest Blue Beard should offer me, +in parting, some remuneration other than the medallion from which she +had the generosity to remove the jewels. Alas! from this time forth, +this memory will be all my happiness--sad happiness! What a change! I, +who heretofore cared so much the more for bravery of attire since I was +badly clothed; I, who would have found such happiness in wearing this +velvet coat garnished with rich gold buttons--I wish for the moment to +come when I can don my old green garments and my pink hose, proud to say +'I leave this Potosi, this Devil's Cliff, this diamond mine, as much of +a beggar as when I entered into it.' Is it not, my faith, very plain +that before knowing Blue Beard, I had never in my life had such +thoughts? Now, what remains for me to hope?" said Croustillac, adopting, +as was his wont, the interrogative form to make what he called his +"examination of conscience." + +"Now, then, be frank, Polyphème, do you care much for life? + +"Eh! eh! + +"What say you to being hanged? + +"H--m, h--m. + +"Come, now, frankly? + +"Frankly? well, the gallows, strictly speaking, might please me if Blue +Beard was there to see me hanged. And yet, no, it is an ignoble death, a +ridiculous death; one's tongue hangs out, one kicks about---- + +"Polyphème, you are afraid--of being hanged? + +"No, faith! but hanged all alone, hanged by myself, hanged like a mad +dog, hanged without two beautiful eyes looking at you, without a pretty +mouth smiling at you---- + +"Polyphème, you are a stupid oaf; do you believe that Her Grace the +Duchess of Monmouth would come to applaud your last dance? Once more, +Polyphème, you are tricking, you seek all sorts of evasions. You are +afraid of being hanged, I tell you." + +"So be it--yes, I am afraid of the gallows, I own it; let us speak no +more of it. Put aside these probabilities, do not admit into our future +this exaggerated fear. Zounds! one is not hanged for so little, while +the prison is possible, not to say probable. Let us talk, then, of the +prison. + +"Well, how does the prison seem to you, Polyphème? + +"Eh! eh! the prison is devilishly monotonous. I know well that I should +have the resource of thinking of Blue Beard, but I shall think of her so +much, I shall think of her even better in the peaceful solitude of the +woods, in the calm of the paternal valley. The paternal valley! yes, +decidedly, it is there that I would prefer to finish my days, dreaming +of Blue Beard. Only, shall I ever find it again, this paternal valley? +Alas! the mists of our Gavonne are so thick that I shall wander long, +without doubt, before I find this dear valley again. + +"Polyphème, you purposely wander from the subject; you wish to escape +the prison as well as the gallows, in spite of your philosophical +bombast. + +"Well, yes, zounds! I do want to escape both; to whom should I avow it +if not to myself? Who will comprehend me if not I, myself? + +"That admitted, Polyphème, how will you evade the fate that threatens +you? + +"Just at present this road is hardly favorable for escape, I know; rocks +on the right hand, on the left the sea, in front of and behind me the +escort. My horse is not bad; if it was better than that of the good +Chemerant, I might make a trial of swiftness with him. + +"And then, Polyphème? + +"And then I would leave good Chemerant on the road. + +"And then? + +"And then, abandoning my horse, I would conceal myself in some cavern; I +would climb the rocks; I have long legs and muscles of steel. + +"But, Polyphème, you will be sure to find the maroons. You, who are not +accustomed as they are to a nomadic life, you will be easily found by +them, at least if you are not devoured by wildcats or killed by +serpents. Such are your only two chances of escaping the efforts they +will make to catch you again. + +"Yes, but at least I have some chance of escape, while in following the +good Chemerant, as the sheep follows the butcher who leads it to the +slaughter-house, I fall full into the hands of my partisans. Mortimer +will fall on my neck, not to embrace me, but to strangle me, when he +sees who I am, or rather, whom I am not; while in attempting to escape I +may succeed, and, who knows? perhaps rejoin Blue Beard. Father Griffen +is devoted to her; through him I shall learn where she is, if he knows. + +"But, Polyphème, you are mad! You love this woman without a ray of hope. +She is passionately in love with her husband; and, although people have +complacently taken you for him, he is as handsome, as much of a 'grand +seigneur,' as interesting, as you are ugly, ridiculous, and +insignificant, although of ancient race, Polyphème. + +"Eh? Zounds! what does it matter? In again beholding Blue Beard I shall +not be happy, that is true, but I shall be content. Cannot one enjoy a +beautiful sight, an admirable picture, a magnificent poem, an enchanting +piece of music, although this sight, this picture, this poem, this +music, are not one's own? Well, such will be the kind of my content in +the presence of the divine Blue Beard. + +"A last observation, Polyphème. Your rhapsody, happy or not, will it not +awaken the suspicions of De Chemerant? Will you not thus compromise the +safety of those whom you have, I must avow, very skillfully rescued? + +"There is nothing to fear on that side. The Chameleon flies like an +albatross--she is already the devil knows where. She will put to their +wits' ends all the coastguards of the islands to know where she is. +Thus, then, I see no inconvenience in trying whether my horse goes +faster than that of the good Chemerant. The good man seems to me plunged +in meditation just now; the strand is good and straight. If I should +start---- + +"Come, then, try--start, Polyphème!" + +Scarcely had the adventurer mentally given himself this permission, +when, giving some touches of his spur to the horse, he set off suddenly +with great rapidity. + +Chemerant, surprised for a moment, gazed after the flying Croustillac; +then, not comprehending this strange action on the part of the supposed +duke, he started in pursuit. + +Chemerant had been in many wars, and was an excellent rider. His horse, +without being superior to that of Croustillac, being much better managed +and trained, immediately regained the distance the adventurer had +covered. Chemerant closely followed the track of Croustillac, crying, +"My lord, my lord, where are you going?" + +Croustillac, seeing himself so closely pursued, urged his horse forward +with all his force. + +Very soon the adventurer was obliged to stop short; the strand formed an +elbow in this place, and the Gascon found himself face to face with +enormous blocks of rock leaving only a narrow and dangerous passage. + +Chemerant rejoined his companion. "By all the furies! my lord," he +cried, "what gnat has bitten your highness? Why this sudden and furious +gallop?" + +The Gascon responded, coolly and boldly, "I am in great haste, sir, to +rejoin my partisans--this poor Mortimer especially, who awaits me with +such lively impatience. And then, in spite of me, I am besieged with +certain vexatious ideas concerning my wife, and I wish to fly from them, +these ideas, to fly from them by any means," said the Gascon, with a +dolorous sigh. + +"It appears to me, my lord, that morally and physically you fly from +them with all your might; unfortunately the road forbids your escaping +them any further." + +Chemerant called the guide. "At what distance are we from Fort Royal?" +he asked him. + +"A league at most, sir." + +Chemerant pulled out his watch and said to Croustillac, "if the wind is +good at eleven o'clock, we might be under sail and _en route_ for the +coast of Cornwall, where glory awaits you, my lord." + +"I hope so, sir, without which it would be absurd in me to go there. But +apropos of our enterprise, it seems to be a bad beginning to inaugurate +it with a murder." + +"What do you mean, your highness?" + +"I should see with pain the shooting of Colonel Rutler. I am +superstitious, sir; this death seems to me a bad omen. The crime was one +entirely personal to me; I then formally demand from you his pardon." + +"Your highness, his crime was flagrant, and----" + +"But, sir, the crime has not been committed. I insist that the colonel +shall not be shot." + +"He should, at least your highness, expiate by perpetual imprisonment +his audacious attempt." + +"In prison? so be it; one can get out of it, thank God! or at least, one +can hope so, which shortens the time infinitely. Beside, the colonel +might noise abroad my approaching descent into Cornwall, which would be +truly disastrous." + +"What you desire in this case shall be done, your highness?" + +"Another thing, sir. I am superstitious, as I have told you. I have +remarked in my life certain lucky and unlucky days. Now, for nothing in +this world would I choose to begin an enterprise so important as ours +under the influence of an hour which I believe to be fatal to me. +Beside, I am much fatigued; you ought to be able to understand that, in +thinking of the emotions of all kinds which have beset me since +yesterday." + +"What, then, are your designs, your highness?" + +"They will perhaps not agree with yours, but I will credit you with +doing what I desire, which is not to set sail before to-morrow morning +at sunrise." + +"Your highness!" + +"I know, sir, what you are going to say to me, but twenty-four hours, +more or less, are not of much consequence, and, finally, I have decided +not to put my foot on board to-day. I should bring upon you the most +direful fate; I should draw upon your frigate all the tempests of the +tropics. I will, then, pass the day with the governor, in absolute +retirement. I have need of being alone," added Croustillac, in a +melancholy tone; "alone, yes, always alone, and I ought to begin my +apprenticeship to solitude." + +"Solitude? But, my lord, you will not find it among the agitations which +await you." + +"Ah! sir," responded Croustillac philosophically, "the unfortunate finds +solitude even in the midst of the crowd, when he isolates himself in his +regrets. A wife whom I loved so much!" added he, with a profound sigh. + +"Ah! your highness," said De Chemerant, sighing in order to put himself +in sympathy with Croustillac, "it is terrible; but time heals the +deepest wounds." + +"You are right, sir, time heals the deepest wounds. I will have courage. +Well rested, well recovered from my fatigue and my cruel agitations, +to-morrow I will console myself, I will forget all in embracing my +partisans." + +"Ah! your highness, to-morrow will be a blessed day for all." + +The position of the supposed duke demanded too much consideration from +De Chemerant for him not to give in to the suggestions of his companion; +he acquiesced, then, though with regret, in the will of Croustillac. + +The Gascon, in postponing the hour in which his deception should be +discovered, hoped to find a chance to escape. He remembered that Blue +Beard had said to him, "We will not be ungrateful; once the duke is in +safety, we will not leave you in the power of De Chemerant; only seek to +gain time." + +Although Croustillac did not count much on the promise of his friends, +knowing all the difficulties which they would have to brave and to +conquer before they could succor him, he wished in any case not to +sacrifice this chance of safety, however uncertain it should be. + +Thus, as the guide had informed them, they arrived at Fort Royal at the +end of an hour's march. + +The residence of the governor was situated at the extremity of the city, +on the edge of the savannahs; it was easy to reach it without +encountering any one. + +Chemerant sent one of the guards in all haste to warn the governor of +the arrival of his two guests. + +The baron had replaced his long peruke, and resumed his heavy, +tight-fitting coat, in order to receive De Chemerant and the supposed +duke. He regarded the latter with eager curiosity, and was extremely +puzzled by the black velvet coat with the red sleeve. But, remembering +that De Chemerant had spoken to him of a state secret in which the +inhabitants of Devil's Cliff found themselves mixed up, he did not dare +to meet Croustillac without profound deference. + +The governor, profiting by a moment during which the adventurer cast a +melancholy glance at the window, striving to see whether it would serve +his purpose, said in a low tone to De Chemerant, "I expected to see a +lady, sir. This litter that you brought with you----" + +"Well, baron, you unfortunately counted without your hostess." + +"You must have been much heated by this morning sun," added the baron +with a careless air, although he was piqued by De Chemerant's answer. + +"Very much heated, sir, and your guest also. You should offer him some +refreshment." + +"I have thought of that, sir," replied the baron, "and have ordered +three covers laid." + +"I do not know, baron, whether my lord (indicating Croustillac) will +deign to admit us to his table." + +The governor, stupefied with surprise, regarded Croustillac with a new +and burning curiosity. "But, sir, is this, then, a great personage?" + +"Baron, I am again under the necessity of reminding you that it is my +mission to ask questions of you and not----" + +"Sufficient, sufficient, sir. Will you ask the guest whom I have the +honor to receive if he will do me the favor to accept this breakfast?" + +Chemerant transmitted the invitation of the baron to Croustillac, who, +pretending fatigue, asked to breakfast alone in his apartment. + +Chemerant whispered a few words in the ear of the governor, who +immediately offered his finest apartment to the supposed great +personage. + +Croustillac prayed the baron to have the pannier, of which one of the +two guards had taken charge, and which, as we know, contained only +Croustillac's old garments, brought to his room. + +Chemerant was in the room of the Gascon when the pannier was brought in. + +"Who would think, to look at this modest pannier, that it contained more +than three millions' worth of jewels?" said Croustillac negligently. + +"What imprudence! your highness!" cried De Chemerant. "These guards are +trusty, but----" + +"They are ignorant of the treasure they carry; there is, then, nothing +to fear." + +"Your highness, I ought to tell you that it is not the intention of the +king that you should use your personal resources in order to bring this +enterprise to a successful end. The purser of the frigate has a +considerable sum destined to the payment of the recruits who are +embarked, and for necessary expenses, once the debarkation is +accomplished." + +"It does not matter," said Croustillac. "Money is the sinew of war. I +had not foreseen this disposition of the 'great king,' and I wish to put +at the service of my royal uncle that which remains to me of blood, +fortune and influence." + +After this sounding peroration, De Chemerant went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +CROUSTILLAC DEPARTS. + + +Croustillac seated himself at the table which had been prepared for him, +ate but little, and then lay down, hoping that sleep would calm him and +perhaps bring to him some fortunate idea of how to escape. He had +recognized with chagrin the impossibility of escaping by the window of +the chamber he occupied; the two sentries of the governor's residence +paced constantly at the foot of the building. + +Once alone, De Chemerant began to reflect on the singular events of +which he had been the witness. Although he did not doubt that the Gascon +was the veritable Duke of Monmouth, the conduct of the duchess seemed so +strange to him, the manners and language of Croustillac, although very +skillfully adapted to his rôle, were sometimes so redolent of the +adventurer, that without the aid of the evident proofs which should +demonstrate to him the identity of the person of the duke, De Chemerant +would have conceived some suspicions. Nevertheless, he resolved to +profit by his sojourn at Fort Royal to question the governor anew on the +subject of Blue Beard, and Colonel Rutler on the subject of the Duke of +Monmouth. The baron did no more than to repeat certain public rumors, +viz., that the widow was on the best possible terms with the three +bandits who haunted Devil's Cliff. + +Chemerant was reduced to deploring the depravity of the young woman, and +the blindness of the unfortunate duke, a blindness which had, without +doubt, endured till that very moment. + +As for Rutler, his arrest by De Chemerant, the arrival of the envoy from +France at Devil's Cliff, far from shaking his conviction in respect to +Croustillac, had confirmed it; thus, when De Chemerant came to question +him, in announcing to him that he was not to be shot, the colonel, on +his part unwittingly, concurred in giving still more authority to the +false rôle of the adventurer. + +The sun was on the point of setting. Chemerant, completely reassured as +to the very satisfactory result of his mission, was thinking over the +advantages it must bring to him, while walking up and down the terrace +of the governor's residence, when the baron, out of breath with having +climbed so high, came to tear his guest away from the ambitious thoughts +with which he was delighting himself. + +"Sir," said the governor to him, "a merchant captain called Master +Daniel, and commanding the three-master the Unicorn has arrived from St. +Pierre with his ship; he asks to talk with you for a moment on very +pressing affairs." + +"May I receive him on this terrace, baron?" + +"Certainly, sir; it is much cooler here than below." Then advancing to +the staircase by which he had ascended, the baron said to one of his +guards, "Send Master Daniel up here." + +We have forgotten to say that as soon as the supposed duke had +manifested a desire to pass the night on land the frigate had received +orders to anchor at the extremity of the roads. + +After some minutes, Captain Daniel, our old acquaintance, appeared on +the terrace. The physiognomy of the captain, ordinarily so frank and +joyous, betrayed great embarrassment. + +The worthy captain of the Unicorn, so completely king on the deck of his +vessel, seemed uncomfortable and ill at ease. His cheeks, always more +than red, were slightly pale; the almost imperceptible quivering of his +upper lip agitated his thick gray mustache--a physiological sign which +indicated in Captain Daniel a grave preoccupation; he wore trousers and +tunic of blue and white striped cloth; in his girdle of red cotton was +thrust a long Flemish knife; an India handkerchief, knotted sailor +fashion, surrounded his brick-colored throat; finally, he mechanically +gave the most whimsical forms to the large and flexible straw hat which +he twisted about with both hands. + +The worthy master, with many low bows, approached De Chemerant, whose +dry, harsh face, with its piercing glance, seemed to intimidate him +greatly. + +"I am sure that this poor man is all in a perspiration," said the +governor to De Chemerant, in a pitying tone. + +In fact, great drops of perspiration covered the prominent veins on the +bald and sunburned forehead of Captain Daniel. + +"What do you wish?" said De Chemerant to him brusquely. + +"Come, speak, explain yourself, Master Daniel," added the baron, in a +gentler tone, seeing the merchant captain more and more intimidated. + +At last the captain ended by saying, in a voice strangled by emotion, +and addressing himself to De Chemerant, "Your highness----" + +"I am not 'your highness' but 'sir,'" replied Chemerant; "speak, I am +listening." + +"Well, then, my good sir, I arrived at St. Pierre with a cargo, a very +rich cargo of sugar, coffee, pepper, cloves, tafia----" + +"I do not need to know the inventory of your cargo; what do you want?" + +"Come, Master Daniel, my boy, reassure yourself, explain yourself, and +dry your forehead; you look as if you had come out of the water," said +the baron. + +"Now, your high--now, good sir, although I have a dozen small guns, and +a few swivel guns, my cargo is of such value that I come, good sir, in +fear of corsairs and pirates----" + +"Well?" + +"Go on, Master Daniel, I have never seen you thus." + +"I come, good sir, to ask your permission to set sail in company with +the frigate which has anchored just now in the roads." + +"Confound it! I can understand why you are embarrassed in making such a +request, Master Daniel," said the baron. "They are to give you his +majesty's frigates to serve as escort to your cargo!" + +Chemerant looked fixedly at the captain, shrugged his shoulders, and +responded, "It is impossible! The frigate is a fast sailer; she could +not diminish her speed to attend on your vessel--you are crazy!" + +"Oh, sir, if it is only that, fear nothing. Without decrying his +majesty's frigate, since I do not know her, I can engage to follow her, +no matter how much sail she carries, or whatever wind or sea is in her +sails or ahead." + +"I tell you you are crazy. The Thunderer is the swiftest of ships." + +"My good sir, do not refuse me," said Master Daniel, in a supplicating +tone. "If this proud frigate sails quicker than the Unicorn--well, this +man-of-war will desert the poor merchant ship, but at least I shall have +been a good part of the way under the shelter of the flag of the king, +and the prowlers of the sea are only especially to be feared in the +starting. Ah, sir, a cargo worth more than a million, by which the +enemies of our good king will profit if they succeed in getting +possession of the Unicorn----" + +"But I repeat to you that the frigate, although a man-of-war, would not +have time to defend you if you were attacked; her mission is such that +she ought not to be embarrassed with a convoy." + +"Oh, good sir," replied Captain Daniel, clasping his hands, "you will +have no embarrassment because of me; there will be no risk of my being +attacked if they see me under the protection of your guns. There is not +a corsair who would dare even to approach me, seeing me so bravely +accompanied. With all respect, sir, the wolves attack the lambs only +when the dogs are absent." + +"Poor lamb of a Master Daniel!" said the governor. + +"Ah, good sir, let it not be said that a warship of the king, our +master, refused a poor unfortunate merchant who asked only the +protection of his flag, so long as he was able to follow it." + +Chemerant found it hard to refuse this request, which in nowise +interfered with the maneuvers of the frigate, as Captain Daniel engaged +to follow the course of the Thunderer or allow himself to be abandoned. +Nevertheless, De Chemerant refused. "You know well," he said to the +captain, "that if, in spite of our escort, a corsair attacked you, a +king's ship could not leave you defenseless. Again, you will hinder the +maneuvers of the frigate. It is impossible." + +"But, sir, my rich cargo----" + +"You have guns, defend it. I will not allow you the convoy. It is +impossible." + +"Alas! my good God! I, who have come expressly from St. Pierre to ask +this favor from you!" said Daniel, in a dolorous tone. + +"Well, you will wait for another chance. I cannot cover you with my +flag." + +"However, good sir----" + +"Enough!" said Chemerant, in a harsh and peremptory tone. + +Captain Daniel made a last reverence, and, retreating slowly to the +staircase, he disappeared. + +"To see these merchants! To hear them one would think there were no +interests in the world but those of their cargoes," said De Chemerant. + +"There are, however, very few circumstances in which one refuses an +escort," said the governor, with an air of astonishment. + +"There are very few, indeed, baron, but there are some," said Chemerant +brusquely, while withdrawing. + +Croustillac had been conducted to the finest apartment in the house. +When he awoke night had fallen, and the moon shone with so brilliant a +light that it illuminated his chamber perfectly. + +Croustillac looked out of his window; the two sentinels paced peacefully +at the foot of the wall. + +"The devil!" said the adventurer. "It is decidedly impossible to make my +escape on this side; there are at least twenty feet to descend just to +fall on the backs of these sentinels, and they would find this manner of +quitting the governor's house very singular. Let us look at the other +side, then." + +Croustillac approached the door with a light step; but a bright light +thrown on the floor showed him that the neighboring room was lighted and +probably occupied. + +By the aid of a tinder-box which he found on the mantel, he lighted a +candle, and dressed himself in his old clothes, with a melancholy +satisfaction. They exhaled the strong and aromatic odor of the plants +and herbs of the surroundings through which Croustillac had so long +walked in his wanderings in the forest around Devil's Cliff. + +"Zounds! Chance is devilishly well named Chance," said the Gascon to +himself. "It has always had a particular affection for me. If it was +canonized, I would make it my patron saint. Chance--Polyphème, Sire de +Croustillac! When, on board the Unicorn, I made a bet that I would marry +Blue Beard, who could have foreseen that this foolish wager was almost +won; for, after all, in the eyes of the man with the dagger and of De +Chemerant, I passed, I still pass, as the husband of the lady of Devil's +Cliff. How all things hang together in fate! When I quitted the +parsonage of Father Griffen, nose in air, shoulders squared, my switch +in my hand to drive away the serpents, who the devil would have said +that I left to go, not directly it is true, to incite the Cornwallers to +revolt in favor of King James and Louis XIV! Zounds! One may well say +that the ways of Providence are inscrutable. Who could have penetrated +into this? Ah! now the critical moment approaches. I am sometimes +tempted to disclose all to the good man Chemerant. Yes, but I think that +each hour gained removes the duke and his wife three or four leagues +further from Martinique. I think that here, on land, my trial might be +carried out immediately and my gallows raised in the wink of an eye, +while on the open sea there would perhaps be no persons present +competent to judge me. I think, after all, that if Blue Beard has begged +(as I suppose) Father Griffen to endeavor to withdraw me from the claws +of Chemerant, that a sudden and imprudent revelation on my part would +spoil all. Much better, then, to keep silence. Yes, all well +considered," resumed Croustillac after a moment of reflection, "to let +De Chemerant's mistake last as long as possible, that is the better part +for me to take." + +During these reflections Croustillac had dressed himself. "Now," he +said, "let me see if there are any means of getting out of here +secretly." + +So saying, he softly opened the door and beheld with disappointment the +lackeys of the governor, who rose respectfully on seeing him. One went +to seek the baron; the other said to Croustillac, "Monsieur the governor +forbade us to enter the chamber of your highness until called; he will +come on the instant." + +"No matter, my boy, only show me the door to the garden. It is very +warm; I wish to take the air for awhile--but no, there are undoubtedly +trees in the garden; I prefer the open space, the field----" + +"That is very simple, your highness; in descending from the gallery you +will find yourself in the garden, from which a gate opens into the +fields." + +"Very well, then, my boy, conduct me there quickly. I long for the +fields like a bird in a cage." + +"Ah, it is not necessary, your highness; here is monsieur the baron, he +will conduct you himself," said the lackey. + +"To the devil with the baron!" thought Croustillac. The governor was not +alone; Chemerant accompanied him. + +"Faith, your highness," said the latter, "fortunately we see you risen. +We came to wake you." + +"To wake me--and why?" + +"Wind and tide wait for no one. The tide goes out at three o'clock; it +is now half-past two. It will take us a half hour to reach the mole, +where the boat awaits us. We have just time to get there, your +highness." + +"Now, then, the die is cast," said Croustillac. "Let us try only to gain +a few hours before being presented to my partisans. Sir, I am at your +orders," added the adventurer, draping himself in a brown mantle which +he had found with his clothes. + +The governor felt it his duty to accompany, as escort, De Chemerant and +the mysterious unknown to the mole; the flight of the Gascon was thus +rendered absolutely impossible. + +At the moment of quitting the governor, Chemerant said to him, "Sir, I +will render to the king a full account of the efficient aid you have +given me. I can now say it to you, the secret has been perfectly kept." + +"But, sir, may I know what were these indications?" cried the baron, so +poorly informed on what he was burning to know. + +"You may be certain, baron," said Chemerant, cordially pressing his +hand, "that the king will know all--and it will not be my fault if you +are not rewarded as you deserve." + +Thus saying, Chemerant gave the order to put off. + +"If the king is to know all he will be much ahead of me," said the +baron, slowly returning to his house. "What I have learned from the +guards of the escort has only augmented my curiosity. It was hardly +worth the trouble to toil and moil, and stay on one's feet all night, to +be so badly informed of things of the greatest importance, taking place +in my own government!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE FRIGATE. + + +The moon threw a brilliant light over the waters of Fort Royal. The long +boat which bore Croustillac and his fortunes advanced rapidly toward the +Thunderer, which was anchored at the entrance of the bay. + +The Gascon, enveloped in his mantle, occupied the place of honor in the +boat, which seemed to fly over the water. + +"Sir," said he to Chemerant, "I wish to reflect ripely on the discourse +which it is my intention to address to my partisans; you comprehend--it +is necessary that I pronounce a sort of manifesto in which I disclose my +political principles; that I tell them my hopes in order to make them +partakers in them; that, in fine, I give them, in a manner, a plan of +campaign; now all this needs long elaboration. These are the bases of +our undertaking. It is necessary to disclose all to them--the +consequences of the alliance, or rather the moral, that is to say +material support which England lends us, or rather France--In short," +said Croustillac, who began to be singularly mixed up in his politics, +"I do not wish to receive my partisans till to-morrow, in the morning. I +wish, even, that my arrival on board should be conducted as quietly as +possible." + +"It is very probable, my lord, that all these brave gentlemen are +asleep, for they did not know at what hour your highness was to arrive." + +"This mad--this brave Mortimer is capable of waiting up all night for +me," said Croustillac, with disquietude. + +"That is not to be doubted, your highness, by one who knows the ardent +impatience with which he desires your return." + +"Hold, sir," said the Gascon, "between you and me, I know my Mortimer; +he is very nervous, very impressionable. I should fear for him--a shock, +a too sudden effect of joy, should I appear abruptly before him. Thus, +in going aboard I shall take the precaution of well wrapping myself up +in order to escape his eyes--and even if he asks you if I shall soon +arrive, oblige me by answering him in an evasive manner. In this way we +can prepare him for an interview, which without these precautions might +prove fatal to this devoted friend." + +"Ah! fear nothing, your highness; excess of joy can never be fatal." + +"Indeed, you deceive yourself, sir; without taking account of a thousand +general facts with which I might corroborate my opinion, I will cite on +this subject a fact quite personal and particular to the very man of +whom we are now talking." + +"To Lord Mortimer?" + +"To him, sir. I shall never forget that once I saw him seized with +frightful convulsions under circumstances almost similar. There were +nervous starts--swoons----" + +"However, your highness, Lord Mortimer has an athletic constitution." + +"An athletic constitution? Come, then, it only remained that I should +encounter a Hercules in this run-mad Pylades," thought Croustillac. He +spoke aloud: + +"You don't know, sir, that it is these very men of great strength who +are just the ones who most keenly feel such shocks. I will even tell +you--but this is entirely between ourselves--at least----" + +"Your highness may be sure of my discretion." + +"You will understand my reserve, sir. I will tell you then that, on the +occasion of which I speak--this unfortunate Mortimer was so +stupefied--(if it were not for our intimate friendship, I should say +rendered stupid) by seeing too suddenly some one he had not met for a +long time--that his head--you comprehend----" + +"What, your highness, his reason----" + +"Alas! yes, in this instance only--. You now comprehend why I demand +secrecy of you?" + +"Yes, yes, your highness." + +"But that was not all; the shock suffered by poor Mortimer was such +that, after having remained several moments stupefied with surprise, he +no longer recognized this person; no, sir, he did not recognize him, +though he had seen him a thousand times!" + +"Is it possible, your highness?" said De Chemerant, in a tone of +respectful doubt. + +"It is, alas! only too true, sir, for you have no idea of the +excitability of this good fellow. So I, who am his friend, should watch +carefully that no trouble come to him. Think, then, if I should expose +him to the risk of not knowing me. Mortimer is now the one whom I love +most in the world, and you know, alas! sir, if the consolations of +friendship are necessary to me." + +"Still these unhappy memories, your highness?" + +"Yes, I am weak, I own it--it is stronger than I." + +"What is this ship anchored not far from the frigate?" demanded De +Chemerant of the master of the long boat, in order to change the +conversation, out of regard for the feelings of the supposed duke. + +"That, sir, is a merchantman, which arrived last night from St. Pierre," +said the sailor, respectfully removing his cap. + +"Ah! I know," said De Chemerant; "it is probably the ship of that fool +of a merchant-captain who demanded our escort. But here we are, your +highness--the lights are all out--you are not expected." + +"So much the better, so much the better; provided Mortimer is not +there." + +"It seems to me that I see him on the bridge, your highness." + +Croustillac raised his mantle almost to his eyes. + +"Ah! there is the officer of the watch on the ladder. What a pity to +arrive so late, your highness. It is to the beat of drums, the flourish +of trumpets, that your highness should have been received, with the +ship's crew presenting arms." + +"Honors to-morrow--honors to-morrow," said Croustillac; "the hour of +these frivolities always comes soon enough." + +Chemerant drew aside to allow the Gascon to mount the ladder first. The +latter breathed freely again on seeing on deck only an officer of +marines, who received him with bared head and a profoundly respectful +air. Croustillac responded with great dignity, and above all, very +briefly, enveloping himself in his mantle with the utmost care, and +casting uneasy glances around him, fearing to see the terrible Mortimer. +Fortunately he saw only the sailors talking together or reclining by the +side of the guns. + +The officer, who was speaking in a low tone to De Chemerant, saluting +Croustillac again, said to him: + +"Your highness, since you command it, I will not awaken the captain, and +I shall have the honor of conducting you to your cabin." + +Croustillac inclined his head. + +"Till to-morrow, your highness," said De Chemerant. + +"Till to-morrow," responded the adventurer. + +The officer descended by the hatchway to the gun-deck, opened the door +of a large, wide cabin perfectly lighted by a skylight, and said to the +Gascon: "Your highness, there is your cabin; there are two other small +rooms to the right and left." + +"This is admirable, sir; do me the favor, I pray you, to give the +strictest orders that no one enters my cabin to-morrow until I call. No +one, sir, you understand--absolutely no one!--this is of the last +importance." + +"Very well, my lord. Your highness does not wish that I should send one +of the people to assist you to disrobe?" + +"I am a soldier, sir," said Croustillac proudly, "and I disrobe without +assistance." + +The young officer bowed, taking this response for a lesson in stoicism; +he went out, ordering one of the orderlies to allow no one to enter the +cabin of the duke, and again ascended on deck to rejoin De Chemerant. + +"Your duke is a veritable Spartan, my dear De Chemerant," said he to +him. "Why! he has not brought even a lackey." + +"That is true," responded De Chemerant; "such strange things have taken +place on land that neither he nor I thought of it; but I will give him +one of my people. Just now the important thing is to set sail." + +"That is also the opinion of the captain. He gave me orders to wake him +if you judged it necessary to depart at once." + +"We will start on the instant, for both wind and tide are in our favor, +I think," answered De Chemerant. + +"So favorable," said the officer, "that if this wind holds, to-morrow by +sunrise we shall no longer be able to see the shores of Martinique." + +A half-hour after the arrival of the Gascon on board, the Thunderer got +under sail with an excellent breeze from the southwest. + +When De Chemerant saw the frigate leaving the roads, he could not +refrain from rubbing his hands, saying to himself, "Faith it is not that +I am vain and boastful, but I would only have given this mission in a +hundred to the most skillful of men--to unravel the projects of the +English envoy, to conquer the scruples of the duke, to aid him to +revenge himself on a guilty wife, to tear him by force of eloquence from +the overwhelming feelings this conjugal accident has roused in his soul, +to bring him back to England at the head of his partisans--by my faith, +Chemerant, my friend, that was left to you to do! Your fortune, already +on the road to success, behold it forever assured; this good success +delights me the more that the king regards this affair as important. +Once more, bravo!" + +Chemerant with a light and joyful heart slept, cradled by the most +pleasing and ambitious thoughts. + +It was half-past ten in the morning; the wind was fresh, the sea a +little rough, but very beautiful; the Thunderer left behind her a +shining wake. The land was no longer to be seen. The ship was in +mid-ocean. + +The officer of the watch, armed with a glass, examined with attention a +three-masted vessel about two cannon shots distant, which kept precisely +the same route as the frigate and sailed as quickly as she did, although +carrying a few light sails the less. + +On the extreme horizon the officer remarked also another ship which he +as yet distinguished vaguely, but which seemed to follow the same +direction as the three-master, whose maneuver we have just pointed out. +Wishing to find out if this latter ship would persist in imitating the +movements of the Thunderer, the officer ordered the man at the wheel to +bear away a little more to the north. + +The three-master bore away a little more to the north. + +The officer gave orders to bear away to the west. + +The three-master bore away to the west. + +More annoyed than startled at this persistence, because the three-master +was not capable of a struggle with a frigate, the officer, by the order +of the captain, tacked about and sailed straight down upon the +importunate vessel. + +The importunate three-master tacked about also, and continued to +scrupulously imitate the evolutions of the frigate, and sailed in +concert with her, but always beyond reach of her guns. + +The captain, irritated by this, veered about and ran straight down upon +the three-master. The three-master proved that she was, if not a better +sailer, at least as good a one as the frigate, which was never able to +shorten the distance between them. The captain, not wishing to lose +precious time in this useless chase, resumed his course. + +The vexatious three-master also resumed its course. + +This mysterious ship was no other than the peaceable Unicorn. Captain +Daniel, in spite of the refusal of De Chemerant, had judged it proper to +attach himself obstinately to the Thunderer until they reached the open +sea. + +A new personage appeared on the deck of the frigate. This was a man of +about fifty years of age, large, stout, wearing a buff coat with wide +scarlet breeches, and boots of sheepskin. His hair and mustache were +red, his eyes light blue, the eyeballs veined with little vessels which +the slightest emotion injected with blood, showing a violent and +passionate temper. + +We hasten to inform the reader that this athletic personage was the most +fanatical of all the fanatical partisans of Monmouth, and he would have +thought himself a thousand times blessed to have shared the fate of +Sidney; in a word, this man was Lord Percy Mortimer. His disquietude, +his agitation, his impatience, were inexpressible; he could not stay in +one place a moment. + +Twenty times had Lord Mortimer descended to the door of Croustillac's +cabin to know if "my lord the duke" had not asked for him. In vain had +he implored the officer to send word to the duke that Mortimer, his best +friend, his old companion in arms, wished to throw himself at his feet; +his wishes were vain, the orders of the unhappy Croustillac, who +regarded each minute gained as a precious conquest, were rigorously +carried out. + +Chemerant also went upon deck, clothed in a magnificent dress, his air +radiant and triumphant; he seemed to say to all: "If the prince is here, +that is thanks to my ability, to my courage." Seeing him, Mortimer +approached him quickly. + +"Well, sir," he said to him, "may we know at last at what hour the duke +will receive us?" + +"The duke has forbidden any one to enter his apartment without his +order." + +"I am on red-hot coals," replied Mortimer; "I shall never forgive myself +for having gone to bed this night, and not to have been the first to +press our James in my arms, to throw myself at his feet--to kiss his +royal hand." + +"Ah, Lord Mortimer, you love our brave duke well?" said De Chemerant; +"partisans such as you are rare!" + +"_If_ I love our James!" cried Mortimer, turning a deep and apoplectic +red, "_if_ I love him! Hold! I and Dick Dudley, my best friend, who +loves the duke, not as much as I (we fought once because he made this +absurd claim)--I and Dudley, I tell you, asked each other just now if we +should have the strength to again see our James without giving way--like +silly women." + +"The duke was right," thought De Chemerant. "What enthusiasm! It is not +attachment, it is frenzy." Mortimer resumed with vehemence: "This +morning on rising we embraced each other; we committed a thousand +extravagances on thinking we should see him again to-day. We could not +believe it, and even yet I doubt it. Ah! what a day! what a day! To see +again in flesh and blood a friend, a companion in arms whom we had +believed dead, whom we had wept for for five years! Ah! you do not know +how he was cherished and regretted, our James! How we recalled his +bravery, his courage, his gayety! What happiness to say, not _it was_, +but _it is_ the heart of a king, a true heart of a king, that of our +duke." + +"It must be that this is true, my lord, since with the exception of +yourself, of Lord Dudley, and this poor Lord Rothsay who, ill as he is +from his old wounds, has chosen to accompany you, the other gentlemen +who came to offer their arms, their lives and their fortunes to our +duke, knew him only by reputation." + +"And I should like well to see if, on his renown alone, and on our +guarantee, they would not love him as much as we love him. This recalls +to me that once I fought my friend Dick Dudley because he vowed he loved +me a little more than our James!" + +"The fact is, my lord," said De Chemerant, "that few princes are capable +of inspiring such enthusiasm simply by their renown." + +"Few princes, sir!" cried Lord Mortimer in a formidable voice, "few +princes! Say, then, no other prince--ask Dudley!" + +Lord Dudley appeared at this moment on the deck. The hair and mustache +of this nobleman were black and beginning to turn gray; in stature, +strength, and stoutness there was a great conformity between him and +Mortimer; true types (physically speaking) of what are called +gentlemen-farmers. + +"What's the matter, Percy?" said Lord Dudley familiarly to his friend. + +"Is it not true, Dick, that no prince can be compared with our James?" + +"Excepting our worthy friends and allies on this vessel, any dog who +dares maintain that James is not the best of men I will beat him till +the blood comes, and cut him in quarters," said this robust personage, +striking with one of his fists the gunwale of the ship. Then, addressing +De Chemerant: "But now you know him as well as we--you, the chosen you, +the happy man who saw him first! Your hand, De Chemerant, your brave and +loyal hand--more brave and more loyal, if it is possible, since it has +touched that of our duke!" + +Dudley violently shook the right hand of De Chemerant, while Mortimer +shook no less violently the left hand. + +There is nothing more contagious than enthusiasm. The partisans of +Monmouth had one by one come up on deck and grouped themselves around +the two noblemen--all wishing in their turn to press the hand which had +touched that of the prince. + +"Ah! gentlemen, I suspect that his grace puts off the honor of seeing +you. He fears the emotion inseparable from such a moment." + +"And we, then!" cried Dudley. "It is now about forty days since we left +Rochelle, is it not? Well, may I die if I have slept more than three or +four hours any night, and then the sleep, at once agitated and pleasant, +that one sleeps on the eve of a duel--when one is sure of killing one's +man. At least, that is the effect of this impatience on me. And you, +Percy?" said the robust gladiator to Mortimer. + +"On me, Dick?" responded the latter; "it has a contrary effect on me; +every moment I wake with a start. It seems to me that I should sleep +thus the eve of the day that I was going to be shot." + +"As for me," said another gentleman, "I know the duke only from his +portrait." + +"I only from his renown." + +"I, as soon as I knew that it concerned marching against the Orange +faction--I quitted all, friends, wife, child." + +"So did we----" + +"Ah, sir, it is also for James of Monmouth," said another, "that is a +name which is like the sound of a trumpet." + +"It suffices to pronounce this name in Old England," said another, "to +drive all these Holland rats into their marshes." + +"Beginning with this William----" + +"On my honor, gentlemen," said De Chemerant, "you make me almost proud +of having succeeded so well in an enterprise which, I dare to say, is a +very delicate one. I do not wish to attribute to my reasoning, to my +influence, the resolution of the prince--but believe, at least, +gentlemen, that I have known how to make good use with him of the +enthusiasm with which his memory has inspired you." + +"And so, our friend, we will never forget what you have done! You have +brought him here to us--our duke!" cried Mortimer cordially. + +"For that alone we owe you eternal gratitude," added Dudley. + +"To see him! to see him," cried Mortimer in a new access of feeling, "to +see him again whom we believed to be dead--to see him indeed face to +face--to again find before our eyes this proud and noble figure--to see +it again in the midst of the fire--the--the--ah, well--yes, I weep--I +weep," cried the brave Mortimer, no longer restraining his emotion; +"yes, I weep like a child, and a thousand thunderbolts crush those who +do not comprehend that an old soldier thus can weep." + +Emotion is as contagious as enthusiasm. + +Dick, followed the example of his friend Percy, and the others did as +Dick and his friend Percy did. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE JUDGMENT. + + +A new personage came to augment the number of the passionate admirers of +Monmouth. There was seen advancing, supported by two servants, a man +still young, but condemned to premature infirmity by numerous wounds. + +Lord Jocelyn Rothsay, in spite of his sufferings, had wished to join +himself to the partisans of the prince, and if not to fight for the +cause that Monmouth was going to defend, at least to come before the +duke and to be one of the first to felicitate him on his resurrection. + +Lord Rothsay's hair was white, although his pale face was still young +and his mustache was as black as his bold and brilliant eyes. Enveloped +in a long dressing-gown, he advanced with difficulty, supported on the +shoulders of the two servants. + +"Here is the brave Rothsay who has as many wounds as hairs in his +mustache," cried Lord Dudley. + +"By the devil, who will not carry me away before I have seen our duke, +at least," said Rothsay, "I will be, like you, one of the first to press +his hand. Have I not, in my fresh youth, risked my life to hasten by a +quarter of an hour a love tryst? Why should I not risk it in order to +see our duke a quarter of an hour sooner?" + +A man with troubled face appeared on deck shortly after Rothsay. + +"My lord," said he entreatingly, "my lord, you expose your life by this +imprudence! The least violent movement may renew the hemorrhage from +this old wound which----" + +"The devil! doctor, could my blood flow better or more nobly than at the +feet of James of Monmouth?" cried Rothsay with enthusiasm. + +"But, my lord, the danger----" + +"But, doctor, it would be to his everlasting shame if Jocelyn Rothsay +should be one of the last to embrace our duke. I made this voyage for no +other purpose. Dick will lend me one shoulder, Percy another, and it is +sustained by these two brave champions that I shall come to say to +James: Here are three of your faithful soldiers of Bridgewater." + +So saying, the young man abandoned his two servants, and supported +himself on the shoulders of the two robust noblemen. + +The roll of drums, to which was added the flourish of trumpets, the +shrill noise of the boatswain's whistle, announced that the marines and +infantry belonging to the frigate were assembling; very soon they were +drawn up on deck, with their officers at their head. + +"Why this show of arms?" asked Mortimer of Chemerant. + +"To render homage to the duke and to receive him with the honors of war +when he comes directly to review the troops." + +The captain of the frigate advanced toward the group of gentlemen: +"Gentlemen, I have just received the orders of his grace." + +"Well?" all said with one voice. + +"His highness will receive you at eleven o'clock precisely; that is to +say, in exactly five minutes." + +It is impossible to give any idea of the exclamations of profound joy +which escaped from every breast. + +"Hold! now, Dick, I feel myself growing faint," said Mortimer. + +"The devil! pay attention, Percy," said Rothsay; "do not fall; you are +one of my legs." + +"I," said Dudley, "I have a sort of vertigo----" + +"Listen, Dick; listen, Jocelyn," said Mortimer; "these worthy companions +have never seen our duke; be generous, let them go first; we shall see +him first from a distance; that will give us time to place ourselves in +his sight. Is it done?" + +"Yes, yes," said Dick and Jocelyn. + +Eleven o'clock sounded. For some moments the deck of the frigate +offered a spectacle truly grand. The soldiers and marines in arms +covered the gangways. The officers, bareheaded, preceding the gentlemen, +slowly descended the narrow stairway which led to the apartment +appropriated to the Duke of Monmouth. + +Last, behind this first group advanced Mortimer and Dudley, sustaining +between them the young Lord Rothsay, whose bowed figure and trembling +steps contrasted with the tall stature and manly bearing of his two +supports. + +While the other gentlemen incumbered the narrow stairway, the three +lords--these three noble types of chivalrous fidelity--remained on the +deck. + +"Listen, listen," said Dudley, "perhaps we shall hear the voice of +James----" + +In fact, the most profound silence reigned at first, but it was soon +interrupted by exclamations of joy with which mingled lively and tender +protestations. At last the stairway was free. + +Scarcely moderating their impatience from regard for Lord Rothsay, who +descended with difficulty, the two lords reached the gun-deck and +entered in their turn the great cabin of the frigate, where Croustillac +gave audience to his partisans. For some moments the three noblemen were +stupefied by the tableau presented to their eyes. + +At the back of the great cabin, which was lighted by five portholes, +Croustillac, clothed in his old green coat and pink stockings, stood +proudly beside De Chemerant; the latter, swelling with pride, seemed to +triumphantly present the chevalier to the English gentlemen. + +A little back of De Chemerant stood the captain of the frigate and his +staff. The partisans of Monmouth, picturesquely grouped, surrounded the +Gascon. + +The adventurer, although a little pale, retained his audacity; seeing +that he was not recognized, he resumed little by little his accustomed +assurance, and said to himself: "Mortimer must have boasted of knowing +me intimately in order to give himself airs of familiarity with a +nobleman of my degree. Come then, zounds! let that last which can!" + +The force of illusion is such that among the gentlemen who pressed +around the adventurer some discovered a very decided "family look" to +Charles II.; others, a striking resemblance to his portraits. + +"My lords and gentlemen," said Croustillac, with a gesture toward De +Chemerant, "this gentleman, in reporting to me your wishes, has decided +me to return to your midst." + +"My lord duke, with us it is to the death!" cried the most enthusiastic. + +"I count on that, my lords; as for me, my motto shall be: 'All for +England and'----" + +"This is too much impudence! blood and murder!" thundered Lord Mortimer, +interrupting the chevalier and springing toward him with blazing eyes +and clinched fists, while Dudley upheld Lord Jocelyn. + +The apostrophe of Mortimer had an astounding effect on the spectators +and the actors in this scene. The English gentlemen turned quickly +toward Mortimer. De Chemerant and the officers looked at each other with +astonishment, as yet comprehending none of his words. + +"Zounds! here we are," thought Croustillac; "only to see this tipsy +brute; I should smell the Mortimer a league off." The nobleman stepped +into the empty space that the gentlemen had left between the Gascon and +themselves, in recoiling; he planted himself before him, his arms +crossed, his eyes flashing, looking him straight in the face, exclaiming +in a voice trembling with rage: "Ah! you are James of Monmouth--you!--it +is to me--Mortimer--that you say that?" + +Croustillac was sublime in his impudence and coolness; he answered +Mortimer with an accent of melancholy reproach: "Exile and adversity +must indeed have changed me much if my best friend no longer recognizes +me!" Then, half-turning toward De Chemerant, the chevalier added in a +low tone: "You see, it is as I told you; the emotion has been too +violent; his poor head is completely upset. Alas, this unhappy man does +not know me!" + +Croustillac expressed himself so naturally and with so much assurance, +that De Chemerant still hesitated to believe himself the dupe of so +enormous an imposition; he did not long retain any doubts on this +subject. + +Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay joined Mortimer and the other gentlemen in +showering upon the unfortunate Gascon the most furious apostrophes and +insults. + +"This miserable vagabond dares to call himself James of Monmouth!" + +"The infamous impostor!" + +"The scoundrel must have murdered him in order to pass himself off for +him!" + +"He is an emissary of William!" + +"That beggar, James, our duke!" + +"What audacity!" + +"To dare to tell such a lie!" + +"He ought to have his tongue torn out!" + +"To deceive us so impudently--we who had never seen the duke!" + +"This cries for vengeance!" + +"Since he takes his name he must know where he is!" + +"Yes, he shall answer for our duke!" + +"We will throw him into the sea if he does not give our James back to +us!" + +"We will tear out his nails to make him speak!" + +"To play thus with what is most sacred!" + +"How could De Chemerant have fallen into a trap so gross!" + +"This miserable wretch has deceived me most outrageously, gentlemen!" +cried De Chemerant, striving in vain to make himself heard. + +"Come, then; explain yourself, sir." + +"He shall pay dearly for his audacity, gentlemen." + +"First, chain up this traitor." + +"He abused my confidence by the most execrable lies. Gentlemen, any one +would have been deceived as much as I was." + +"One cannot mock thus the faith of brave gentlemen who sacrifice +themselves to the good cause." + +"De Chemerant, you are as culpable as this miserable scoundrel." + +"But, my lords, the English envoy was deceived as well as I." + +"It is impossible; you are his accomplice." + +"My lords, you insult me!" + +"A man of your experience, sir, does not allow himself to be made +ridiculous in this way." + +"We must avenge ourselves!" + +"Yes, vengeance! vengeance!" + +These accusations, these reproaches bandied about so rapidly, caused +such a tumult that it was impossible for De Chemerant to make himself +heard among so many furious cries. The attitude of the English gentlemen +became so threatening toward him, their recriminations so violent, that +he placed himself alongside the officers of the frigate, and all carried +their hands to their swords. + +Croustillac, alone between the two groups, was a butt for the +invectives, the attacks, and the maledictions of both parties. Intrepid, +audacious, his arms crossed, his head high, his eye unblenching, the +adventurer heard the muttering and bursting forth of this formidable +storm with impassible phlegm, saying to himself: "This ruins all; they +may throw me overboard--that is to say, into the open sea; the leap is +perilous, though I can swim like a Triton, but I can do no more; this +was sure to happen sooner or later; and beside, as I said this morning, +one does not sacrifice oneself for people in order to be crowned with +flowers and caressed by woodland nymphs." + +Although at its height, the tumult was dominated by the voice of +Mortimer who cried: "Monsieur De Chemerant, have this wretch hanged +first; you owe us this satisfaction." + +"Yes, yes, hang him to the yardarm," said the English gentlemen; "we +will have our explanations afterward." + +"You will oblige me much by explaining yourselves beforehand!" cried +Croustillac. + +"He speaks! he dares to speak!" cried one. + +"Eh! who, then, will speak in my favor, if not myself?" replied the +Gascon. "Would it be you, by chance, my gentleman?" + +"Gentlemen," cried De Chemerant, "Lord Mortimer is right in proposing +that justice be done to this abominable impostor." + +"He is wrong; I maintain that he is wrong, a hundred thousand times +wrong!" cried Croustillac; "it is an obsolete, tame, vulgar means----" + +"Be silent, unhappy wretch!" cried the athletic Mortimer, seizing the +hands of the Gascon. + +"Do not lay your hands on a gentleman, or, Sdeath! you shall pay dear +for this outrage!" cried Croustillac angrily. + +"Your sword, scoundrel!" said De Chemerant, while twenty raised arms +threatened the adventurer. + +"In fact, the lion can do nothing against an hundred wolves," said the +Gascon majestically, giving up his rapier. + +"Now, gentlemen," resumed De Chemerant, "I continue. Yes, the honorable +Lord Mortimer is right in wishing to have this rascal hanged." + +"He is wrong! as long as I can raise my voice I will protest that he is +wrong! it is a preposterous, an unheard-of idea; it is the reasoning of +a horse. A fine argument is the gallows!" cried Croustillac, struggling +between two gentlemen who held him by the collar. + +"But before administering justice, it is necessary to oblige him to +reveal to us the abominable plot which he has concocted. It is necessary +that he should unveil to us the mysterious circumstances by the aid of +which he has shamelessly betrayed my good faith." + +"To what good? 'Dead the beast, dead the venom,'" cried Mortimer +roughly. + +"I tell you that you reason as ingeniously as a bulldog which leaps at +the throat of a bull," cried Croustillac. + +"Patience, patience; it is a cravat of good hemp which will stop your +preaching very soon," responded Mortimer. + +"Believe me, my lords," replied De Chemerant, "a council will be formed; +they will interrogate this rascal; if he does not answer, we shall have +plenty of means to force him to it; there is more than one kind of +torture." + +"Ah, so far I am of your mind," said Mortimer; "I consent that he shall +not be hanged before being put to the rack; this will be to do two +things instead of one." + +"You are generous, my lord," said the Gascon. + +In thinking of the fury which must have possessed the soul of De +Chemerant, who saw the enterprise which he thought he had so skillfully +conducted a complete failure, one understands, without excusing it, the +cruelty of his resolution in regard to Croustillac. + +Their minds were so excited, the disappointment had been so irritating, +so distressing even, for the greater part of the adherents of Monmouth, +that these gentlemen, humane enough otherwise, allowed themselves on +this occasion to be carried away by blind anger, and but little more was +needed to bring it about that the unfortunate Croustillac should not +even be cited before a species of council of war, whose meeting might at +least give an appearance of legality to the violence of which he was the +victim. + +Five noblemen and five officers assembled immediately under the +presidency of the captain of the frigate. + +De Chemerant placed himself on the right, the chevalier stood on the +left. The session commenced. + +De Chemerant said briefly, and with a voice still trembling with anger: +"I accuse the man here present with having falsely and wickedly taken +the names and titles of his grace the Duke of Monmouth, and with having +thus, by his odious imposture, ruined the designs of the king, my +master, and under such circumstances the crime of this man should be +considered as an attack upon the safety of the state. In consequence, I +demand that the accused here present be declared guilty of high treason, +and be condemned to death." + +"'Sdeath, sir, you draw your conclusions quickly and well; here is +something clear and brief," said Croustillac, whose natural courage rose +to the occasion. + +"Yes, yes, this impostor merits death; but before that, it is necessary +that he should speak, and that he should at once be put to the +question," said the English lords. + +The captain of the frigate, who presided over the council, was not, like +De Chemerant, under the influence of personal resentment; he said to the +Englishmen: "My lords, we have not yet voted a punishment; it is +necessary before interrogating him to listen to his defense, if he can +defend himself; after which we will consult as to the punishment which +should be inflicted upon him. Let us not forget that we are judges and +that he has not yet been declared guilty." + +These cool, wise words pleased the five lords less than the angry +excitement of De Chemerant; nevertheless, not being able to raise any +objection, they were silent. + +"Accused," said the captain to the chevalier, "what are your names?" + +"Polyphème, Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"A Gascon!" said De Chemerant, between his teeth; "I might have known it +from his impudence. To have been the sport of such a miserable +scoundrel!" + +"Your profession?" continued the captain. + +"For the moment, that of an accused person before a tribunal over which +you worthily preside, captain; for you do not choose, and with reason, +that men should be hanged without a hearing." + +"You are accused of having knowingly and wickedly deceived Monsieur de +Chemerant, who is charged with a mission of state for the king, our +master." + +"It is De Chemerant who deceived himself; he called me 'your highness,' +and I innocently answered to the name." + +"Innocently!" cried De Chemerant furiously; "how, scoundrel! have you +not abused my confidence by the most atrocious lies? have you not +surprised from me the most important secrets of state by your impudent +treachery?" + +"You have spoken, I have listened. I may even declare, for my +justification, that you have appeared to me singularly dull. If it is a +crime to have listened to you, you have rendered this crime +enormous----" + +The captain made a sign to De Chemerant to restrain his indignation; he +said to the Gascon: "Will you reveal what you know relative to James, +Duke of Monmouth? Will you tell us through what chain of events you came +to take his names and titles?" + +Croustillac saw that his position was becoming very dangerous; he had a +mind to reveal all; he could address himself to the devoted partisans of +the prince, assure himself of their support in announcing to them that +the duke had been saved, thanks to him. But an honorable scruple +withheld him; this secret was not his own; it did not belong to him to +betray the mysteries which had concealed and protected the existence of +the duke, and might still protect him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE CHASE. + + +When the captain intimated anew to Croustillac the order to reveal all +he knew about the duke, the adventurer responded, this time with a +firmness full of dignity: + +"I have nothing to say on this subject, captain; this secret is not +mine." + +"Thunder and blood!" cried Mortimer, "the torture shall make you speak. +Light two bunches of tow dipped in sulphur. I will myself place them +under his chin; that will loosen his tongue--and we shall know where our +James is. Ah! I had indeed a presentiment that I should never see him +again." + +"I ought to say to you," said the captain to the Gascon, "that if you +obstinately maintain a culpable silence, you will thus compromite in the +gravest manner the interests of the king and of the state, and we shall +be forced to have recourse to the harshest means in order to make you +speak." + +These quiet words, calmly pronounced by a man with a venerable +countenance, who since the beginning of the scene had endeavored to +moderate the violence of the adversaries of Croustillac, made on the +latter a lively impression; he shivered slightly, but his resolution was +not shaken; he answered with a steady voice: "Excuse me, captain, I have +nothing to say, I will say nothing." + +"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "in the name of the king, by whom I am +empowered, I formally declare that the silence of this criminal may be +the occasion of grave prejudice to the interests of his majesty and the +state. I found this man in the very domain of my lord the Duke of +Monmouth, provided even with precious objects belonging to that +nobleman, such as the sword of Charles II., a box with a portrait, etc. +All concurs, in fine, to prove that he has the most precise information +concerning the existence of his grace the Duke of Monmouth. Now this +information is of the highest importance relative to the mission with +which the king has charged me. I demand therefore that the accused +should immediately be constrained to speak by all the means possible." + +"Yes! yes! the torture," cried the noblemen. + +"Reflect well, accused," said the captain, again. "Do not expose +yourself to terrible suffering; you may hope everything from our +indulgence if you tell the truth. If not, take care!" + +"I have nothing to say," replied Croustillac; "this secret is not mine." + +"This means a cruel torture," said the captain. "Do not force us to +these extremities." + +The Gascon made a gesture of resignation and repeated: "I have nothing +to say." + +The captain could not conceal his chagrin at being obliged to employ +such measures. + +He rang a bell. + +An orderly appeared. + +"Order the provost to come here, four men to remain on the gun-deck near +the forward signal light, and tell the cannoneer to prepare bunches of +tow dipped in sulphur." + +The orderly went out. + +The orders were frightfully positive. In spite of his courage, +Croustillac felt his determination waver; the punishment with which they +threatened him was fearful. Monmouth was then undoubtedly in safety; the +adventurer thought that he had already done much for the duke and for +the duchess. He was about to yield to the fear of torture, when his +courage returned to him at this reflection, grotesque, without doubt, +but which, under the circumstances in which it presented itself to his +mind, became almost heroic, "One does not sacrifice oneself for others +with the sole aim of being crowned with flowers." + +The provost entered the council room. + +Croustillac shuddered, but his looks betrayed no emotion. + +Suddenly, three reports of a gun, in succession resounded long over the +solitude of the ocean. + +The members of the improvised council started from their seats. + +The captain ran to the portholes of the great cabin, declaring the +session suspended. Partisans and officers, forgetting the accused, +ascended in haste to the deck. + +Croustillac, no less curious than his judges, followed them. + +The frigate had received the order to lay to until the issue of the +council which was to decide the fate of the chevalier. + +We have said that the Unicorn had obstinately followed the Thunderer +since the evening before; we have also said that the officer of the +watch had discovered on the horizon a ship, at first almost +imperceptible, but which very soon approached the frigate with a +rapidity almost marvelous. + +When the Thunderer lay to, this ship, a light brigantine, was at the +most only half a league from her; in proportion as she approached, they +distinguished her extraordinarily high masts, her very large sails, her +black hull, narrow and slender, which scarcely rose out of the water; in +one word, they recognized in this small ship all the appearance of a +pirate. + +At the apparition of the brigantine the Unicorn at once proceeded to +place herself in her wake, at a signal which she made to her. + +It was in time of war; the preparations for combat began in a moment on +board the frigate. The captain, observing the singular maneuver of the +two ships, did not wish to expose himself to a hostile surprise. + +The brigantine approached, her sails half reefed, having at her prow a +flag of truce. + +"Monsieur de Sainval," said the captain to one of his officers, "order +the gunners to stand by their guns with lighted matches. If this flag of +truce conceals a ruse, this ship will be sunk." + +De Chemerant and Croustillac felt the same astonishment in recognizing +the Chameleon on board of which the mulatto and Blue Beard had embarked. + +Croustillac's heart beat as if it would burst; his friends had not +abandoned him, they were coming to succor him--but by what means? + +Very soon the Chameleon was within speaking distance of the frigate and +crossed her stern. A man of tall stature, magnificently dressed, was +standing in the stern of the brigantine. + +"James!--our duke! there he is!" cried enthusiastically the three peers, +who, leaning over the taffrail of the frigate, at once recognized the +duke. + +The brigantine then lay to; the two ships remained immovable. + +Lord Mortimer, Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay gave vent to cries of the +wildest joy at the sight of the Duke of Monmouth. + +"James! our brave duke!--to see you--to see you again at last!" + +"Is it possible? you are the Duke of Monmouth, my lord?" cried De +Chemerant. + +"Yes, I am James of Monmouth," said the duke, "as is proved by the +joyful acclamations of my friends." + +"Yes, there is our James!" + +"It is he indeed, this time!" + +"It is indeed our duke, our veritable duke!" cried the noblemen. + +"Your highness, I have been most unworthily deceived since day before +yesterday, by a miserable wretch who has taken your name." + +"Yes, and we are going to hang him in honor of you!" cried Dudley. + +"Be careful how you do that," said Monmouth; "the one whom you call a +miserable wretch has saved me with the most generous devotion, and I +come, De Chemerant, to take his place on board your ship, if he is in +any danger for having taken mine." + +"Surely, your highness," said De Chemerant, seizing this occasion of +assuring himself of the person of the prince, "it is necessary that you +should come on board; it is the only means by which you can save this +vile impostor." + +"That is, if this 'vile impostor' does not save himself, however," said +Croustillac, springing upon the taffrail and leaping into the sea. + +The movement was so sudden that no one could oppose it. The Gascon +plunged under the waves, and reappeared at a short distance from the +brigantine, toward which he directed his course. + +There was but a short distance between the two vessels; the Chameleon +was almost level with the sea; the chevalier, aided by the Duke of +Monmouth and some of the sailors, found himself on the deck of the +little ship before the passengers on the frigate had recovered from +their surprise. + +"Here is my savior, the most generous of men!" said Monmouth, embracing +Croustillac. + +Then James said a few words in the ear of Croustillac, who disappeared +with Captain Ralph. + +The duke, advancing to the edge of the stern of the brigantine, +addressed himself to De Chemerant: "I know, sir, the projects of the +king, my uncle, James Stuart, and those of the king, your master; I know +that these brave gentlemen come to offer me their arms to aid me in +driving William of Orange from the throne of England." + +"Yes, yes, when you shall be at our head we will drive away these Dutch +rats," cried Mortimer. + +"Come, come, our duke, with you we will go to the end of the world," +said Dudley. + +"My lord, you may count on the support of the king, my master. Once on +board, I will communicate to you my full powers," cried De Chemerant, +ravished to see that his mission, which he had believed desperate, +revived with every chance of success. + +"Your highness, do you wish the long boat sent for you, or will you come +in one of your own boats?" added De Chemerant; "and since your highness +is interested in this miserable rascal, his pardon is assured." + +"Make haste, noble duke----" + +"Come as you wish, James--our James--but come at once!" + +"Yes, come," said Mortimer, "or we will do as this rascal in green +cassock and pink stockings; we will leap into the water like a band of +wild ducks, to be the sooner with you." + +"No imprudence, no imprudence, my old friends," said Monmouth, who +sought to gain time since the Gascon disappeared. + +At last Captain Ralph came to say a word in the ear of the prince; the +latter gave a new order in a low voice and with a radiant air. + +"Your highness, they are about launching the long boat," said De +Chemerant, who was burning with impatience to see the duke on board. + +"It is useless, sir," said the duke. Then, addressing himself formally +to the noblemen with an accent of profound emotion: "My old friends, my +faithful companions, farewell, and forever farewell, I have sworn by the +memory of the most admirable martyr to friendship, never to take part in +civil troubles which might deluge England with blood; I will not break +my oath. Farewell, brave Mortimer, farewell good Dudley, farewell +valiant Rothsay; it breaks my heart not to embrace you for a last time. +Forget this my appearance. Henceforth let James of Monmouth--be dead to +you as he has been to all the world for five years! Again farewell, and +forever farewell!" + +Then turning toward his captain, the duke cried quickly in a sonorous +voice: + +"Set all sails, Ralph!" + +At these words Ralph seized the helm; the sails of the brigantine, +already prepared, were hoisted and trimmed with marvelous rapidity. +Thanks to the breeze and her galley oars, the Chameleon was under way +before the passengers of the frigate had recovered from their surprise. +The brigantine, in moving off, kept in the direction of the stern of the +frigate in order not to be exposed to her guns. + +It is impossible to paint the rage of De Chemerant, the despair of the +noblemen, in seeing the light vessel rapidly increasing the distance +between them. + +"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "set all sail; we will overhaul this +brigantine; there is no better sailer than the Thunderer." + +"Yes, yes," cried the peers, "board her!" + +"Let us capture our duke!" + +"When we have him we will force him to place himself at our head!" + +"He will not refuse his old companions!" + +"My boys, two hundred louis to drink the health of James of Monmouth if +we overtake this waterfly," cried Mortimer, addressing the sailors, and +pointing to the little vessel. + +The Chameleon soon found herself beyond reach of the guns of the +frigate. She quitted the direction she had first taken, and in place of +keeping close to the wind, altered her course. + +This maneuver exposed the Unicorn, which during the conference of the +duke and De Chemerant had remained behind in the wake of the Chameleon +and absolutely in a line with her. + +It is on board the latter ship that we shall conduct the reader; he can +thus assist at the chase which the frigate is about to give to the +brigantine. + +Polyphème de Croustillac was on the deck of the Unicorn in company with +his old host, Captain Daniel, and Father Griffen, who embarked the +evening before on this vessel. + +The reader recalls the plunge that Croustillac made in leaping from the +taffrail of the frigate into the sea in order to rejoin Monmouth. While +the Gascon shook himself, rubbed his eyes, and allowed himself to be +cordially embraced by the duke, the latter had said to him: "Go quickly +and await me on board the Unicorn; Ralph will conduct you there." + +Croustillac, still dizzy from his leap, enraptured at having escaped +from De Chemerant, followed Captain Ralph. The latter made him embark in +a little yawl rowed by a single sailor. + +It was thus that the adventurer boarded the Unicorn. In order not to +lose time, Ralph had ordered the sailor to follow the chevalier and +abandon the yawl; the transfer of the Gascon was then executed very +rapidly. + +The duke had not given the order to hoist the sails of the frigate until +he knew Croustillac to be in safety, for he foresaw that De Chemerant +would inevitably abandon the shadow for the substance, the false +Monmouth for the true, the Unicorn for the Chameleon. + +Master Daniel, at sight of the Gascon, cried out: "It is written that I +never shall see you come aboard my ship but by strange means! In leaving +France you fell from the clouds; in quitting the Antilles, you come to +me from out of the sea like a marine god; like Neptune in person." + +Very much surprised at this encounter, and especially at seeing Father +Griffen, who, standing on the poop, attentively observed the maneuvers +of the two ships, the chevalier said to the captain: "But how the devil +do you find yourself here at a given point to receive me, coming out of +that nutshell down there, floating away at hazard?" + +"Faith, to tell the truth, I know almost nothing about it." + +"How is that, captain?" + +"Yesterday morning my shipowner at Rochelle asked me if my cargo was +complete. I told him it was; he then ordered me to go to Fort Royal, +where a frigate was just leaving, and earnestly demand her escort; if +she refused it, I was to _make_ myself escorted all the same, always +keeping in sight of the said frigate, whatever she might do to prevent +me. Finally, I was to conduct myself toward her almost as a mongrel cur +toward a passer-by to whom he attaches himself. The man in vain drives +the dog away; the dog always keeps just beyond reach of foot or stone; +runs when he runs, walks when he walks, gets out of the way when he +pursues him, stops when he stops, and finishes by keeping at his heels +in spite of him. That is how I have maneuvered with the frigate. That is +not all; my correspondent also said to me: 'You will follow the frigate +until you are joined by a brigantine; then you will remain just behind +her; it may be that this brigantine will send you a passenger (this +passenger I now see was yourself); then you will take him and set sail +at once for France without troubling yourself about either the +brigantine or the frigate; if not, the brigantine will send you other +orders, and you will execute them.' I know only the will of my +shipowners; I have followed the frigate from Fort Royal. This morning +the brigantine joined me, just now I fished you out of the water; now I +set sail for France." + +"The duke will not come on board, then?" asked Croustillac. + +"The duke? what duke? I know no other duke than my shipowner or his +correspondent, which is all the same as--ah! look there! there goes the +frigate, giving tremendous chase to the little ship." + +"Will you abandon the Chameleon thus?" cried Croustillac. "If the +frigate overhauls her will you not go to her aid?" + +"Not I, by the Lord, although I have a dozen little guns which can say +their word as well as others, and the twenty-four good fellows who form +my crew are a match for the marines of the king--but that is not the +point. I know only the orders of my shipowners. Ah, now the brigantine +cuts out some work for the frigate," said Daniel. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE RETURN. + + +The Thunderer pursued the Chameleon furiously. Whether from calculation, +or from an enforced slackening in her course, several times the +brigantine seemed on the point of being overtaken by the frigate; but +then, taking a turn better suited to her construction, she regained the +advantage she had lost. + +Suddenly, by a brisk evolution, the brigantine tacked about, came +straight toward the Unicorn, and in a few minutes came within reach of +the voice. + +One may judge of the joy of the adventurer when on the deck of the +Chameleon, which passed astern of the three-master, he saw Blue Beard +leaning on the arm of Monmouth, and heard the young woman cry to him in +a voice full of emotion: "Adieu, our savior--adieu--may Heaven protect +you! We will never forget you!" + +"Adieu, our best friend," said Monmouth. "Adieu, brave and worthy +chevalier!" + +And the Chameleon moved off, while Angela with her handkerchief, and +Monmouth with a gesture of the hand, made a last sign of farewell to the +adventurer. + +Alas! this apparition was as short as it was ravishing. The brigantine, +after having for a moment grazed the stern of the Unicorn, turned back +on her way and made straight toward the frigate, with incredible +boldness, keeping almost within range of her guns. + +The Thunderer in her turn tacked about; without doubt the captain, +furious at this useless chase, wished to end it at any price. A sudden +flash, a dull and prolonged report was heard a long distance, and the +frigate left behind her a cloud of bluish smoke. + +At this significant demonstration, no longer amusing herself with +doubling before the frigate, the Chameleon came close up to the wind--a +movement particularly favorable to her--and then took flight seriously. +The Thunderer pursued her, both ships directing themselves to the south. + +The Unicorn had the cape on the northeast. She sailed splendidly. One +thus comprehends that she would leave very soon and very far behind the +two ships which sank more and more below the horizon. + +Croustillac remained with his eyes riveted on the ship which bore Blue +Beard away. He followed it with yearning and desolate eyes until the +brigantine had entirely disappeared in space. Then two great tears +rolled down the cheeks of the adventurer. + +He let his head fall into his two hands with which he covered his face. + +Captain Daniel came to suddenly interrupt the sad reverie of the +chevalier; he slapped him joyously on the shoulder and cried out: "Ah, +ha, our guest, the Unicorn, is well on her way; suppose we go below and +drink a madeira sangaree while waiting for supper? I hope you are going +to show me again some of your funny tricks which made me laugh so much, +you know? when you held forks straight on the end of your nose. Come, +let us drink a glass." + +"I am not thirsty, Master Daniel," said the Gascon, sadly. + +"So much the better; you will only drink with the more pleasure; to +drink without thirst--that is what distinguishes the man from the brute, +as they say." + +"Thanks, Master Daniel, but I cannot." + +"Ah! the devil! what is the matter with you then? You have a very queer +air; is it because you have not been lucky, you who boasted you were +going to marry Blue Beard before a month had passed? Say then, do you +remember? You must have lost your bet completely; you have not dared +only to go to Devil's Cliff, I am sure." + +"You are right, Master Daniel, I have lost my bet." + +"As you bet nothing at all it will not ruin you to pay it, fortunately. +Ah! say then, I have had several questions on my tongue for a quarter of +an hour: how did you come to be on board the frigate? how did the +captain of the brigantine pick you up? did you know him? and then, this +woman and this lord who said adieu to you just now--what does all this +mean? Oh, as to that, if it bothers you, do not answer me; I ask you +that, only to know it. If it is a secret, _motus_, let us speak no more +of it." + +"I can tell you nothing on that subject, Master Daniel.'' + +"Let it be understood, then, that I have asked no questions about it, +and long live joy! Come, laugh then, laugh then! what makes you sad? Is +it because here you are still with your old green coat and the very pink +hose so prettily stained with seawater, be it said without offending +you? I will lend you a change, although it is as hot as a furnace, +because it is not healthy to let one's clothes dry on one's body. Come, +come, quit that gloomy air! See, are you not my guest, since you are +here by order of my shipowner? And, whatever comes, have I not told you +that you can stay on board the Unicorn as much as you please? for, by +the Lord, I adore your conversation, your stories, and especially your +tricks. Ah! say, I have a species of tow made with a thread of the bark +of the palm tree, that will burn like priming; that will be famous, you +will swallow that, and you will spit flame and fire like a real demon; +is it not true?" + +"The chevalier appears not disposed to amuse you very much, Master +Daniel," said a grave voice. + +Croustillac and the captain turned; it was Father Griffen who, from the +poop, had watched the pursuit of the brigantine, and who now was +descending to the deck. + +"It is true, Father, I feel somewhat sad," said Croustillac. + +"Bah! bah! if my guest is not in the mood, he will be, very soon, for he +is not naturally a melancholy man. I will go to prepare the sangaree," +said Daniel. And he quitted the deck. + +After some moments of silence, the priest said to Croustillac: + +"Here you are, again, the guest of Captain Daniel; here you are, as poor +as you were ten days ago." + +"Why should I be richer to-day than I was ten days ago, Father," asked +the Gascon. + +It must be said to the praise of Croustillac, that his bitter regrets +were pure from all covetous thoughts; although poor, he was happy to +think that, apart from the little medallion Blue Beard had given him, +his devotion had been entirely disinterested. + +"I believe," said Father Griffen, "that the Duke of Monmouth will be +annoyed at not being able to requite your devotion as he ought. But it +is not altogether his fault; events have so pressed upon one +another----" + +"You do not speak seriously, Father. Why should the duke have wished to +humiliate a man who has done what he could to serve him?" + +"You have done for the duke what a brother might have done; and why, +knowing you to be poor, should he not, as a brother, come to your aid?" + +"For a thousand reasons, I should be disturbed beyond measure, Father. I +even count on the events of the life, more adventurous than ever, that I +am about to lead, to distract my mind, and I hope----" + +The Gascon did not finish his sentence, and again concealed his face in +his hands. The priest respected his silence and left him. + + * * * * * + +Thanks to trade winds and a fine passage, the Unicorn was in sight of +the coast of France about forty days after her departure from +Martinique. + +Little by little the gloomy sadness of the chevalier softened. With an +instinct of great delicacy--an instinct as new to him as the sentiment +which, without doubt, had developed it--the chevalier reserved for +solitude the tender and melancholy thoughts awakened in him by the +remembrance of Blue Beard, for he did not wish to expose these precious +memories to the rude pleasantries of Captain Daniel, or to the +interpretations of Father Griffen. + +At the end of eight days the chevalier had again become in the eyes of +the passengers of the Unicorn what he had been during the first voyage. +Knowing that he was to pay his passage by his good companionship, he put +that kind of probity which was natural to him into his efforts to amuse +Captain Daniel; he showed himself so good a companion that the worthy +captain saw with despair the end of the voyage approach. + +Croustillac had formally declared that he was going to take service in +Moscow where the Czar Peter then received soldiers of fortune gladly. + +The sun was on the point of setting when the Unicorn found herself in +sight of the shores of France. Captain Daniel, from motives of prudence, +preferred waiting for the morning before proceeding to the anchorage. + +Shortly before the moment of sitting down to the table, Father Griffen +prayed the Gascon to come with him to his room. The grave, almost +solemn, air of the priest appeared strange to Croustillac. + +The door closed, Father Griffen, his eyes filled with tears, extended +his arms to the Gascon, and said: "Come, come, excellent and noble +creature; come, my good and dear son." + +The chevalier, at once moved and astonished, cordially pressed the +priest in his arms and said to him: "What is it, then, my father?" + +"What is it? what is it? How, you, a poor adventurer, you, whose past +life should have rendered less scrupulous than others, you save the life +of the son of a king, you devote yourself to his interests with as much +abnegation as intelligence; and then, that done and your friends in +safety, you return to your obscure and miserable life, not knowing even +at this hour, on the eve of reentering France, where you will lay your +head to-morrow! and that without one word, one single word of complaint, +of the ingratitude, or at least, of the forgetfulness of those who owe +you so much!" + +"But, my Father----" + +"Oh, I have observed you well during this voyage! Never a bitter word, +never even the shadow of a reproach; as in the past, you have become gay +and thoughtless again. And yet--no--no--I have well seen that your +gayety was assumed; you have lost in this voyage your one possession, +your only resource--the careless gayety which has aided you to bear +misfortune." + +"My Father, I assure you, no." + +"Oh, I do not deceive myself, I tell you. At night I have surprised you +alone, apart, on the deck, sadly dreaming. Of old, did you ever dream +thus?" + +"Have I not, on the contrary, during the voyage, diverted Captain Daniel +by my pleasantries, good Father?" + +"Oh, I have observed you well; if you have consented to amuse Master +Daniel, it was in order to recompense him as you could for the +hospitality he has given you. Listen, my son--I am old--I can say all to +you without offending you; well, conduct such as yours would be very +worthy, very fine on the part of a man whose antecedents, whose +principles rendered him naturally delicate; but on your part, whom an +idle, perhaps culpable youth, should seem to have robbed of all +elevation of thought, it is doubly noble and beautiful; it is at once +the expiation of the past and the glorification of the present. Thus, +such sentiments cannot remain without their recompense--the trial has +endured too long. Yes, I almost blame myself for having imposed it on +you." + +"What trial, my Father?" + +"Yet, no; this trial has permitted you to show a delicacy as noble as +touching----" + +A knock at the door of Father Griffen's room. + +"What is it?" + +"Supper, Father." + +"Come, let us go, my son," said Father Griffen, regarding Croustillac +with a peculiar air; "I do not know why it seems to me that the journey +will terminate fortunately for you." + +The chevalier, very much surprised that the Reverend Father should have +brought him to his room in order to hold the discourse we have reported, +followed Father Griffen on deck. + +To the great astonishment of Croustillac, he saw the crew in gala +attire; lighted torches were suspended to the shrouds and the masts. +When the adventurer appeared on deck, the twelve guns of the +three-master resounded in salute. + +"Zounds! Father, what is all this?" said Croustillac; "are we attacked?" + +Father Griffen had no leisure to respond to the adventurer; Captain +Daniel, in his holiday clothes, followed by his lieutenant, his officer +and the masters and mates of the Unicorn, came to respectfully salute +Croustillac, and said to him with ill-concealed embarrassment: +"Chevalier, you are my shipowner; this ship and its cargo belong to +you." + +"To the devil with you, comrade Daniel!" responded Croustillac; "if you +are as crazy as this before supper, what will you be when you have been +drinking, our host?" + +"I ask no end of pardons, chevalier, for having made you balance things +on your nose, and for having led you to chew oakum in order to spit fire +during the voyage. But as true as we are in sight of the coast of +France, I did not know that you were the proprietor of the Unicorn." + +"Ah, Father, explain to me," said Croustillac. + +"The Reverend Father will explain to you many things--so much the +better, chevalier," continued Daniel, "that it is he who brought me just +now the letter of my correspondent of Fort Royal, which announces to me +that in view of the power of attorney he has always had from my +shipowner in Rochelle, he has sold the Unicorn and her cargo as attorney +to Chevalier Polyphème de Croustillac; thus then the Unicorn and her +cargo belong to you, chevalier; you will give me a receipt and discharge +of the said Unicorn and of the said cargo when we reach a port of +France, or foreign land which it shall suit you to designate; which +receipt and discharge I will send to my shipowner for my entire +discharge of the said ship and said cargo." + +Having pronounced this legal formula all in a breath, Captain Daniel, +seeing Croustillac abstracted and anxious, thought that the chevalier +bore him some grudge; he replied with new embarrassment: "Father +Griffen, who has known me for many years, will affirm to you, and you +will believe it, chevalier, I swear to you that in asking you to swallow +oakum and spit out flame, I did not know that I had to do with my owner, +and the master of the Unicorn. No, no, chevalier, it is not for one who +possesses a ship, which, all loaded, might be worth at least two hundred +thousand crowns----" + +"This ship and her cargo is worth that price?" said the adventurer. + +"At the lowest price, sir; at the lowest price, sold in a lump and at +once; but, by not hurrying, one would have fifty thousand crowns more." + +"Do you now comprehend, my son?" said Father Griffen, "our friends of +Devil's Cliff, learning that grave interests recalled me suddenly to +France, have charged me with making you accept this gift on their parts. +Pardon me, or rather felicitate me for having so well proved the +elevation of your character, in revealing to you only at this late hour, +the bounty of the prince." + +"Ah, Father," said Croustillac bitterly, drawing from his breast the +medallion that the duchess had given him, and which he wore suspended by +a leathern cord, "with that, I was recompensed as a gentleman, why now +do they treat me as a vagabond in giving me this splendid alms?" + +The next day the Unicorn entered port, Croustillac, making use of his +new rights, borrowed twenty-five louis of Captain Daniel, on the value +of the cargo, and forbade him to land for twenty-four hours. + +Father Griffen was to lodge at the seminary. Croustillac appointed a +meeting with him for the next day at noon. At noon the chevalier did not +appear, but sent the priest the following note by a messenger of La +Rochelle: + + * * * * * + +"My good Father I cannot accept the gift which you have offered me. I +send you a deed drawn up according to rule, which substitutes you in all +my rights over this ship and her cargo. You will employ it all in good +works, as you understand how to do. The notary who will send you this +note will consult with you as to formalities; he has my power of +attorney. + +"Adieu, my good Father; sometimes remember the Gascon, and do not forget +him in your prayers. + +"CHEVALIER DE CROUSTILLAC." + + * * * * * + +It was years before Father Griffen heard of the adventurer again. + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE ABBEY. + + +The abbey of St. Quentin, situated not far from Abbeville and almost at +the mouth of the Somme, possessed the finest farms in the province of +Picardy; each week its numerous tenants paid in kind a part of their +rents. In order to represent abundance, a painter might have chosen the +moment when this enormous tithe was carried to the convent. + +At the end of the month of November, 1708, about eighteen years after +the events of which we have spoken, the tenants were met together on a +misty, cold autumn morning, in a little court situated outside the +buildings of the abbey and not far from the lodge of the porter. + +Outside one saw the horses, the asses, and the carts which had served +for the transportation of the immense quantity of produce destined for +the provisioning of the convent. + +A bell rang, all the peasants pressed to the foot of a small staircase +of a few steps, situated under a shed which occupied the back part of +the court. The flight of steps was surmounted by a vault through which +one came out from the interior of the convent. + +The cellarer, accompanied by two lay brethren, appeared under this +vault. + +The fat, rubicund, animated face of the Father, detached itself like a +Rembrandt on the obscure depth of the passage at the extremity of which +he had stopped; from fear of the cold, the monk had drawn over his head +the warm hood of his black cloak. A soft _soutane_ of white wool draped +itself in large folds about his enormous obesity. + +One of the brothers carried an ink bottle at his girdle, a pen behind +his ear, and a big register under his arm; he seated himself on one of +the steps of the staircase, in order to enter the rents brought by the +farmers. + +The other brothers classified the goods under the shed as they were +placed there; while the cellarer, from the top of the flight of steps, +presided solemnly over their admission, his hands concealed in his large +cuffs. + +It is impossible to number and describe this mass of comestibles placed +at the foot of the staircase. Here were enormous fish from the sea, the +lake, or the river, which still wriggled on the slabs of the court; +there magnificent capons, monstrous geese, large ducks coupled by their +feet, fluttered convulsively in the midst of mountains of fresh butter +and immense baskets of eggs, vegetables, and winter fruits. Further on +were tethered two of these sheep fattened on the salt meadows, which +give such fine flavor to their succulent flesh. Fishers rolled along +small barrels of oysters; further on were shellfish of every kind, +lobsters, eels and shrimps, which shook the wicker baskets in which they +were inclosed. + +One of the porters of the abbey was on his knees before a buck a year +old, in full flesh, and killed the day before; he weighed with his hand +a quarter, to make the cellarer admire its weight; near the buck lay two +kids, a good number of hares and partridges; while another porter opened +hampers filled with every species of marsh fowl and birds of passage, +such as wild duck, woodcock, teal, plovers, etc. + +Finally, in another corner of the court, were spread out the more +modest, but no less useful offerings, such as sacks of the purest flour, +dried vegetables, strings of perfumed hams, etc. + +At one time these gastronomics were so heaped up that they reached the +level of the staircase where the cellarer stood. + +Seeing this rotund monk with his shining face, his vast abdomen, +standing on this pedestal of comestibles which he watched with the eye +of a gormand, one would have called him the genius of good cheer. + +According to the quantity or quality of his tribute, each tenant, after +having received a word of blame or praise from the cellarer, withdrew +with a slight genuflection. The Reverend Father even deigned at times to +withdraw from his long sleeves his fat, red hand, to give it to the most +favored to kiss. + +The roll-call of the lay brother was almost at an end. + +There was brought to the cellarer a savory caudle in a silver bowl borne +on a tray of the same metal. The Reverend Father swallowed this +consommé, a perfect specific against the morning cold and fog. At this +moment the lay brother complained of having in vain twice called James, +the tenant of the farm of Blaville, who owed ten hens, three sacks of +wheat and one hundred crowns for the rent of his farm. + +"Ah, well!" said the cellarer, "where then is James? He is ordinarily +exact. For fifteen years that he has held the farm of Blaville, he has +never failed in his rent." + +The peasants still called for James. + +James did not appear. + +From out the crowd of farmers came two children, a young boy and a young +girl from thirteen to fourteen years of age; trembling with confusion, +they advanced to the foot of the staircase--redoubtable +tribunal!--holding each other by the hand, their eyes downcast and full +of tears. + +The little girl fingered the corner of the apron of coarse cloth +covering her petticoat of whitish cloth rayed with wide black stripes; +the young boy convulsively grasped his cap of brown wool. They stopped +at the foot of the staircase. + +"These are the children of the farmer James," said a voice. + +"Very well! and the ten hens, and the three sacks of wheat, and the one +hundred crowns from your father?" said the reverend man severely. + +The two poor children pressed against each other, nudging one another +with the elbow, as an encouragement to answer. + +Finally the young boy, having more resolution, raised his noble, +handsome face, which his coarse garments rendered still more remarkable, +and sadly said to the monk: "Our father has been very ill for two +months; our mother is taking care of him--there is no money in the +house; we have been obliged to take the wheat and the rent to support +the day laborer and his wife who takes my father's place in the farm +work, and then it has been necessary to sell the hens to pay the +doctor." + +"It is always the same story when tenants fail in their rents," said the +monk roughly. "James was a good and punctual farmer; this is how he +spoils all, just like the others; but in the interests of the abbey as +well as in his own, we will not let him wander into the bad way." Then, +addressing himself to the children, he added severely: "The +father-treasurer will consider this--wait there." + +The two children withdrew into an obscure corner of the shed. The young +girl seated herself, weeping, on a bench; her brother stood near her, +looking at his sister with gloomy sadness. + +The roll-call finished, the monks re-entered the abbey, the peasants +regained the horses and carts which had brought them, the two children +remained alone in the court, waiting with sad disquietude the decision +of the treasurer with regard to their father. + +A new personage appeared at the gate of the little court. This was a +tall old man with large, white mustache and neglected beard; he walked +with difficulty with the help of a wooden leg, and wore a uniform-coat +of green with an orange-colored collar; a wallet of leather slung on his +back carried his modest baggage; he supported himself on a thick cane +made from the dogwood tree, and on his head was a big Hungarian cap of +black worn fur, which descending to his eyebrows, gave him the most +savage air in the world; his hair, as white as his mustache, tied with a +leathern string, formed a long queue which fell to his shoulders; his +skin was tanned, his eyes were bright and lively, though age had bowed +his tall stature. + +This old man entered the court without seeing the children; he looked +about him like a man seeking to find his way; perceiving the two little +peasants, he went straight to them. + +The young girl, startled by this strange figure, or rather, by this +enormous cap of bristling fur, gave a cry of affright; her brother took +her hand to reassure her, and although the poor child wished to withdraw +it, he advanced resolutely toward the old man. + +The latter stopped, struck with the beauty of these two children, and +especially the delicate features of the young girl, whose face of +perfect regularity was crowned with two bands of blond hair half +concealed under a poor little child's cap of a brown color; she wore, +like her brother, rude wooden shoes and wool stockings. + +"You are afraid of me then! Zounds! you will not tell me, then, where +the Abbey of St. Quentin is?" said the old soldier. + +Although he was far from wishing to intimidate the children, the tone of +his voice frightened the young girl still more, who, pressing closely to +her brother, said to him in a low tone: "Answer him, James, answer him; +see what a wicked air he has." + +"Have no fear, Angela, have no fear," answered the boy. Then he said to +the soldier: "Yes, sir, this is the Abbey of St. Quentin; but if you +wish to enter the porter's lodge is on the other side, outside of this +court." + +The boy might have spoken a long time without the soldier paying +attention to his words. + +When the young girl called her brother "James" the old man made a +movement of surprise; but when James, in his turn, called his sister +"Angela" the old man started, let his stick fall, and was obliged to +support himself against the wall, so violent was his agitation. + +"You call yourselves 'James' and 'Angela,' my children?" said he, in a +trembling voice. + +"Yes, sir," answered the young boy entirely reassured, but astonished at +this question. + +"And your parents?" + +"Our parents are tenants of the abbey, sir." + +"Come," said the soldier, whom the reader has doubtless already +recognized, "I am an old fool--but--the union of these two +names--James--Angela. Come, come, Polyphème, you lose your head, my +friend; because you encounter two little peasants you imagine--" he +shrugged his shoulders; "it is hardly worth while to have this big white +beard at one's chin only to give way to such visions! If it is to make +such discoveries that you return from Moscow, Polyphème, you might just +as well--have done----" + +While speaking thus to himself, Croustillac had examined the young girl +with the greatest curiosity; more and more struck with a resemblance +which seemed incomprehensible, he fastened eager eyes on Angela. + +The young girl again frightened, said to her brother, hiding her face +behind his shoulder: "Heavens! how he frightens me, again!" + +"However, these features," said Croustillac, feeling his heart beat with +doubt, anxiety, fear and despair all at once, "these charming features +recall to me--but no--it is impossible--impossible. By what probability? +Decidedly, I am an old fool. Farmers? Come, that sabre cut I got on the +head at the siege of Azof has deranged my brain. After all, there are +chances so strange (and surely, more than any one else, I should believe +in the oddities of chance; I should be an ingrate to deny it); yes, +chance might occasion peasants to give their children certain names +rather than others, but chance does not make these resemblances--come, +it is impossible. After all, I can ask them, and in asking them I shall +laugh at myself; it is stupid. My children, tell me, what is your +father's name?" + +"James, sir." + +"Yes, James--but James--what?" + +"James, sir." + +"James? nothing more?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the boy, regarding Croustillac with surprise. + +"This is more and more strange," said Croustillac, reflecting. + +"Has he been long in France?" + +"He has always been here, sir." + +"Come, I was mad; decidedly, I was mad. Has your father ever been a +soldier, my children?" + +Angela and James looked at each other with astonishment. + +The young boy answered: "No, sir, he has always been a farmer." + +At this moment the door which communicated with the abbey opened and one +of the lay brothers appeared at the top of the stairway. + +This brother was the type of an ignoble monk, gross and sensual. He made +a sign to the children, who tremblingly approached. + +"Come here, little one," said he to the girl. + +The poor child, after casting a doubtful look at her brother, whom she +could not make up her mind to leave, timidly mounted the steps. + +The monk took her insolently by the chin with his coarse hand, turned up +her face which she held down, and said to her: "Pretty one, you will +warn your father that if he does not pay eight days from now his rent in +kind and the hundred crowns which he owes, there is a farmer who is more +solvent than he who wants the farm and who will obtain it. As your +father is a good fellow, they will give him eight days--but for that, +they would have turned him out to-day." + +"My God! my God!" said the children, weeping and clasping their hands, +"there is no money at home. Our poor father is sick. Alas! what shall we +do?" + +"You will do what you can," said the monk, "that is the order of the +prior;" and he made a sign to the young girl to go. + +The two children threw themselves into each other's arms, sobbing, and +saying: "Our father will die of this--he will die!" + +Croustillac, half-hidden by a post of the shed, had been at once touched +and angered by this scene. At the moment the monk was about to close the +door, the Gascon said to him: "Reverend Father, a word--is this the +Abbey of St. Quentin?" + +"Yes, and what of it?" said the monk rudely. + +"You will willingly give me a lodging till to-morrow, will you not?" + +"Hum--always beggars," said the monk. "Very well; go and ring at the +porter's gate. They will give you a bundle of straw and give you bread +and soup." Then he added: "These vagabonds are the plague of religious +houses." + +The adventurer became crimson, drew up his tall form, thrust, with a +blow of his fist, his fur cap over his eyes, struck the earth with his +stick, and cried in a threatening tone: "Zounds! Reverend Father, know +your company a little better, at least." + +"Who is this old wallet-bearer?" said the irritated monk. + +"Because I carry a wallet it does not follow that I ask alms of you, +Reverend Father," said Croustillac. + +"What dost thou want, then?" + +"I ask a supper and a shelter because your rich convent can well afford +to give bread and shelter to poor travelers. Charity commands this from +your abbot. And beside, in sheltering Christians, you do not give, you +restore. Your abbey grows very fat from its tithes." + +"Wilt thou be quiet, thou old heretic, thou insolent old fellow!" + +"You call me an insolent old fellow. Very well; learn, Don Surly, that I +have still a crown in my wallet, and that I can do without your straw +and your soup, Don Ribald." + +"What dost thou mean by Don Ribald, rascal that thou art?" said the lay +brother, advancing to the top of the steps. "Take care lest I give thy +old rags a good shaking." + +"Since we thee-and-thou each other, Don Drinker, take care in thy turn, +Don Greedy, that I do not make thee taste of my stick, Don Big Paunch, +infirm as I am, Don Brutal." + +The vigorous monk for a moment made as though he was about to descend to +chastise the Gascon, but he shrugged his shoulders and said to +Croustillac: "If thou hast ever the impudence to present thyself at the +porter's lodge, thou wilt be thrashed to some purpose. That is the kind +of hospitality thou wilt receive henceforth from the Abbey of St. +Quentin." Then addressing himself to the children: "And you be sure to +tell your father that in eight days he pays or quits the farm, for, I +repeat to you, that there is a farmer more solvent than he who wants +it." + +The monk shut the door brusquely. + +"I cannot tell it to the children," said the adventurer, speaking to +himself; "that would be a bad example for youth; but I had something +like a feeling of remorse for having aided in the burning of a convent +in the Moravian War--well, it pleases me to imagine that the roasted +ones resembled this fat, big-bellied animal, and it makes me feel quite +cheerful. The scoundrel! to treat those poor children so harshly! It is +strange how I interest myself in them--if I had at least some reason for +it, I should let myself hope. After all, why not clear up my doubts? +What do I risk by it? I have plenty of money. Ah, then, my children," +said he to the young peasants, "your father is sick and poor? He will +not be vexed to gain a little windfall; although I carry a wallet, I +have a purse. Well, instead of going to dine and sleep at the inn (may +the lightning strike me if I ever set foot in this abbey, the Lord +confound it!) I will go and dine and sleep at your place. I will not be +any trouble to you. I have been a soldier, I am not hard to suit; a +stool in the chimney corner, a morsel of lard, a glass of cider, and for +the night a bundle of fresh straw, the gentle warmth of the stable--that +is all I need; and that means a piece of twenty-four sous which will +come into your house. What do you say to that?" + +"My father is not an innkeeper, sir," answered the young boy. + +"Bah! bah! my boy, if the good man has sense; if the good mother is a +housekeeper, as she ought to be, they will not regret my coming; this +piece of good luck will make your pot boil for a whole day. Come, +conduct me to your farm, my children; your father would scold you for +not bringing him an old soldier." + +In spite of his apparent roughness and his uncouth figure, the chevalier +inspired James and Angela with confidence; the children took each other +by the hand and walked before the invalid soldier, who followed them +absorbed in a profound reverie. + +At the end of an hour's walk, they arrived at the entrance of a long +avenue of apple trees, which led to the farm. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +REUNION. + + +James and Angela entered the farm in order to learn if their father +would consent to give the old soldier hospitality. While waiting the +return of the children, the adventurer closely scanned the outbuildings +of the farm. + +Everything appeared to be carried on with care and neatness; at the side +of the working buildings was the farmer's house; two immense walnut +trees shaded the door and its thatched roof of velvety green moss; a +light smoke escaped from the brick chimney; the sound of the ocean was +heard in the distance, as the farm lay almost on the cliffs of the +coast. + +The rain began to fall; the wind moaned; a shepherd boy was bringing +home from the fields two beautiful brown cows which turned toward their +warm stable, causing their little bells to give forth a melancholy +sound. The adventurer was touched by this peaceful scene. He envied the +lot of the people of this farm, even though he knew their momentary +embarrassment. He saw approaching him a woman pale and small in figure, +and of middle-age. She was dressed like the peasants of Picardy, but +with extreme neatness. Her son accompanied her; her daughter remained in +the doorway. + +"We are very much grieved, sir." + +Hardly had the woman said these words, when Croustillac became as pale +as a ghost, extended his arms toward her without saying a word, let his +cane escape, lost his equilibrium and fell suddenly his full length on a +heap of dry leaves which was, happily, behind him. + +The adventurer had fainted. + +The Duchess of Monmouth (for it was she) not at once recognizing the +chevalier, attributed his weakness to fatigue or need, and hastened, +with the assistance of her two children, to resuscitate the stranger. + +James, a strong boy for his age, supported the old man to the trunk of +one of the walnut trees, while his mother and sister hurried off to seek +a cordial. In opening the chevalier's coat in order to facilitate his +respiration, James saw, attached by a leathern braid, the rich medallion +which the adventurer carried on his breast. + +"Mother! see this beautiful reliquary," said the young lad. + +The duchess approached and was in turn stupefied at recognizing the +medallion she had once given Croustillac. Then, regarding the chevalier +with closer attention, she cried: + +"It is he! it is the generous man who saved us!" + +The chevalier began to revive. When he opened his eyes they were filled +with tears. + +It would be impossible to paint the happiness, the transports of the +good Croustillac. + +"You in this dress, madame! you whom I see after so many years! When I +heard these children just now call each other James and Angela, my heart +beat so strong! But I could not believe--hope--And the duke?" + +The Duchess of Monmouth put one finger on her lips, shook her head +sadly, and said: "You are going to see him! Alas! why should the +pleasure of seeing you again be saddened by the sickness of James? Had +it not been for this, to-day would have been beautiful for us." + +"I can hardly recognize you again, madame; you, in this costume--in this +sad condition." + +"Silence! my children may hear you. But wait a moment here; I will go +and prepare my husband to receive you." + +After some minutes the adventurer entered Monmouth's room; the latter +was extended on one of those green serge canopied beds such as may still +be seen in the houses of some of the peasants. + +Although he was emaciated by suffering, and was at that time more than +fifty years old, the physiognomy of the duke showed the same gracious +and high character. + +Monmouth held out his hands affectionately to Croustillac, and +indicating a chair at his bed, said to him: "Seat yourself there, my +good friend. To what miraculous chance do we owe this happy meeting? I +cannot believe my eyes! So, chevalier, we are reunited after more than +eighteen years of separation. Ah! how often Angela and I have spoken of +you and of your devoted generosity. Our regret was not being able to +tell our children the debt of gratitude that we owe you, and which they +also owe you." + +"Ah, well, my duke, consider what is most pressing," said the Gascon, +"each in his turn." + +So saying, he took his knife from his pocket, unfastened his coat, and +gravely made a large incision in the lining. + +"What are you doing?" asked the duke. + +The chevalier drew from his secret pocket a kind of leathern purse, and +said to the duke: "There is in this one hundred double-louis, your +highness; on the other side there is as much. This is the first of my +savings on my pay, and the price of the leg which I left the past year +at the battle of Mohiloff, after the passage of Beresina; for he was +first, Peter the Great--well-named--in paying generously the soldiers of +fortune who enrolled themselves in his service and who gave, many of +them, the sacrifice of some one of their limbs." + +"But, my friend, I do not understand you," said Monmouth, gently pushing +away the purse which the adventurer tendered him. + +"I will be explicit, my lord; you are in arrears to the amount of one +hundred crowns of rent, and you are threatened with being turned out of +this farm in eight days. It is a pot-bellied animal, bearded and +corpulent, robed in the garb of a monk, who has made this threat to your +poor, dear children but a short time since at the convent door." + +"Alas, James! this is only too probable," said Angela, sadly, to her +husband. + +"I fear it," said Monmouth, "but this is not a reason, my friend, to +accept----" + +"But, my lord, it seems to me that you made me such a fine gift, it is +now eighteen years ago, that we might well share it to-day; and when we +speak of the past, in order to disembarrass yourself at once of what +concerns me, and to speak henceforth of your affairs at our ease, my +lord, in two words, this is my history. Upon my arrival at Rochelle, +Father Griffen told me that you had presented me the Unicorn and its +cargo!" + +"My God! my friend, this was such a small thing after all that you had +done for us," said James. + +"May we not at least recognize all that you have done for us?" said +Angela. + +"Without doubt, it was little--it was nothing at all--a cup of coffee +well sugared, with rum to soften it, was it not? Only the cup was a +ship, and to fill it there was coffee and sugar and rum, the cargo of a +vessel of eight hundred tons--the whole worth two hundred thousand +crowns. You are right--it was less than nothing--but in order to put +aside useless discussion and to be frank, Zounds! this gift wounded +me----" + +"My friend----" + +"I was paid by this medallion--speak no more of it. Besides, I have no +longer the right to resent it; I made deed of gift of the whole to +Father Griffen in order that he might in his turn give it to the poor, +or to the convent, or to the devil if he chose to." + +"Can it be possible that you refused it?" exclaimed both husband and +wife. + +"Yes, I did refuse it, and I am sure, my lord, although you pretend +surprise, that you would have acted as I did. I was not already so rich +in good works as not to keep the memory of Devil's Cliff pure and +without stain. It was a costly luxury, perhaps, but I had been James of +Monmouth twenty-four hours, and somewhat of my rôle of grand seigneur +still clung to me." + +"Noble and excellent heart!" exclaimed Angela. + +"But," said Monmouth, "you were so poor!" + +"It is just because I am used to poverty and an adventurous life that +that cost me nothing--I said to myself: 'Polyphème--consider! thou hast +dreamed this night that thou wast worth two hundred thousand crowns.' I +dreamed this dream--all has been said--and that did me good. Yes, often +in Russia, when I was in misery--in distress--or when I was nailed to my +pallet by a wound, I said to myself, to comfort and to rejoice me: +'After all, Polyphème, for once in thy life thou hast done something +noble and generous.' Well, you may believe me, that restored my courage. +But this is boasting, and what is worse, it unmans me--let us return to +my departure from Rochelle. I avow it to you and I thank you for it; +nevertheless, I have profited a little by your generosity. As nothing +remained to me of my three unlucky crowns, and that was a small sum to +travel to Moscow on, I borrowed twenty-five louis from Master Daniel on +the cargo; I paid my passage on a Hamburg ship from Hamburg to Fallo; I +embarked for Revel on a Swedish vessel; from Revel I went to Moscow; I +arrived there like seafish in Lent; Admiral Lefort was recruiting a +forlorn hope to reinforce the _polichnie_ of the czar; in other words, +the first company of infantry equipped and maneuvering after the German +mode which had existed in Russia. I had made the campaign in Flanders +with the '_reiters_;' I knew the service; I was then enrolled in the +_polichnie_ of the czar, and I had the honor of having this great man +for file closer, for he served in this company as a simple soldier, +seeing he had the habit of thinking that in order to know a trade it is +necessary to learn it. + +"Once incorporated in the Muscovite army, I served in all the wars. Do +not think, my lord, that I am going to recount to you my campaigns, to +speak to you of the siege of Azof, where I received a saber cut on my +head; the taking of Astrakhan under Scheremetoff, where I received a +lance thrust in my loins; of the siege of Narva, where I had the honor +of aiming at his majesty, Charles XII., and the good fortune to miss +him; and finally, the great battle of Dorpat. + +"No, no, do not fear, my lord; I keep these fine stories to put your +children to sleep with during the winter nights, in the chimney corner, +when the seawinds rage in the branches of your old walnut trees. All +that remains for me to say to you, my lord, is that I have made war ever +since I left you, first as a noncommissioned officer, and then as +lieutenant. I might have done it still, perhaps, if last year I had not +forgotten one of my legs at Mohiloff. The czar generously gave me the +capital of my pension, and I returned to France because, after all, it +is there that one dies best--when one is born there; I went on foot, +lounging along, regaining my paternal valley, lodging and sleeping in +the abbeys to spare my purse, when chance--this time, no," said the +chevalier, in a grave and penetrating tone which contrasted greatly with +his ordinary language, "oh, this time, no--it was not chance, but the +providence of the good God which caused me to meet with your children, +my lord; they have brought me here; I fell back in a swoon on a heap of +dry leaves on recognizing the duchess, and here I am. + +"Now, here is my plan--at least, if you consent to it, my lord. My +paternal valley is very empty--my father and my mother are long since +dead; I should wish, of all things, to establish myself near you. +Although lame, I am still good for something, if only to serve as a +scarecrow to hinder the birds from eating your apples and cherries. I +will forget that you are 'my lord:' I will call you 'Master James,' I +will call the duchess, 'Dame James,' your children shall call me Father +Polyphème; I will tell them of my battles, and it will go on like that, +_vitam æternam_." + +"Yes! yes! we accept; you shall never leave us," said James and Angela +together, their eyes filled with tears. + +"But on one condition," said the chevalier, drying his eyes also, "that +is, that I, who am as proud as a peacock, shall pay you, in advance, my +board; and that you will accept from me these two hundred louis that you +refused; total, six thousand livres; at five hundred francs a year, +twelve of board. In twelve years we will make another lease." + +"But, my friend----" + +"But, my lord, it is yes or no. If it is yes, I remain, and I am more +happy than I deserve to be. If it is no, I take again my stick, my +wallet, and I start for the paternal valley, where I shall die, in a +corner sadly and all alone, like an old dog who has lost his master." + +Grotesque as were these words, they were spoken in a tone so full of +emotion and so touching that the duke and his wife could not refuse the +offer of the chevalier: "Well then, I accept." + +"Hurrah!" cried Croustillac, in the voice of a stentor, and he +accompanied this Muscovite exclamation by throwing into the air his old +fur cap. + +"Yes, I accept with all my heart, my old friend," said Monmouth, +"and--why conceal it from you?--this unexpected succor which you offer +us so generously, saves, perhaps, my life--saves, perhaps, my wife and +children from misery, for this sum sets us afloat again, and we can +brave two years as bad as those which have been the cause of our first +embarrassment. Fatigue, chagrin, fear for the future, have made me ill; +now, tranquil as to the fate of my dear ones, assured of a friend like +you--I am sure that my health will return to me." + +"Zounds! my lord, how did it happen that, with the enormous amount of +jewels that you had, you are reduced?" + +"Angela will tell you that, my friend; emotion at once so keen and so +sweet as I feel has fatigued me." + +"After having left you on board of the Unicorn," said Angela "we set +sail for Brazil; we sojourned there some time, but from prudence, we +resolved to depart for India on board a Portuguese vessel. We had lived +three years in this little-known country, very happy and very tranquil, +when I fell seriously ill. One of the best physicians in Bombay declared +that the climate of India would become fatal to me; my native air alone +could save me. You know how James loves me; it was impossible for me to +alter his resolution; he chose at all hazards to return to Europe, to +France, in spite of the dangers that threatened him. We started from the +Cape in a Dutch ship, making sail for the Texel. We possessed a very +considerable sum coming from the sale of our jewels. Our voyage was very +fortunate as far as the coast of France, but there a terrible tempest +assailed us. After losing her masts, and being beaten about by the waves +for three days, our ship went ashore on the coast a quarter of a league +from here; by a miracle of Heaven, James and I alone escaped an almost +certain death. Several of the passengers were, like us, cast on the +beach during this horrible night--all perished. I repeat to you, my +friend, that a miracle from Heaven was necessary to save us, James and +me--to save me especially, ill as I was. The tenants whom we replaced on +this farm found us almost dying on the shore; they brought us here. The +ship was swallowed up with all our riches; James, occupied solely with +me, had forgotten all; we no longer possessed anything; I was an orphan +with no fortune; James could not apply to any one without being +recognized. + +"What remained to us in Martinique had, without doubt, been +confiscated--and then, how could we claim this property? For all +resource there remained to us a ring which I wore on my finger at the +time of the ship-wreck; we intrusted it to the tenants of this farm, who +had received us, to sell the diamond at Abbeville; they got for it about +four thousand livres--that was all our store. My health was so affected +that we were obliged to stop here; this measure, besides reconciled both +prudence and economy; the farmers were good, full of cares for us. + +"Little by little my health became re-established. Almost without +resources we thought of the future with terror; however, we were young, +misfortune had redoubled our love; the simple, obscure, peaceable life +of our hosts impressed us; they were old, without children; we proposed +to them to take the half of their farm, and to make our apprenticeship +under their direction, avowing to them that we had no other resources +than the four thousand livres that we would share with them. Touched +with our position, these good people wished at first to dissuade us from +this project, representing to us how hard and laborious this life was. I +insisted; I felt myself full of courage and strength; James had lived a +hard life too long not to accustom himself to that of the fields. We +accomplished our design; I was tranquil about James. Who would seek the +Duke of Monmouth in an obscure farm in Picardy? At the end of two years +we had finished our apprenticeship, thanks to the lessons and teaching +of our good forerunners; their little fortune, augmented by our four +thousand livres, was sufficient. They made an agreement with the +treasurer of the abbey that we should succeed them and we take the +entire farm." + +"Ah, madame, what resignation! what energy!" cried the chevalier. + +"Ah, if you knew, my friend," said Monmouth, "with what admirable +serenity of soul, with what gentle gayety Angela endured his rough +life--she, accustomed to a life of luxury!--if you knew how she always +knew how to be gracious, elegant, and charming, all the while +superintending the affairs of the household with admirable activity!--if +you knew in fine, what strength I drew from this brave and devoted +heart; from this gentle regard always fixed upon me with an admirable +expression of happiness and content precarious as was our position! Ah, +who will ever recompense this beautiful conduct?" + +"My friend," said Angela tenderly, "has not God blessed our laborious +and peaceful life? Has He not sent us two little angels to change our +duties into pleasures? What shall I say to you?" resumed Angela, +addressing the chevalier; "for the almost sixteen years that this +uniform life has lasted, of which each day has brought its bread, as the +good folks say, never a chagrin had come to trouble it, when, in the +past year, a bad harvest hampered us very much. We were obliged to +discharge two of our farm hands for economy's sake. James redoubled his +efforts and his work, his strength gave out; he took to his bed; our +small resources were exhausted. A bad year, you see, for poor farmers," +said Angela, smiling softly, "is terrible. In short, without you, I do +not know how we could have escaped the fate which threatened us, for the +Abbot of St. Quentin is inflexible toward tenants in arrears, and yet it +was our pride to pay him always a term in advance. One hundred +crowns--as much as that--and a hundred crowns, chevalier, are not easily +gotten together." + +"A hundred crowns? That does not pay for the embroidery on a baldric," +said James with a melancholy smile. "Ah, how many times, in experiencing +what misfortune is, have I regretted the good I might have done." + +"Listen, my lord," said Croustillac gravely, "I am no devotee. Just now +I came near shaking a monk out of his robes; I committed irregularities +during my campaign in Moravia, but I am sure there is One above Who does +not lose sight of honest people. Now, it is impossible that after +nineteen years of work and resignation, now when you grow old, with two +beautiful children, you should dream of remaining at the mercy of an +avaricious monk or a year of frost. In listening to you, an idea has +come to me. If I was the boaster of old, I should say that it was an +idea from above; but I wholly believe that it is a fortunate idea. What +has become of Father Griffen?" + +"We do not know; we did not return to Martinique." + +"He belongs to the order of Preaching Friars; he must be at the end of +the world," said Monmouth. + +"I, who have had no news of France for eighteen years, I know no more +than you, my lord, but this is why I concern myself. I left to him the +price of the Unicorn; he is a good and honest priest; if he still lives, +there must remain to him some of it, for he would have been prudent and +careful in his almsgiving. My advice would be to seek to know where the +Reverend Father is, for if the good God has willed that he should have +kept some good morsel from the Unicorn, own, my lord, that this would +not be bad eating at this moment; if not for you, at least, for these +two beautiful children, for my heart bleeds to see them with their +wooden shoes and their woolen hose, although they may keep their feet +warmer than boots of leather and gilded spurs, or shoes of satin with +silken hose, should they be red, these hose! red like those I wore in +1690," added the chevalier, with a sigh. Then he resumed: "Ah, well! my +lord, what say you to my Griffen idea?" + +"I say, my friend, that it is an idle hope. Father Griffen is without +doubt dead; he will doubtless have left your fortune to some religious +community." + +"To the Abbey of St. Quentin, perhaps," said Angela. + +"Zounds! it wants but that! I would instantly set fire to the +monastery!" + +"Ah--fie! fie! chevalier!" said Angela. + +"It is also because I am raging at having done what I did with your two +hundred thousand crowns; but could I then imagine that I should find +again, as a farmer, the son of a king who handled his diamonds by the +shovelful? Ah, it is no use to philosophize here; but to find Father +Griffen again if he is still living!" + +"And how to find him again?" said Monmouth. + +"By seeking him, my lord. I who have no reason for concealing myself, +to-morrow I will take up this quest, hobbling around. Nothing is more +simple; in truth, I am stupid not to have thought of it sooner. I will +direct myself at once to the Superior of Foreign Missions, thus we shall +know what we have to look to. The Superior will at least inform me if +the good Father is alive or not; and even, on this account, I will +to-morrow make a visit to your neighbor, the abbot of St. Quentin. He +will tell me what to do about it--how to get this information. I will +carry him your hundred crowns; that will be a good way to contrive the +interview." + +The three friends passed the day together. We leave the reader to +imagine the stories, the reminiscences, gay, touching, or sad, which +were recalled. + +On the morrow Croustillac, who had already made friends with young +James, started for the abbey. The amount of the rent, in bright _louis +d'or_, was an excellent passport to the presence of the treasurer. + +"Father," said Croustillac, "I have a very important letter to place in +the hands of a good priest of the order of Preaching Brothers; I do not +know if he is alive or dead; if he is in Europe, or at the end of the +world; to whom should I address myself for information on this subject?" + +"To one of our canons, my son, who has had much to do with missions, and +who, after long and painful apostolic labors, came six months since to +repose in a canonicate of our abbey." + +"And when can I see this venerable canon, Father?" + +"This very morning. In descending to the court of the cloister, ask a +lay brother to conduct you to Father Griffen." + +Croustillac gave so tremendous a blow of his staff on the floor, +shouting three times his Muscovite exclamation, "hurrah! hurrah! +hurrah!" that the reverend treasurer was startled by it, and rang the +bell precipitately, thinking he had to do with a madman. + +A friar entered. + +"Pardon, good Father," said Croustillac; "these savage cries, and this +no less savage blow of the stick, paint to you the state of my soul, my +astonishment, my joy! It is Father Griffen, himself, that I seek." + +"Then conduct this gentleman to Father Griffen," said the treasurer. + +We will not attempt to depict this new recognition, so important in the +results the Gascon expected from it. We will only say that the good +priest, charged with the trust of Croustillac, and fearing lest the +chevalier should one day come to regret his disinterestedness, but +wishing, however, to execute till then his charitable intentions, and +not to deprive the unfortunate of this rich alms, had each year +distributed to the poor the revenue of the capital, which he reserved +for a pious foundation if the Gascon should not reappear. + +The sale of the Unicorn, prudently managed, had brought about seven +hundred thousand livres. The Father, finding by chance an advantageous +sale of property in the environs of Abbeville, not far from the abbey of +St. Quentin, had profited by it. He had thus become proprietor of a very +fine estate called Chateauvieux. + +On his return from his long voyages, six months before the time of which +we speak, Father Griffen had asked by preference, a canonicate in +Picardy, in order to be more within reach of the property which he +managed, always ignorant whether the Gascon was dead or alive, but +inclining rather to the former supposition, after a silence of eighteen +years. + +Father Griffen, very old, very infirm, quitted the abbey only to visit +the estate of Chateauvieux. During the six months he lodged at St. +Quentin, he had never gone to the side of the farm of which James of +Monmouth was the farmer. The reunion of Father Griffen, the duke and his +wife, was as touching as that of the adventurer. + +After much discussion it was decided that one-half of the estate +belonged to James; the other half to Croustillac, in whose name it +remained. + +The Gascon immediately made his will in favor of the two children of +Monmouth on condition that the son should take the name of Jacques de +Chateauvieux. + +In order to explain this sudden change of fortune to the eyes of the +people of the abbey and the environs, it was agreed that Croustillac +should pass as an uncle from America, who had come incognito to test his +nephew and his wife, poor cultivators of the soil. + +James gave up his farm to the tenant who had been destined to replace +him, and departed with his wife, his children and his uncle Croustillac +for Chateauvieux. + +The three friends lived long and happily in their domain, and their +children and grandchildren lived there after them. The chevalier never +left Monmouth and his wife. Once a year Father Griffen came to pass some +weeks at Chateauvieux. + +One single day yearly cast a gloom over this peaceful and happy life; +this was the anniversary of the 15th of July, 1685, the anniversary of +the sacrifice of the courageous Sidney. + +Never did the son of James of Monmouth know that his father descended +from a royal race. The secret was always kept by James, by his wife, by +Croustillac, and by Father Griffen. + +Age had so changed the duke; so many years, beside, had passed over the +event of Martinique, that he was no longer disquieted by it. Only +sometimes, the children and grandchildren of James of Monmouth opened +astonished eyes when their good and old friend, the Chevalier de +Croustillac, addressing himself to the Duchess of Monmouth with an air +of understanding, said to her, while striving to hide a tear of emotion, +the following apparently truly cabalistic words: + +_Blue Beard, Whirlwind, Rend-your-Soul, Youmäale, Devil's Cliff_. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + + +OMEGA + +BY + +"A REPORTER" + +Neely's Prismatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents + + +This is a love story of a negative character, which, however, +occasionally approaches positiveness. Suppressed passion manifests a +tendency to explode, especially when it is confined by a vow of +celibacy. But when an author steps into the prophetic department of the +religious field, and mixes a little of this variety into a love story, +making the lover and the lovees act their respective parts as if so +foreordained, it is really curious what antics they indulge in, but not +surprising that the theater of action reaches from ancient Chaldea to +Salt Lake City, the actors variate from Mohammedanism to Mormonism, and +the time limit stretches into the centuries. It is a fitting climax that +the sublime heights of the second part are culminated in the third's +last chapters by a description of the end of national destiny, the +_Armageddon_ of capitalist and socialist, the beginning of the world +period, in short, Millennium. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE SECRET OF THE EARTH + +BY + +CHARLES WILLING BEALE + +Cloth, $1.00 + + +A story of thrilling adventure from cover to cover which embodies a +theory of our planet so tremendous and appalling that the most +conservative mind can hardly fail to be impressed with the startling +array of facts adduced in support of it. Two young men set out upon a +voyage of discovery under very peculiar circumstances and with +exceptional facilities for accomplishing their purpose. The result of +their enterprise is something so astounding, and yet so entirely +probable when judged from the realm of the known, that the climax +appears inevitable. The story bears the imprint of experience. There is +no padding, and one is carried along with a rush from marvel to marvel +and venture to venture through vast areas of undreamed civilizations, +magnificent cities, and a people whose existence has been entirely +unsuspected by denizens of the known world, and yet which is shown to be +more than a mere conjecture as the story unfolds. The mode of travel is +entirely unique, no similar method having ever been employed, though it +is one which seems likely to become popular in the near future. The book +is worth reading, and will furnish food for the thoughtful. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE LITTLE BLIND GOD A-WHEEL + +BY + +SIDNEY HOWARD + +Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents + + +Surely the name of this author is not familiar, and yet it seems as +though we must have met it before. No one but an experienced writer +could have given us such a charming combination of incident and +description. Perhaps some well-known author is testing his real merit by +a little masquerade. We will wait, in confidence that such an excellent +production will be traced to its rightful source. Briefly, it is a +bicycling novel. A jolly party make a tour through northern New England +with all the amusing happenings incident to such a trip, not excepting +the experiences of the chaperon, who learns to ride that she may better +perform her duties. And then--there is a boy. And besides the boy there +is the little blind god who shoots his arrows so industriously that the +whole party return engaged save the boy, the chaperon, and the poor odd +man; and even he makes a determined effort to join the majority; but in +his case the Fates are stronger even than the Little Blind God. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +TWO WASHINGTON BELLES + +by + +LESTER M. DEL GARCIA + +Neely's Primatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents + + +"This is a modern, up-to-date "society" novel with considerable local +coloring and many pictures of life in the "hupper suckles." It describes +the career and love experiences of one who eventually becomes +Viscountess Landale. The frou-frou and fripperies of nineteenth-century +social gatherings and drawing-rooms are here described in analytical +detail, while much plot and counterplot go toward the making of a book +that is a departure from the usual run of what is ordinarily written +under the _genre_ of "novel" literature. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +ALLIQUIPPA + +AND + +DR. POFFENBURGH'S CHARM + +BY + +W. A. HOLLAND + +Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents + + +Are tales that deal with life in Pennsylvania, within whose rich valleys +and sequestered byways are hidden many phases of quaint and charming +life of which the world knows all too little. "Alliquippa" is the story +of an Indian prince of the Alleghanies, and deals with pioneer life in +that wild region. There is an air of freshness and novelty to these +tales which, combined with the interest of the plots, commends the +volume to the attention of book-buyers. In "Dr. Poffenburgh's Charm" Mr. +Holland has told a romantic tale, which he has located in the historic +locality of eastern Pennsylvania originally settled by the Germans, +whose descendants are now known as Pennsylvania Dutch. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +AMONG THE DUNES + +BY + +MRS. D. L. RHONE + +Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents + + +'Among the Dunes' reads like some of the best work of the new school of +Scandinavian writers; but it is in fact an American book, the production +of a Pennsylvania lady. The scene is laid in Jutland, and the story, +which is quite out of the common, is full of an intense romantic +interest and charm."--_Review of Reviews._ + +"Excellent entertainment for a fireside audience."--_Richard Henry +Stoddard._ + +"It is a pleasure of the simplest and purest sort to turn from the +high-pressure novels of the day and read a tender and touching romance +like this story of the Far North."--_New York Independent._ + +"Readers who are old-fashioned enough, in these days of so much somber, +realistic writing, to enjoy a romance pure and simple, full of variety, +adventure, and mystery, will be pleased with 'Among the Dunes.'"--_New +York Christian Advocate._ + +"The narrative has a wonderful, fresh, salt-sea flavor, and the strange +series of events culminate in a most dramatic situation."--_Boston +Advertiser._ + +"Exuberant fancy is shown by the author, and there is a plenty of +adventure in her volume. It fills one of the main wants of the novel +reader--it is always interesting and sometimes strikingly so."--_New +York Times._ + +"There is all the weird fascination that belongs to the Danish country +and the Oriental race contained in the plot."--_Baltimore Telegram._ + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE CHILD WITNESS + +BY + +HELEN NORWOOD HALSEY + +Cloth, $1.00 + + +This is a story within a story, and will appeal to all; childhood and +youth will devour it with a keen interest, and the maturer mind will +detect in the simple, light, fantastic wording a portrayal of the +deepest passion to which the human heart is susceptible. Thus it is a +story for all, and will be read by all with a zest and interest which +will neither flag nor grow dim from the title to the finale. There are +few characters, and the story is simply told, and while the reader is +following with an unflagging interest the tragic events which present +themselves so rapidly and vividly before the mind's eye, there lies +hidden beneath the startling drama the germ of the story, the pitiful +picture of the little Child Witness, Danny, whose life is sacrificed to +the greed and cunning of a nature far below his own; but so lightly has +the author touched upon this phase of the story, so daintily is it +handled, that the heart of the reader goes out in a deep and mighty +compassion to the helpless child, the victim of the brute negro Barney, +and there is no feeling of revolt even to the most sensitive mind; and +while, in some of the situations of the story, the reader is carried +into the center of the slums, among the fallen and degraded, and while +there are scenes and circumstances from which the delicate mind may +shrink in horror, let the reader remember that it is wholesome at times +that those in the higher walks of life should realize that such a +condition of life actually exists and has grown too common even to +command a passing notice from those who pass by on the other side. The +story has, too, a touch of fine humor from which the mind may find a +relaxation and relief from the almost oppressing tragedy with which +every page is replete, and is an offset to that portion of the story +which presents, like a living, moving panorama, the torturous suffering +of the helpless child in the grasp of the negro. It is a story which +will be read and re-read from Maine to California--a story which will +linger in the memory and be eagerly devoured while one word remains--a +story which will be laid aside, stored away, and turned to again with a +fresh and reviving interest. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +NEW YORKERS OF THE XIX CENTURY + +BY + +MRS. JOHN KING VAN RENSSELAER + +Cloth $10.00 + + +_This work is issued in a limited edition of two hundred copies only_ + +and contains Charts of prominent families, who have lived in New York +for the past one hundred years, and they will show at a glance, and in +detail, all the members of each branch of the family. These Charts have +been prepared by the aid of lists, papers, and other data, accessible to +Mrs. Van Rensselaer only, and have been added to and corrected by +members of the different families to whom they have been submitted, and +the information thus gained has been verified by comparing it with +marriage and death notices that have been published in the daily papers, +of which this lady has kept a faithful record. The value and importance +of these Charts will be recognized, not only by members of the families +whose names appear in them, but by genealogists who require trustworthy +information on these points, lawyers who search for legal evidences of +marriage, and all who are interested in family ties and relationships. +When the fact is recalled that the records in the churches of New York +have been culpably neglected and irregularly kept, and that there was no +law in this city requiring the registration of births, deaths, and +marriages between the years 1777 and 1877, the importance of these +Charts will be seen. The first issue will contain the following +families, viz.: Bard, Barclay, Bronson, Buchanan, Delafield, Duer, +Emmet, Fish, Glover, Hamilton, Hoffman, Jay, King, McVickar, Morton, +Lynch, Ogden, Renwick, Rutherfurd, Schuyler, Stuyvesant, Suydam, and Van +Rensselaer. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Romance of the West Indies, by Eugène Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + +***** This file should be named 29894-8.txt or 29894-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/8/9/29894/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Romance of the West Indies + +Author: Eugène Sue + +Translator: Marian Longfellow + +Release Date: September 2, 2009 [EBook #29894] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="c"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Image of bookcover" width="345" height="500" /></p> + +<h1>A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES.</h1> + +<p class="c top5">TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF</p> + +<h3 class="top5">EUGENE SUE.</h3> + +<p class="c top5">BY</p> + +<h3 class="top5">MARIAN LONGFELLOW.</h3> + +<p class="c top15">F. TENNYSON NEELY,<br /> +PUBLISHER.</p> +<p class="c">LONDON. <span style="margin-left: 5em;">NEW YORK.</span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="c">Copyright, 1898,<br /> +by<br /> +<span class="smcap">F. Tennyson Neely</span>,<br /> +in<br /> +United States<br /> +and<br /> +Great Britain.<br /><br /> +All Rights Reserved.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="c smcap"><b> +to the memory of<br /> +WILKIE COLLINS,<br /> +author and artist,<br /> +who first directed my attention to this<br /> +work and suggested its translation<br /> +into english,<br /> +i dedicate this book in kindly remembrance.<br /> +THE TRANSLATOR.<br /></b> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table summary="toc" +cellspacing="3" +cellpadding="2"> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="dash">————</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="part">PART I.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I</a>.</td><td>The Passenger</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II</a>.</td><td>A Female Blue Beard</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III</a>.</td><td>The Arrival</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV</a>.</td><td>The Priest's House</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V</a>.</td><td>The Surprise</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI</a>.</td><td>The Warning</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII</a>.</td><td>The Cavern</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII</a>.</td><td>The Devil's Cliff</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX</a>.</td><td>Night</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X</a>.</td><td>A Buccaneer</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI</a>.</td><td>Master Rend-Your-Soul</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="dash">————</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="part">PART II.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII</a>.</td><td>The Marriage</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>.</td><td>Supper</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV</a>.</td><td>True Love</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV</a>.</td><td>The Envoy from France</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI</a>.</td><td>The Storm</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII</a>.</td><td>The Surprise</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII</a>.</td><td>My Lord the Duke</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX</a>.</td><td>A Second Surprise</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX</a>.</td><td>The Departure</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI</a>.</td><td>The Betrayal</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="dash">————</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="part">PART III.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII</a>.</td><td>The Viceroy of Ireland and Scotland</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII</a>.</td><td>The Arrest</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV</a>.</td><td>The Interview</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV</a>.</td><td>Revelations</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI</a>.</td><td>Devotion</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">XXVII</a>.</td><td>The Martyr</td></tr> + +<tr valign="top"><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">XXVIII</a>.</td><td>The Duke Relates the<br />Sacrifice to which<br /> He Owes his Life</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">XXIX</a>.</td><td>The Departure</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="dash">————</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="part">PART IV.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">XXX</a>.</td><td>Regrets</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">XXXI</a>.</td><td>Croustillac Departs</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">XXXII</a>.</td><td>The Frigate</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">XXXIII</a>.</td><td>The Judgment</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">XXXIV</a>.</td><td>The Chase</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">XXXV</a>.</td><td>The Return</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="dash">————</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center" class="part">EPILOGUE.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">XXXVI</a>.</td><td>The Abbey</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">XXXVII</a>.</td><td>Reunited</td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="full" /> + +<h1>A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES.</h1> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + +<p class="cdash">PART I.</p> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE PASSENGER.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Toward</span> the latter part of May, 1690, the three-masted schooner the +Unicorn sailed from Rochelle for the island of Martinique.</p> + +<p>A Captain Daniel commanded this vessel, which was armed with a dozen +pieces of medium-sized ordnance, a defensive precaution necessary at +that period. France was at that time at war with England, and the +Spanish pirates would often cross to the windward of the Antilles, in +spite of the frequent pursuit of filibusters.</p> + +<p>Among the passengers of the Unicorn, few in number, was the Reverend +Father Griffen, of the Order of the Preaching Brothers. He was returning +to Martinique to resume his parish duties at Macouba, where he had +occupied the curacy for some years to the satisfaction of the +inhabitants and the slaves of that locality.</p> + +<p>The exceptional life of the colonies, then almost continually in a state +of open hostility against the English, the Spanish, and the natives of +the Antilles, placed the priests of the latter in a peculiar position. +They were called upon not only to preach, to hear confessions, to +administer the sacraments to their flocks, but also to aid in defending +themselves during the frequent inroads of their enemies of all nations +and all colors.</p> + +<p>The priest's house was, as other habitations, alike isolated and +exposed to deadly surprises. More than once had Father Griffen, assisted +by his two slaves, intrenched himself securely behind a large gateway of +mahogany, after having repulsed their assailants by a lively fire.</p> + +<p>Formerly a professor of geometry and mathematics, and possessed of +considerable theoretical knowledge of military architecture, Father +Griffen had given most excellent advice to the successive governors of +Martinique on the construction of works of defense.</p> + +<p>This priest knew thoroughly the stonecutter's and carpenter's trades; +learned in agriculture, an excellent gardener, of an inventive spirit, +full of resources, of rare energy, a determined courage, he was a +valuable man to the colony, and, above all, to the quarter he inhabited.</p> + +<p>The word of the gospel had not, perhaps, in his mouth all the unction to +be desired; his voice was rough, his exhortations were unpolished; but +their moral quality was excellent; they abounded in charity. He said the +mass as rapidly and as forcibly as if he were a buccaneer. One could +pardon him when one knew that this holy office was often interrupted by +a raid of the heretical English or the idolatrous Caribbeans; and that +then Father Griffen, leaping from the pulpit from which he had preached +"peace and concord," was always one of the first to put himself at the +head of his flock in order to defend it.</p> + +<p>As to the wounded and prisoners, once the engagement was ended, the +worthy priest ameliorated their situation as far as he could, and with +the greatest care dressed the wounds which he had himself made.</p> + +<p>We will not undertake to prove that the conduct of Father Griffen was in +all points canonical, nor to solve the question so often debated, "Under +what circumstances may the clergy go to war?" We do not claim for this +subject either the authority of Saint Gregory nor that of Leo IV. We +simply say that this worthy priest did good and combated evil with all +his might.</p> + +<p>Of a loyal and generous character, frank and gay, Father Griffen was +mischievously hostile and mocking where women were concerned. He was +continually making jests upon the daughters of Eve; these temptresses, +these diabolical allies of the Serpent. In justice to Father Griffen, we +must say that he showed in his railleries, otherwise without malice, a +little rancor and contempt; he jested lightly on the subject of a +happiness that he regretted not being able to desire; for, in spite of +the extreme license of Creole customs, the purity of Father Griffen's +life was never questioned.</p> + +<p>He might have been accused of loving the pleasures of the table; not +that he abused them (he observed bounds in enjoying the good gifts which +God bestowed), but he was singularly fond of indulging himself with +marvelous recipes for dressing game, seasoning fish, or preserving in +sugar the fragrant fruits of the tropics; at times, even the description +of his epicurean tastes became contagious, when he would enlarge upon +certain repasts after the manner of buccaneers, prepared in the depths +of the forests or on the shore of the island. Between you and me, Father +Griffen possessed, among others, the secret of cooking a turtle, +buccaneer-fashion, of which the mere recital was enough to excite +ravenous hunger on the part of his hearers. In spite of his usually +formidable appetite, Father Griffen scrupulously observed his fasts, +which an edict of the pope's decreed should be much less strict at the +Antilles and in the Indies than in Europe.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to say here that the worthy priest would abandon the +most delicate repast in order to fulfill his duties as a priest to a +poor slave; no one was more pitiful than he—a more charitable or +prudent manager, regarding the little he possessed as the property of +the unfortunate.</p> + +<p>Never was his consolation or succor lacking to those who suffered; but +once his Christian task fulfilled, he worked gayly and vigorously in his +garden, watered his plants, hoed his paths, pruned his trees, and when +night came he loved to rest after his salutary and rustic labor, and +enjoy, with an intelligent keenness of palate, the gastronomic riches of +the country.</p> + +<p>His flock never allowed his cellar or his larder to become empty. The +finest fruit, the best portion from the chase or the rod, was always +faithfully sent to him. He was beloved—he was blessed. They came to +him to settle all points of dispute, and his judgment was finally +accepted on all questions.</p> + +<p>The physique of Father Griffen accorded perfectly with the impression +perhaps formed of him after what has just been said of his character.</p> + +<p>He was a man of not more than fifty years, robust, active, though +perhaps rather too stout; his long robe of white wool and his black cape +set off his broad shoulders; a felt cap covered his bald crown. His red +face, his triple chin, his lips thick and crimson, his nose long and +flat at the end, his small and lively gray eyes, gave him a certain +resemblance to Rabelais; but what specially characterized Father +Griffen's physiognomy was a rare mixture of frankness, goodness, +strength and innocent raillery.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of this story, the Preaching Brother stood on the +stern of the vessel, in conversation with Captain Daniel. The ease with +which he maintained his equilibrium, in spite of the violent rolling of +the vessel, proved that Father Griffen had long since found his +sea-legs.</p> + +<p>Captain Daniel was an old sea-dog; once at sea, he left the management +of his vessel to his mates and pilot, and became intoxicated regularly +every night. Frequently making the trip from Martinique to Rochelle, he +had already brought Father Griffen from America. The latter, accustomed +to the inebriety of the worthy captain, attentively studied the ship's +management; for without possessing the nautical science of Father +Fournier, and other of his religious colleagues, he had a sufficiently +theoretical and practical knowledge of navigation. Often had the priest +made the passage from Martinique to San Domingo and beyond, on board the +privateer vessels, which always yielded a tithe of their prizes to the +churches of the Antilles.</p> + +<p>Night approached. Father Griffen inhaled with pleasure the odor of +supper which was being prepared. The captain's boy came to announce to +the passengers that the repast was ready; two or three among them, who +had successfully resisted seasickness, entered the cabin.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen said grace; they had hardly seated themselves when the +door of the cabin opened suddenly, and the following words were +pronounced with a strong Gascon accent:</p> + +<p>"There is, I hope, noble captain, a small place for the Chevalier de +Croustillac?"</p> + +<p>All the guests made a movement of surprise, then strove to read in the +features of the captain an explanation of this singular apparition. The +captain remained stupefied, regarding his new guest with an air almost +of affright.</p> + +<p>"Eh, there, who are you? I do not know you. Where the devil did you come +from, sir?" he finally said.</p> + +<p>"If I came from the devil, this good priest," and he kissed the hand of +Father Griffen, "this good priest would send me back there very quickly, +by saying, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.'"</p> + +<p>"But where <i>do</i> you come from, sir?" cried the captain, stupefied by the +confident and smiling air of this unexpected guest.</p> + +<p>"One does not come thus on board. You are not on my list of passengers. +You have fallen from the sky, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"A few minutes since it was from the infernal regions; now it is from +the heavens that I come. Faith! I do not lay claim to an origin so +divine nor so infernal, worthy captain; I——"</p> + +<p>"It matters not as to that," replied the captain. "Tell me, how came you +here?"</p> + +<p>The chevalier assumed a majestic air. "I should be unworthy of belonging +to the noble house of de Croustillac, one of the oldest in Guienne, if I +had the slightest hesitation in satisfying the legitimate curiosity of +the illustrious captain."</p> + +<p>"So—this is very lucky," cried the latter.</p> + +<p>"Do not say it is lucky, rather say it is right. I fall upon your vessel +like a bomb; you are astonished; nothing is more natural; you ask me how +I came on board. This is your right. I explain it to you—that is my +duty. Completely satisfied by my explanation, you extend to me your hand +and say, 'This is well, chevalier, place yourself at table with us.' I +respond to you, 'Captain, I cannot refuse, for I am dying for lack of +sustenance. Blessed be your benevolent offer.' So saying I slip in +between these two estimable gentlemen. I make myself small; very small; +in order not to incommode them; on the contrary, the motion is so +violent that I wedge——"</p> + +<p>So saying, the chevalier put his words into execution; profiting by the +general surprise, he insinuated himself between two guests and provided +himself with the glass of one, the plate of another, and the napkin of a +third. Profound amazement made his neighbors oblivious to the things of +this world. All this was accomplished with so much quickness, dexterity, +confidence and boldness that the guests of the illustrious captain of +the Unicorn and the illustrious captain himself did not dream of more +than looking with the greatest curiosity and astonishment at the +Chevalier de Croustillac. The adventurer proudly wore an old waistcoat +of rateen, once green, but now of a yellowish blue; his frayed breeches +were of the same shade; his stockings, at one time scarlet, were now a +faded pink, and seemed in places to be fairly embroidered with white +thread; a badly worn gray felt hat, an old sword-belt trimmed with +imitation gold lace, now tarnished, supported a long sword upon which +the chevalier, on entering, leaned with the air of a grandee. +Croustillac was a very tall and excessively thin man. He appeared to be +from thirty-six to forty years of age. His hair, mustache, and eyebrows +were jet black, his face bony, brown and tanned. He had a long nose, +small hazel eyes, which were extraordinarily lively, and his mouth was +very large; his physiognomy betrayed at the same time an imperturbable +assurance and an excessive vanity.</p> + +<p>Croustillac had that overweening belief in himself which one finds only +among the Gascons. He so exaggerated his merits and natural graces to +himself that he believed no woman was able to resist him; the list of +his conquests of every kind had been interminable. In spite of the most +amazing falsehoods, which cost him little, it cannot be denied that he +possessed true courage and a certain nobility of character. This +natural valor, joined to his blind confidence in himself, sometimes +precipitated him into almost inextricable situations, into which he +threw himself headlong, and from which he never emerged without hard +blows—for if he was as adventurous and boastful as a Gascon, he was as +obstinate and opinionated as a Breton.</p> + +<p>Heretofore his life had been very similar to that of his Bohemian +companions. The younger son of a poor Gascon family of doubtful +nobility, he had come to seek his fortune at Paris; by turns petty +officer of a forlorn hope; provost of an academy, bath-keeper, horse +jockey, peddler of satirical news and Holland gazettes; he had more than +once pretended to be a Protestant, feigning conversion to the Catholic +faith in order to secure the fifty crowns that M. Pelisson paid each +neophyte as the price of conversion. This cheat discovered, the +chevalier was condemned to the lash and to prison. He suffered the lash, +escaped from prison, disguised himself by means of an immense shade over +his eye, girded himself with a formidable sword with which he ambled +about, then embraced the profession of wheedling country folk for the +benefit of gambling houses, into which he led those innocent lambs, who +did not come forth again until completely shorn. It must be said—to the +chevalier's credit that he took no part himself in these rascalities; as +he said to himself—if he did bait the hook, he at least did not eat the +fish.</p> + +<p>The laws regarding duels were at that time very severe. One day the +chevalier encountered a well-known brave named Fontenay-Coup-d'Epée. The +latter roughly elbowed our adventurer, saying, "Take care! I am Fontenay +Sword-Thrust." "And I," said the Gascon, "Croustillac Cannon-Ball," +whipping out his sword.</p> + +<p>Fontenay was killed, and Croustillac obliged to flee in order to escape +capture.</p> + +<p>The chevalier had often heard of the wonderful fortunes to be realized +in the colonies. Journeying sometimes on foot, sometimes on horse, +sometimes in a wagon, he went to Rochelle hoping to embark for America. +Once there, Croustillac found that he not only must pay his passage on +board a vessel, but must also obtain from the intendant of marine, +permission to embark for the Antilles.</p> + +<p>These two things were equally difficult of accomplishment; the +emigration of Protestants, which Louis XIV. wished to prevent, made the +officers of the ports extremely severe, and the voyage to Martinique +cost no less than eight or nine hundred livres. In all his life the +adventurer had never been possessed of a tithe of this amount. Arriving +at Rochelle with ten crowns in his pocket, dressed in a smock frock and +carrying his clothing on the end of his scabbard, the chevalier went, +like a journeyman, to lodge at a poor tavern, ordinarily frequented by +sailors.</p> + +<p>There he inquired as to outgoing vessels, and learned that the Unicorn +would set sail in a few days. Two of the crew of this vessel frequented +the tavern which the chevalier had selected for the center of his +operations. It would take too long to tell by what prodigies of +astuteness and address; by what impudent and fabulous lies; by what mad +promises Croustillac succeeded in interesting in his behalf the master +cooper charged with the stowage of the casks of fresh water in the hold; +it is enough to know that this man consented to hide Croustillac in an +empty cask and to carry him on board the Unicorn.</p> + +<p>According to custom, the intendant's assistants and the admiralty clerks +carefully examined the vessel at the moment of its departure, in order +to see that no one had fraudulently embarked. The chevalier kept quiet +at the bottom of his cask and escaped the careful search of the king's +servants. His heart bounded freely when he felt the vessel under way; he +waited some hours before daring to show himself, knowing well that, once +on the high seas, the captain of the Unicorn would not return to port to +bring back a contraband passenger.</p> + +<p>It had been arranged between the master cooper and the chevalier that +the latter should never disclose the means whereby he had been smuggled +on board.</p> + +<p>A man less impudent than our adventurer would have timidly kept his +place among the sailors, waiting with uneasiness the moment when +Captain Daniel should discover the stowaway. Croustillac, on the +contrary, went boldly to his end; preferring the captain's table to the +mess of the crew, he was not a moment in doubt that he would be seated +at that table—if not rightfully, at least in fact.</p> + +<p>We have seen how his audacity served his purpose.</p> + +<p>Such was the unexpected visitor at whom the guests of the Unicorn looked +curiously.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<p class="head">BLUE BEARD.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Now</span>, sir, explain how you came here!" cried the captain of the Unicorn, +too impatient to learn the Gascon's secret to send him from the table.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier de Croustillac poured out a large glass of wine, stood up, +and said in a loud tone, "I will first propose to the illustrious +company to drink the health of one who is dear to us all—that of our +glorious king, that of Louis the Great, the most adored of princes!"</p> + +<p>In that troublous time, it would have been unwise and even dangerous for +the captain to receive the chevalier's proposition with coolness. +Captain Daniel and the passengers following his example, responding to +the toast, repeated in chorus, "To the king's health! to the health of +Louis the Great!" One person alone remained silent; this was the +chevalier's neighbor. Croustillac looked at him frowningly.</p> + +<p>"By the gods, sir, are you not one of us?" said he; "are you, then, an +enemy of our beloved king?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, sir; not at all. I love and venerate this great king, but +how can I drink. You have taken my glass," replied the passenger +timidly.</p> + +<p>"What! gods! Is it for such a trifle as this that you expose yourself to +passing for a bad Frenchman?" exclaimed the chevalier, shrugging his +shoulders. "Are there not enough glasses here? Waiter! bring this +gentleman a glass. My dear friend, good luck. Now stand and let us say, +'To the king's health—our great king!'"</p> + +<p>After this toast all reseated themselves. The chevalier profited by the +confusion to give a napkin and plate to his neighbor. Then, uncovering a +dish placed before him, he said boldly to Father Griffen, "Father, may I +offer you some of this potted pigeon?"</p> + +<p>"Zounds, sir," cried the captain, struck by the liberties taken by the +chevalier, "you put yourself very much at your ease."</p> + +<p>The adventurer interrupted the captain and said to him with a solemn +air, "Captain, I know how to render to each what is due. The clergy is +the first order of the state; I conduct myself then as a Christian in +serving at once this reverend father. I shall do more—I shall seize +this occasion to render homage, in his respectable and holy person, to +the evangelical virtues which distinguish and always will distinguish +our church."</p> + +<p>So saying, the chevalier served Father Griffen. From this moment it +became very difficult for the captain to oust the adventurer. He had not +refused the chevalier's toast, nor prevented him from doing the honors +of the table. Meanwhile he continued to question him. "Come, sir, you +are a gentleman, so be it! you are a good Christian, you love the king +as we all love him—this is very well, but tell me, how the devil came +you here to eat supper with us?"</p> + +<p>"Father," said the chevalier, "I call upon you to bear witness, in the +presence of this honorable company——"</p> + +<p>"To bear witness to what, my son?" replied the priest.</p> + +<p>"To bear witness to what the captain has said."</p> + +<p>"How? What have I said," exclaimed the captain.</p> + +<p>"Captain, you have said, you will remember, in the presence of this +company, that I am a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I have said so, no doubt, but——"</p> + +<p>"That I am a good Christian."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but——"</p> + +<p>"That I love the king."</p> + +<p>"Yes, because——"</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied the chevalier. "I again call this illustrious +company to bear witness that when one is a good Christian, when one is a +gentleman, when one loves his king, what more can be asked? Father, +shall I help you to some of this roast?"</p> + +<p>"I will take some, my son, for my seasickness takes the form of a robust +appetite; once on shipboard, my hunger redoubles."</p> + +<p>"I am delighted, Father, at this similarity in constitution. I, too, +have a ravenous appetite."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my son; as our good captain has given you the means +wherewith to satisfy your appetite, I would say, to make use of your own +words, that it is just because you <i>are</i> a gentleman, a good Christian, +and well-disposed toward our beloved sovereign, that you ought to answer +the questions of Captain Daniel as to your extraordinary appearance on +board his ship."</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, that is just what I cannot do, Father."</p> + +<p>"How? cannot do?" cried the irritated captain.</p> + +<p>The chevalier assumed a solemn air, and replied, as he turned toward the +priest, "This reverend father can alone hear my confession and my vows; +this secret is not mine alone; this secret is grave, very grave," he +added, raising his eyes in contrition to heaven.</p> + +<p>"And I—I can force you to speak," cried the captain, "when I cause a +cannon ball to be tied to each of your feet and ride you on a rail until +you disclose the truth."</p> + +<p>"Captain," answered the chevalier, with imperturbable calm, "I never +permit any one to threaten me. The motion of an eyelid, a sneer, a +gesture, a nothing, which seems insulting—but you are king on your own +ship, and therefore I am in your kingdom and recognize myself to be your +subject. You have admitted me to your table—I shall continue to be +worthy of this favor always—but there is no reason to arbitrarily +inflict upon me such bad treatment. Nevertheless, I shall know how to +resign myself to it, to support it, unless this good priest, the refuge +of the feeble against the strong, deigns to intercede with you in my +behalf," replied the chevalier humbly.</p> + +<p>The captain was very much embarrassed, for Father Griffen did not +hesitate to speak a few words in behalf of the adventurer who had so +suddenly sought his protection, and who had promised to reveal, under +the seal of the confessional, the secret of his presence on the Unicorn. +The anger of the captain was somewhat appeased; the chevalier, at first +flattering, insinuating, became jovial and comical; for the amusement of +the passengers he performed all kinds of tricks; he balanced knives on +his nose; he built up a pyramid of glasses and bottles with wonderful +ingenuity; he sang new songs; he imitated the cries of various animals. +In fact, Croustillac knew so well how to amuse the captain of the +Unicorn, who was not very hard to please, that when supper was concluded +the latter clapped the Gascon on the shoulder, saying:</p> + +<p>"After all, chevalier, you are here on board, there is no way to undo +that. You are good company, and there will always be a plate for you at +my table, and we will manage to find some corner in which to swing a +hammock for you."</p> + +<p>The chevalier overwhelmed the captain with thanks and protestations of +gratitude, and betook himself quickly to the place assigned to him, and +soon was profoundly sleeping, perfectly satisfied as to his well-being +during the voyage, although a little humiliated from having had to +suffer the captain's threats, and from having had to descend to tricks +to win the good will of one whom he mentally designated a brute and a +seabear.</p> + +<p>The chevalier saw in the colonies a veritable Eldorado. He had heard of +the magnificent hospitality of the colonists, who were only too happy, +he had been told, to keep the Europeans who came to see them as guests, +for months, and he drew this very simple deduction: there are about +fifty or sixty rich plantations at Martinique and Guadeloupe; their +proprietors, bored to death, are delighted to keep with them men of wit; +of gay humor, and of resources. I am essentially one of these; I have +only, then, to appear to be petted, fêted, spoiled; admitting that I +spend six months at each plantation, one after another—there are fully +in the neighborhood of sixty—this will give me from twenty-five to +thirty years of enjoyment and perfectly assured comfortable existence, +and I count only on the least favorable chances. I am in the full +maturity of my gifts; I am amiable, witty, I have all kinds of society +talents; how can one believe that the rich owners of these colonies, +will be so blind, so stupid, as not to profit by the occasion and secure +to themselves in this way the most charming husband that a young girl or +a fascinating widow has ever pictured in sleepless nights.</p> + +<p>Such were the hopes of the chevalier; we shall see if they were +realized.</p> + +<p>The following morning Croustillac kept his promise and made his +confession to Father Griffen.</p> + +<p>Although sincere enough, the avowal revealed nothing new as to the +position of the penitent, which he had very nearly divined. This was, in +effect the chevalier's confession: He had dissipated his fortune; killed +a man in a duel; pursued by justice and finding himself without +resources, he had adopted the dangerous part of going to the West Indies +to seek his fortune; not having the means of paying for his passage, he +had had recourse to the compassion of a cooper, who had carried him on +board and hidden him in an empty cask.</p> + +<p>This apparent sincerity caused Father Griffen to look upon the +adventurer with leniency; but he did not hide from the Gascon that any +hope of finding a fortune in the colonies was an error; he must bring +quite an amount of capital with him to obtain even the smallest +establishment; the climate was deadly; the inhabitants, as a general +thing, were suspicious of strangers, and all the traditions of generous +hospitality of the first colonists completely forgotten, as much through +the egotism of the inhabitants as because of the discomforts following a +war with England—which had gravely affected their interests. In a word, +Father Griffen counseled the chevalier to accept the offer which the +captain made, of taking him back to Rochelle after having touched at +Martinique. In the priest's opinion, Croustillac could find a thousand +resources in France, which he could not hope to find in a half-civilized +country; the condition of the Europeans being such in the colonies that +never, in consideration of their dignity as whites, could they perform +menial employment. Father Griffen was ignorant of the fact that the +chevalier had exhausted the resources of France, and therefore had +expatriated himself. Under certain circumstances, no one was more easily +hoodwinked than the good priest; his pity for the unhappy blinding his +usual penetration. The past life of the chevalier did not appear to have +been one of immaculate purity; but this man was so careless in his +distress, so indifferent to the future which menaced him, that Father +Griffen ended by taking more interest in the adventurer than he +merited, and he proposed that the latter should stay in his parsonage at +Macouba, while the Unicorn remained at Martinique; an invitation that +Croustillac took care not to refuse.</p> + +<p>Time went on. Captain Daniel was never tired of praising the wonderful +talents of the chevalier, in whom he discovered new treasures of +sleight-of-hand each day. Croustillac had finished by putting into his +mouth the ends of burning candles, and by swallowing forks. This last +feat had carried the captain beyond bounds of enthusiasm; he formally +offered the Gascon a situation for life on board ship if the chevalier +would promise to charm thus agreeably the tedium of the voyages of the +Unicorn.</p> + +<p>We would say here, in order to explain the success of Croustillac, that +at sea the hours seem very long; the slightest distractions are +precious, and one is very glad to have always at one's beck and call a +species of buffoon endowed with imperturbable good humor. As to the +chevalier, he hid under a laughing and careless mask, a sad +preoccupation; the end of his journey drew near; the words of Father +Griffen had been too sensible, too sincere, too just not to strongly +impress our adventurer, who had counted upon passing a joyous life at +the expense of the colonists. The coldness with which many of the +passengers, returning to Martinique, treated him, completed the ruin of +his hopes. In spite of the talents which he developed and which amused +them, none of these colonists made the slightest advance to the +chevalier, although he repeatedly declared he would be delighted to make +a long exploration into the interior of the island.</p> + +<p>The end of the voyage came; the last illusions of Croustillac were +destroyed; he saw himself reduced to the deplorable alternative of +forever traversing the ocean with Captain Daniel, or of returning to +France to encounter the rigors of the law. Chance suddenly offered to +the chevalier the most dazzling mirage, and awakened in him the maddest +hopes.</p> + +<p>The Unicorn was not more than two hundred leagues from Martinique when +they met a French trading vessel coming from that island and sailing +for France. This vessel lay to and sent a boat to the Unicorn for news +from Europe. In the colonies all was well for some weeks past; not a +single English man-of-war had been seen. After exchanging other news, +the two vessels separated.</p> + +<p>"For a vessel of such value (the passengers had estimated her worth at +about four hundred thousand francs) she is not very well armed," said +the chevalier, "and would be a good prize for the English."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" returned a passenger with an envious air, "Blue Beard can afford +to lose such a vessel as that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, truly; there would still remain enough money to buy and arm +others."</p> + +<p>"Twenty such, if she desired," said the captain.</p> + +<p>"Oh, twenty, that is a good many," said another.</p> + +<p>"Faith, without counting her magnificent plantation at Anse aux Sables, +and her mysterious house at Devil's Cliff," returned a third, "do they +not say she has five or six millions of gold and precious stones hidden +somewhere?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, there it is! hidden no one knows where!" exclaimed Captain Daniel; +"but one thing sure, she <i>has</i> them, for I have it from old father +'Wide-awake,' who had once seen Blue Beard's first husband at Devil's +Cliff (which husband, they say, was young and handsome as an angel). I +have it from Wide-awake that Blue Beard on this day amused herself by +measuring in a bowl, diamonds, pearls and emeralds; now, all these +riches are still in her possession, without counting that her third and +last husband, as they say, was very rich, and that all his fortune was +in gold dust."</p> + +<p>"People say she is so avaricious that she expends for herself and +household only ten thousand francs a year," continued a passenger.</p> + +<p>"As to that, it is not certain," said Captain Daniel; "no one knows how +she lives, because she is a stranger in the colony, and not four persons +have ever put their feet inside Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"Truly; and lucky it is so; I am not the one who would have the +curiosity to go there," said another; "Devil's Cliff does not enjoy a +very good reputation; they do say that strange things take place there."</p> + +<p>"It is certain that it has been struck by lightning three times."</p> + +<p>"That does not surprise me; and strange cries, they say, are heard round +the house."</p> + +<p>"It is said that it is built like a fortress, inaccessible, among the +rocks of the Cabesterre."</p> + +<p>"That is natural if Blue Beard has so great a treasure to guard."</p> + +<p>Croustillac heard this conversation with great curiosity. These +treasures, these diamonds, were pictured in his imagination.</p> + +<p>"Of whom do you speak, gentlemen?" he said.</p> + +<p>"We are speaking of Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"Who is this Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"Blue Beard? Well, it is—Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"But is this a man or a woman?" said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said Croustillac impatiently.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a woman."</p> + +<p>"How, a woman? and why, then, call her Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"Because she gets rid of her husbands as easily as Blue Beard of the old +story got rid of his wives."</p> + +<p>"And she is a widow? She is a widow! Oh," cried the chevalier, clapping +his hands while his heart beat rapidly, "a widow! rich beyond belief; +rich enough to make one dizzy only to try to estimate her wealth—a +widow!"</p> + +<p>"A widow; so much of a widow that she is such for a third time in three +years," said the captain.</p> + +<p>"And is she as rich as they say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is conceded; all the world knows it," replied the captain.</p> + +<p>"Worth millions; rich enough to fit out vessels worth four hundred +thousand livres; rich enough to have sacks of diamonds and emeralds and +fine pearls!" cried the Gascon, whose eyes sparkled and nostrils +dilated, while his hands clinched.</p> + +<p>"But I tell you that she is rich enough to buy Martinique and +Guadeloupe if she were so pleased," said the captain.</p> + +<p>"And old? very old?" asked the Gascon, uneasily.</p> + +<p>His informer looked at the other passengers with a questioning air. +"What age should you say Blue Beard was?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, I do not know," said one.</p> + +<p>"All I know," said another, "is that when I came to the colony two years +ago she had already had her second husband, and had a third in view, who +only lived a year."</p> + +<p>"As to her third husband, it is said that he is not dead, but has +disappeared," said a third.</p> + +<p>"He is certainly dead, however, because Blue Beard has been seen wearing +a widow's garb," said a passenger.</p> + +<p>"No doubt, no doubt," continued another; "the proof that he is dead is +that the parish priest of Macouba was instructed, in the absence of +Father Griffen, to say the mass for the dead, for him."</p> + +<p>"And it would not be surprising if he had been assassinated," said +another.</p> + +<p>"Assassinated? by his wife, no doubt?" said still another voice with an +emphasis that spoke little in favor of Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>"Not by his wife!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah, that is something new!"</p> + +<p>"Not by his wife? and by whom, then?"</p> + +<p>"By his enemies in the Barbadoes."</p> + +<p>"By the English colonists?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, by the English, because he was himself English."</p> + +<p>"Is it so, then, sir; the third husband is dead, really dead?" asked the +chevalier anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to being dead—he is that," exclaimed several in chorus.</p> + +<p>Croustillac drew a long breath; a moment's thought, and his hopes +resumed their audacious flight.</p> + +<p>"But the age of Blue Beard?" he persisted.</p> + +<p>"Her age—as to that I can satisfy you; she must be anywhere from +twenty, yes, that is about it, from twenty to sixty years," said Captain +Daniel.</p> + +<p>"Then you have not seen her?" said the Gascon, impatient under this +raillery.</p> + +<p>"Seen her? I? And why the devil should you suppose I had seen Blue +Beard?" asked the captain. "Are you mad?"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, my friends," said the captain to his passengers; "he asks me if +I have seen Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>The passengers shrugged their shoulders.</p> + +<p>"But," continued Croustillac, "what is there astonishing in my +question?"</p> + +<p>"What is there astonishing?" said the captain.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Hold; you come from Paris, do you not? and is Paris not much smaller +than Martinique?"</p> + +<p>"Without doubt."</p> + +<p>"Very well; have you seen the executioner at Paris?"</p> + +<p>"The executioner? No, but why such a question?"</p> + +<p>"Very well; once for all, understand that no one is any more curious to +see Blue Beard than to see the executioner, sir. Beside, the house in +which she lives is situated in the midst of the wilds of Devil's Cliff, +where one does not care to venture. Then an assassin is not an agreeable +companion, and Blue Beard has too bad associates."</p> + +<p>"Bad associates?" said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Yes, friends; friends of the heart; not to go into the matter any +further, it is a saying that it is not well to encounter them by night +on the plain; by night in the woods; or after sunset under the lee of +the island," said the captain.</p> + +<p>"'Whirlwind'—the filibuster first," said one of the passengers with an +affrighted air.</p> + +<p>"Or 'Rend the Soul'—the buccaneer of Marie-Galande," said another.</p> + +<p>"Or 'Youmäale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," +continued a third.</p> + +<p>"What?" cried the chevalier, "does Blue Beard coquette at the same time +with a filibusterer, a buccaneer, and a cannibal? Bah! what a woman!"</p> + +<p>"So they say, sir."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE ARRIVAL.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> singular revelations concerning the morals of Blue Beard made a +great impression upon the chevalier. After some moments of silence he +asked the captain, "Who is this man, this filibuster whom they term the +Whirlwind?"</p> + +<p>"A mulatto from San Domingo, they say," replied Captain Daniel, "one of +the most determined filibusters of the Antilles; he has dwelt in +Martinique for the past two years, in a solitary house, where he lives +now like an alderman."</p> + +<p>"And you think that this bully is favored by Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"They say that all the time that he does not pass at his own house, he +is at Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"This proves at least that Blue Beard has never loved sentimental +swains!" said the chevalier. "Well, but the buccaneer?"</p> + +<p>"Faith," cried one of the passengers, "I do not know if I would not +rather have the Whirlwind for an enemy than the buccaneer +'Rend-your-soul!'"</p> + +<p>"Zounds! there is at least a name which holds possibilities," said +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"And which fulfills them," said the passenger, "for him I have seen."</p> + +<p>"And is he so terrible?"</p> + +<p>"He is certainly as ferocious as the wild boars or the bulls which he +hunts. I will tell you about him. It is now about a year since I was +going to his ranch in the Great Tari, in the northern part of +Martinique, to purchase of him some skins of wild cattle. He was alone +with his pack of twenty hounds who looked as wicked and savage as +himself. When I arrived he was anointing his face with palm oil, for +there was not a portion of it that was not blue, yellow, violet or +purple."</p> + +<p>"I have had these irridescent shades from a blow on the eye, but——"</p> + +<p>"Exactly, sir. I asked him what had caused this, and this is what he +told me: 'My hounds, led by my assistant, had flung themselves upon a +two-year-old bull; he had passed me, and I had sent a ball into his +shoulder; he bounded into a thicket; the dogs followed. While I was +reloading, my assistant came up, fired, and missed the bull. My boy, +seeing himself disarmed, sought to cut at the bull's legs, but it gored +him and stamped him underfoot. Placed as I was, I could not fire at the +animal for fear of finishing my man. I took my large buccaneer's knife +and threw myself between them. I received a blow of its horn which +ripped up my thigh, a second broke this arm (showing me his left arm, +which was suspended in a sling); the bull continued to attack me; as +there remained but the right hand that was of any use, I watched my +opportunity, and at the instant when the animal lowered his head to rip +me up, I seized him by the horns and drew him within reach, and seized +his lip with my teeth, and would no more let go than an English bulldog, +while my dogs worried his sides.'"</p> + +<p>"But this man is a blockhead," said Croustillac, contemptuously. "If he +has no other means of pleasing—faith, I pity his mistress."</p> + +<p>"I have told you that he was a species of savage animal," replied the +narrator, "but to continue my story. 'Once wounded on the lips,' said +the buccaneer, 'a bull falls. At the end of five minutes, blinded by the +loss of blood (for my bullets had done their work), the bull fell on his +knees and rolled over; my dogs sprang upon him, seized him by the +throat, and finished him. The struggle had weakened me; I had lost a +great deal of blood; for the first time in my life I fainted just like a +girl. And what do you suppose my dogs had been at during my swoon? They +had amused themselves by devouring my servant! They were so sharp and +well-trained.' 'How,' said I to Rend-your-soul, terrified, 'because +your dogs have devoured your servant, does that prove that they are +well-trained?' I declare, sir," continued the passenger who had related +this story of the buccaneer to the Gascon, "I looked with considerable +alarm upon these ferocious animals who walked round and round me and +smelt at me in a manner far from reassuring."</p> + +<p>"The fact is, such customs as these are brutal," said Croustillac, "and +it would be a mistake to address such a man of the woods in the +beautiful language of gallantry. But what the devil can he indulge in in +the way of conversation with Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"God forbid I should act as eavesdropper," exclaimed the passenger.</p> + +<p>"When Rend-your-Soul has said to Blue Beard, 'I have seized a bull on +the lips, and my dogs have devoured my servants,'" replied the Gascon, +"the conversation would languish; and zounds! one cannot always be +feeding a man to the dogs in order to furnish entertainment."</p> + +<p>"In faith, one cannot tell," said a listener; "these men are capable of +anything."</p> + +<p>"But," said Croustillac, "such an animal can know nothing about small +courtesies; flowery language always takes the ladies."</p> + +<p>"No, certainly," replied the narrator, whom we suspect of a slight +exaggeration of the facts, "for he swears enough to sink the island; and +he has a voice like the bellowing of a bull."</p> + +<p>"That is easily accounted for; from frequenting their society he has +acquired their accent," said the chevalier; "but let us hear the end of +your story, I beg."</p> + +<p>"Here it is. I demanded then of the buccaneer how he dared assert that +dogs who would devour a man were well trained. 'Doubtless,' replied he, +'my dogs are trained never to insert a tooth in a bull when he is down, +for I sell the skins, and they must be intact. Once the bull is dead +these poor brutes, hungry though they be, have the sense to respect it, +and to await its being skinned. Now this morning their hunger was +infernal; my servant was half dead and covered with blood. He was very +inhuman toward them; they began, no doubt, by licking his wounds; then, +as it is said the appetite increases with what it is fed on, this made +the mouths of the poor brutes water. Finally, they did not leave a bone +of my servant. Had it not been for the bite of a serpent which nipped +sharply but which was not venomous, I might have remained in my swoon. I +recovered consciousness; I wrenched the snake from my right leg, round +which it had coiled itself, I took it by the tail, I whirled it like a +sling and I crushed its head on the trunk of a guava tree. I examined +myself; I had a thigh ripped open and an arm broken; I bound the wound +in my thigh with fresh leaves and secured them by a vine. As to my left +arm, it was broken between the elbow and the wrist. I cut three little +sticks and a long creeper and I tied it up like a roll of tobacco. Once +my wounds dressed, I sought for my servant, for I could not see him. I +called him, there was no answer. My dogs were crouched at my feet; they +appeared so innocent, the cunning creatures! and looked at me as they +wagged their tails as if nothing was wrong. Finally I arose, and what +should I see at twenty paces distance but the remains of my servant. I +recognized his powder-horn and the sheath of his knife. That was all +that remained of him, I tell you this to prove to you that my dogs are +very snappish and well-trained; for they will not injure a hair on the +bull's skin.'"</p> + +<p>"There, there! the buccaneer exceeds the filibuster," said Croustillac. +"I can only say that Blue Beard is greatly to be pitied for not having +had, up to this time, but an alternative of two such brutes." And the +Gascon continued compassionately, "It is very easy to understand, this +poor woman has not an idea of what constitutes a gentleman; when one has +all one's life fed on lard and beans, one cannot conceive of anything as +fine, as delicate as a pheasant or an ortolan. Zounds! I see it has been +reserved to me to enlighten Blue Beard on a variety of things, and to +discover to her a new world. As to the Caribbean, is he worthy of +figuring at the side of his ferocious rivals?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to the Caribbean," said one of the passengers, "I can speak from +knowledge. I made this winter in his canoe the journey from Anse aux +Sable to Marie-Galande. I was pressed to reach this latter place. The +Rivière des Saints had overflowed, and I was compelled to make a great +circuit in order to find a place which could be forded. At the moment +when I embarked, I saw at the prow of the boat of Youmäale a kind of +brown figure. I drew near; what did I see? My God! the head and arms +dried to that of a mummy, forming the figurehead as an ornament for his +canoe! We started on our voyage, the Caribbean silent, like the savage +that he was, paddled without uttering a word. Arriving off the Caribbean +Island, where a Spanish brigantine had stranded some months previous, I +asked him, 'Is it not here that the Spanish vessel was wrecked?' The +Caribbean nodded an assent. It would be as well to say here that on +board this vessel was the reverend Father Simon of Foreign Missions. His +reputation for sanctity was such that it had reached even the +Caribbeans; the brigantine had been wrecked, passengers and cargo—at +least such was believed to be the case. I said then to the Caribbean, +'Is it there that Father Simon perished—you have heard of it?' He made +me another affirmative sign with his head, for these people never speak +an unnecessary word. 'He was an excellent man,' I continued. 'I have +eaten him,' replied this wretched idolater, with a kind of ferocious and +satisfied pride.</p> + +<p>"That was one method of enjoying a person," said Croustillac, "and of +sharing his qualities."</p> + +<p>"For a moment," replied the passenger, "I did not understand what this +horrible cannibal was saying, but when I had compelled him to explain +himself, I learned that in accordance with I know not what savage +ceremony, the missionary and two sailors who had escaped to a desert +island had been surprised by the cannibals and eaten at once! When I +reproached Youmäale for this barbarous atrocity, saying that it was +frightful to have sacrificed these three unhappy Frenchmen to their +ferocity, he replied, sententiously, and in a tone of approbation, as if +he would prove to me that he understood the force of my arguments in +classing, if not to their value, at least according to the flavor of +three different nationalities. 'You are right: a Spaniard never, a +Frenchman often, an Englishman always!'"</p> + +<p>"This would prove that an Englishman is incomparably more delicate than +a Frenchman, and that a Spaniard is as tough as the devil," said +Croustillac; "but this gourmand will finish some day by devouring Blue +Beard when caressing her. If all this be true——"</p> + +<p>"It is true, sir."</p> + +<p>"It follows then positively that this young or old widow is not +insensible to the ferocious attractions of Rend-your-soul and of the +cannibal?"</p> + +<p>"Public opinion accuses her thus."</p> + +<p>"Are they often with her?"</p> + +<p>"All the time Whirlwind is not engaged in privateering, that +Rend-your-soul is not hunting, and Youmäale is not in the woods, they +pass with Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"Without becoming jealous of each other?"</p> + +<p>"It is said that Blue Beard is as despotic as the Sultan of Turkey, and +she forbids their being jealous."</p> + +<p>"Faith! what a seraglio she has! But listen, gentlemen: you know that I +am a Gascon; that they accuse us of exaggerating and you would +ridicule——"</p> + +<p>But Captain Daniel interposed, with a serious air, which could not be +feigned, "When we arrive at Martinique ask the first creole whom you +meet as to this Blue Beard; and may St. John, my patron saint, curse me +if you will not hear concerning Blue Beard and her three friends the +same thing."</p> + +<p>"And as to her immense wealth, will they also speak to me of that?" +asked the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"They will tell you that the plantation where Devil's Cliff is situated +is one of the most beautiful in the island, and that Blue Beard +possesses a counting house at Fort St. Pierre, and that this counting +house, managed by a man in her employ, sends out each year five or six +vessels like the one we have just passed."</p> + +<p>"I see how it is, then," said the chevalier in raillery. "Blue Beard is +a woman who is weary of riches and the pleasures of this world; in order +to distract her thoughts, she is capable of entertaining a buccaneer, a +filibuster, and even a cannibal, if her heart so dictates."</p> + +<p>"That it pleases her is evident in that she is never bored," replied the +captain.</p> + +<p>At this moment Father Griffen mounted to the deck. Croustillac said to +him, "Father, I have told these gentlemen that we are accused, we +Gascons, of telling fibs, but is what they say of Blue Beard the truth?"</p> + +<p>The face of Father Griffen, ordinarily placid and joyful, took on a +darker hue at once, and he replied gravely to the adventurer, "My son, +never breathe the name of this woman."</p> + +<p>"But, Father, is it true? She replaces her deceased husbands by a +filibuster, a buccaneer and a cannibal?"</p> + +<p>"Enough, enough, my son," returned the priest, "I pray you do not speak +of Devil's Cliff and what goes on there."</p> + +<p>"But, Father, is this woman as rich as they say?" pursued the Gascon, +whose eyes were snapping with covetousness; "has she such immense +treasures? Is she beautiful? Is she young?"</p> + +<p>"May heaven defend me from ascertaining!"</p> + +<p>"Is it true that her three husbands have been murdered by her, father? +If this be true, how is it that the law has not punished such crimes?"</p> + +<p>"There are crimes that may escape the justice of men, my son, but they +never escape the justice of God. I do not know, however, if this woman +is as culpable as they say, but still I say, do not speak of her, my +son, I implore you," said Father Griffen, whom this interview seemed to +affect most painfully.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the chevalier assumed a resolute attitude, pulled his hat down +over his forehead, caressed his mustache, balanced himself on his toes +like a barnyard fowl preparing for combat, and cried with an audacity of +which a Gascon alone is capable, "Gentlemen, tell me the day of the +month."</p> + +<p>"The 13th of July," replied the captain.</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen," continued our adventurer, "may I lose the name of De +Croustillac, may my coat of arms be forever smirched with disgrace, if +in one month from this very day, in spite of all the buccaneers, +filibusters or cannibals in Martinique or in the world, Blue Beard is +not the wife of Polyphème de Croustillac!"</p> + +<p>That evening when they went down to the saloon the adventurer was taken +aside by Father Griffen; he sought by every possible means to ascertain +if the Gascon knew more than he appeared to, concerning the surroundings +of Blue Beard. The extraordinary persistence with which Croustillac +occupied himself with her and the men about her had aroused the +suspicions of the good priest. After speaking at some length on the +subject with the chevalier, the priest was almost certain that +Croustillac had not spoken other than by presumption and vanity.</p> + +<p>"It matters not," said Father Griffen, "I'll not lose sight of this +adventurer; he has the appearance of an empty-headed fool, but traitors +know how to assume all guises. Alas!" continued he sadly, "this last +voyage imposes upon me great obligations toward those who dwell at +Devil's Cliff. Meantime, their secret is, so to speak, mine, but I have +done what I could; my conscience approves. May they long enjoy the +happiness they deserve, of escaping from the snares set for them. Ah! +what dangerous enemies kings are, and one often pays dearly for the +doubtful honor of being born on the steps of a throne. Alas!" went on +the priest with a profound sigh, "poor angelic woman, it rends my heart +to hear her thus spoken of, but it would be impolitic to defend her. +These rumors are the preservation of the noble creatures in whom I am so +deeply interested."</p> + +<p>After considering awhile Father Griffen said to himself, "I at first +took this adventurer to be a secret emissary from England, but I am +doubtless deceived. Nevertheless, I will watch this man. In fact, I will +offer him the hospitality of my house; thus his movements will not +escape me. In any case, I will warn my friends at Devil's Cliff to +redouble their prudence, for, I know not why, the presence of this +Gascon disturbs me."</p> + +<p>We will here hasten to inform the reader that the suspicions of Father +Griffen, so far as Croustillac was concerned, were without foundation. +The chevalier was nothing more than the poor devil of an adventurer +which we have shown him to be. The excellent opinion he held of himself +was the sole cause of his impertinent wager of espousing Blue Beard +before the end of the month.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE PRIEST'S HOUSE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Unicorn had anchored at Martinique three days. Father Griffen, +having some matters requiring his attention before his return to his +parish of Macouba, had not as yet quitted Fort St. Pierre.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier de Croustillac found himself landed in the colonies with +but very little money in his pocket. The captain and passengers had +considered the adventurer's declaration that before a month had passed +he would be the husband of Blue Beard, as an idle boast. Far from having +given up the idea, the chevalier persisted in it more and more since his +arrival in Martinique; he had carefully informed himself as to the +riches of Blue Beard, and was convinced that, if the life of this +strange woman was surrounded with the profoundest mystery, and she the +subject of the wildest exaggeration, it was at least true that she was +enormously wealthy.</p> + +<p>As to her face, age and origin, as no one had on this point as much +knowledge as Father Griffen, nothing could be affirmed. She was a +stranger in the colony. Her man of business had come in advance to the +island in order to purchase a magnificent estate and to build the +mansion at Devil's Cliff, situated in the northern and most inaccessible +and wildest portion of Martinique. At the end of several months it +became known that the new proprietor and his wife had arrived. One or +two of the colonists, impelled by their curiosity, had penetrated into +the solitude of Devil's Cliff; they were received with a royal +hospitality, but they did not see the owners of the place. Six months +after this visit, news was received of the death of the first husband, +which occurred during a short visit taken by the couple to Terre-Ferme.</p> + +<p>At the end of one year of absence and widowhood, Blue Beard returned to +Martinique with a second husband. It was said that this latter was +killed, accidentally, while taking a walk with his wife; his foot +slipped and he fell into one of those bottomless abysses which are so +common in the volcanic soil of the Antilles. Such was, at least, the +explanation that his wife gave concerning his mysterious death.</p> + +<p>No one knew anything positive concerning the third husband of Blue Beard +and his death.</p> + +<p>These three deaths, so close together, so mysterious, caused strange +stories to be circulated regarding this woman, and reached the ears of +the Governor of Martinique, who was then Chevalier de Crussol; he +started with an escort for Devil's Cliff; arriving at the foot of the +thickly-wooded ascent, on the summit of which towered the mansion, he +found a mulatto who gave him a letter. After reading this letter, the +governor showed great surprise, and ordering his escort to await his +return, he followed the slave, alone.</p> + +<p>At the expiration of four hours the governor returned with his guide, +and immediately retraced his steps to St. Pierre. Some of those who +formed his escort remarked that he was very pale and very much agitated. +From that moment until the day of his death, which occurred thirteen +months to the very day after his visit to Devil's Cliff, no one ever +heard him pronounce the name of Blue Beard. The governor made a long +confession to Father Griffen, who came to him from Macouba. It was +observed that in leaving the penitent, Father Griffen appeared to have +received a great shock.</p> + +<p>From that time the kind of fatal and mysterious reputation which had +attached itself to the name of Blue Beard increased day by day. +Superstition mingled with the terror which she inspired, until her name +was never mentioned without terror; it was firmly believed that she had +assassinated her three husbands, and that she had escaped punishment by +law only through the power of her wealth, thus purchasing the support of +the different governors who succeeded each other in turn. No one, then, +was tempted to trouble Blue Beard with visits to the wild and solitary +place in which she dwelt, above all since the cannibal, the buccaneer +and the privateer had come, as they said, to be companions or consolers +to the widow.</p> + +<p>Whether or not these men had ever legally rendered themselves liable for +any crime, it was asserted that they pursued with an implacable hatred +and vengeance all who attempted to come near Blue Beard. By reason of +being repeated and exaggerated, these threats bore their fruit. The +islanders care little to go, perhaps at the peril of their lives, to +penetrate into the mysteries of Devil's Cliff. It required the desperate +audacity of a Gascon in extremity, to attempt to surprise the secret of +Blue Beard and undertake to espouse her. Such was possibly the fixed +design of the Chevalier de Croustillac; he was not a man to renounce so +easily the hope, insane as it was, of marrying a woman worth millions; +beautiful or plain, young or old, it mattered little to him.</p> + +<p>As a means to success, he counted upon his good carriage, his spirit, +his amiability, and his manner, at the same time gallant and proud—for +the chevalier had an excellent opinion of himself—but he counted still +more on his wit, his cunning, and his courage. In fine, a man alert and +determined, who had nothing to lose and feared nothing, who believed +implicitly in himself and his star; who could say to himself as did +Croustillac, "In risking death during a moment—for death can be but a +moment's agony—I <i>may</i> live in luxury and opulence"—such a man can +perform miracles above all when he undertakes a project with such a +grand object and as stimulating as that proposed by Croustillac.</p> + +<p>According to his resolve, Father Griffen, after he had brought to a +close the affairs which detained him at St. Pierre, invited the +chevalier to accompany him to Macouba, to remain there until the Unicorn +should sail again for France. Macouba being distant not more than four +or five leagues from Devil's Cliff, the chevalier, who had spent his +three crowns and who found himself without resources, accepted the offer +of the worthy priest, without further enlightening him as to his resolve +concerning Blue Beard; this he would not reveal until the moment arrived +to put it into execution.</p> + +<p>After taking leave of Captain Daniel, the chevalier and the priest +embarked in a small boat. Favored by a good wind from the south, they +set sail for Macouba. Croustillac appeared indifferent to the +magnificent and novel scenes which were afforded by the coast of +Martinique, seen from the water; the tropical vegetation whose verdure, +of a tone almost metallic, outlined on a glowing sky, affected him very +little.</p> + +<p>The adventurer, with his eyes fixed on the scintillating wake which the +boat left behind her, seemed to see flashing the living rays of Blue +Beard's diamonds; the little green herbs, standing in relief from the +submerged meadows which edged the winding shores, pictured to the Gascon +the emeralds of the widow; while some drops of water sparkled in the sun +in the fall of the oars made him dream of the sacks of pearls which the +terrible resident at Devil's Cliff possessed.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen was also deeply absorbed; after thinking of his friends +at Devil's Cliff, he turned his thoughts, with a mixture of disquietude +and joy, to his little flock at home, his garden, his poor and +unpretentious church, his house, his favorite horse, his dog, and his +two slaves who had always given him the most devoted service. And +then—shall we say it?—he thought of certain preserves which he had +made some days before his departure, and as to the condition of which he +was ignorant.</p> + +<p>In three hours our travelers arrived at Macouba. Father Griffen had not +long to wait; the canoe was moored in a little bay, not far from the +river which watered this section, one of the most fertile of Martinique.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen leaned upon the chevalier's arm. After having for a time +followed the shore where the high and powerful waves of the Caribbean +Sea rolled on, they reached the village of Macouba, composed of some +hundred houses built of wood and covered with roses and palms.</p> + +<p>The village was built on a semicircular plan which followed the outline +of the Bay of Macouba, a little port where many canoes and fishing boats +were built. The church was a long wooden edifice from the center of +which four beams arose, surmounted by a little belfry in which was hung +a bell; the church overlooked the village, and was in turn overshadowed +by immense cliffs, covered by rich vegetation, which made an +amphitheatre of living green.</p> + +<p>The sun was rapidly setting. The priest trod the only street that +crossed Macouba, and which led to the church. Some small negroes, +absolutely nude, were rolling in the dust; uttering loud cries; they +fled at the approach of the priest. A number of creole women, white or +of mixed blood, dressed in long robes of Indian and madras cloth, in +striking colors, ran to the doors; recognizing Father Griffen, they +testified to their surprise and joy; young and old hastened to +respectfully kiss his hand, and to say in creole, "Blessed is your +return, good Father; you have been missed in Macouba." Numbers of men +came out at once and surrounded Father Griffen, with the same tokens of +attachment and respect.</p> + +<p>While the priest talked with the villagers of the events which had taken +place at Macouba during his absence, and in turn gave them news of +France, the housewives, fearing that the good father would not find +sufficient provision at the parsonage, had retired to select, one a fine +fish, another a beautiful pullet; this one the quarter of a fine fat +buck, that one some fruits or vegetables, and a number of little negroes +were ordered to carry to the parsonage these voluntary tithes.</p> + +<p>The priest reached his house, situated on one side, at some distance +from the village, overlooking the sea. Nothing could be more simple than +this modest wooden house, covered with roses, and of one story. Curtains +of clear linen dressed the windows and took the place of blinds, which +were a great luxury in the colonies.</p> + +<p>A large room, comprising at the same time parlor and dining room, +communicated with the kitchen built at the rear; at the left of this +principal room were the bedroom of Father Griffen, and two other small +rooms opening into the garden and set apart for strangers or the other +priests of Martinique who might, at times, ask the hospitality of their +brother priest.</p> + +<p>A henhouse, a stable for the horse, lodgings for two negroes, and +several sheds, completed this establishment, furnished with a rustic +simplicity. The garden had been carefully laid out. Four broad paths +were divided by many beds bordered by thyme, lavender, wild thyme, +hyssop and other fragrant plants. The four principal beds were +subdivided into numerous little ones set apart for vegetables or fruits, +but surrounded by wide borders of fragrant flowers. Between two little +walls of verdure, covered with Arabian jasmine and odorous creepers, +could be seen, in the horizon, the sea and the hills of the other +islands.</p> + +<p>No fresher or more charming spot than this garden, in which the most +beautiful flowers mingled with fruits and magnificent vegetables, could +be found. Here a bed of melons, of an amber color, was bordered by dwarf +pomegranates, shaped like a small box and covered at the same time with +purple blossoms and fruit so heavy and so abundant that it touched the +earth. A little further on, a branch of Angola wood with its long, green +husks, and its blue flowers, was surrounded by a line of white and pink +almonds, sweet with perfume; the carrot plant, sorrel, gimgambo and +leek, were hidden in a fourfold rank of tuberoses of the richest tints; +finally, came a square of pineapples which perfumed the air, having a +row of magnificent cacti for a border, with yellow calix and long silver +pistils. Behind the house extended an orchard composed of cocoanuts, +bananas, guava, tamarind, and orange trees, whose branches were weighted +down to the earth with flowers and fruit.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen followed the paths of his garden with unspeakable +happiness, observing each flower, plant and tree. His two slaves +attended him; one was called Monsieur, the other Jean. These two good +creatures, weeping with joy at the sight of their master, could not +reply to his questions, so much affected were they, and could only say +one to the other, with hands raised to heaven, "God be praised—he is +here! he is here!"</p> + +<p>The chevalier, indifferent to the joy of the natives, followed the +priest mechanically; he was consumed with the desire to inquire of his +host if, through the woods which rose in an amphitheatre, one could see +the road to Devil's Cliff.</p> + +<p>After examining his garden, the good priest went out to inspect his +horse which he had named Grenadille, and his large English mastiff +called Snog; as soon as he opened the stable door Snog threw himself +upon his master and bounded around him. He not only jumped upon him but +barked with joy, with such evidence of affection that the negro, +Monsieur, was obliged to take the dog by his collar and could with +difficulty restrain him, while the priest caressed Grenadille, whose +glossy coat and well-covered ribs bore testimony to the good care of +Monsieur, who had charge of the stable.</p> + +<p>After this thorough visit through his little domain, Father Griffen +conducted the chevalier into the bedroom which he had intended for him. +A bed draped with a mosquito-netting under a linen canopy, a large +bureau of mahogany wood, and a table, was the furnishing of this room, +which opened upon the garden. Its only ornament was a crucifix suspended +from the center of the slightly roughened wainscot.</p> + +<p>"You will find here a poor and modest hospitality," said Father Griffen +to the chevalier, "but it is offered you with a good heart."</p> + +<p>"And I accept it with gratitude, Father," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>At this moment Monsieur came to announce that supper was ready, and +Father Griffen led the way to the dining room.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE SURPRISE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">A</span> large glass wherein burned a candle of yellow wax, lighted the table; +the dishes were placed on a table cloth of coarse but very white linen. +There was no silver; the steel knives, and spoons of maple wood, were of +great neatness. A bottle of blue glass contained about a pint of canary; +in a large pewter pot bubbled the <i>oagou</i>, a fermented beverage made +from the grain of sugar cane; a sealed earthen vessel held water, as +fresh as if it were iced.</p> + +<p>A fine dorado grilled in its scales (a Caribbean dish), a roasted +paroquet of the size of a pheasant, two dishes of sea crabs cooked in +the shell and served with sauce of the citron juice, and a salad of +green peas, had been symmetrically placed on the table by the negro +Jean, around a centerpiece composed of a large basket containing a +pyramid of fruit, which had at its base a European melon, a watermelon, +and at its summit a pineapple; there was a side dish of sliced +palm-cabbage dressed with vinegar, and little whitefish preserved in +spiced pickle, which would tempt the appetite of the guests or excite +their thirst.</p> + +<p>"You are treating me with royal magnificence, Father," said the +chevalier to the priest. "This island is the 'promised land,' surely."</p> + +<p>"With the exception of the canary wine, which was a gift, my son, all +this is the product of the garden which I cultivate, or the fishing and +hunting of my two slaves, for the offerings of my parish are +superfluous, thanks to the foresight of Monsieur and Jean, who were +advised of my arrival by a sailor at Fort St. Pierre. Help yourself to +this paroquet, my son," said the priest to the chevalier, who appeared +to find the fish very much to his taste.</p> + +<p>Croustillac hesitated a moment and looked at the priest in an uncertain +manner. "I do not know why, but it seems strange to eat a paroquet," +said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Try it, try it," responded the priest, and he placed a wing on his +plate. "Is a pheasant's flesh more plump or more golden? It is cooked to +a marvel; and then, did you ever smell anything more appetizing?"</p> + +<p>"I should say four spices are employed," said the chevalier, inhaling +the odor.</p> + +<p>"It is claimed that these birds are very fond of the berry of the Indian +trees which they find in the forest; these trees have at once the taste +of cinnamon, clove and pepper, and the flesh of the game partakes of the +scent of this aromatic tree. How this juice is flavored. Add a little of +the orange sugar, and then tell me if the Lord has not blessed his +creatures in bestowing such gifts upon them?"</p> + +<p>"In all my life I have never eaten anything more tender, more delicate +or more savory than this," replied the chevalier, with full mouth, and +half shutting his eyes in sensual enjoyment.</p> + +<p>"Is it not good?" said the good priest, who, knife and fork in hand, +looked at his guest with satisfied pride.</p> + +<p>The repast ended, Monsieur placed a pot of tobacco and pipes at the side +of the bottle of canary, and Father Griffen and Croustillac were then +left alone.</p> + +<p>After filling a glass of wine and passing it to the chevalier, the +priest said to him, "Your health, my son."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, father," said the chevalier, lifting his glass. "Drink also to +the health of my future bride; it will be a good omen for me."</p> + +<p>"How? your future bride?" replied the priest; "what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I allude to Blue Beard, father."</p> + +<p>"Ah—always jesting! Frankly, I believe the men of your province are +most inventive, my son," said Father Griffen, smiling mischievously, and +emptying his glass in small doses.</p> + +<p>"I never spoke more seriously, father. You heard the vow which I made on +board the Unicorn?"</p> + +<p>"Impossibility nullifies a vow, my son; because you should swear to +measure the ocean, would you engage to fulfill this oath?"</p> + +<p>"How, Father—is the heart of Blue Beard as bottomless as the ocean?" +gayly exclaimed the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"An English poet has said of woman, 'Perfidious as the waves,' my son."</p> + +<p>"However perfidious women may be, my worthy host," said the chevalier +with a self-sufficient air, "we men know how to disarm them, and I shall +exercise afresh that power in dealing with Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"You will not attempt anything of the kind, my son; I am easy on that +point."</p> + +<p>"Allow me to say, father, that you deceive yourself. To-morrow, at +daybreak, I shall ask of you a guide to conduct me to Devil's Cliff, and +I shall confide the course of this adventure to my Star."</p> + +<p>The chevalier spoke with so serious an air that Father Griffen hastily +placed upon the table the glass which he was raising to his lips, and +regarded the chevalier with as much astonishment as distrust. Until then +he had really believed the matter to be only a pleasantry or idle boast. +"Are you sincere in this resolve? This is absolute madness, but——"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Father, for interrupting you," said the chevalier, "but you +see before you the younger son of my family, who has tempted every +fortune, wasted all his resources, and with whom nothing has succeeded. +Blue Beard is rich, very rich. I have everything to gain, nothing to +lose."</p> + +<p>"Nothing to lose?"</p> + +<p>"Life, perhaps, you will say. I make a good bargain; and then, barbarous +though this country may be, helpless as justice may prove, I do not +think that Blue Beard will dare treat me, on my arrival, as she treated +her three husbands; if so, you will know that I have fallen a victim; +you will demand an account of my death. I risk nothing more than seeing +my homage rejected. Ah! well, if such be the case, if she repulses me, I +shall continue to delight Captain Daniel during his trips by swallowing +lighted candles and balancing bottles on the end of my nose. Certainly +such an occupation is honorable and amusing, but I prefer another life. +So, then, no matter what you say, Father, I am resolved to attempt the +adventure and to go to Devil's Cliff. I cannot tell you what secret +presentiment tells me I shall succeed, that I am upon the eve of seeing +my destiny fulfill itself in a most wonderful manner. The future seems +tinted with rose and gold; I dream only of magnificent palaces, wealth, +and beauty; it seems to me (excuse the pagan comparison) that Love and +Fortune have come and taken me by the hands and are saying to me, +'Polyphème de Croustillac, happiness awaits thee.' You will say, +perhaps, Father," continued the chevalier, throwing a mocking glance at +his faded coat, "that I am poorly dressed to present myself in this +beautiful and brave company of fortune and happiness; but Blue Beard, +who must be intelligent, will comprehend at once that under this +outside, the heart of an Amadis, the spirit of a Gascon, and the courage +of a Cæsar dwells."</p> + +<p>After a moment's silence the priest, instead of smiling at the +pleasantries of the chevalier, said to him in a tone that was most +solemn, "Is your resolve finally taken?"</p> + +<p>"Unwaveringly and absolutely taken, Father."</p> + +<p>"Hear me then; I heard the confessions of the Chevalier de Crussol, the +former governor of this island; he who, when the third husband of this +woman disappeared, went to Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"Well, father?"</p> + +<p>"While I must respect the secrets of the confessional, I can, I must, +tell you that if you persist in your insane project, you expose yourself +to great and unavoidable peril. Without doubt, if you lose your life, +your death will not remain unpunished; but there will be no means of +preventing the fatal end upon which you would rush. Who obliges you to +go to Devil's Cliff? The resident of that place wishes to live in +solitude; the barriers of that abode are such that you cannot break them +down without violence; for in every country, and above all in this one, +he who trespasses upon the property of another exposes himself to grave +danger—danger the greater that all idea of a union with this widow is +impossible, even if you were of a princely house."</p> + +<p>These words hurt immeasurably the self-esteem of the Gascon, who +exclaimed, "Father, this woman is but a woman, and <i>I</i> am Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, my son?"</p> + +<p>"That this woman is free; that she has not seen me; that but one look, +one only, will change entirely her resolve."</p> + +<p>"I do not think it."</p> + +<p>"Reverend Father, I have the greatest, the blindest confidence in your +word; I know all its authority; but this concerns the fair sex, and you +cannot understand the heart of woman as <i>I</i> understand it, you do not +know what inexplicable caprices they are capable of; you do not know +that what pleases them to-day displeases them to-morrow; and that they +wish for to-day, that which they disdained yesterday. With women, my +reverend sir, one must dare in order to succeed. If it were not for your +cloth, I would tell you some curious adventures and audacious +undertakings by which I have been recompensed amorously!"</p> + +<p>"My son!"</p> + +<p>"I understand your sensitiveness, Father, and to return to Blue Beard: +once in her presence, I shall treat her not only with effrontery, with +haughtiness, but as a victor—I dare say it, as a lion who comes proudly +to carry off his prey."</p> + +<p>These remarks of the chevalier were interrupted by an unforeseen +accident. It was very warm; the door of the dining room which looked on +the garden was half open. The chevalier, with back turned to this door, +was seated in an arm chair with a wooden back which was not very high. A +sharp hissing sound was heard and a quick blow vibrated in the middle of +the chevalier's chair.</p> + +<p>At this sound Father Griffen bounded from his chair, rushed and took his +gun down from a rack placed in his bedroom, and precipitated himself out +of doors, crying, "Jean! Monsieur! Take your guns! Follow me, my +children! follow me! The Caribbeans are upon us!"</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE WARNING.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">All</span> this took place so rapidly that the chevalier was dumfounded. "Get +up! get up!" cried the priest. "The Caribbeans! Look at the back of your +chair—get out of the light!"</p> + +<p>The chevalier rose quickly, and saw an arrow three feet in length fixed +in the back of his chair. Two inches higher and the chevalier would have +been pierced through the shoulders. Croustillac seized his sword, which +he had left on a chair, and hurried after the priest.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen, at the head of his two negroes, armed with their guns, +and preceded by his mastiff, sought for the enemy; unfortunately, the +door of the dining room opened upon a trellised orchard; the night was +dark; doubtless the person who had sped the arrow was already far away, +or well hidden in the top of some thick tree.</p> + +<p>Snog bounded hither and thither in the eagerness of his search. Father +Griffen recalled his two slaves who were too venturesome and would have +penetrated into the orchard.</p> + +<p>"Well, father, where are they?" said the chevalier, brandishing his +sword: "shall we charge upon them? A lantern—give me a lantern; we will +visit the orchard and the neighborhood of the house."</p> + +<p>"No, no, not a lantern, my son, it would serve to point us out to the +assailants if there are a number, and you would be too much exposed; you +would receive an arrow in you. Come, come," said the priest, lowering +his gun after some moments of attentive scrutiny; "it is but an alarm; +let us return and thank the Lord for the clumsiness of this cannibal, +for if he had not blundered, you would not be here, my son. What +astonishes me, and for which I thank God, is that you have escaped; a +native so bold as to make such an attempt should have a true eye and a +sure hand."</p> + +<p>"But what harm have you ever done these savages, Father?"</p> + +<p>"None! I have often been in their settlement at the Isle des Saintes, +and have always been properly received; thus I cannot understand the +object of this attack. But let us look at this arrow—I shall know from +the feather if it is a native arrow."</p> + +<p>"We must keep a good watch, to-night, Father, and to this end confide in +me," said the Gascon. "You see that it is not only in a love affair that +I have firmness."</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt you, my son, and I accept your offer. I will fasten the +windows securely against the assassins, and bar the door strongly. Snog +will act as picket. It will not be the first time this house has stood a +siege; a dozen English pirates attacked it two years ago, but with my +slaves and the aid of an official from Cabesterre, who was accidentally +at my house, we punished the heretics severely."</p> + +<p>So saying, Father Griffen entered the dining room, withdrawing with some +effort the iron-barbed arrow which stuck in the back of the chair, he +exclaimed with surprise, "There is a paper attached to the feather of +this arrow!" Then, unfolding it, he read these words, written in a large +and bold hand: "Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"To the Rev. Father Griffen, respect and affection."</p> + +<p>The priest looked at the chevalier without saying a word. He, in turn, +took the bit of paper and read it.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"It means that I have not been deceived in speaking of the sure aim of +the Caribbeans. The person who shot the arrow could have killed you had +he so willed. See! this arrow tip is poisoned, doubtless; it entered an +inch into the back of this chair of hard wood; if it had struck you, you +would be dead. What skill was displayed in thus guiding this arrow!"</p> + +<p>"Zounds, Father! I find it rather more marvelous that I am not touched," +said the Gascon. "But what the devil have I done to this savage?"</p> + +<p>Father Griffen struck his forehead with his hand. "When I have read you +this?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Read what, Father?"</p> + +<p>"Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well! this warning comes from Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"You believe it to be so?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it. They have learned of your project and they desire to +force you to give it up."</p> + +<p>"How can they have learned it?"</p> + +<p>"You did not hide it on board the Unicorn. Some of the passengers, +disembarking three days ago at St. Pierre, have spoken of it; this rumor +has reached the counting house of Blue Beard and her business manager +has informed his employer."</p> + +<p>"I am forced to confess," replied the chevalier, after a moment's +reflection, "that Blue Beard has singular means of corresponding with +one. This is a queer little mail."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, my son, I hope the lesson will profit you," said the priest. +Then he continued, addressing the two slaves who were carrying in the +blinds and were about to raise them into place, "It is unnecessary, my +children, I see there is nothing to fear."</p> + +<p>The slaves, accustomed to a blind obedience, took away the impromptu +defenses.</p> + +<p>The chevalier looked at the priest with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Without doubt," said the good father, "the word of the dwellers at +Devil's Cliff is sacred; I have nothing at present to fear from them, +nor you either, my son, because you are warned, and you will necessarily +give up your mad plan."</p> + +<p>"I, Father?"</p> + +<p>"How——"</p> + +<p>"May I become blacker this moment than your two negroes if I renounce +it."</p> + +<p>"What do you say—after such a warning?"</p> + +<p>"Well, who is to tell me that this warning comes from Blue Beard? It may +come from a rival—from the buccaneer, the filibuster, or the cannibal. +For I have quite a selection among the gallant admirers of the beauty +of Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, what does it signify——"</p> + +<p>"How? What does it signify, Father? But I intend to show these would-be +wits what the blood of a De Croustillac is! Ah! they think to intimidate +me! They do not know this sword which, look you, would move in its +scabbard! whose steel would blush with indignation if I were to renounce +my undertaking!"</p> + +<p>"My son, this is madness, sheer madness——"</p> + +<p>"And what a coward, what a sheep, would the Chevalier de Croustillac +appear in the eyes of Blue Beard if he were so pusillanimous as to be +daunted by so little!"</p> + +<p>"By so little! but two inches higher and you would have been killed!"</p> + +<p>"But as it was two inches lower, and I was <i>not</i> killed, I will +consecrate my life to taming the willful heart of Blue Beard and to +vanquishing my rivals, be they ten, twenty, thirty, one hundred or ten +thousand," replied the Gascon, with growing enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"But if this act was the order of the mistress of Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"If it was done by her order, she shall see, the cruel one, that I will +brave the death to which she would send me, in order to reach her heart. +She is a woman; she will appreciate such valor. I do not know if she is +a Venus but I know that without wronging the god Mars I Polyphème Amador +de Croustillac am terribly martial; and from beauty to courage there is +but a step."</p> + +<p>One must imagine the exaggeration and Gascon accent of the chevalier to +have an idea of this scene.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen hardly knew whether to laugh or to be appalled at the +opinionated resolve of the chevalier. The secret of the confessional +forbade his speaking, from entering into any details concerning Devil's +Cliff; he knew not how to induce the chevalier to renounce his fatal +intention. He had endeavored to do so, but in vain.</p> + +<p>"If nothing can withhold you, my son, it cannot be said that I have +been, even indirectly, an accomplice in your mad enterprise. You are +ignorant of the position of Devil's Cliff; neither myself, nor my +slaves, nor, I assure you, any of my parishioners will be your guide. I +have instructed them to refuse. Beside the reputation of Blue Beard is +such that no one would care to infringe my orders."</p> + +<p>This declaration of the priest's seemed to make the chevalier reflect. +He bent his head in silence then he began again resolutely: "I know that +Devil's Cliff is some four leagues from this spot; it is situated in the +northern part of the island. My heart will serve as a compass to guide +me to the lady of my thoughts, with the assistance of the sun and the +moon."</p> + +<p>"But, madman," cried the priest, "there is no path through the forests +which you would traverse; the trees are so thick that they would hide +from you the position of the sun—you would be lost."</p> + +<p>"I shall go right ahead; I shall arrive somewhere. Your island is not so +large (be it said without disparaging Martinique), Father; then I shall +retrace my steps, and I shall seek until I find Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"But the soil of the forest is often impassable; it is infested with +serpents of the most dangerous species; I say to you that in what you +propose, you are courting a thousand deaths."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, Father, 'nothing venture, nothing have.' If there are +serpents I will get upon stilts after the manner of the natives of my +country."</p> + +<p>"Going to walk on stilts in the midst of creepers, brambles, rocks, +trees overturned by storms? I tell you, you do not know our forests."</p> + +<p>"If one always considered the perils of an undertaking one would never +accomplish any good. Did you think of the deadly fevers when you tended +those of your parishioners who were attacked with it?"</p> + +<p>"But my object was a pious one; I risked death in the observance of my +duty; while you rush upon yours out of vanity."</p> + +<p>"Vanity, Father! A companion who has sacks filled with diamonds and fine +pearls, and probably five or six millions more in gold! Zounds! what a +'vanity!'"</p> + +<p>Having seen the futility of overcoming such unparalleled +opinionativeness, the good priest said no more.</p> + +<p>He conducted his guest to the room assigned to him, fully resolved to +put every difficulty possible in the way of the chevalier the next day.</p> + +<p>Inflexible in his resolve, Croustillac slept profoundly. A lively +curiosity had come to the aid of a natural obstinacy and an +imperturbable confidence in his destiny; the more this confidence had +been, till then, disappointed, the more our adventurer believed that the +promised hour was about to come to him. The following morning, at break +of day, he arose and went on tiptoe to the door of Father Griffen's +room. The priest still slept, not thinking for a moment that the +chevalier would dream of starting off on a journey through an unknown +country without a guide. He deceived himself.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, in order to escape the solicitation and reproaches of his +host, started at once. He girded on his formidable sword, a weapon very +inconvenient to travel with through a forest; he jammed his hat well +down on his head, took a staff in his hand with which to frighten the +serpents, and with firm tread and nose in the air, though with a heart +beating rather rapidly, he quitted the hospitable house of the priest of +Macouba, and directed his steps toward the north, for some time +following the extremely thick vegetation of the forest. He shortly +afterward made a circuit of this dense vegetation, which formed an angle +toward the east, and stretched indefinitely in that direction.</p> + +<p>From the moment that the chevalier entered the forest, he did not +hesitate in the slightest degree. He recalled the wise counsels of +Father Griffen; he thought of the dangers which he was going to +encounter; but he also invoked the thought of Blue Beard's treasures; he +was dazzled by the heaps of gold, pearls, rubies and diamonds which he +believed he saw sparkling and quivering before his eyes. He pictured to +himself the owner of Devil's Cliff, a being of perfect beauty. Led on by +this vision, he entered resolutely the forest, and pushed aside the +heavy screen of creepers which were suspended from the limbs of the +trees which they draped.</p> + +<p>The chevalier did not forget to beat the bushes with his staff, crying +out in a loud voice, "Out, ye serpents, out!"</p> + +<p>With the exception of the voice of the Gascon, there was not a sound.</p> + +<p>The sun rose; the air, freshened by the plenteous dew of the night, and +by the sea breeze, was impregnated with the aromatic odors of the +forest, and its tropical flowers. The rest was still plunged in the +shadow when the chevalier entered it.</p> + +<p>For some time the profound silence reigning in this imposing solitude +was only broken by the blows of the chevalier's staff on the bushes, and +by his repeated cries, "Out, ye serpents, out!"</p> + +<p>Little by little these sounds grew fainter and then ceased all at once.</p> + +<p>The gloomy and profound silence which reigned was suddenly broken in +upon by a kind of savage howl which had in it nothing human. This sound, +and the first rays of the sun trembling on the horizon, like a sheaf of +light, appeared to rouse the inhabitants of the great forest. They +responded one after another until the uproar became infernal. The +chattering of monkeys; the cry of wildcats; the hissing of serpents; the +grunts of wild boars; the bellowing of cattle, broke from every +direction with a frightful chorus; the echoes of the forest and the +cliffs repeated these discordant sounds; one would have supposed a band +of demons was responding to a superior demon's call.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE CAVERN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the chevalier sought a road to Devil's Cliff by which to traverse +the forest, we will conduct our readers toward the most southern portion +of the coast of Martinique.</p> + +<p>The sea rolled with slow majesty at the foot of large rocks near a peak +which formed a natural defense to this part of the island, and which +rose in a perpendicular wall some two hundred feet in height. The +continued beating of the waves rendered this coast so dangerous that a +vessel could not touch at this place without being, inevitably, broken +to pieces.</p> + +<p>The site of which we speak had a wild and grand simplicity; a wall of +barren rocks, of a dull red, was outlined on a sky of sapphire blue; +their base was swallowed up in a whirl of snowy foam, hidden by the +incessant shock of enormous mountains of water which broke upon these +reefs in tones of thunder. The sun with all its strength threw a +brilliant, torrid light on this mass of granite; there was not a cloud +in the brazen heavens. On the horizon there appeared through a burning +vapor the high land of the other Antilles.</p> + +<p>At some distance from the coast, where the waves broke, the sea was of a +somber blue, and as calm as a mirror. An object scarcely perceptible, +because it offered little surface above the water, approached rapidly +the portion of this island called Cabesterre.</p> + +<p>Little by little, a long, light canoe was to be distinguished, whose +stern and bow cut the sea evenly; this vessel, without sails, was +impelled forward by the strength of the waves. On each seat was clearly +seen a man vigorously rowing. Whether or not the coast was as +unapproachable at three leagues as at this place, it was evident that +the canoe was directed toward these rocks.</p> + +<p>The object of those who were approaching seemed to be hard to +understand. Presently the canoe was caught in the midst of the surf +beating upon these reefs. Had it not been for the marvelous ability of +its pilot, who avoided these masses of water following the frail bark +and incessantly menacing it, she would very soon have been swallowed up.</p> + +<p>At two gunshots from the rocks, the canoe reversed and rested, and took +advantage of an interval in the succession of waves, at a moment of +calm, which occurred periodically after seven or eight waves had broken +into foam.</p> + +<p>The two men, who by their clothing were easily seen to be European +sailors, pressing their caps more securely on their heads, sprang +overboard and boldly struck out for the shore while their companions +turned at the edge of this calm, regained the open, and disappeared +after having braved anew the fury of the mountainous waves with +wonderful skill.</p> + +<p>During this time the two intrepid swimmers, by turn submerged or cast up +from the midst of the enormous waves which they adroitly traversed, +arrived at the foot of the rocks in the center of a sea of foam. They +appeared to be rushing upon certain death, and it looked as if they +would be dashed to pieces upon the reefs. Nothing of the sort occurred, +however. These two men seemed to perfectly understand the coast; they +directed their course toward a place where the violence of the waves had +hollowed out a natural grotto.</p> + +<p>The waves, engulphing themselves under this roof with a horrible din +fell back from it in a cataract into a smaller basin, hollow and deep. +After some heavy undulations, the waves grew feebler; in the center of a +gigantic cavern formed a little subterranean lake which, when full, +returned to the sea by some hidden channel.</p> + +<p>It required great temerity to so abandon themselves to the impulse of +these furious waves which precipitated them into the abyss; but this +momentary submersion was more frightful than dangerous; the mouth of +the cave was so large that there was no danger of being bruised by the +rocks, and the cloud of foam threw them into the midst of a peaceful +pond, surrounded by a fine, sandy beach.</p> + +<p>Sifting through the fall of water which bubbled at the entrance of this +enormous roof, the light was feeble, soft, and bluish like that of the +moon.</p> + +<p>The two swimmers, breathless, deafened and wounded by the shook of the +waves, emerged from the little lake and stretched themselves on the +sand, where they rested for some time.</p> + +<p>The larger of these two men, though he was dressed like a common sailor, +was Colonel Rutler, a stanch partisan of the new King of England, +William of Orange, under whose orders he had served when the son-in-law +of the unfortunate James II. was only a stadtholder of Holland. Colonel +Rutler was robust and tall; his face wore an expression of audacity, +bordering on cruelty; his hair, lying in close, damp meshes, was of a +deep red; his mustache of the same color hid a large mouth overshadowed +by a hooked nose, resembling the beak of a bird of prey.</p> + +<p>Rutler, a faithful and resolute man, served his master with blind +devotion. William of Orange had testified his confidence in him by +intrusting to him a mission as difficult as it was dangerous, the nature +of which we shall know later on. The sailor who accompanied the colonel +was slight but vigorous, active and determined.</p> + +<p>The colonel said to him in English, after a moment's silence, "Are you +sure, John, that there is a passage leading from here?"</p> + +<p>"The passage exists, colonel, be easy on that score."</p> + +<p>"But I do not perceive any——"</p> + +<p>"By and by, colonel, when your view shall have become accustomed to this +half light, like that of the moon, you will lay yourself down flat on +your stomach, and there, at the right, at the end of a long natural +passage in which one cannot advance except by crawling, you will +perceive the light of day which penetrates through a crevasse in the +rock."</p> + +<p>"If the road is sure, it certainly is not easy."</p> + +<p>"So far from easy, colonel, that I defy the captain of the brigantine +who brought you to the Barbadoes, with his great stomach, to enter the +passage which remains for us to travel. It is as much as I could do +heretofore to glide through; it is the size of the tunnel of a chimney."</p> + +<p>"And it leads?"</p> + +<p>"To the bottom of a precipice which forms a defense for Devil's Cliff; +three sides of this precipice are a peak, and it is as impossible to +descend as to ascend it; but as to the fourth side, it is not +inaccessible, and with the help of the jutting rocks one can reach by +this road the limits of the park of Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"I understand—this subterranean passage will conduct us to the bottom +of the abyss above which towers Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly, colonel; it is as if we were at the bottom of a moat, one of +whose sides is perpendicular and the other sloping. When I say sloping, +that is simply a figure of speech, for in order to reach the summit of +the peak, one must more than once hang suspended by some vine between +heaven and earth. But when there, we find ourselves at the edge of the +park of Devil's Cliff—once there, we can hide ourselves in some place +and wait our opportunity——"</p> + +<p>"And this opportunity is not far distant; come, come, you, who know so +much, must, at one time, have been in the service of Blue Beard!"</p> + +<p>"I told you, colonel, I came from the coast with her and her first +husband; at the end of three months, they sent me back; then I left for +San Domingo. I have heard no further word of them."</p> + +<p>"And she—would you know her well?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, as to her height and general air, but not her face; for we reached +the coast at night, and once on shore she was carried in a litter to +Devil's Cliff. When by chance she walked in the daytime, she wore a +mask. Some say she is as beautiful as an angel; others, that she is ugly +as a monster. I cannot say which are in the right, for neither I nor my +mates ever put foot in the interior of the mansion. Those who perform +the special attendance and service are mulattresses as mute as fish."</p> + +<p>"And he?"</p> + +<p>"He is handsome, tall and slender, about thirty-six years old, brown, +with black hair and mustache, and has an aquiline nose."</p> + +<p>"It is certainly he," said the colonel, when John had thus described +him. "It is thus that he was always described; and it is not positively +known that he is dead?"</p> + +<p>"It is said he died on the voyage, but no one has ever really known."</p> + +<p>"And no one doubts that he died?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! no, colonel, because Blue Beard has been married twice since +then."</p> + +<p>"And have you seen these two husbands?"</p> + +<p>"No, colonel, for when I arrived from San Domingo, only eight days +since, you engaged me for this expedition, knowing that I could serve +you. You have promised me fifty guineas if I will introduce you into +this island, in spite of the French cruisers, which, since the war, do +not allow any vessels to approach the coast, which is accessible, be it +understood. Our canoe, however, was not interfered with, for, thanks to +the sharp rocks of Cabesterre, no one could conceive that we could land +on this coast of the island, and they have not watched that."</p> + +<p>"And then, beside, no one would suspect our presence on the island, +though, according to what you tell me, Blue Beard has a kind of police +who keep her informed of the arrival of all strangers."</p> + +<p>"At least, colonel, they say that the men who are so employed, at St. +Pierre and Fort Royal, were on the watch and that a stranger who landed +at Martinique did not escape their vigilance."</p> + +<p>"All that is for the best; you shall have your fifty guineas. But, once +more, you are very sure about this subterranean passage?"</p> + +<p>"Be easy as to that, colonel; I have passed through it, I tell you, with +a negro who was a pearl-fisher, and he it was who first took me through +it."</p> + +<p>"But you were obliged to climb the precipice in order to reach the park +of Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, colonel; since it was from curiosity to see this park, in +which no one was permitted to enter, that I accepted the pearl-fisher's +offer; being of the household, I knew Blue Beard and her husband were +absent; I was then sure that I could pass through the garden after +climbing the precipice; that was what we did, not without the risk of +breaking our necks, however, a thousand times, but what would you have? +I was dying with curiosity to see the interior of this place, which had +been forbidden. It was a perfect paradise. What was most amusing was the +surprise of the mulattress who guarded the entrance; when she saw us, +myself and the negro, she could not conceive how we had been able to +enter. We told her we had escaped her notice. She believed us; she put +us out as quickly as possible, and she committed suicide rather than be +punished by her employers."</p> + +<p>After a few minutes' silence the colonel said abruptly, "This is not +all; now there is no retreat, I must tell you everything."</p> + +<p>"What then, colonel?"</p> + +<p>"Once introduced into Devil's Cliff, we have a man to surprise and +overcome; whatever he does to defend himself, a hair of his head must +not be harmed, at least, unless he absolutely forces us to protect our +lives; then," continued the colonel, with a sinister smile, "then two +hundred guineas for you, whether we succeed or not."</p> + +<p>"A thousand devils! you have waited rather long to say this to me, +colonel. But, as the wine is drawn, it must be quaffed."</p> + +<p>"Come, I did not deceive myself, you are a brave man."</p> + +<p>"Ah, as to that, is the man whom you seek also strong and brave?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Rutler, after some minutes of reflection, "consider a +little the first husband of the widow—a man tall and slender."</p> + +<p>"The devil! he was slender, 'tis true; a rod of steel is, also, slender, +but that does not prevent its being furiously strong. See here, colonel, +that man was made of iron. He was so strong that I have seen him take an +insolent negro by the middle and throw him ten feet from him, as if he +were an infant, though the black was larger and more robust than you. +So, colonel, if the man you seek resembles that one, we would be unwise +to bait him—as you say——"</p> + +<p>"Less than you believe. I will explain to you——"</p> + +<p>"And then," continued John, "if by chance the filibuster, the buccanneer +or the cannibal who they say frequently visit the widow, should also be +there, it would become somewhat embarrassing."</p> + +<p>"Hear me; after what you have told me is there at the end of the park a +tree where one could hide?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, colonel."</p> + +<p>"With the exception of the buccaneer, the filibuster or the cannibal no +one enters the private habitation of Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"No one colonel except the mulattresses who wait upon her."</p> + +<p>"And except also the man whom I seek, be it remembered; I have my +reasons for believing we shall find him there."</p> + +<p>"Well, colonel?"</p> + +<p>"Then nothing is simpler; we will hide ourselves in the thickest tree +until our man comes to our side."</p> + +<p>"That cannot fail to occur colonel because the park is not large and +when one walks in it he is forced to pass near a marble basin not very +far from the place where we shall be hidden."</p> + +<p>"If our man does not take a walk after night comes, we will wait until +he has gone to bed, and we will surprise him there."</p> + +<p>"This will be easy, colonel, unless he calls one of Blue Beard's +comforters to his succor."</p> + +<p>"Be easy about that; for with your assistance I can place my hand on him +and then though he were surrounded by a hundred men armed to the teeth +he is mine; I have a sure means of obliging him to obey me; this +concerns me. All that I require of you is to conduct me into the ambush +from which I can spring upon him suddenly."</p> + +<p>"This shall be done, colonel."</p> + +<p>"Then let us be going," said Rutler, rising from the ground.</p> + +<p>"At your orders, colonel; but instead of walking, we must creep. But let +us see," continued John, bending down, "if we can perceive the daylight. +Yes, it is there—but how distant it seems. Speaking of that, colonel, +if, since I came by this road, it should have been stopped up by a +landslide, we should cut, in such a case, a sorry figure! condemned to +remain here, and to die of hunger or to eat each other! Impossible to +get out by the gulf, seeing that one cannot remount a sheet of water as +a trout ascends a cascade."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Rutler, "you appal me; happily, there is no +likelihood of this. You have the sack?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, colonel; the straps are strong and the skin impervious. We shall +find our knives, our pistols and our cartridges in it as dry as though +they came from an armory."</p> + +<p>"Then, John, let us be starting; go ahead," said the colonel. "We must +have time to dry our clothes."</p> + +<p>"That will not take long, colonel; once at the foot of the precipice we +shall be as in an oven; the sun shines full upon it."</p> + +<p>John lay down on his face and commenced to glide into the passage, so +small that he could scarcely enter. The darkness was profound; in the +distance only, one could distinguish a faint light. The colonel +followed, dragging himself over a damp and dirty soil.</p> + +<p>For some time the two Englishmen advanced in this manner, crawling on +their knees, on their hands, and on their stomachs, in total darkness. +All at once John paused suddenly and cried in a frightened voice, +"Colonel!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Do you not notice a strong odor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a fetid odor."</p> + +<p>"Do not move; it is the serpent—'Fer de lance'—we are lost."</p> + +<p>"A serpent!" exclaimed the colonel, with horror.</p> + +<p>"We are dead. I dare not advance; the odor is growing stronger and +stronger," murmured John.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet—listen."</p> + +<p>In mortal terror the two men held their breath. All at once at some +little distance they heard a continuous, rapid sound, as if something +was beating the earth with a flail. The nauseating and penetrating odor +which exhales from these large serpents became stronger and stronger. +"The serpent is furious; it is his tail which is beating the earth +thus," said John in a feeble voice. "Colonel, let us commend our souls +to God!"</p> + +<p>"Let us cry out and terrify the serpent," said Rutler.</p> + +<p>"No, no, it would but precipitate itself at once upon us," replied John.</p> + +<p>The two men remained for some moments a prey to the most horrible +suspense. They could neither retreat nor change their position. Their +chests rested upon the earth; their backs touched the rocks. They dared +not make a movement of recoil for fear of drawing the reptile in pursuit +of them. The air, more and more impregnated by the infectious odor of +the serpent, became suffocating.</p> + +<p>"Can you not find a stone at hand in order to throw at it," said the +colonel in a low tone.</p> + +<p>Hardly had he said these words when John uttered the most piercing cries +and struggled violently, exclaiming, "Help! help! I die!"</p> + +<p>Paralyzed with terror, Rutler strove to turn about, but he struck +himself violently on the head against the side of the passage. Then, +retreating as rapidly as he could with the assistance of his knees and +hands, he sought flight by backing out, while John, in extremity with +the serpent, made the most terrible and pitiful cries of terror and +suffering. All at once these cries became fainter and inarticulate, as +if the sailor was strangling. In fact, the enraged serpent, after +having, in the obscurity, stung John in the hand, the throat and face, +attempted to introduce its flat and lance-like head into the open mouth +of the unfortunate man, and stung his lips and tongue; but this last +assault finished the sailor.</p> + +<p>The serpent, having satisfied his rage, withdrew his horrible fangs and +took to flight. The colonel felt a damp, icy body touch his cheek; he +remained motionless. The serpent glided rapidly along the side of the +subterranean passage and escaped.</p> + +<p>The danger past, the colonel remained some moments petrified with +terror; he heard the last struggle of John; his agony was short. Rutler +heard him make several convulsive shudders and that was all. His +companion was dead. Then Rutler advanced and seized the sailor's leg. +The leg was already cold and stiff; for the venom of the serpent works +rapidly.</p> + +<p>A new cause for fear assailed the colonel. The serpent, not finding an +egress in the cavern, might return the same way it had gone. Rutler +seemed already to hear a slight noise behind him. He could not proceed +in advance, because the body of the sailor completely blocked the +passage; flight by the rear was only to expose himself to an encounter +with the serpent. In his terror the colonel seized the corpse by the two +legs, to the end that he might drag it to the entrance of the +subterranean passage and thus clear the only outlet to the cavern. His +efforts were in vain. Whether his strength was paralyzed, he being in +such a cramped position, or whether the poison had already distended the +body, Rutler could not extricate it.</p> + +<p>Not wishing to think that this only and last chance for salvation was +taken from him, he found a means of detaching his belt and of fastening +it to the feet of the dead man; he took it between his teeth, and, +aiding himself by his two hands, pulled with all the energy of despair. +He could scarcely cause even the slightest movement of the corpse. His +terror increased; he sought his knife, in the mad idea of cutting up the +body of the sailor. He saw soon the uselessness of this attempt.</p> + +<p>The pistols and ammunition of the colonel were in the sack of skin swung +over the shoulders of the dead man. He set himself to work to remove the +sack from his companion; he did so after great difficulty. He then set +himself anew to retreat to the entrance of the passage.</p> + +<p>Once again in the cavern he felt faint, but the air revived him; he +plunged his head into the cold water and seated himself on the sand. He +had almost forgotten the serpent. A long hiss caused him to raise his +head; he saw the reptile balancing itself a few paces above him, half +coiled up on the rooks which formed the roof of the cavern.</p> + +<p>The colonel recovered his coolness at the sight of this danger; +remaining almost immovable, and using his hands only, he unfastened his +pouch and drew from it a pistol and cocked it. Happily the charge and +priming were intact.</p> + +<p>At the moment that the serpent, irritated by the movement of Rutler, +precipitated itself upon him, the latter aimed and fired. The serpent +fell at his feet with his head crushed. It was of a blue-black, spotted +with yellow, and some eight or nine feet in length.</p> + +<p>Delivered from this enemy, and encouraged by his success the colonel +made a final effort to clear out the only path by which he could pass. +He glided anew into the passage, but, in spite of his strength, his +efforts were in vain—he could not move the corpse of the sailor.</p> + +<p>Returning to the cave, he examined it in every direction but could find +no outlet. He could not hope for help outside; his shouts could not be +heard. At this terrible thought his eyes fell upon the serpent. Here was +a momentary resource; he knew that sometimes the famished negroes ate +this flesh, which, though repulsive, was not poisonous.</p> + +<p>Night came, and he found himself in profound darkness. The waves +murmured and broke at the entrance of the cave; the waterspout +precipitated itself with a crash into the lower basin.</p> + +<p>A new fear took possession of Rutler. He knew that the serpents went in +pairs and often rejoined each other at night; drawn by the tracks, the +male or female of the reptile which he had killed would come in search +of its mate.</p> + +<p>The colonel's vigil became frightful. The slightest sound made him +tremble, in spite of his courageous nature; he asked himself whether, in +case he came through this horrible situation by a miracle, he should +continue the enterprise he had commenced. At first he believed that he +saw, in this adventure, a warning from heaven; then he accused himself +of cowardice, and attributed his mad fears to the feeble condition in +which he found himself.</p> + +<p>Leaving the colonel in this difficult strait, we will transport our +reader to Devil's Cliff.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<p class="head">DEVIL'S CLIFF.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> moon, brilliant and pure, shed a light almost as strong as the +European sun, and enabled one to distinguish perfectly the top of a very +high rock, and surrounded by woods on all sides of a dwelling built of +brick, and of peculiar architecture.</p> + +<p>One could reach it only by a narrow path, forming a spiral around this +species of cone. The path was bounded on one side by a mass of +perpendicular granite; on the other by a precipice of which in the broad +daylight one could not discover the bottom.</p> + +<p>This dangerous road terminated in a platform crossed by a brick wall, of +great thickness and edged with spikes.</p> + +<p>Back of this species of glacis arose the walls surrounding the dwelling, +into which one entered by a very low oak door. This door communicated +with a large, square court, occupied by the outbuildings and other +buildings. This court passed, one discovered a vaulted passageway +leading to the sanctuary; that is to say, to the pavilion occupied by +Blue Beard. None of the blacks or mulattoes who formed the large force +of servants of the house had ever passed the limits of this passageway. +The serving of Blue Beard was done through the intermediary of a number +of mulattresses, who alone communicated with their mistress.</p> + +<p>The house was built on a slope opposite the one by which access was had +from the cliff. This slope, much less steep, and laid out in a number of +natural terraces, was composed of five or six immense steps which, on +all sides, commanded the precipice.</p> + +<p>By a phenomenon frequent in these volcanic islands, a pond of about two +acres' circumference covered almost all the length of one of the upper +terraces. Its waters were limpid and pure. Blue Beard's residence was +separated from this small lake by a narrow path of smooth sand, shining +like silver. This house was of one story. At the first glance it seems +to be constructed entirely of trees from which the bark had been +removed. Its bamboo roof was steeply inclined and overlapped by some +five or six feet the outer wall, which rested upon the trunks of palm +trees driven into the ground, and formed a kind of gallery around the +house.</p> + +<p>A little above the level of the lake, in gentle declivity, was a lawn of +turf as fresh and green as that of the most beautiful English fields; +this was a rare thing at the Antilles, and was due to underground +irrigation which flowed from the lake and gave to this park a delightful +freshness. From this lawn, ornamented by baskets of tropical flowers, +opened a garden composed of large variegated shrubs, the slope of the +ground being such that one did not see their trunks, but only their +enameled tops of the freshest color; then, beyond these trees, on a +terrace lower still, was a large orange and citron grove covered with +fruit and flowers. In the daytime, seen thus from above, one would have +said it was a carpet of perfumed snow strewn with golden balls. At the +extreme horizon the slender stems of the banana and cocoanut trees, +formed a splendid retreat and overlooked the precipice at the bottom of +which was the subterranean passage of which we have spoken, and in which +Colonel Rutler was then imprisoned.</p> + +<p>Meantime, let us enter one of the most remote portions of this mansion. +There we will find a young woman of from twenty to twenty-three years; +but her features are so infantile, her figure is so tiny, her freshness +so youthful, she would easily pass for sixteen. Robed in a muslin gown +with flowing sleeves, she is reclining on a sofa covered with Indian +silk, brown in color, embroidered with golden flowers; she leans her +white forehead on one hand, half-hidden by a wilderness of loose curls +of reddish blond tint, for the young woman's hair is dressed <i>à la +Titus</i>, a profusion of silky curls falls on her neck, her snowy +shoulders, and frames her charming little face, rounded, firm and rosy +as that of a child.</p> + +<p>A large book, bound in red morocco, lies at the side of the divan on +which she is stretched, and is open before her. The young woman reads +attentively, by the light of three perfumed candles, which rest in a +little silver gilt candelabra, enriched by exquisite chasing.</p> + +<p>The eyelashes of the pretty reader are so long that they threw a slight +shadow on her cheeks, where are to be seen two charming dimples. Her +nose is of a rare delicacy; her mouth curved and crimson, and her +beautiful blue eyes large and expressive; her whole face presents a +ravishing expression of innocence and candor. From the edge of her +muslin gown appear two feet like Cinderella's, shod in white silk hose +and Moorish slippers of cherry satin embroidered with silver, which one +could hold in the palm of one's hand. The attitude of this young woman +leaves to the imagination an exquisite whole, in spite of her slight +figure. Thanks to the width of her sleeve, which has fallen back, one +can admire the ravishing outline of a rounded arm, polished like ivory, +and having at the elbow a charming dimple. Her hand which turns the +leaves of her book is worthy of such an arm; the nails, very long and of +the transparency of agate. The tips of the fingers shade to a deep rose +color, such as is imparted by the henna of the Orientals.</p> + +<p>The figure of this charming creature recalls the ideal Psyche, the +lovely realization of a beauty so fleeting that it passes with the first +flower of youth. Certain organizations retains their first youth a long +time, and as we have said, in spite of her twenty-three years, Blue +Beard is of the number of these privileged persons.</p> + +<p>For this is Blue Beard. We will no longer hide the name of the inmate of +Devil's Cliff from our readers, but will say she is called Angela. +Unfortunately, this celestial name, this candid face, contrasts +singularly with the diabolical reputation which this widow of three +husbands possesses; and who it is said has as many consolers as she has +had husbands. The course of this story will enable us to condemn or +vindicate Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>At a slight sound which she hears in the adjoining room, Angela lifts +her head suddenly, like a gazelle on the alert, and seats herself on the +edge of the sofa, throwing back her locks by a graceful movement.</p> + +<p>At the moment she rises, exclaiming, "It it he!" a man raises the +<i>portière</i> of the room. Not sooner does the iron fly to the magnet than +does Angela to the newcomer. She throws herself into his arms, and +twining them about him in a kind of tender fury, covered him with +caresses and passionate kisses, and joyfully cries, "My tender +friend—my dear James!"</p> + +<p>This first ebullition over, the newcomer takes Angela into his arms as +if she were a child, and carries his precious burden over to the sofa. +Then Angela, seated on his knee, takes one of his hands in hers, passes +her beautiful arm about his neck, draws his head to her, and looked at +him with eager delight.</p> + +<p>Alas! were the scandal-mongers right in suspecting Blue Beard's +morality?</p> + +<p>The man whom she receives with such familiar ardor is of the copper +color of a mulatto; he is tall and supple, active and robust; his noble +and fine features show nothing of the negro type; a profusion of jet +black curls frame his forehead; his eyes are large and of velvety +blackness; under his thin lips, red and moist, shine the most +beautifully enameled teeth. This beauty, at once charming and manly, +this appearance of strength and elegance, resembles the noble +proportions of an Indian Bacchus or of an Antinous.</p> + +<p>The mulatto's costume is such as certain filibusters then generally +adopt when on shore. He wears a waistcoat of rich maroon velvet, with +buttons of filigree gold; large Flemish boots of like material and +ornamented with the same style of button, which extend the length of the +thigh, being met by a belt of orange silk, in which is stuck a poignard +richly chased; and, finally, long leggings of white kid embroidered in +many colored silks after the Mexican style, show a leg of the finest +outline.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more striking or pretty than the contrast between James +and Angela thus grouped. On the one hand, blond tresses, alabaster +tints, rosy cheeks, infantile grace and elegance; on the other, the +bronze tint, ebony locks, and manner at once assured and manly.</p> + +<p>Angela's white dress is outlined on the somber colors of James' +vestments; and thus the fine and supple figure of Blue Beard is +accentuated.</p> + +<p>Fixing her great blue eyes on the black eyes of the mulatto, the young +woman amuses herself by turning back the embroidered collar of James' +shirt, in order to admire the better his sunburned neck, which in color +and shape rivals the most beautiful Florentine bronze.</p> + +<p>After prolonging this unconventional performance, Angela gives the +mulatto a noisy kiss under his ear, takes his head between her two +hands, mischievously rumples up his black locks, gives him a little blow +on the cheek, and says, "That is how I love you, Monsieur Hurricane."</p> + +<p>A slight sound is heard behind the tapestry forming the <i>portière</i>, and +Angela calls, "Is it you, Mirette? what do you wish?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, I am coming with the flowers and will arrange them in the +stand."</p> + +<p>"She hears us!" said Angela, making a mysterious signal to the mulatto; +then she amuses herself laughing madly at and rumpling her lover's hair. +He takes her little caprices with complaisance, and contemplates her +with love. Then he says, smilingly,</p> + +<p>"Child! because you look only sixteen, you think everything is permitted +you." Then he adds in a tone of gentle raillery, "and who would think, +seeing this little rosy, ingenuous face that I hold on my knees the most +notable scamp of the Antilles?"</p> + +<p>"And who would think that this man, who speaks in so sweet a voice, is +the ferocious Captain Hurricane, the terror of England and Spain?" cried +Angela, breaking into a laugh. The mulatto and the widow express +themselves in the purest French, and without the slightest foreign +accent.</p> + +<p>"What matters it," she cries, smilingly, "it is not <i>I</i> whom they call +Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>At these words which appear to call up sad memories, the little widow, +with a coquettish pout, gave a hardly perceptible tap to the end of +Captain Hurricane's nose, indicating by a movement of her hand that in +the neighboring room one can hear him, and says with a mischievous air, +"That will teach you to speak of trespassing."</p> + +<p>"Fie! the monster!" says the captain, breaking into a laugh; "and what +of remorse, then, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Give me a kiss of remorse, then, and I shall——"</p> + +<p>"May Lucifer assist me! It takes a woman to be chief of criminals! Ah, +my dear, you are well named; you make me tremble! Suppose we have +supper."</p> + +<p>Angela touches a bell. The young mulattress who had overheard the above +conversation enters. She wears a dress of white linen with bright +stripes, and has silver rings on arms and ankles.</p> + +<p>"Mirette, have you arranged the flowers," said Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame."</p> + +<p>"You have been listening?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame."</p> + +<p>"However, it does not matter; when I speak it is that I may be heard. +Make ready the supper, Mirette."</p> + +<p>Then, addressing herself to the captain, "What wine do you prefer?"</p> + +<p>"Sherry, but let it be iced; this is a notion of mine."</p> + +<p>Mirette goes out for a moment, and shortly reappears and begins to +prepare the table.</p> + +<p>"By the way, I forgot to tell you of a great event," says Blue Beard's +companion.</p> + +<p>"What then? has one of my deceased husbands returned to life?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, almost."</p> + +<p>"Now? Ah, Master James, Master James, no more of your wicked +pleasantries," cries Angela, with a frightened air.</p> + +<p>"No, it is not a dead man, a ghost, but a very living pretender who +demands your hand in marriage."</p> + +<p>"He wishes to marry me?"</p> + +<p>"He wishes to marry you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the unhappy wretch! is he then weary of life?" cried Angela, +laughing.</p> + +<p>Mirette, at these words, makes the sign of the cross while +superintending the spreading of the board by two other mulattresses who +are carrying bottles of Bohemian glass, engraved with golden arabesques, +and plates of the most magnificent Japanese porcelain.</p> + +<p>Blue Beard continues, "This lover of mine is not a countryman, then?"</p> + +<p>"By no means! for in spite of your wealth, my dear, I defy you to find a +<i>fourth</i> husband, thanks to your diabolical reputation."</p> + +<p>"Where does he come from, this would-be husband, my dear James?"</p> + +<p>"From France."</p> + +<p>"France! he comes from France to espouse me, the deuce!"</p> + +<p>"Angela, you know that I do not like to hear you swear," says the +mulatto, with pretended seriousness.</p> + +<p>"Pardon, Captain Hurricane," replies the young woman, dropping her eyes +with a hypocritical air. "I only meant to signify that I find your news +very astonishing. It appears that my reputation has reached Europe."</p> + +<p>"Do not be so vain, my dear. It was on board the Unicorn that this +worthy paladin heard you spoken of, and by the mere mention of your +riches he has become enamored, yes, madly enamored of you. This, I +trust, will take down your pride."</p> + +<p>"The impertinent fellow! and who is this man, James?"</p> + +<p>"The Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"The Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"This is the name of the pretender to my hand?" And Angela breaks into a +merry peal of laughter which nothing can arrest, and the mulatto finally +joins in her merriment.</p> + +<p>The two have scarcely subsided when Mirette enters preceded by two other +mulattresses who carry a table sumptuously set out in gilded dishes. The +two slaves place the table near the divan; the captain arises to take a +chair, while Angela, kneeling on the edge of the sofa, uncovers the +dishes one after another, and examines the table with the air of an +epicurean kitten.</p> + +<p>"Are you hungry, James? As for me, I am famished," says Angela. And as +if to prove without doubt this assertion, she opens her coral lips and +shows two rows of ravishing little pearly teeth which she clinches +twice.</p> + +<p>"Angela, my dear, you were certainly badly brought up," said the +captain, helping her to a portion of dorado, served with ham and an +appetizing sauce.</p> + +<p>"Captain Hurricane, if I receive you at my table, it is not that you may +scold," said Angela, making an almost imperceptible grimace to the +mulattress. Then she continues, attacking her fish bravely, and pecking +at her bread like a bird, "If he scolds me, Mirette, I will not receive +him again?"</p> + +<p>"No, mistress," said Mirette.</p> + +<p>"And I will give his place to Rend-your-soul, the buccaneer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mistress."</p> + +<p>"Or to Youmäale, the cannibal?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mistress."</p> + +<p>"You hear that, sir?" said Angela.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, my dear, I am not jealous, you know that; beauty is as the +sun, it shines for all the world."</p> + +<p>"Because you are not jealous, then, I will pardon you. Help yourself to +what is before you. What is that, Mirette?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, the roe of fish fried in pigeon's fat."</p> + +<p>"Which is not equal to the fat of quail," says the captain, "but it must +have the juice of a lemon while it is warm."</p> + +<p>"See what a glutton! Ah! but my future spouse, I had forgotten him. Pour +me some wine, Mirette."</p> + +<p>The filibuster, corsair as he is, forestalls the mulattress and pours +out some iced sherry for Angela.</p> + +<p>"It must be that I love you, to drink this, I who prefer the wines of +France." And Blue Beard drinks resolutely three drops of the sherry, +which puts fresh life into her lips and blue eyes and tinged her cheeks +a carmine hue.</p> + +<p>"But to return to my future spouse. How is he? Is he agreeable? Is he +worthy to join the others?"</p> + +<p>Mirette, in spite of her passive submission, cannot prevent a tremor in +hearing her mistress speak thus, although the poor slave must be +accustomed to these atrocious pleasantries, and doubtless many greater +enormities.</p> + +<p>"What ails you, Mirette?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, mistress."</p> + +<p>"If you are unwell——"</p> + +<p>"No, mistress."</p> + +<p>"You would be sorry to see me marry again? I shall not do so for a long +time. Go, child." Then, addressing Captain Hurricane, "And the Chevalier +de—de—what did you say was his name?"</p> + +<p>"Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"No; but knowing his plans and that he intends, at all hazards, and in +spite of the efforts of the good Father Griffen, to come here, I begged +Youmäale, the cannibal," says the captain, looking at Angela in a +singular way, "to address a little warning in order to induce him to +renounce his projects."</p> + +<p>"And you did this without letting me know, sir? What if I do not wish to +rebuff him, this pretender; for, after all, this Croustillac is a +Gascon, and I never married a Gascon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is the most famous Gascon that has ever gasconaded on the earth; +with that, a figure indescribable and assurance unbounded; and as to the +rest, sufficient courage."</p> + +<p>"And Youmäale's warning?"</p> + +<p>"Has accomplished nothing. It glided off the undaunted soul of this man +as a ball from the scales of a crocodile; he started out this morning +bravely, at break of day, to traverse the forest, with his pink silk +hose, his rapier at his side, and a staff to frighten the serpents. He +is still there, without doubt, at this hour, for the road to Devil's +Cliff is not known to all the world."</p> + +<p>"James, I have an idea!" cries the widow joyfully; "let him come here +and amuse us; that we may torment him. So, he is in love with my riches +and not myself! So, he would espouse me, this fine knight errant. We +will see as to that! Well? You do not laugh at my idea, James. What ails +you? But moreover, you know, sir, that I will not be thwarted; I will +make a feast for this Gascon. If he is not devoured by the wildcats or +killed by the serpents I will have him here to-morrow. You go to sea +to-morrow; tell the cannibal and Rend-your-soul to bring him to me."</p> + +<p>The captain, instead of joining in the gayety of Blue Beard, according +to his custom, is serious, pensive, and seems to reflect deeply.</p> + +<p>"James! James! do you not hear me?" cries Angela, impatiently, tapping +her foot. "I want this Gascon. I want him."</p> + +<p>The mulatto makes no reply; he draws with the forefinger of his right +hand a circle about his throat, and looks significantly at the young +woman. She understands this mysterious sign; her face all at once +expresses both sorrow and distress; she rises suddenly, runs to the +mulatto, falls on her knees before him and cries in a touching voice, +"You are right. My God! you are right! I am insane to entertain such a +thought. I understand you."</p> + +<p>"Rise, Angela, calm yourself," says the mulatto. "I do not know if this +man is to be feared, but he is a stranger, he may come from England or +France, and——"</p> + +<p>"I tell you I was mad! that I was jesting, my dear James! I forgot that +which I never ought to forget—it is frightful."</p> + +<p>The beautiful eyes of the young woman fill with tears; she bends her +head, and takes the hand of the mulatto, over which she weeps silently +for some minutes.</p> + +<p>Hurricane kisses tenderly the forehead and tresses of Angela, and says +gently, "I never wish to recall these cruel memories. I should have said +nothing to you, assured myself that there is no danger in bringing this +imbecile to you as a plaything, and then——"</p> + +<p>"James, my friend," cries Angela sadly, interrupting the mulatto, "my +love, what do you think then? for a childish caprice that I would expose +you, you whom I love most dearly in the world?"</p> + +<p>"There! there! be calm," replies the mulatto, lifting her up and seating +her near him; "do not be frightened; Father Griffen has informed himself +as to the Gascon, he is only ridiculous. In order to be more certain, I +will go to-morrow and speak with him at Macouba, and then I will tell +Rend-your-soul, who is fortunately hunting on the coast, to discover +this poor devil in the forest, where he has, no doubt, lost himself. If +he is dangerous," says the mulatto, making a sign to Angela (for the +slaves were still present awaiting the conclusion of supper), "the +buccaneer will relieve us of him and cure him of the desire to know you; +if not, as you never have any amusement here, he shall bring him to +you."</p> + +<p>"No, no, I do not wish it," says Angela. "All the thoughts which come to +me, now are of mortal sadness—my disquietude returns."</p> + +<p>Angela, seeing that the mulatto would not eat any more, arose; the +filibuster imitated her, and says, "Reassure yourself, my Angela, there +is nothing to fear. Come into the garden, the night is fine, the moon +magnificent. Tell Mirette to bring my lute; in order to make you forget +these painful thoughts I will sing you the Scotch ballads you love so."</p> + +<p>So saying, the mulatto passes one arm around the figure of Angela, and +clasping her thus, he descends the few steps leading to the garden. On +leaving the apartment Blue Beard says to her slave, "Mirette, bring the +lute into the garden, light the alabaster lamp in my bed-chamber. You +can go, I shall not need you again to-night. Do not forget to say to +Cora and to the other mulattresses that to-morrow begins their service." +Then she disappears, leaning on the arm of the mulatto. This last order +of Angela was occasioned by a habit she has had, since her last +widowhood, of alternating every three days the service of her women.</p> + +<p>Mirette carries a very beautiful ebony lute incrusted with gold and +mother of pearl, into the garden. After an interval of some moments, the +filibuster's voice is heard singing with infinite grace and pathos the +Scotch ballads which the chief of royalist clans always sang in +preference during the protectorate of Cromwell. The voice of the mulatto +is at once sweet, vibrant and melancholy.</p> + +<p>Mirette and the two slaves listen with delight during some moments. At +the last lines, the voice of the filibuster becomes moved, tears seem to +mingle in it—then the songs cease.</p> + +<p>Mirette enters Blue Beard's chamber in order to light the alabaster +lamp, which throws a soft and veiled light on the surrounding objects. +This room is splendidly furnished in Indian stuff with white ground +embroidered with flowers; a mosquito net of muslin, fine as a spider's +web, envelopes an immense bed of gilded wood with a headboard of +plate-glass, which appears thus in a slight mist.</p> + +<p>After executing the orders of her mistress, Mirette withdraws +discreetly, and says to the two slaves with a malicious smile, "Mirette +lights the lamp for the captain, Cora for the buccanneer, and Noun for +the Caribbean."</p> + +<p>The two slaves nod their heads with an intelligent air, and the three go +out, after carefully closing and locking the door which leads to the +outbuilding of this special domain of Blue Beard.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<p class="head">NIGHT.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> had left the chevalier when he had penetrated into the forest, which +was alive with the cries of all the animals which peopled it. For a +moment stunned by the tumult, the Gascon bravely pursued his course, +turning his steps ever toward the north, at least toward what he +believed to be so, thanks to his astronomical knowledge. As the priest +had foretold, he could not find any path through the forest; decayed +vegetation, tall shrubs, vines, trunks of trees, an inextricable +undergrowth, covered the ground; the trees were so thick that the air, +light and sun, penetrated with difficulty through this veil of foliage, +among which exhaled a warm moisture almost suffocating produced by the +fermentation of vegetable matter which to a great extent thickly covered +the earth.</p> + +<p>The heavy perfume of tropical flowers so saturated this suffocating +atmosphere that the chevalier experienced a kind of intoxication, of +faintness. He walked with a slower step, he felt his head become heavy, +exterior objects became indifferent to him. He no longer admired the +leafy colonades stretching out as far as the eye could see, into the +shadows of the forest. He cast a careless glance at the sparkling and +varied plumage of the parrots, birds of paradise and other birds +joyfully crying out and pursuing the golden-winged insects or snapping +in their beaks the aromatic woods of the Indies. The gambols of the +monkeys, balancing themselves on the garlands of passion vines, or +springing from tree to tree, did not even bring a smile to his lips. +Completely absorbed, he had strength only to contemplate the end of his +perilous journey. He thought only of Blue Beard and her treasures.</p> + +<p>After some hours' walk, he began to observe that his silk stockings were +inconvenient for traversing a forest. A large branch of thorny wood had +made a great hole in his coat; his breeches were not irreproachable by +any means; and more than once, feeling his long sword embarrass him by +catching in some plants which obstructed his path, he involuntarily +turned to chastise the importunate object which took the liberty of +interfering with his progress.</p> + +<p>Either by chance, or thanks to the frequent use of his staff, with which +he beat the bushes continually, the chevalier had the good fortune not +to encounter any serpents. Toward noon, worried and fatigued, he paused +in order to pick some bananas, and climbed a tree in order to breakfast +at his ease. To his joy and surprise he found that the leaves of this +tree, rolled into cornucopias, held clear water, fresh and delicious to +the taste; the chevalier drank several of those, put his remaining +bananas into his pocket, and continued his journey.</p> + +<p>According to his calculation, he must have traveled nearly four leagues, +and could not be very far from Devil's Cliff. Unhappily the chevalier's +calculation was not exact, at least, as to the direction in which he +believed himself to have gone; for he had estimated the distance +traversed correctly enough, but he was, at midday, a little further from +Devil's Cliff than he had been when he entered the forest. In order not +to lose sight of the sun (which he could with difficulty discern through +the treetops), he had necessarily been obliged to lift his eyes +frequently to the heavens. Now, the road was almost impenetrable, and he +was also obliged to be on the watch for serpents; thus, divided between +the sky and the earth, the attention of the chevalier went somewhat +astray. However, as it was impossible to believe that he could a second +time be deceived in his calculations, he took fresh courage, certain of +reaching the end of his journey.</p> + +<p>About three o'clock in the afternoon he commenced to suspect that +Devil's Cliff receded in proportion to his approach. Croustillac became +harassed; but the fear of passing the night in the forest spurred him +on; by means of walking forward steadily he finally reached a kind of +indentation between two large rocks. The chevalier drew his breath, +expanding his lungs.</p> + +<p>"Faith!" cried he, removing his hat and fanning himself with it, "I am +then at Devil's Cliff. I seem to recognize it, though I have never seen +it. I cannot, however, lose myself. I have love for a compass; one can +follow this in the antipodes without deviating a hair's breadth. It is +very simple; my heart turns toward wealth and beauty, as the needle to +the pole! for if Blue Beard is rich, she must be beautiful; and, +further, a woman who can rid herself so quickly of three husbands must +love change. I shall prove a new fruit to her—and what a fruit! After +all, the three men who are dead got what they deserved, because they +were in my path. What assures me of the physique of Blue Beard is that +only a very pretty woman could permit herself such irregularities, such +methods—a little offhand to be sure—of breaking the conjugal chain. +Zounds! I shall see her, please her, seduce her. Poor woman! She does +not dream that her conqueror is at hand! If—if—I wager that her little +heart beats strongly this very moment. She feels my approach, she +divines it, her presentiment does not deceive her. She will be +overcome—happiness will arrive on the wings of love!"</p> + +<p>Thus saying, the chevalier threw a glance on his toilet. It did not +escape his notice that it was slightly disordered; his stockings, +originally purple, then pale pink, had become striped, zebra-fashion, +with a number of green rays, since his journey in the forest; his coat +was ornamented with various holes fancifully arranged, but the Gascon +made this reflection aloud, if not very modest, at least very consoling: +"Faith! Venus arose from the sea without any covering; Truth had no more +on when she emerged from the well; and if beauty and truth appeared +without a veil, I see not why—love—Beside, Blue Beard must be a woman +who will understand me!"</p> + +<p>Completely reassured, the chevalier hastened his steps, climbed the face +of the rocks, and found himself in an inclosure of the forest, even more +somber and impenetrable than that which he had quitted. Others would +have lost courage. Croustillac said to himself, on the contrary "Zounds! +this is very clever. Hiding her habitation in the most dense forest is a +woman's idea. I am sure the more I push on into these thickets the +nearer I approach the house. I consider I have already arrived. Blue +Beard, Blue Beard, finally I behold thee."</p> + +<p>The chevalier cherished this precious illusion while the daylight +lasted, which was not long; there is little twilight in the tropics. +Soon the chevalier saw, with astonishment, the summits of the trees +little by little obscure themselves, and assume a fantastic appearance +in the great mass of the forest. For some moments there remained a +half-shade, here and there lighted by the bright reflection of the sun, +which seemed as red as the fire of a furnace, for he was "making his +couch in the wind," as they say in the Antilles.</p> + +<p>For a moment the vegetation, so brilliantly green, took on a purple +tint; the chevalier believed that nature was painted a living red, what +was perceived being a mingling with the tints of the heavens. "Zounds!" +exclaimed the chevalier, "I did not deceive myself; I am near this +infernal place, this illumination proves it. Lucifer is without doubt +making a visit to Blue Beard, who, in order to receive him, is lighting +the furnaces of her kitchen."</p> + +<p>Little by little these warm tints disappeared, they became pale red, +then violet, and were swallowed up in the amethyst of the evening skies. +As soon as the shadows wrapped the forest in their arms, the plaintive +cries of the jackals, the sinister hooting of the owls, proclaimed the +return of night. The sea breeze, which always rises after the setting of +the sun, passed like a great sigh over the tops of the trees; the leaves +shivered. The thousand nameless, vague and distant cries which one hears +only at night, began to resound from all quarters.</p> + +<p>"Of a truth," said the chevalier, "this is a pretty figure to cut! To +think I am not a hundred steps, perhaps, from Devil's Cliff, and that I +am compelled to sleep under the stars!"</p> + +<p>Croustillac, fearing the serpents, directed himself toward an enormous +mahogany tree which he had observed; by the aid of the vines which +enveloped this tree on all sides, he succeeded in reaching a kind of +fork, formed by two large branches; here he installed himself, +comfortably, placed his sword between his knees, and commenced a supper +of the bananas, which fortunately, he had kept in his pockets. He did +not experience any of the fears which would have assailed many men, even +the bravest, placed in such a critical situation. Beside, in extreme +cases the chevalier had all kinds of reasoning for his use; he said: +"Fate is implacable against me, it chooses well—it cannot +mistake—instead of addressing itself to some rascal; to some wretch, +what does it do? It bethinks itself of the Chevalier de Croustillac +thus: 'Here is my man—he is worthy of struggling with me.'"</p> + +<p>In the situation in which he found himself the chevalier saw another +providential circumstance no less flattering to him. "My good fortune is +assured," he said: "the treasures of Blue Beard are mine; this is the +final trial to which the aforesaid Fate subjects me; it would be bad +grace in me to revolt. A brave man does not complain. I could not merit +the inestimable recompense which awaits me."</p> + +<p>By means of these reflections the chevalier combated sleep with success; +he feared if he yielded to it he would fall from the tree; he ended by +being enchanted by the obstacles which he had surmounted in his course +to Blue Beard. She would know how to value his courage, he thought, and +be alive to his devotion. In this excess of chivalrous feeling, the +chevalier regretted even that he has not had a serious enemy to combat +and not to have had to struggle alone against pitfalls, thorns and the +trunks of trees. At this moment a strange cry drew the adventurer's +attention; he listened, and said, "What is that? One would think that +the cats were holding their Sabbath. I know, now, because of these cats, +that the house cannot be far distant." But Croustillac deceived himself. +These were not domestic cats but wildcats, and never were tigers +fiercer; they continued to make an infernal uproar. In order to quiet +them, the chevalier took his staff and struck on the tree. The wildcats, +instead of flying, approached him with furious and redoubled cries. For +a long time these woods had been infested by these animals, who were not +inferior to jaguars in size, strength and ferocity; they attacked and +devoured young kids, goats, and even young mules.</p> + +<p>In order to explain the hostile assault of these carnivorous beasts +which surrounded the chevalier, who had been discovered by their +powerful sense of scent, we must return to the cavern in which Colonel +Rutler was immured. We know that the corpse of the sailor John, dead +from the sting of the serpent, completely obstructed the subterranean +passage by which Rutler could alone leave the cavern. The wildcats had +descended the precipice, scented the corpse of John, approached it first +timidly, then, emboldened, had devoured it. The colonel heard and knew +not what to think of these ferocious cries. At daybreak, thanks to the +gluttony of these animals, the obstacle which prevented Rutler from +leaving the cavern had entirely disappeared. There remained in the +subterranean passage only the bones of the sailor, and these the colonel +could easily remove.</p> + +<p>After this horrible feast, the wildcats, fed but not appeased by this +new repast to them, felt a taste for human flesh; they abandoned the +foot of the precipice, regained the wood, scented the chevalier, and +their carnivorous ferocity was increased.</p> + +<p>For some time fear withheld them, but, encouraged by the immobility of +Croustillac, one of the boldest and most famished slowly climbed the +tree, and the Gascon saw, all at once, near him two large, brilliant, +green eyes, which shone out of the midst of the obscurity. At the same +instant he felt a vigorous bite at the calf of his leg. He drew back his +leg abruptly, but the wildcat held on and fastened its claws in his +flesh, and gave a deep, furious growl which was the signal of attack. +The assailants climbed up from all sides and the chevalier saw about him +flaming eyes and felt himself bitten in many places at once.</p> + +<p>This attack was so unexpected, the assailants were of such a singular +kind, that Croustillac, in spite of his courage, remained for a moment +stupefied; but the bites of the wildcats and, above all, his deep +indignation at having to combat with such ignoble enemies, aroused his +fury. He seized the most venturesome by the skin of his back, and in +spite of several blows from his claws, threw him heavily against the +trunk of the tree and broke his back. The cat gave some frightful cries. +The chevalier treated in like manner another of these creatures which +had leaped upon his back, and had undertaken to devour his cheek.</p> + +<p>The band hesitated. Croustillac seized his sword, and using it as a +poignard, pierced several others, and thus put an end to this attack in +a novel manner, saying, "Zounds! to think Blue Beard does not know that +the brave Croustillac has been nearly devoured by wildcats, even as if +he were but a chicken hanging on a hook of a larder!"</p> + +<p>The remainder of the night passed peacefully, the chevalier sleeping but +little. At daybreak he descended from his tree, and saw extended at his +feet five of his adversaries of the night. He hastened to quit the scene +of his exploits, at which he blushed, and, convinced that Devil's Cliff +could not be far off, he resumed his journey.</p> + +<p>After having walked thus vainly, after his vigil, the gnawing of his +stomach, occasioned by a famished feeling, warned him that it was in the +neighborhood of noon. His delight may be imagined when the breeze bore +to him the delicious odor of roasted meat, so fine, so penetrating, and +so appetizing that the chevalier could not prevent himself from passing +his tongue across his lips. He redoubled his speed, not doubting, this +time, that he had arrived at the end of his troubles. However, he saw no +sign of habitation, and knew not how to reconcile this apparent solitude +with the exquisite odor which grew more and more tantalizing.</p> + +<p>Unobserved himself, and without being heard, and walking rapidly, he +arrived at a kind of clearing, where he stopped a moment. The sight +which greeted his eyes was worthy his notice.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<p class="head">A BUCCANEER.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the midst of a close thicket appeared a cleared space forming a long +square; at one of its extremities was an ajoupa, a kind of hut made of +branches attached to the trunk of a palm tree, covered with long +polished leaves of balisier and of cachibou. Under this shelter, which +guaranteed protection from the rays of the sun to whoever might retire +therein, a man was stretched upon a bed of leaves; at his feet some +twenty dogs lay sleeping. These dogs would have been white and orange if +their original color had not disappeared, owing to the blood which +covered them. Their heads and breasts were completely stained by reason +of copious eating.</p> + +<p>The chevalier could but indistinctly see the face of the man, half +hidden in his bed of fresh leaves. Not far from the hut was a covered +fire where, cooking slowly, after the fashion of buccaneers, was a +year-old boar. The stove or gridiron was formed by four forks driven +into the earth, on which were hung cross-pieces, and on these were laid +small poles, all of green wood.</p> + +<p>The boar, still with its hide on, was stretched on its back, the belly +open and empty; strings attached to its four feet held it in this +position, which the heat would otherwise have disturbed.</p> + +<p>This gridiron was raised above a hole four feet in length, three wide, +and of great depth, filled with broken charcoal; the boar cooked by the +equal heat of this steady and concentrated brazier. The cavity of the +animal was half filled with lemon juice and cut spices, which, combined +with the fat, which the heat caused to slowly ooze out, formed a kind of +interior sauce which smelled very appetizing.</p> + +<p>This immense roast was nearly cooked; its skin began to frizzle and +crack; what was visible of the flesh through the gravy was red and +tempting. Finally, a dozen large yams, of yellow and savory pulp, were +cooking in the ashes, and exhaled a fine odor.</p> + +<p>The chevalier could restrain himself no longer; carried away by his +appetite, he entered the inclosure, and in so doing broke down some +branches. One or two of the dogs awoke and ran at him with a menacing +air. The man, who was dozing, arose abruptly, looked about him with an +amazed air, while the entire pack of hounds manifested the most hostile +objection to the entrance of the chevalier, bristling and showing their +formidable teeth. Croustillac recalled the history of the assistant of +Rend-your-Soul being devoured by his dogs, but he was not intimidated; +he raised his staff with a menacing air, and said, "To heel, varlets; to +heel, varlets!"</p> + +<p>This term, imported from the kennels of Europe, made no impression on +the dogs; they assumed an attitude so menacing that the chevalier struck +some blows at them with his staff. Their eyes burned with ferocity; they +would have precipitated themselves upon Croustillac had not the +buccaneer, coming out of the hut with a gun in his hand, cried in a +species of dialect, part negro, part French, "Who touches my dogs? Who +are you that come hither?"</p> + +<p>The chavalier bravely put his hand on his sword and replied, "Your dogs +would devour me, my good fellow, and I foil them. They would employ +their teeth upon me as I would mine if I had before me a morsel of that +appetizing boar, for I am lost in the forest since yesterday morning and +have a most infernal hunger."</p> + +<p>The buccaneer, instead of replying to the chevalier, remained stupefied +at the odd appearance of this man, who, staff in hand, had traversed a +forest in pink stockings and coat of taffeta and embroidered vest. On +his side, Croustillac, in spite of his hunger, contemplated the +buccaneer with no less curiosity. This hunter was of middle height, but +agile and vigorous; his only clothing, short drawers and a shirt which +was loose like a blouse. His clothing was so much stained with the +blood of bulls or boars which the buccaneers skin in order to sell the +hide and smoke the flesh (the principal branch of their traffic) that +the linen appeared tarred, it was so black and stiff. A belt of bull's +hide embellished with its hair confined the shirt about the buccaneer; +from this belt hung, on one side, a sheath of compartments, revealing +five or six knives of various lengths and divers shapes; from the other, +a pouch. The hunter's legs were bare to the knees; his shoes were +without fastening, and of a single piece, according to a custom there, +and in use among buccaneers.</p> + +<p>After skinning a bull or some large boar, they carefully loosen the skin +of one of the front extremities, from the breast to the knee, and turn +it back like a stocking which one pulls off; after having completely +detached it from the bones, they then put their feet into this supple +and fresh skin, placing the large toe a little more toward the place +which covered the knee of the animal. Once shod in this manner they tie +up with a sinew that portion which extends beyond the end of the foot, +and cut off the surplus. Then they raise and pull up the remainder of +the skin halfway up their legs, where they fasten it with a leather +strap. In drying, this species of boot assumes the shape of the foot, +remaining perfectly soft, supple, and wearing a long time, it being +impervious, and proof against the sting of serpents.</p> + +<p>The buccaneer looked curiously at Croustillac, leaning on his gun, a +kind especially used by buccaneers; these guns were made at Dieppe and +St. Malo. The figure of the hunter was rough and common; he wore a cap +of boar's skin; his beard was long and bristling; his look ferocious.</p> + +<p>Croustillac said resolutely, "Ah, comrade, would you refuse a morsel of +this roast to a gentleman who is famished?"</p> + +<p>"The roast is not mine," said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"How? to whom, then, does it belong?"</p> + +<p>"To Master Rend-your-Soul, who has his depot of skins and buccaneer +supplies at Caiman's Point."</p> + +<p>"This roast belongs to Master Rend-your-Soul," cried the chevalier, +surprised at the chance which had brought him in contact with one of +the happy lovers of Blue Beard, if these slanderous stories were true. +"This roast belongs to Rend-your-Soul," repeated Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"It belongs to him," said the man with the long gun, laconically.</p> + +<p>At this moment was heard a shot which echoed through the forest. "That +is the master," said the man.</p> + +<p>The dogs recognized, doubtless, the approach of the hunter; for they +began to bark joyfully, and dashed off through the undergrowth in order +to reach the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>Warned of the return of the master, the man, whom we will call Peter, +took out one of his largest knives, approached the wild boar, and in +order the better to moisten the venison, stabbed the flesh several +times, without injuring the skin, for the plentiful mixture of lemon +juice, spice and fat which filled the belly of the boar was running out. +Each of these incisions caused such appetizing odors to rise that the +chevalier, inhaling this exquisite odor, almost forgot the approach of +Rend-your-Soul. However, the latter appeared, followed by his dogs, +jumping and pressing about him.</p> + +<p>Master Rend-your-Soul was large and robust. His skin, naturally white, +was browned by the sun and by the wild life which he led; his thick +black beard fell on his breast; his features were regular, but severe +and hard. Although not so poor as that of his servant, his clothing was +of much the same fashion. Like him, he wore at his waist a case filled +with a number of knives; his legs, however, in place of being half +naked, were incased, as far as the knee, by bands of boar-skins tied +with sinews, and he wore large shoes of untanned leather. His large +Spanish hat was ornamented with two or three red feathers; and the +mountings of his buccaneer gun were of silver. Such was the difference +between the costume and arms of Master Rend-your-Soul and that of his +servant.</p> + +<p>When he entered the clearing, he held his gun under his arm and plucked +carelessly a wood-pigeon which he had killed; three others were hung at +his belt by a snare; he threw them to Peter, who immediately began to +pluck and clean them with wonderful dexterity. These wood-pigeons, of +the size of a partridge, were plump, fine and round as quails. As fast +as Peter had one ready, he cut off its head and feet and put it to cook +in the thick and abundant sauce which filled the boar's belly. When +Master Rend-your-Soul had finished plucking his, he threw it in also.</p> + +<p>Peter said, "Master, shall I close the roast?"</p> + +<p>"Close it," replied the master.</p> + +<p>Then Peter cut the strings which held the boar; the cavity of the belly +almost closed and the pigeons began to boil in this novel fashion.</p> + +<p>During all these culinary preparations the buccaneer had not appeared to +perceive the chevalier, who, with foot advanced, nose in the air, and +hand on the hilt of his sword, was prepared to answer proudly any +interrogatories which might be made, and even to question in return +Master Rend-your-Soul. The latter, having cut off the head and feet of +the pigeon which he was plucking, wiped his knife quietly and replaced +it in his case.</p> + +<p>To explain the indifference of the buccaneer, we must say to the reader +that nothing was more common than that people should visit the +buccaneers out of curiosity. The buccaneers were, in their customs, very +like the Caribbeans. Like them they were proud to accord hospitality; +like them they allowed any one to come who was hungry and thirsty and +partake of their repasts; but, like the Caribbeans also, they regarded +an invitation as a superfluous formality. The feast ready, let eat it +who would.</p> + +<p>After disembarrassing himself of his belt and gun, Rend-your-Soul +extended himself on the ground, drew a gourd hidden under the fresh +leaves, and drank some brandy as a preparation for dinner.</p> + +<p>Croustillac was still in the same attitude, nose in the air, foot +advanced, hand on his sword; the color rose to his forehead; nothing +could have insulted him more than the absolute indifference of +Rend-your-Soul to his presence.</p> + +<p>Had Blue Beard, by the intermediation of the filibustering captain, +instructed the buccaneer to act in this manner if he should encounter +the chevalier? Was this hunter's carelessness genuine or feigned? This +is what we cannot yet tell the reader. The situation of Croustillac was +none the less delicate and difficult; in spite of his audacity he did +not know how to begin the conversation. Finally recovering himself, he +said to the buccaneer, advancing toward him, "Are you blind, comrade?"</p> + +<p>"Answer, Peter, some one speaks to you," said Rend-your-Soul, +carelessly.</p> + +<p>"No, it is to you I speak," said the Gascon impatiently.</p> + +<p>"No," said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"How so?" replied the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"You said 'comrade;' I am not your comrade; my servant is, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Zounds!"</p> + +<p>"I am a master buccaneer; you are not; it is only my brother-hunters who +are my comrades," said Rend-your-Soul, interrupting Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"And how is one to address you in order to have the honor of a reply?" +said the chevalier, angrily.</p> + +<p>"If you come to purchase skins or buccaneer supplies, address me as you +will; if you come to see the station, look about you; if you are hungry, +when the boar is cooked, eat."</p> + +<p>"They are regular brutes, true savages," thought the chevalier; "it +would be folly in me to resent their stupidities; I am dying with +hunger, I am lost; the animal can give me a dinner, and if I carry +myself wisely will point out to me the road to Devil's Cliff. Let us +eat." Then, looking at the man, half barbarian that he was, with his +garments stained with blood, Croustillac said to himself, shrugging his +shoulders, "And it is to such a boor that they give the beautiful, the +adorable Blue Beard. Zounds! she must be like him herself."</p> + +<p>Peter, finding the boar cooked to a turn, busied himself in removing the +cover; he placed on the earth, under the trees, a number of large +leaves, fresh and green, to serve as a tablecloth. He then picked a +large leaf, made four holes at its edge, and passed a creeper through +them, and thus formed a species of cup in which he squeezed the juice +of a number of lemons which he had picked, and with which he mixed salt +and spices crushed between two stones. The sauce was called pimentade, +was extremely strong, and was used generally by buccaneers and +filibusters. Opposite this sauce and in another leaf, he put yams cooked +in the ashes; their skins, a little burned, had split open and showed a +pulp yellow as amber.</p> + +<p>The chevalier was disturbed as to how he was to drink, for he had a +burning thirst, but he quickly saw the servant returning with a large +gourd filled with a pink and limpid liquor. It was the sugar of the +maple tree, which flowed in abundance from the tree when it was pierced +deeply. This was a fresh and healthy beverage and tasted like Bordeaux +wine mixed with sugar and water.</p> + +<p>Finally, after placing this gourd on the leaves which served as a +tablecloth, the servant broke off a large branch of apricots, covered +with flowers and fruit, and stuck it into the earth in the midst of the +leaves. These natives are not so stupid as they appear, thought the +chevalier. Here is a repast which Dame Nature pays for and which would +satisfy, I am sure, the greatest gourmand. Croustillac waited +impatiently for the moment to begin. Finally the servant, having +examined the boar with a critical eye, said to the buccaneer, "Master, +it is cooked."</p> + +<p>"Let us eat," said the master.</p> + +<p>By means of a fork cut out of oak, the servant took one of the pigeons, +put it on a fresh leaf, and offered it to the buccaneer; then, helping +himself in turn, he left the fork in the venison. The chevalier, seeing +that no one occupied himself with him, took a pigeon, a yam, seated +himself near the master and servant buccaneers, and, like them, began to +eat with the best of appetites.</p> + +<p>The pigeon was cooked so deliciously, the yams were perfect, and like +the most delicious potatoes. The pigeons disposed of, Peter cut long and +thick slices of the venison for his master. The chevalier followed his +example and found the flesh exquisite, fat and succulent, of fine flavor +enhanced the more by the pimentade.</p> + +<p>Croustillac frequently quenched his thirst, as did his companions, from +the gourd of maple sugar, and he finished his repast by eating half a +dozen apricots of wonderful fragrance and very superior to the European +species.</p> + +<p>Peter brought, then, a gourd of brandy; the master drank and then passed +it to his servant, who did likewise, then closed it carefully, to the +great disappointment of the chevalier who had extended his hand for it. +This was not stupidity on the part of the buccaneers; there is among the +Caribbeans a great distinction between the natural gifts which cost +nothing, belonging, so to speak, to everyone, and the articles purchased +with money, which belong exclusively to those who possess them—brandy, +powder, bullets, arms, skins, venison prepared after the fashion of the +buccaneers for sale, being of this number; fruits, game, fish, were +held, on the contrary, in common.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the chevalier frowned, rather from pride than gluttony. He +was on the point of complaining of this lack of respect to the servant, +but reflecting that, after all, he owed his excellent repast to +Rend-your-Soul, and that the latter could alone put him on the road to +Devil's Cliff, he restrained his ill humor, and said to the buccaneer +with a jovial air, "Faith! sir, do you know you give great and good +cheer?"</p> + +<p>"One eats what he finds; boars and bulls are not wanting in this island, +and the sale of their skins is good," said the buccaneer, filling his +pipe.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<p class="head">MASTER REND-YOUR-SOUL.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> more closely the chevalier studied Master Rend-your-Soul, the less +he was able to believe that this half barbarian was in the good graces +of Blue Beard. The buccaneer, having lighted his pipe, lay down on his +back, put his two hands under his head, and smoked, with his eyes fixed +on the hut, with an appearance of profound beatitude, and said to the +chevalier, "You have come here in a litter, with your pink stockings?"</p> + +<p>"No, my good friend, I have come on foot, and I would have come on my +head in order to see the most famous buccaneer in all the Antilles, +whose fame has even reached Europe."</p> + +<p>"If you are in need of skins," said the buccaneer in answer, "I have a +dozen bulls' skins so fine and beautiful that you would suppose them to +be buffalo. I have also a string of boar's hams such as are not cured in +any station."</p> + +<p>"No, no, my brave friend, I tell you admiration, nothing but admiration +has guided me. I arrived from France five days since in the Unicorn, and +my first visit is to you, whose merit I am well aware of."</p> + +<p>"Truly?"</p> + +<p>"As true as I call myself the Chevalier de Croustillac, for you will not +be displeased, perhaps, to know with whom you talk. My name is +Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"All names are a matter of indifference to me, except that of +<i>purchaser</i>."</p> + +<p>"And admirer, my brave friend, admirer, is that nothing? I, who have +come from Europe expressly to see you?"</p> + +<p>"You knew, then, that you would find me here?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly; but Providence has arranged it; and, thanks to +Providence, I have met the famous Rend-your-Soul."</p> + +<p>"Decidedly he is stupid," thought the chevalier. "I have nothing to +contend with in such a rival; if the others are no more dangerous, it +will be very easy for me to make Blue Beard adore me; but I must find +the road to Devil's Cliff. It will be truly racy to be conducted thither +by this bear." He spoke: "But, my brave hunter, alas! all glory is +bought; I wished to see you, I have seen you."</p> + +<p>"Very well, go your way, then," said the buccaneer, expelling a cloud of +tobacco smoke.</p> + +<p>"I like your brusque frankness, worthy Nimrod; but in order to go, I +must learn a road thence, and I know none."</p> + +<p>"From whence came you?"</p> + +<p>"From Macouba, where I lodged at the house of the Reverend Father +Griffen."</p> + +<p>"You are only two leagues from Macouba; my servant will guide you +there."</p> + +<p>"How! only two leagues!" cried the chevalier. "It is impossible! I have +walked since daybreak yesterday, until night, and since early morn until +noon, and have I gone but two leagues?"</p> + +<p>"One sometimes sees boars and above all young bulls deceived thus, and +make many steps almost without changing the inclosure," said the +buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"Your comparison smacks of the art of hunting, and, noble following as +it is, cannot shock a gentleman; then, admit that I have dodged about, +even like a young bull, as you say; it does not follow that I wish to +return to Macouba; and I depend upon you to show me the road I should +follow."</p> + +<p>"Where do you wish to go?"</p> + +<p>For a moment the chevalier hesitated, and knew not what reply to make. +Should he avow frankly his intention of going to Devil's Cliff? +Croustillac sought refuge in a subterfuge—"I wish to go by the road to +Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"The road to Devil's Cliff only leads to Devil's Cliff, and——"</p> + +<p>The buccaneer did not finish his sentence, but his face became menacing.</p> + +<p>"And—where does the road to Devil's Cliff lead?"</p> + +<p>"It leads sinners to hell, and saints to paradise."</p> + +<p>"So, a stranger, a traveler, who has a whim to visit Devil's Cliff——"</p> + +<p>"Would never return from thence."</p> + +<p>"At least, in that case, one does not risk getting lost on the return," +said the chevalier coolly. "'Tis well, my good friend, then show me the +way."</p> + +<p>"We have eaten under the same roof, we have drunk from the same cup; I +would not willingly cause your death."</p> + +<p>"So, in conducting me to Devil's Cliff, you kill me?"</p> + +<p>"It will come to the same thing."</p> + +<p>"Although your dinner was perfect, and your company very agreeable, my +brave Nimrod, you almost make me regret it, as this prevents you from +satisfying my wish. But what danger threatens me, then?"</p> + +<p>"All the dangers of death that a man can brave."</p> + +<p>"All these dangers—make but one, seeing that one can but die once," +said the Gascon carelessly.</p> + +<p>The buccaneer scanned the chevalier closely, and appeared impressed by +his courage as much as by the air of frankness and good humor which +showed through all his extravagance.</p> + +<p>The chevalier continued: "The Chevalier de Croustillac never knows fear +while he has his sister at his side."</p> + +<p>"What sister?"</p> + +<p>"This, which, by heavens, is not virgin," cried the Gascon, drawing his +sword and brandishing it. "The kisses she gives are sharp, and the +bravest have regretted making her acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"Miaow! miaow!" said the servant, who was a witness of this scene. This +cry made the Gascon start, and recalled to him the exploits of the +preceding night. He colored with rage, advanced upon the servant with +the sword's point, in order to chastise him with the flat of his steel; +but Peter withdrew dexterously and got out of reach, while the buccaneer +burst into laughter.</p> + +<p>This hilarity exasperated the chevalier, who said to Rend-your-Soul, +"Zounds! if you dare attack a man as you would a bull, beware."</p> + +<p>"Look at your sword; the steel is stained with blood and covered with +the hair of wildcats; it is that which made Peter cry out 'Miaow!'"</p> + +<p>"Defend yourself," repeated the chevalier furiously.</p> + +<p>"When I have four feet, claws and a tail, I will fight with you," said +the buccaneer quietly.</p> + +<p>"I will mark your face, then," said the chevalier, advancing toward +Rend-your-Soul.</p> + +<p>"Softly, velvet claws, pussy velvet claws," said the buccaneer, +laughing, and parrying with the muzzle of his gun the furious thrusts +which the exasperated chevalier bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>The servant would have come to the rescue of his master, but the latter +forbade.</p> + +<p>"Do not stir; I will answer for this redoubtable fellow. 'The burned cat +dreads cold water,' as they say. I am going to give him a good lesson."</p> + +<p>These sarcasms increased the chevalier's rage; he forgot his adversary +was defending himself with a gun, and he showered some desperate blows +upon him, while the buccaneer, showing a marvelous address and a rare +vigor, used his heavy gun like a stick.</p> + +<p>During this unequal combat, the buccaneer added to his insolence by +imitating the cry which cats make when they are angry, when they +disagree. This last outrage capped the climax; but against his attack he +found, in the buccaneer, a gladiator of the greatest strength in +fencing; and he had shortly the chagrin of seeing himself disarmed; his +sword was struck off some ten paces. The buccaneer threw himself upon +the Gascon; raised his gun like a club; he seized the chevalier by the +collar and cried, "Your life is mine; I am going to break your head like +an eggshell."</p> + +<p>Croustillac, looking at him without flinching, said, coldly, "And you +are trebly right, for I am a triple traitor." The buccaneer recoiled a +step. "I was hungry—you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me +drink; you were unarmed and I attacked you. Break my head—Zounds! break +it, you are right. Croustillac is dishonored."</p> + +<p>This was not the language of an assassin or a spy; then, holding out his +hand to the chevalier, the buccaneer said, with a rough voice, "Come, +clasp hands; we have been seated under the same roof, we have fought +together—we are brothers."</p> + +<p>The chevalier was about to put his hand in that of the buccaneer, but he +paused and said gravely, "Frankness for frankness; before giving you my +hand I must tell you one thing."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I am your rival."</p> + +<p>"Rival! how is that?"</p> + +<p>"I love Blue Beard, and I am resolved at all hazards to go to her and to +please her."</p> + +<p>"Clasp hands, brother."</p> + +<p>"A moment—I must say to you that when Polyphème Croustillac wishes to +please, he pleases; when he pleases, one loves him; and when one loves +him, one loves him madly and unto death."</p> + +<p>"Clasp hands, brother."</p> + +<p>"I will not touch your hand until you tell me if you will accept me +openly for your rival?"</p> + +<p>"And if not?"</p> + +<p>"If not, break my head; you will be right in so doing. We are alone; +your servant will not betray you; but I will never renounce the hope, +the certainty, of pleasing Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"Ah, this is another matter."</p> + +<p>"A last question," continued the chevalier; "You go often to Devil's +Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"I go often to Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>"You see Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"I see her."</p> + +<p>"You love her?"</p> + +<p>"I love her."</p> + +<p>"She loves you?"</p> + +<p>"She loves me."</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"Me."</p> + +<p>"She loves you?"</p> + +<p>"To madness——"</p> + +<p>"She has told you so?"</p> + +<p>"And—Blue Beard——"</p> + +<p>"Is my mistress."</p> + +<p>"On the word of a buccaneer?"</p> + +<p>"On the word of a buccaneer."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the chevalier to himself, "there is no more discretion +among barbarians than among civilized people. Who would say at the sight +of such a stupid fellow, that he was a coxcomb?" Then he said aloud, +"Ah, well, then, I repeat to you, break my head, for if you spare my +life I shall reach Devil's Cliff; I shall do all I can to please Blue +Beard, and I <i>shall</i> please her, I warn you. So, then, once more, break +my head, or resign yourself to seeing in me a rival, shortly a happy +rival!"</p> + +<p>"I say to you, clasp hands, brother."</p> + +<p>"How? in spite of what I say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It does not alarm you?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"It is all the same to you if I go to Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"I will conduct you there, myself."</p> + +<p>"Yourself?"</p> + +<p>"To-day."</p> + +<p>"And I shall see Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see her as often as you wish."</p> + +<p>The chevalier, moved by the confidence in him which the buccaneer +testified, did not wish to abuse it; he said in a solemn tone, "Listen, +buccaneer, you are as generous as a savage; this is not by way of +offense; but, my worthy friend, my loyal enemy, you are as ignorant as a +savage. Reared in the midst of the forest, you have no idea what a man +is who has passed his life in pleasing, seducing; you do not know the +marvelous resources which such a man finds in his natural attractions; +you do not know the irresistible influence of a word, a gesture, a +smile, a look! This poor Blue Beard does not know either; to judge from +what they say of her three husbands. They were three worthless fellows, +three vagabonds; she rid herself of them, rightly. Why has she rid +herself of them? Because she sought an ideal, an unknown being, the +dream of her dreams. Now, my brave friend, always be it said without +offense, you cannot deceive yourself to such a degree as to think that +you realize this dream of Blue Beard; you cannot really take yourself +for a Celadon—for an Adonis——"</p> + +<p>The buccaneer looked at Croustillac with a stupid air and did not appear +to understand him; he said, pointing to the sun, "The sun is setting; we +have four leagues to make before we arrive at Devil's Cliff; let us +start."</p> + +<p>"This unhappy man," thought the chevalier, "has not the slightest idea +of the danger he runs; it is a pity to disabuse his blindness; it is +like striking a child; it is snaring a sitting pheasant; it is killing a +sleeping man; on the honor of De Croustillac, it gives me scruples." +Then aloud, "You do not understand, then, my brave friend, that this man +as seductive as irresistible of whom I speak is none other than myself?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, bah! it is impossible."</p> + +<p>"Your surprise is not flattering, brave hunter, but if I speak thus to +you of myself, it is that honor compels me to tell the truth, the whole +truth, and nothing but the truth. You do not understand that, once +having seen me, Blue Beard will love me; and she will not love you any +more, my poor Rend-your-Soul. Understand, then, that it would be +cowardly and treasonable on my part not to warn you in advance as to the +position you hold with Blue Beard. I repeat, from the moment when I put +foot in Devil's Cliff, from the moment she sees me, when she hears me, +her love for you is at an end. Meantime, I have warned you, loyally +warned you; consider if you are willing to risk it."</p> + +<p>"Clasp hands, brother," said the buccaneer, seemingly insensible to the +danger that the chevalier pointed out to him. "Let us be going. We will +arrive at night at Devil's Cliff; a fall from the precipice would not be +pleasant at this hour."</p> + +<p>"Come on—you are mad—so be it, but I have warned you; it will be open +war," said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>The buccaneer, without making any reply to the chevalier, said to his +servant, "Shut up the dogs in the house, and have ready two dozen bulls' +skins, which will be needed to-morrow at Basse-Terre; I shall not +return to-night."</p> + +<p>"It falls aright," said the servant to himself, and with a shrewd air; +"he sleeps away from the hut one night in every three."</p> + +<p>While the buccaneer attached his belt, the chevalier said to himself, +looking at the hunter with a feeling of pity, "Faith! but he puts the +rope gayly about his own throat; since he will not heed my warning, let +him look out for himself. It appears that lovers are, in such cases, no +wiser than husbands. But as regards Blue Beard—if she is pretty—it +must be that she is—can she receive such a savage? Poor little thing. +It is very simple. She does not know the compensation that is reserved +for her. Hail to the gods. Croustillac, thy star has arisen!" continued +the chevalier, after some minutes of reflection.</p> + +<p>"Come, brother, let us start," said the buccaneer; "but before doing so, +Peter shall envelop your legs in a piece of skin which he has, for we +are going to traverse a bad quarter for serpents."</p> + +<p>The chevalier thanked the buccaneer, not without shrugging his shoulders +in pity for him, and said, "Unhappy man! he is shoeing me, but I shall +put a cap on him!"</p> + +<p>This stupid joke was to be fatally punished in Croustillac, who followed +his guide with renewed ardor, for was he not going to see Blue Beard?</p> + + +<p class="cdash top15">———</p> + +<p class="cdash">PART II.</p> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE MARRIAGE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">After</span> four hours' walk the chevalier and the buccaneer arrived close to +Devil's Cliff. The road was so difficult and so much incumbered that the +two companions could scarcely converse. Croustillac became more +thoughtful the nearer his approach to the dwelling of Blue Beard; in +spite of the good opinion he had of himself, in spite of his consoling +reflections regarding the allegorical nudity of Venus and Truth, he +regretted that his natural advantages were not set off by costly +garments. He ventured, then, after some hesitation, to tell a falsehood +to the buccaneer. "I assure you, my true and worthy rival, that my +servants and trunks are at St. Pierre and I find myself, as you see, +hardly clothed in a proper fashion to present myself before the queen of +my thoughts."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"What I would say, brave Nimrod, is that I have the appearance of a +beggar, in that my coat and shoes, which yesterday were almost new, are +to-day abominably tattered and appear at least six months old."</p> + +<p>"Six months? Oh! they are devilishly older than that to all appearances, +my brother."</p> + +<p>"All which proves how torrid your devilish sun is; in one day it has +faded my clothing which yesterday was the freshest sea-green, the most +tender and coquettish of colors, until now——"</p> + +<p>"They are almost mould-green," said the buccaneer. "It is like your +shoulder-strap—our devouring sun eats gold until he leave but a red +thread."</p> + +<p>"What signifies the shoulder-strap if the sword is free and strong from +the scabbard?" said Croustillac proudly. Then softening his tones, he +continued, "It is just because I am momentarily in an outfit unworthy my +rank, that I would inquire if I can find garments more suitable at +Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, do you think that Blue Beard keeps a second-hand clothing +establishment?" said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid that I should accuse her of such an ignoble traffic! But, +in fine, it would not be surprising if, as I say, by chance, there had +been overlooked in some corner of a clothes-press some garments +belonging to one of the deceased husbands of our charming friend?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"Well?" replied the chevalier imperturbably, "although it would cost me +an effort to appear in what did not belong to me, and above all, in what +could not fit me very well, I would reconcile myself to so doing, in +default of my fine clothing now at St. Pierre, even at the risk of being +abominably disfigured, perhaps, by the chance garments," continued he +disdainfully.</p> + +<p>The buccaneer broke into peals of laughter at the singular notion of his +companion. Croustillac colored with annoyance and said, "Zounds! you are +very facetious, my friend."</p> + +<p>"I laugh because I see I am not alone in the traffic of skins," said +Rend-your-Soul. "Truly we are brothers! If I despoil the bulls of their +skins, you are not too proud to despoil one of the husbands of the +widow. But we are now at the foot of the cliff. Take care, friend, one +must have a sure foot and a true eye to climb this ascent unharmed! If +you find it too rough, you need go no further; I will send you a guide +to conduct you back to Macouba."</p> + +<p>"Remain here! at my journey's end, almost! after a thousand +difficulties! at the moment when I shall see and captivate this +enchantress, Blue Beard," cried the chevalier. "You have lost your wits. +Come on, comrade, what you do, I will do," said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>Truth to say, thanks to his long legs, his natural agility and his +coolness, Croustillac followed the buccaneer over the perilous road +that led to the mansion, across the terrible precipice of Devil's Cliff. +A signal from the buccaneer and the wall of the platform was scaled, +and, with his companion, he entered the outer buildings.</p> + +<p>Reaching the covered passage which led to the widow's especial suite, +the buccaneer whispered a word in the ear of the mulattress. She took +the chevalier's hand and led him to a stairway in the passage. +Croustillac hesitated a moment to follow the slave. The buccaneer said, +"Go on, brother, you do not wish to present yourself thus before the +widow; I have said a word to old Jennette, and she is going to provide +you with the means to shine like the sun. As for me, I go to announce +your arrival to Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>So saying, the buccaneer disappeared in the covered passage. +Croustillac, guided by the mulattress, came to a room very elegantly and +comfortably furnished.</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" cried the adventurer, rubbing his hands and taking long +strides, "this begins well. Provided I can appear to advantage, provided +that the deceased husbands of the widow had decent figures and that +their clothes will not disfigure me too much, I shall please—I shall +captivate the widow; and this animal of a buccaneer, ousted by me from +the heart of Blue Beard, will return to-morrow—perhaps even to-night, +to his forest."</p> + +<p>Croustillac soon saw a number of negroes enter the room. One of them +staggered under an enormous parcel; the other carried on a chased silver +tray a silver gilt dish, wherein smoked a soup of the most appetizing +odor; two glass carafes, one filled with old Bordeaux, the color of +rubies, the other with Madeira wine, color of topaz, flanked the dish +and completed this light refreshment sent to the chevalier by the widow. +While one of the slaves placed before him a little table of ebony inlaid +with ivory, the negro bearing the parcel laid upon the bed a costume of +black velvet ornamented by rich flowers embroidered in gold. What was +singular about the coat was that the left sleeve was of cherry-colored +satin; this sleeve closed above the wrist with a broad facing of buffalo +skin.</p> + +<p>For the rest, with the exception of this peculiarity, the coat was +elegantly cut; stockings of very fine silk, a rhinegrave, or cravat, of +magnificent lace, a large felt hat adorned with beautiful white plumes +and a heavy gold cord were to complete the transformation of the +adventurer.</p> + +<p>While the chevalier endeavored to divine why the left sleeve of this +black velvet coat was of cherry-colored silk, the two negroes prepared a +bath in a neighboring dressing-room; another slave asked Croustillac in +quite pure French if he would be shaved and have his hair dressed; +Croustillac assented. Entirely refreshed and invigorated by an aromatic +bath, wrapped in a dressing-gown of fine Holland linen which exhaled the +most exquisite odors, the adventurer lounged on a soft divan while the +slaves waved enormous fans.</p> + +<p>The chevalier, in spite of his blind faith in his destiny, which, +according to him, was to become as beautiful as it had heretofore been +miserable, believed himself at times in a dream.</p> + +<p>His wildest hopes were surpassed; in casting a complacent glance on the +rich costume with which he was clothed, and which was to render him +fatally irresistible, he was seized with a feeling akin to remorse, on +account of the buccaneer, who had so unwisely given ingress to the wolf +into this fold in which dwelt his love. The thought of this good fellow +made Croustillac smile; he was prepared to bewilder Blue Beard by +language in which he would be victorious over her barbarous adorers.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a horrible fear obscured the smiling prospect for the Gascon. +He began to fear for the first time that Blue Beard might be repulsively +plain; he had also the modesty to think that perhaps it would be too +much of him to require of fate that Blue Beard be of an ideal beauty.</p> + +<p>Croustillac possessed good qualities. He said to himself with the +conviction of a man who knew perfectly how to moderate and set bounds to +his ambition—"Providing the widow be not more than from forty to fifty +years; that she be not blind or outrageously lame; that she has some +teeth and hair—faith! her wine is so good, her service so fine, her +servants so attentive—if she is worth three or four millions, I +consent to take the risk my predecessors did, and to make the widow +happy, on the honor of De Croustillac! seeing that I prefer to take the +consequences of my rôle as a husband rather than return on board the +Unicorn and swallow lighted candles for the amusement of that amphibious +animal, Captain Daniel. Well, then, should Blue Beard be plain, and of +overripe age, she is still a millionaire, and I will take care of this +good lady, and will be so very agreeable to her that, far from sending +me to join the other dead husbands, she will have no desire but that of +cherishing me dearly, and embellishing my life by all kinds of delicious +cares. Come, come, Croustillac," said the adventurer, with increased +exaltation, "I say truly, your star is in the ascendent, and shall shine +more than in the past it has been overcast! Yes, it is in the +ascendent."</p> + +<p>So saying, the chevalier called one of the blacks who was awaiting his +orders in a neighboring room, and with his assistance put on the velvet +dress with the cherry colored sleeve. The Gascon was tall, but bony and +thin; the garment which he donned was made for a man of the same height, +but broad-chested and small in the waist; so the vest formed some large +folds about the body of Croustillac; and his cherry-colored stockings +draped themselves no less majestically about his long, thin, and nervous +legs.</p> + +<p>The chevalier did not concern himself about these slight imperfections +of his costume; he threw a final glance at his reflection in the +Venetian mirror which the slave held up to him, arranged his rough, +black hair, caressed his long mustache, hung his formidable sword to a +rich strap of buffalo skin which had been brought to him, proudly put on +the felt hat with golden cord and white plumes, and, strutting up and +down the room with a triumphant air, impatiently awaited the moment of +presentation to the widow. This moment arrived shortly. The aged +mulattress who had received the adventurer came to seek him, and begging +him to follow her, ushered him into the retired building which we have +already seen.</p> + +<p>The room in which Croustillac waited some moments was furnished with a +luxury of which he had heretofore had no idea; superb old paintings, +magnificent porcelains, curiosities in goldsmith's work, of the most +costly nature, incumbered the furniture, as valuable on account of its +material as for its workmanship; a lute and a theorbo, whose ornaments +of ivory and gold were of a finish most uncommon in carving, attracted +the attention of Croustillac, who was delighted to think that his future +wife was a musician.</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" cried the chevalier, "is it possible that the mistress of so +much wealth is as beautiful as the day? No, no, I should be too +fortunate; although I deserve this happiness."</p> + +<p>We may judge of the surprise, not to say the shock, to the Gascon when +Angela entered. The little widow was radiant in youth, grace, beauty and +dress; robed in a costume of the fashion of Louis the Fourteenth, she +wore a dress of sky blue, the long waist of which seemed to be +embroidered with diamonds, pearls and rubies, though this profusion of +gems was arranged with taste.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, in spite of his audacity, recoiled before such a vision. In +all his life he had never encountered a woman so ravishingly pretty, so +royally dressed; he could not believe his eyes; he looked at her with +bewilderment. We must say, to the chevalier's credit, that he had a +laudable attack of modesty, but unhappily as fleeting as sincere. He +thought that so charming a creature might perhaps hesitate to marry an +adventurer like himself; but he recalled his impertinent and +vainglorious confidences to the buccaneer; he said to himself that, +after all, one man was as good as another, and he recovered very rapidly +his imperturbable assurance.</p> + +<p>Croustillac made, one after another, three of the most respectful bows; +in order to resume his upright attitude and at the same time display the +nobility of his figure, advancing on one of his long legs, and drawing +the other a little behind it, he assumed a conquering air, holding his +hat in the right hand and resting his left hand upon the handle of his +sword. Doubtless he was about to make some gallant compliment to Blue +Beard, for he had already placed his hand on his heart, and opened his +large mouth, when the little widow, who could no longer repress an +irresistible desire to laugh at the absurd appearance of the chevalier, +gave free vent to her hilarity. This explosion of gayety shut +Croustillac's mouth and he endeavored to smile, hoping thus to humor +Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>This polite effort took the form of so grotesque a grimace that Angela +fell on the sofa, forgetting all rules of politeness, all dignity, and +abandoned herself to a mad fit of laughter; her beautiful blue eyes, +always so brilliant, were veiled in tears of amusement; her cheeks +became crimson and her charming dimples deepened to such an extent that +the widow could have hidden in their depths the entire end of her rosy +little finger.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, much embarrassed, remained motionless before the pretty +widow, first contracting his eyebrows with an angry air, then, on the +contrary, he endeavored to relax his thin long face into a forced smile. +While these successive expressions did not tend to put an end to Blue +Beard's mirth, the chevalier said to himself that for a murderess, the +widow did not have such a gloomy and terrible appearance after all. +Nevertheless, the vanity of our adventurer could not easily brook the +singular effect which he had produced. For want of better conclusion he +ended by saying to himself that above all things he always struck the +imagination of women keenly; it was necessary at first to astonish them, +upset them, and that, in this respect, his first interview with Blue +Beard left nothing to be desired.</p> + +<p>When he saw that the widow had become a little calmer, he said +resolutely, and with superbly bombastic manner, "I am sure you laugh, +madame, at all the despairing efforts that I make to prevent my poor +stolen heart from flying quickly to your feet. It is that which has +brought me here; I could not but follow, in spite of myself; yes, +madame, in spite of myself. I said to it, 'there, there, softly, softly, +my heart, it does not suffice, in order to please a divine beauty, to be +passionately loving,' but my little, or rather my great and rash, heart +replied ever by drawing me to you with all its strength; as if it had +been the steel and Devil's Cliff the magnet; my heart, I say, replied to +me, 'Reassure yourself, master; tender and valiant as you are, the love +that you feel shall cause the birth of a love which you shall share.' +But pardon me madame, the language of my heart makes me outrageously +impertinent—it is doubtless this impertinence which makes you laugh +anew."</p> + +<p>"No, sir, no; your appearance diverts me to this great extent because +you resemble—ha! ha! ha!—in a strange way, my second husband. You have +positively the very same nose—ha! ha! ha!—and in seeing you enter, I +believed I saw his spirit—ha! ha! ha!—coming to reproach me—ha! ha! +ha!—with his cruel end—ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>The laughter of Angela redoubled. The chevalier was not ignorant of the +antecedents with which Blue Beard might be reproached, but he could not +conceal his great surprise at hearing this charming little creature +acknowledge the crime of murder with such incredible audacity. +Nevertheless, the chevalier recovered his customary coolness and replied +gallantly, "I am too happy, madame, to recall to you one of your +deceased husbands; and of reviving by my presence one of your memories, +whatever it may be. But," continued Croustillac with a gallant manner, +"there are other resemblances that I would wish to have to the +deceased—whose memory diverts you so much."</p> + +<p>"That is to say, you desire to marry me?" said Blue Beard to him.</p> + +<p>The chevalier was stupefied for a moment by this abrupt question.</p> + +<p>Angela went on: "I expected it; Rend-your-Soul, whom I call by an +abbreviation, my little Rendsoul, has informed me of your desires; +perhaps he wishes to raise false hopes," added the widow, looking +coquettishly at the chevalier.</p> + +<p>Croustillac experienced surprise after surprise. "How," he cried, "the +buccaneer has told you, madame——"</p> + +<p>"That you have come from France for the express purpose of marrying +me—is it true? See, speak frankly—do not deceive me. Oh, I do not like +to be thwarted. I warn you, if I have taken it into my head that you +shall be my husband, you shall be."</p> + +<p>"Madame, I beg of you, do not take me for a fool, for a jackanapes, for +a stupid; if I am dumb, it is with emotion, surprise." And Croustillac +looked about him uneasily, as if to assure himself he was not the sport +of a dream. "May I be shot if I expected such a reception."</p> + +<p>"Well, there is no need to make so many words over it," replied the +widow. "I have been told you wish to marry me—is it true?"</p> + +<p>"As true as that you are the most dazzling beauty that I have ever met," +said the chevalier impetuously, placing his hand on his heart.</p> + +<p>"Truly? Truly? You have really decided to marry me?" cried the little +widow, clapping her hands joyfully.</p> + +<p>"I am so decided, adorable widow, that my only fear now is of not seeing +this desire realized; it is, I avow, an excessive desire, a great dream, +and——"</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, then," said Blue Beard, interrupting the chevalier with +childlike frankness. "What is the use of these big words? You ask my +hand—why should I not give it to you?"</p> + +<p>"How, madame, can I believe it! Ah, wait, beautiful Islander. I have had +many triumphs in my life; princesses have avowed their passion for me; +queens have sighed when looking at me, but never, madame, never have I +found such a one! Yes, madame, you can congratulate yourself, you can +boast of having brought to its height my surprise, my joy and my +gratitude. Repeat, then, I implore you, repeat those charming words—you +consent to take me for your husband, me, Polyphème de Croustillac?"</p> + +<p>"I will repeat it as much as you desire; nothing is simpler; you can +well understand that I have too much trouble in finding husbands not to +seize eagerly the offer which you make me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame," replied the chevalier courteously, "at the risk of passing +for an impertinent man, I must allow myself to contradict you. Never can +I believe that you could find it difficult to find a husband. I will say +more—I am convinced that you have had, since your widowhood only +embarrassment of choice, but you have simply not wished to select. You +have too good taste, madame," said Croustillac audaciously, "you +waited——"</p> + +<p>"I might deceive you and allow you to think this, chevalier, but you are +too brave and gallant a man to be abused—at present," continued Angela, +with a gracious and confidential manner, "I will tell you all. Listen to +me. The first time I married, I had but to choose, it is true. O, +heavens! suitors presented themselves in swarms, and I chose—very well, +too. Then my second marriage: it was even then not the same thing. +People had commented on the singular death of my first husband, and +suitors had already begun to reflect before declaring themselves. +However, as I am not stupid, thanks to determination, cajolery and +coquetry, I succeeded in getting a second husband. Alas! it was not +without trouble. But the third. Oh, you have no idea all the trouble I +had; truly I was in despair!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, why was I not there!"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, but, unhappily, you were not. If they talked about the death +of my first husband; you can judge what they said about that of my +second. People began to distrust me," said the widow, shaking her pretty +little head with an expression of ingenuous melancholy. "What would you +have? the world is so meddling, so slanderous; men are so strange!"</p> + +<p>"The world is stupid and egotistical, foolish," cried Croustillac, +filled with pity for this victim of calumny. "Men are cowards and fools +who believe all the gossip which is told them."</p> + +<p>"What you say is very true. You are not so, my friend?"</p> + +<p>"She calls me her friend," cried Croustillac, in a transport; and he +answered, "No, certainly not, and I am not so."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless," said the widow, "you are very different; you spoil me by +accepting my proposition so quickly."</p> + +<p>"Say, rather, that I am beyond bounds overjoyed at it, madame."</p> + +<p>"You spoil me," continued the widow, with an enchanting smile, and +throwing a tender glance at the chevalier. "I assure you you spoil me; +you are so easy, so accommodating. Ah! how shall I replace you?"</p> + +<p>"Replace me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, after you, friend."</p> + +<p>"After me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly, after you."</p> + +<p>"Madame, I do not understand you. I do not wish to understand."</p> + +<p>"It is very simple; how can I hope to find another like you, who will +marry me so willingly? Ah, no, such men are rare!"</p> + +<p>"How, madame, after me?" cried Croustillac, overcome by this idea. "You +dream, then, of a successor to me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, friend," replied the widow, with the most touchingly sentimental +air imaginable; "yes, for when you are no more I must renew my quest, +seek, ask, and find a fifth husband. Think, then, of the difficulties +and obstacles to overcome. Perhaps I shall not succeed. Think, then, a +widow for the fourth time. You forget that; it is a fact, however; my +friend, after you, I shall be a widow for the fourth time."</p> + +<p>"I do not forget it at all, madame," said Croustillac, whose ardor +became somewhat chilled, and began to ask himself if this affair was not +madness. "I shall not forget, certainly, in case I have the honor of +marrying you, that you will be for the fourth time a widow if you lose +me; but it appears you place a rather short period to my love."</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes, my friend," said the widow, in a tender voice, "one year, +and a year is very short. A year! it passes so quickly when one loves," +continued she, casting the glance of a perfect assassin at him.</p> + +<p>"A year, madame," cried the chevalier. But then, believing that the +words of Blue Beard hid perhaps a test, that she wished possibly to +judge of his courage, he added in a chivalrous tone, "Ah, well, so be +it, madame; whether my happiness last but a year, a day, an hour, a +minute—it matters not; I will brave all, if only I can say that I have +been fortunate enough to obtain your hand."</p> + +<p>"You are a true knight," said the widow, charmed. "I expected no less of +you. That is agreed; only I must forewarn my little Rendsoul, for form's +sake, understand, for married or not I shall always be to him what I +have been."</p> + +<p>"But, madame," said Croustillac, "is it permitted me, will it be +indiscreet to ask you what you are to this hunter of wild beasts, and +what are his relations with you? Or, rather, will you explain to me what +intimacy it is that you feel obliges you to speak to him of your plans?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly; and to whom would I make this statement if not to you, my +friend? I will confess to you that Rendsoul is one of my lovers."</p> + +<p>Here Croustillac made such a singular grimace and coughed two or three +times in such a manner, that Angela broke into a peal of laughter.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, for a moment dumfounded, came to this reflection full of +wisdom: "I am a fool! Nothing is simpler. She had a kind of fancy for +this stupid fellow. The sight of me has decided her to sacrifice him; +unlucky buccaneer that he is! But why the devil does she tell me that at +the end of a year she must find a successor to me?"</p> + +<p>"Wait—here comes my Rendsoul," said the widow. "We will tell him our +plans, and we will sup together like three friends."</p> + +<p>"It matters not to me," said Croustillac, seeing the buccaneer enter. +"Here is a little woman who wishes to show that she is an original."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h3> + +<p class="head">THE SUPPER.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the buccaneer entered the chevalier hardly knew him. Rend-your-Soul +had put off his hunter's costume; he wore a coat and nether garment of +guinea cloth, thickly embroidered with alternate rays of white and deep +red; his black beard fell upon a shirt of dazzling whiteness, which was +close like a doublet by a row of small coral buttons; a scarf of red +silk, hose of the same color, and shoes of doeskin with large +ribbon-bows, completed a costume most elegant for a buccaneer, and +showing to advantage his tall and robust figure; in the brilliant light +of the candles his complexion seemed less brown than in the daytime; his +black hair, curling naturally, fell carelessly on his shoulders; and +finally, his hands were beautiful, in spite of his rough following as a +hunter.</p> + +<p>At the sight of the buccaneer, so transformed and almost unrecognizable, +in spite of the hard character which his thick beard always gave to his +face, the chevalier said to himself, "I should prefer that this person +had at least a civilized appearance; it would be too humiliating for +Polyphème de Croustillac to triumph over a rival so plain as the one +which he at first sight appeared to be. But, while I do not doubt this +Nimrod, I must say that Blue Beard has a singular manner of acting. +Could she not have given him his dismissal in some other way than in my +presence? I hate to so cruelly use my advantage in crushing a poor +rival; for, after all, a man is a man! This poor buccaneer is going to +find himself in a pitiable position. But let me hold firm; and show Blue +Beard that I am not the dupe of her confidence concerning her deceased +husbands, and that I am not afraid to die like them."</p> + +<p>Croustillac ended this reflection when the pretty widow, indicating the +adventurer by a triumphant nod of the head, said ingenuously to the +buccaneer, "This gentleman asks for my hand in marriage. You see you +were wrong in persisting to me that I would not find a fourth husband. +So you can imagine I have very quickly accepted the chevalier's +proposal; it was too good an opportunity to let slip."</p> + +<p>The buccaneer did not reply at once. Croustillac mechanically put his +hand on the hilt of his sword, in order not to be without means of +defense in case the hunter, exasperated by jealousy, should wish to do +him an injury. What was his surprise when he heard Rend-your-Soul say, +after seating himself in a large chair, "I have always said to you, my +beautiful one, just what that comrade Hurricane said, 'Marry, a thousand +devils marry! if you desire to, for husbands are rare, for one never +knows what you will do; but one thing is certain, they never live long.' +As for me, I do not approve your little proceedings. I have more than +once seen your little white hands prepare certain beverages——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, fie! fie! bad man!" said Angela, shaking her finger at him.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, it is true," said the buccaneer. "What is the secret of +that gray powder of which I had only given a pinch to my servant who was +devoured by my dogs. What infernal concoction was it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, this gray powder—tell us its compounds," said +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you indiscreet man!" said Angela, looking at the buccaneer, with an +air of annoyance. "The chevalier will take me for a child; how shall I +appear in his eyes if he thinks I occupy myself with such trifles?"</p> + +<p>"Have no fears on that score, madame," said Croustillac; "I am +delighted, I assure you, to have these new evidences of your youthful +candor! Well, worthy Nimrod, this gray powder?"</p> + +<p>"Truly, I am very much ashamed!" said Angela, hanging her head and +lowering her eyes, and at the same time making a charming little +grimace.</p> + +<p>"Imagine, then," said the buccaneer, "that I gave my servant just a +little pinch of powder in a glass of brandy."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Croustillac, with interest.</p> + +<p>"Well, for two days he was so gay that he laughed from night till +morning and morning till night."</p> + +<p>"I do not see anything bad in that," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"But wait!" continued the hunter. "My servant did not do this from +amusement, he suffered the torments of the damned; his eyes were +bursting from their sockets, and he said, between his paroxysms of +laughter, that such torture as he endured was beyond belief. The third +day he suffered so that he fell as if in a fit, and remained thus a long +time; all due to the pinch of madame's gray powder. It may not surprise +you to learn that madame's second husband was as gay as a lark, and that +he died very joyfully."</p> + +<p>"Oh! heavens, as if one could not commit a little mischief without being +reproached by you," said Angela, like a capricious child.</p> + +<p>"Listen, comrade! she calls that a little mischief," said the hunter. +"Just imagine! her second husband laughed so hard that the blood burst +from his nose, eyes and ears. But whatever he laughed about, he did so +as if he had seen the most amusing thing in the world. But that did not +prevent him from saying, like my servant, that he would rather have been +burned at a slow fire than suffer such gayety; he also died, laughing to +the last, and swearing like a devil."</p> + +<p>"There! you go too fast," said Blue Beard, shrugging her shoulders. +Then, whispering to the Gascon, "Friend, do not be afraid—I have lost +the secret of the gray powder!"</p> + +<p>The chevalier, in an attempt to smile, made quite a grimace. He had left +France at a time when the fearful practice in poisons was at its height, +and people talked only of the heir's powder, the powder of the aged, and +the widow's powder. The names, even, of certain poisons were cited with +fear. Now Blue Beard's laughing powder could not but give rise to the +most doleful reflections on the part of the chevalier. "So," he said to +himself, glancing defiantly at Angela, "does this creature deal in +chemistry and draughts—is this story true?"</p> + +<p>"What ails you, brother?" said the buccaneer, struck by Croustillac's +silence.</p> + +<p>"You have made him afraid of me," said the widow.</p> + +<p>"No, my beautiful lady, no," said Croustillac, "I was thinking that it +must be very pleasant to die thus of laughter!"</p> + +<p>"Faith, you are right, brother, one had better die so than as the last +husband died." And the buccaneer shuddered with horror.</p> + +<p>"It appears that the death of the latter must have been more terrible +than the former," said Croustillac, with affected carelessness.</p> + +<p>"As to that story, comrade, I will not tell you that, you would be +afraid."</p> + +<p>"I? afraid?" and the Gascon shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>Blue Beard leaned over and whispered again to the Gascon, "Let him tell +it, friend; this tale, at least, is worth the trouble. I am going to +trap Rendsoul."</p> + +<p>Then, addressing herself to the buccaneer, "Well, go on; speak! Why do +you not speak? Do not pause in the middle of the road. You see the +chevalier is listening with all his ears—go on, speak. I do not wish +him to buy, as they say, a 'a cat in a bag.'"</p> + +<p>"You should say a tigress in a bag," replied, laughingly, the buccaneer. +"Ah, well, sir," addressing Croustillac, "Fancy this third husband a +man, handsome, of dark complexion, thirty-six years of age, a Spaniard +by birth. We came across him at Havana."</p> + +<p>"Heavens! tell it quickly," said the widow, "the chevalier is impatient +to hear."</p> + +<p>"It was not a gray powder that he tasted, this one," replied the +buccaneer, "but a drop, one drop only, of a pretty green liquid +contained in the smallest flask I ever saw in my life, for it was made +of a single hollow ruby."</p> + +<p>"That is simple enough," said Angela, "the strength of this liquid was +such that it would dissolve or break any flask which was not made of a +ruby or a diamond."</p> + +<p>"You can judge, after that, chevalier," said the hunter, "of the +pleasure which this liquid must have given our third husband. Certainly +I am neither over-tender nor timid, but, after all, it is difficult to +become accustomed to seeing a man who looks at you with green eyes, +luminous, and set so deep in their orbit that they have the effect of a +glowworm in the depths of a subterranean cave."</p> + +<p>"The fact is," said Croustillac, who could not prevent a slight shudder, +"the fact is that at first this would appear strange."</p> + +<p>"That is not all; listen to the rest," said the widow with an air of +perfect self-satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The buccaneer continued: "That was only his usual condition, poor man, +having eyes like a glowworm, but what was most frightful was when madame +gave a supper to Hurricane, myself and Youmäale. She dipped a camel's +hair brush into the little ruby flask and compelled the unhappy Spaniard +to approach, and passed this brush over his eyelashes. Then one would +have said that from the eyelashes of this unhappy man there issued a +thousand rays; his green eyes, sunken in his head, protruded and rolled +in their orbit like two globes of fire, and threw such varied and +continual light that they sufficed to light up our feast, while the +wretched man stood immovable as a marble statue, saying in a piteous +voice, 'My head furnishes fuel for the lamps of my eyes!' It was well +that the poor man could not see the fire," said the buccaneer, bursting +into laughter at this cruel jest. "And when the supply of oil in the +lamp failed, the madame's husband went to join his predecessors, in +order to leave his place open to you."</p> + +<p>"What Rendsoul tells you is correct," said Blue Beard. "He is very +indiscreet, as you see, but he is truthful. And so am I. I have singular +ideas and caprices, I know; my God! I do not wish to represent myself as +better than I am. Above all, I would be frank with you and conceal +nothing. You would ask why my husbands are the only victims of my +playfulness? I have no power over others. And I always warn them what +will be their fate. It is that which makes it so difficult for me to +find a husband. It is on these conditions alone that Satan signs my +contract, and then this contract, signed by him, acquires a virtue as +wonderful as mysterious. Alas! my friend, may he soon sign ours. I have +thought of two preparations which are entirely different from the +others, and the effects of which are truly magical."</p> + +<p>All this time Croustillac experienced a strange sensation, which he +attributed to the fatigue of the day and the evening; it was as if a +lethargy possessed his brain and almost took from him the power of +resisting by use of his reason the impression made by these strange +tales of the widow and the buccaneer. Without believing these fabulous +inventions, he was nevertheless frightened by them as one is by a bad +dream. The chevalier hardly knew whether he was awake or asleep; he +looked at the buccaneer and the widow by turn, with a stupefied air, +almost terrified. Finally, being ashamed to show his credulity, he rose +abruptly and paced up and down a few minutes in the hope that movement +would dispel the torpor which he felt overwhelming him.</p> + +<p>Croustillac did not wish to be a butt for these two persons, and he +almost regretted having embarked so imprudently in this mad adventure. +He said to Blue Beard resolutely, "Come, come, you are jesting, madame; +do not trouble yourself; I comprehend the joke. I do not believe you as +ferocious or as much of a magician as you wish to appear; to-morrow, I +am sure I shall learn the secret of this comedy, which to-night, I avow, +gives me a kind of nightmare."</p> + +<p>These words of the chevalier, spoken from no motive but to show the +dwellers of Devil's Cliff that he did not intend to be their dupe, +produced on Blue Beard a singular effect. She cast a terrified glance at +the buccaneer, and said haughtily to Croustillac, "I do not jest, sir; +you came here with the intention of marrying me; I offer you my hand, +and I will tell you upon what conditions; if these are agreeable to you, +we will be married in eight days; there is a chapel here; the reverend +Father Griffen, of the parish of Macouba, will come hither in order to +unite us; if my conditions do not meet with your approval, you can quit +this house, where you never ought to have come."</p> + +<p>As Blue Beard proceeded her face lost its look of wicked cajolery; she +became sad, almost menacing. "A comedy!" she said; "if I thought you +took all that has been said as such, you should not remain a moment +longer in this house, sir," she continued, in a changed voice, betraying +her deep feeling.</p> + +<p>"No, the chevalier must not take it all as a jest," said the buccaneer, +looking steadily at the Gascon.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, naturally impatient and vivacious, experienced vexation at +not being able to discover what was true and what feigned in this +singular adventure. He cried then, "Well, zounds! madame, what do you +wish me to think? I encounter a buccaneer in the forest; I impart to him +my desire to meet you; he informs me abruptly that you will yourself +tell me that he has the good fortune to be in your good graces."</p> + +<p>"And then, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Then, madame, though I have warned him, the buccaneer has brought me to +you, by whom I have been received with the greatest hospitality, I must +acknowledge; I am introduced to you; informed of my desires, you +yourself offer me your hand, you inform your friend the bull-hunter of +my wishes."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, up to that time all went well; but now the buccaneer wishes to +inform me, with your consent, that I am reserved for a fourth deceased +husband, and to succeed a man who laughed himself to death, and one +whose eyes served as lights for one of your orgies!"</p> + +<p>"It is the truth," said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"How, the truth?" continued Croustillac, recovering his lost vivacity. +"Are we in the land of dreams? Do you take the Chevalier de Croustillac +for a simpleton? Do you think I am one of those weak-minded creatures +who believe in the devil? I am not a goose, and I also ask twenty-four +hours in which to demolish all these ridiculous stories."</p> + +<p>Angela became very pale, and threw a look of agony and indescribable +fear on the buccaneer, and replied to the chevalier with ill-concealed +anger, "Ah, who told you, sir, that all that has taken place is natural? +Do you know why I, young and rich, offer you my hand the first moment I +see you? Do you know what this union will cost you? You believe yourself +to have a strong mind; who told you that certain phenomena would not go +beyond your comprehension? Do you know <i>who</i> I am? Do you know <i>where</i> +you are? Do you know in consequence of what strange mystery I offer you +my hand? A comedy?" repeated Blue Beard bitterly, regarding the +buccaneer with an appearance almost of fear; "can you not be made to +understand that all this is not a play, sir? It is hardly to be believed +that your good angel brought you here, at least."</p> + +<p>"And then, after all, who told you that you would ever go out of this +place?" said the buccaneer coldly.</p> + +<p>The chevalier recoiled a step, trembling, and said:</p> + +<p>"Zounds! no violence, at least—or if so——"</p> + +<p>"If so, what can you do?" said Blue Beard, with a smile which appeared +to the Gascon implacably cruel.</p> + +<p>Croustillac thought, too late, of the doors he had shut behind him, of +the difficult road he had had to traverse in order to reach this +diabolical house; he saw himself at the mercy of the widow, of the +buccaneer, and of their numerous slaves. He repented heartily and most +earnestly of having so blindly entered upon such an enterprise. On the +other hand, Croustillac, in contemplating the enchanting figure of Blue +Beard, could not believe her capable of such bloodthirsty perfidy. +Nevertheless, the strange avowals she had made him, the terrible reports +concerning her, the threats of the buccaneer, began to make some +impression upon the chevalier. Just then a mulattress came in to +announce supper.</p> + +<p>During the gloomy reflections of the adventurer, Angela had a few +minutes' conversation with the buccaneer, carried on in a low voice; she +was, as a result, apparently satisfied and reassured, for, little by +little, her brow cleared, and the smile again came to her lips. "Come, +brave knight," said she gayly to the chevalier, "do not be afraid of me +any more; do not take me for the devil; and do honor to the modest +supper that a poor widow is only too happy to offer you."</p> + +<p>So saying, she graciously offered her hand to Croustillac. The supper +was served with a sumptuousness, a refinement, which left no doubt in +the chevalier's mind as to the enormous fortune of the widow. Only, we +would say to the reader that the silver-gilt service was not engraved +with the royal arms of England, as were the objects which were placed +only before Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>In spite of the sprightliness and ideal grace of the widow, in spite of +the witty sallies of the buccaneer, the supper was a gloomy one for +Croustillac. His habitual assurance had given place to a kind of vague +inquietude. The more charming Angela seemed to him, the more she +exercised her fascinations, the greater the luxury which surrounded her, +the more the adventurer found his distrust increased. In spite of their +absurdity, the strange tales of the buccaneer kept returning to the +remembrance of the chevalier—both the tale of the gray powder which +caused one to die of laughter, and the liquid in the ruby flask which +changed the eyes into brilliant lamps. While these recitals might not be +more real than a bad dream past—the Gascon, from dread of some infernal +dish, could not prevent himself from distrust of the viands and wines +with which he was served. He observed the widow and the buccaneer +closely; their manners were perfectly correct. Rendsoul bore himself +toward Blue Beard with the proper degree of familiarity which a husband +displays toward his wife before a stranger. "But then," the chevalier +asked himself, "how does this reserve accord with the cynicism of the +widow, who declared so cavalierly that the Caribbean and the filibuster +shared her good graces with the buccaneer, without the latter being +jealous in the slightest degree?" The Gascon asked himself still further +what could be the object of Blue Beard in offering her hand to him, and +what price she would put upon this union. He was too clear-sighted not +to have noticed the lively emotion, sincere on the part of the widow, +when she showed such indignation that the adventurer should believe her +capable of playing a comedy in offering her hand. On this point +Croustillac had not deceived himself. Blue Beard had been deeply moved; +she had been in despair on seeing that the Gascon took for a jest or a +comedy all that had passed at Devil's Cliff. She had been reassured on +seeing the vague disquietude which the face of the chevalier showed in +spite of himself. He was lost in vain conjectures. Never had he found +himself in a situation so strange that the idea of a supernatural +influence or power should present itself to his mind. In spite of +himself, he asked himself if there was nothing unnatural in what he had +seen and heard. The fact that he felt the first heavy agony of a +superstitious terror struck him most disagreeably. He did not dare to +acknowledge to himself that more determined men, wiser and more learned +men than he, had, within the century, and even the latter part of it, +testified a belief in the existence of a veritable devil. And then, +finally, the adventurer had been until then much too indifferent in the +matter of religion not to believe in the devil, sooner or later.</p> + +<p>This fear passed rapidly through the mind of the chevalier, but it would +leave, for the future, an indelible mark; however, he reassured himself, +little by little, at seeing the pretty widow do honor to the supper; she +showed herself too fond of the pleasures of the table to be a spirit of +darkness.</p> + +<p>The supper at an end, the three entered the drawing room, and Blue Beard +said to the chevalier in a solemn voice, "To-morrow I will inform you on +what conditions I will give you my hand; if you refuse them, you must +leave Devil's Cliff. In order to give you a proof of my confidence in +you I consent that you shall pass this night in the interior of this +house, although I never accord this favor to strangers. Rendsoul will +show you the rooms reserved for you." Saying this, the widow entered her +own apartment. Croustillac remained absorbed in thought.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, brother, how do you feel?" said the buccaneer.</p> + +<p>"What is your motive in addressing such a question to me? Is it +sarcasm?" said the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"My motive is simply to know how you like our hostess."</p> + +<p>"Hum, hum—without wishing to detract from her, you must confess that +she is a woman very difficult to estimate, at first sight," said +Croustillac, with some bitterness. "You cannot be surprised if I +consider the subject before I answer your question. To-morrow I will +tell you my opinion, if I am able to answer, myself."</p> + +<p>"In your place I should not consider the subject," said the buccaneer. +"I would accept, with eyes closed, all that she offered me, and I would +wed her; for, by my faith, one cannot tell who will live or who die; +tastes change with years. The days which succeed each other are +dissimilar."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, have done with your proverbs and parables," said the Gascon, +exasperated. "Why do you not marry her yourself?"</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you!"</p> + +<p>"Because I do not wish to die of laughter or have my eyes converted into +lamps."</p> + +<p>"And do you think that I wish to do so?"</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; why should I more than you wish to see the devil sign my contract, +as this woman playfully says?"</p> + +<p>"Then do not marry her; you are your own master; that is your lookout."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, it is my affair, and I will marry her if I choose! <i>Peste!</i>" +exclaimed the chevalier, who began to fear that he was losing his wits +by reason of this chaos of strange ideas.</p> + +<p>"Come, brother, be calm!" said the buccaneer; "do not worry yourself. Do +you doubt I will keep my word? I have brought you to Devil's Cliff; the +prettiest woman in the world offers you her hand, her heart and her +treasures; what more would you have?"</p> + +<p>"I would understand all that has taken place, everything that has +happened to me for the past two days, all that I have seen and heard +to-night!" cried Croustillac, exasperated beyond bounds. "I would know +if I am awake or dreaming."</p> + +<p>"You must not be too exacting, brother. Perhaps this night will bring +you a dream which will explain and enlighten you upon these subjects. +Come—it is late, the day has been hard; follow me." And, saying these +words, the buccaneer took up a candle and made a sign to the chevalier +to follow him.</p> + +<p>They passed through a number of sumptuously furnished rooms, and a +little gallery, at the end of which they reached a very elegant +bed-chamber, whose windows opened on the beautiful garden of which we +have already spoken.</p> + +<p>"You have been a soldier or a sportsman, brother," said the buccaneer, +"you will know, then, how to get along without a servant. No man, except +myself, Hurricane, and the Caribbean has ever passed the first door of +this place; our beautiful hostess has made an exception in your favor, +but this exception must be the only one. Knowing this, brother, may God +or the devil keep you in his care." The buccaneer went out, shutting +Croustillac in by means of a double lock.</p> + +<p>The chevalier, much disturbed, opened a window which looked out on the +little park. It was guarded by a trellis of steel netting which it was +impossible to break, but which did not hide a view of the beautiful +garden which the moon illumined with its soft light.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, ill at ease, examined the wainscoting and floor of his +chamber, in order to assure himself that they did not cover any trap; he +looked under his bed, sounded the ceiling with his sword, but failed to +discover anything suspicious. Nevertheless, by way of further prudence +and to make sure, the chevalier laid down in his clothing, after having +placed his faithful sword at his side, within reach. In spite of his +resolve not to go to sleep, the fatigue and emotions of his journey +plunged him quickly into a profound slumber.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>Angela, seated in the room of which we have spoken before, said to the +buccaneer: "Unfortunately, this man is not so stupid and credulous as we +had thought. Heaven grant he may not be dangerous!"</p> + +<p>"No, no; reassure yourself," said the buccaneer. "He has shown good +stuff, but our two narratives have struck him; he will remember this +night for a long time, and, what is better, he will talk about it. +Believe me, all the exaggerations which he will use to embellish his +recitals will only add to the strange stories afloat concerning Devil's +Cliff."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried the widow, still alarmed at the remembrance of the +adventurer saying that all was a comedy and that he would investigate +it, "in spite of myself I am terrified."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to be afraid of, I tell you, Madame Blue Beard," said +the buccaneer gayly, kneeling before Angela, and looking at her +tenderly. "Your diabolical reputation is too well established to suffer +the slightest diminution; but acknowledge that I have an imagination, +and that my gray powder and my green liquid accomplished wonders."</p> + +<p>"And my devil who witnesses my contract," said Angela, laughing merrily.</p> + +<p>"That is well; I love thus to see you laughing and merry," said the +buccaneer. "When I see you sad and dreamy I am always afraid our retreat +bores you."</p> + +<p>"Will you please hold your tongue, Monsieur Rendsoul? Have I the +appearance of wearying near you? Are you jealous of your rivals? Ask +them if I love them better than I do you. Have you not procured me this +distraction and the sight of this Gascon, to whom I owe the most +delightful amusement? I was unreasonable. Except for my stupid fears, +this evening was charming, because you were here, your eyes on mine, my +lover. Ah! the moonlight is superb, let us go for a walk in it +outdoors."</p> + +<p>"Beyond the house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; we will walk on the great cliff, you know, where one sees in the +distance the ocean. On such a beautiful night it will be delicious."</p> + +<p>"Come, then, capricious child, take your mantle," said the buccaneer, +rising.</p> + +<p>"Come, Sir Black Beard, take your Spanish sombrero and be ready to carry +me in your arms, out of reach of stumbling, for I am lazy."</p> + +<p>"Come, Madame Blue Beard; but you do not wish to visit our guest?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure the poor devil has some horrible dream. Ah, well, to-morrow +we will give him a guide and send him away."</p> + +<p>"No, keep him here another day. I will tell you what Father Griffen +thinks of it; amusements are rare, he will amuse you."</p> + +<p>"Heavens! what a beautiful night," said Angela, opening the blinds of +the window. "It will make me so happy to take a walk."</p> + +<p>Opening the outer doors of Devil's Cliff, the buccaneer and the widow +left the house.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>Contrary to his expectation, Croustillac passed an excellent night. When +he awoke the following morning the sun was already high in the heavens; +the blinds which were on his chamber windows had been lowered, +fortunately, which softened the light. The chevalier had lain down with +all his clothing on. He arose and went over to the window, and opened +the blinds partially. What was his astonishment to see, at the end of a +long walk bordered with tamarinds, that formed a screen almost +impenetrable to the light, Blue Beard walking, negligently, leaning on +the arm of a Caribbean of vigorous stature. This Caribbean was entirely +dyed, according to custom, that is to say, painted with a kind of +luminous composition of a reddish brown; his hair, black and glossy, +parted in the center, fell on either side of his cheeks; his beard +seemed carefully trimmed; his perfectly regular features partook of the +character of calm severity peculiar to the savage; on his neck shone +large crescents of carracolis (a kind of metal of which the West Indians +alone knew the secret, and composed of gold, brass and silver).</p> + +<p>These ornaments, of a brilliant red, were curiously chased and incrusted +with green stones, the color of malachite, and to these the Indians +attribute all kinds of marvelous virtues. The Caribbean was clad in a +loose white garment having a border of blue fringe; the large and +sweeping folds of this costume would have served as a model for the +drapery of a statue. With the exception of the neck, right arm naked to +the shoulder, and the left leg, this cotton garment enveloped the +Caribbean completely; on his wrist he had bracelets of carracolis also +incrusted with green stones; his leg was half hidden by a kind of sandal +made of bands of cotton stuff of a vivid color and very picturesque.</p> + +<p>Angela and Youmäale, for this was he, were walking slowly, and came +directly toward the window from the shadow of which the Gascon watched +them. A pink girdle about the beautiful figure of the widow confined a +long robe of white muslin; her blond curls fell around her fresh and +youthful face, which the adventurer had not seen before by day. He could +not refrain from admiring her white and clear complexion, her rosy and +transparent cheeks, her eyes so limpid and blue.</p> + +<p>The evening before, Angela had appeared to Croustillac in brilliant +apparel, and disturbed by the strange confidences of Blue Beard and the +buccaneer, the admiration of the chevalier was mixed with distrust, +impatience and fear, and he had been more alarmed than touched by the +beauty of Angela; but when he saw her in the morning so simply pretty, +he experienced a profound emotion; he was moved; he forgot Devil's Cliff +and the cannibal, and thought only of the beautiful creature before him. +Love, yes, true love took possession suddenly of the chevalier's heart +just before so little in love. Though the growth of this sudden passion +was so rapid and instantaneous, it was none the less sincere.</p> + +<p>Doubtless the evening before, Croustillac had suffered from too much +agitation, too sudden astonishment, too strange preoccupations, to +really appreciate Blue Beard; refreshed by a night's sleep, the past +seemed like a dream and Angela appeared as if for the first time to him; +admiring the supple figure outlined by the perfect fit of her white +muslin robe, he forgot the brocaded dress studded with precious stones +with which he was so impressed the preceding evening. He sought vainly +to discover, in the ingenuous and charming features which he now beheld +the diabolical smiles of the singular woman who had made such sinister +pleasantries concerning her three deceased husbands. In fact, poor +Croustillac was in love. Perhaps it was he and not Blue Beard who had +changed; but with his new love came all kinds of cruel jealousy.</p> + +<p>Seeing Angela and Youmäale walking together so familiarly, the +adventurer experienced agony and new disquietude increased by an intense +curiosity. Alas! what a sight for him. At times, Angela dropped the +Caribbean's arm in order to pursue, with the ardent enjoyment of a +child, the beautiful gold and blue insects, or to pick some lovely +fragrant flower; then she would suddenly return to Youmäale, always +calm, almost solemn, who seemed to have a feeling of grave and tender +protection for the young woman.</p> + +<p>At times the Caribbean gave his hand to the widow to kiss. Angela, happy +and proud at this favor, carried the hand to her lips with an air at +once respectful and passionate; she seemed a Caribbean woman accustomed +to live a submissive and devoted slave to her master. Youmäale held a +magnificent flower which the widow had given him. He let it fall to the +earth. Angela bent quickly, and picking it up, handed it to him, while +the savage made no gesture to prevent her, or to thank her for this +attention.</p> + +<p>"Stupid and gross animal!" cried Croustillac indignantly; "would one not +think he was a sultan? How can that adorable creature bring herself to +kiss the hand of a cannibal, who had no other way of sounding the +praises of the good priest Simon than that he had eaten him! Yesterday a +buccaneer, to-day a cannibal, to-morrow, without doubt, a filibuster. +But she is a veritable Messalina!" continued Croustillac, at once +despairing and feeling within himself a victim to a real passion.</p> + +<p>The widow and the Caribbean approached nearer and nearer the window +where Croustillac stood watching them, and he could hear their +conversation. Youmäale spoke French with the slight guttural accent +natural to his race; his words were few and brief. Croustillac overheard +these words of the conversation:</p> + +<p>"Youmäale," said the little widow, leaning on the arm of the Caribbean +and looking tenderly at him, "Youmäale, you are my master, I will obey +you; is it not my duty, my sweet duty, to obey you?"</p> + +<p>"It is thy duty," said the Caribbean, who used that form, but which +Angela did not. His dignity as the man demanded this.</p> + +<p>"Youmäale, my life is your life, my thoughts are yours," returned +Angela; "if you should tell me to put to my lips the deadly juice of +this poisonous apple, I should do it, to show you that I belong to you, +as your bow, your cabin, your canoe, belong to you."</p> + +<p>Saying these words Angela showed the silent Caribbean a yellow fruit +which she held in her hand, and which contained the most deadly and +subtle poison. Youmäale, after subjecting Angela to the most piercing +scrutiny, made an imperative gesture holding up the forefinger of his +right hand. At this sign, the widow quickly raised the deadly fruit to +her lips, and, had it not been for a movement still more rapid on the +part of the Caribbean she would perhaps have given this fatal proof of +passive obedience to the slightest caprice of her master. A movement of +affright as fugitive as lightning, contracted the impassive features of +the Caribbean as the widow lifted the apple to her lips; but he quickly +recovered his coolness, lowering the hand of Angela, kissing the young +woman gravely on the forehead, and saying to her in a sweet and sonorous +tone, "It is well."</p> + +<p>At this moment the two pedestrians were so close to the window of +Croustillac that the latter, fearing to be discovered eavesdropping, +withdrew suddenly into his chamber, and said "How she frightened me with +her poison. And this savage animal, who looks like a lobster, as much +from the color of his skin as from his movements, says to her, 'It is +well,' when this adorable woman, at a sign from him, would have poisoned +herself; for once in love, women are capable of anything." Then, after +some moments of cruel reflection, the Gascon exclaimed, "It is +inexplicable that a woman should be in love with a man such as this one +appears to be; with two, for this is evident; although it is an +enormity! But it is impossible that she should love three at the same +time; this descends to monstrosity—it is worthy of the lower regions. +How! Blue Beard, linked to a buccaneer, and a filibuster, also has a +frightful fancy for this cannibal who eats missionaries, without taking +into account in addition that she proposes to me to marry her! Zounds! +this is enough to make one lose his head. Decidedly I will not remain +here; no, no, a thousand times, no! What I have seen has made me ill. I +will not become so stupid as to take this woman; I should lose all my +advantages. Real love makes one as stupid as a goose; during this last +hour I have already lost more resolution than since my arrival here. My +heart has melted; I feel myself inclined to do the most ridiculous +things. Fly, fly; this is madness, a dream. I was born poor; I have +always been poor; I will die poor. I will leave this house, I will seek +out the worthy captain of the Unicorn. After all," said Croustillac, +with a discouragement singular in a man of his character, "there are +worse things than swallowing lighted candles to amuse Captain Daniel."</p> + +<p>These sad reflections were interrupted by the entrance of the old +mulattress, who knocked at his door and informed him that the negro who +had waited upon him in the capacity of valet the previous day was +waiting for him in the outer building.</p> + +<p>Croustillac followed the slave, was dressed, shaved and thus went to +wait upon Blue Beard in the same room where he had waited the preceding +night.</p> + +<p>The widow shortly appeared.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<p class="head">TRUE LOVE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> sight of Blue Beard, in spite of himself, Croustillac blushed like a +schoolboy.</p> + +<p>"I was very disagreeable yesterday, was I not?" said Angela to the +chevalier, with an enchanting smile. "I gave you a bad opinion of me +when I permitted Rendsoul to tell all kinds of tricks; but do not let us +speak of them any more. By the way, Youmäale, the Caribbean, is here."</p> + +<p>"I saw you from my window, madame," said the chevalier bitterly, while +he thought, "She has not the slightest shame. What a pity, with such an +adorable face. There, Croustillac, be firm!"</p> + +<p>"Is Youmäale not very handsome?" asked the widow with a triumphant air.</p> + +<p>"Humph! he is handsome for a savage," returned the chevalier, +unwillingly; "but, now that we are alone, madame, explain to me how you +can in one day (do not be shocked by this question which circumstances +compel me to ask you), how you can in one day change your lover?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is simple enough; one comes, the other goes; it is very simple."</p> + +<p>"One comes, the other goes—it is very simple from this standpoint, but, +madame, nature and morality have laws!"</p> + +<p>"All three love me truly, why should I not love all three?"</p> + +<p>This answer was made with such perfect candor that the chevalier said to +himself, "It seems as if this unhappy woman must have been raised in +some desert or cavern. She has not the slightest idea of good and evil; +one would have to absolutely educate her." He said aloud, with some +embarrassment, "At the risk of being taken for an indiscreet and +wearisome person, madame, I would say that this morning, during your +walk with the Caribbean, I both saw and heard you. How is it that at a +sign from him you would dare, at the risk of poisoning yourself, lift to +your lips the deadly fruit of the poisonous apple?"</p> + +<p>"If Youmäale should say to me 'die' I should die," replied the widow.</p> + +<p>"But the buccaneer, the filibuster—what would they say if you should +die for the Caribbean?"</p> + +<p>"They would say I had done right."</p> + +<p>"And if they demanded that you should die for them?"</p> + +<p>"I would die for them."</p> + +<p>"As you would for Youmäale?"</p> + +<p>"As for Youmäale."</p> + +<p>"Then you love the three equally?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, because all three love me equally."</p> + +<p>"She has a rooted idea and no one can dislodge it," thought the Gascon; +"I lose my trouble. Her accent is too frank to be assumed. It may be +that evil tongues have slandered a fraternal affection that this young +woman bears for these three bandits. Though the buccaneer gave me to +understand—after all, perhaps I misunderstood him and, as I am going to +leave her, I would much rather believe her more innocent than culpable; +although she does appear very hard to me to acquit." He went on: "A last +question, madame. What was the object of the atrocious tales that you +and the buccaneer related last night concerning two of your deceased +husbands—that one had died of laughter and the other been used as a +lamp, thanks to the intervention of Satan who always, according to the +same story, signs your marriage contract? You must feel, madame, that, +however polite I may be, it is extremely difficult for me to appear to +believe such follies as these."</p> + +<p>"They are not follies."</p> + +<p>"How—you wish me to believe——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you must believe them, and many other things, after you have +evidence of them," said the widow, with a peculiar tone.</p> + +<p>"And when will you explain this mystery to me, madame?"</p> + +<p>"When I tell you the price I place upon my hand."</p> + +<p>"Ah, she is beginning to jest again," thought the Gascon. "I will appear +to be duped, in order to see what she will do; I wish she was far +away—that my stupid fancy were completely extinguished." Then aloud, +"Was it not to-day that you were to say what price you place upon your +hand, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"At what hour?"</p> + +<p>"This evening, when the moon rises."</p> + +<p>"Why not now, madame?"</p> + +<p>"That is a secret you will know like others."</p> + +<p>"And if I marry you, you will give me but one year to live?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! only a year."</p> + +<p>"Let me appear duped," said the Gascon to himself; and aloud, "Is it +your desire that my days should be so few?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" cried the widow.</p> + +<p>"Then, personally, you do not dislike me?" said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>At this question the face of Blue Beard changed entirely and her +expression became grave and thoughtful; she raised her head proudly, and +the chevalier was struck with the air of nobility and goodness which +overspread her face. "Listen to me," she said, with an affectionate and +protecting voice. "Because certain circumstances in my life oblige me to +a conduct often strange; because I perhaps abuse my liberty you must not +think I have a contempt for men of heart."</p> + +<p>Croustillac looked at the widow with surprise. She was not the same +woman. She appeared like a woman of the world. He was so taken aback +that he could not speak.</p> + +<p>Blue Beard continued: "You ask me if I hate you; we have not yet reached +the point where such sentiments, good or bad, can attain such extremity; +but I am far from hating you; you are certainly very vain, very +boastful, very arrogant——"</p> + +<p>"Madame!"</p> + +<p>"But you are good, brave, and you would be capable, I am sure, of a +generous devotion; you are poor, of obscure birth——"</p> + +<p>"Madame, the name of Croustillac is as good as any other," cried the +chevalier, unable to vanquish the demon of pride.</p> + +<p>The widow continued as if she had not heard the chevalier. "If you had +been born rich and powerful, you would have made a noble use of your +power and your wealth. Want has counseled you to more evil than she has +made you perform, for you have suffered and endured many privations——"</p> + +<p>"But, madame——"</p> + +<p>"Poverty finds you careless and resigned; fortune would have found you +prodigal and generous; in a word, what is of rare occurrence, you have +not been more hurt by poverty than you would have been by prosperity. If +the amount of your good qualities has not brought you much more than the +heedlessness of youth, this house would not have been open to you, be +certain of that, sir. If the proposition that I shall make you to-night +is not agreeable to you, I am sure, at least, that you will not carry +away a disagreeable remembrance of Blue Beard. Will you await me here?" +she said, smiling, "I am going to take a look at Youmäale's breakfast, +for it is customary with the Caribbeans that the women alone take care +of this, and I wish, in that respect at least, that Youmäale should feel +as if in his own cabin."</p> + +<p>So saying, the widow left. This interview was, so to speak, a finishing +touch to the unhappy chevalier. Although the widow had shrewdly summed +up the character of Croustillac, she had expressed it in a manner full +of kindness, grace and dignity. She had, in fact, shown herself in a new +light, which overthrew all the Gascon's suppositions. The simple and +affectionate words of Angela, the sweet and noble look which accompanied +them, rendered Croustillac prouder and happier than he would have been +at the most extravagant compliments. He felt, with a mixture of joy and +fear, so completely and hopelessly in love with the widow that had she +been poor and friendless he would have been truly and generously devoted +to her—the most unmistakable symptom of true love.</p> + +<p>The astounding presumption of the chevalier deserted him. He understood +how ridiculous the part he had played must appear; and, as the property +of true sentiment is always to make us better, more intelligent and more +sensible, in spite of the chaos of contradictions which surrounded +Angela's conduct, the chevalier discerned that these appearances must +hide a grave mystery; he also said to himself that the intimacy of Blue +Beard with her lovers, as she called them, covered, without doubt, +another secret, and that this young woman was, as a consequence, +slandered in a most unjust manner. He said, further, that the apparent +ease with which Angela assumed a frightful cynicism before a stranger +was not without some very pressing reason. In consequence of this +rehabilitation of Blue Beard in the mind of Croustillac, she became in +his eyes, completely innocent of the murder of her three husbands. +Finally, the adventurer began to believe, so much had love metamorphosed +him, that the solitary inmate of Devil's Cliff wished to mock him; and +he proposed to clear up his suspicions that same night, when the widow +should tell him the price she placed upon her hand.</p> + +<p>One thing embarrassed Croustillac—how could the widow have informed +herself of his life so completely? But he remembered, with some +exceptions, that he had not made any mystery of the greater part of the +antecedents of his life on board the Unicorn, and that the business +manager of Blue Beard's affairs at St. Pierre might have discussed the +passengers with Captain Daniel. Finally, with a wisdom and good sense +which did credit to the new feeling which animated him, Croustillac put +these two cases to himself: Either Blue Beard wished to amuse herself, +and that night would say to him frankly, "Sir, you have been an +impertinent meddler; blinded by vanity, urged on by cupidity, you have +made a wager that you would become my husband in a month's time; I have +wished to torment you a little, and to play the ferocious part +accredited to me; the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the Caribbean are +my three servants in whom I have entire confidence; and as I live alone +in a very isolated locality, each of them comes by turn to watch at +night. Knowing the absurd stories afloat, I wished to amuse myself at +the expense of your credulity; this morning, even, I saw from the end of +the walk that you were spying upon me, and the comedy of the poisonous +apple was arranged with Youmäale; as for the kiss he placed upon my +forehead"—here the chevalier was embarrassed for a moment as to how to +excuse this part of the rôle which he supposed played by the widow; but +he solved the question by saying to himself that, according to Caribbean +customs, this familiarity was, doubtless, not considered strange.</p> + +<p>The chevalier felt that he must be satisfied with this explanation; and +to do him justice (a little late, in truth) he would renounce his mad +hopes, beg the widow to forget the conduct of which he had been guilty, +kiss her hand and ask her to furnish him with a guide, resume his poor +old garments, of faded green, and pink stockings, and return to a +happier fate which awaited him in the cabin of the Unicorn's worthy +captain.</p> + +<p>If, on the contrary, the widow had serious views in regard to the +chevalier (which he found some difficulty in admitting to himself, +although he was not blind to his own merit), he would repay her with the +happiness of his life; he would charge himself personally with +protecting his wife, and banish the buccaneer to his trading-station, +the Caribbean to his hut, and the filibuster to his occupation; at +least, if the widow did not prefer to return with him to France to live +there.</p> + +<p>We must say to the honor of poor Croustillac that he hardly dwelt upon +this last hope; he considered his first interpretation of the conduct of +the widow as much more probable. Finally, by a natural reaction, of mind +over matter, the triumphant boasting of the chevalier ceased at the same +time with his conceit. His face was no longer distorted by grotesque +vanity; for it expressed the better qualities of the +chevalier—resolution, courage—we would add loyalty, for it was +impossible to add more frankness to his conceit than was to be found in +the Gascon.</p> + +<p>While the Chevalier de Croustillac waited with impatience the night of +this day which promised to be so fertile in developments, because Blue +Beard intended to signify her final intention, let us conduct the reader +to Fort Royal, at Martinique, the principal port of the island, where +the governor resided the greater portion of the time. There had +transpired a new incident which demands our immediate notice.</p> + +<p>The shipyard at St. Pierre, where the Unicorn had touched, was intended +for the anchorage of merchant vessels, just as the shipyard at Fort +Royal was for ships-of-war.</p> + +<p>About the same time that Youmäale was walking with Blue Beard, the +lookout above the governor's house (at Fort Royal) signaled a French +frigate; the watch sent his assistant to inform the officer of artillery +commanding the battery at the fort, in order that he might fire a salute +(as was the custom) to the king's flag, (the custom being to fire a +salute of ten guns from all the ships-of-war when they came to anchor). +To the great surprise of the lookout who repented then of having +dispatched his assistant to the sergeant, he saw the frigate heave to, +outside the roadstead, and lower a boat; this boat was propelled through +the waves to the entrance of the port, while the frigate rode at anchor +and waited for it.</p> + +<p>This proceeding was so strange that the lookout reported to the captain +of the Governor's Guards, and related to him what had occurred, to the +end that he could countermand the salute from the fort. This order +given, the captain went at once to inform the governor of this singular +evolution on the frigate's part.</p> + +<p>An hour later, the boat belonging to the French ship arrived at Fort +Royal, and landed a person dressed like a man of some rank, who was +accompanied by the lieutenant of the frigate. They went at once to the +house of the governor, Baron de Rupinelle.</p> + +<p>The officer gave a letter from the captain commanding the Fulminante to +the baron. His vessel was under orders to wait the result of the mission +with which Monsieur de Chemerant was charged, and to depart at once. +They had hastily taken on some fresh victuals and fresh water for the +men on board. The lieutenant went out to attend to matters pertaining to +reprovisioning the frigate, and Monsieur de Chemerant and the governor +were alone.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant was a man of from forty-five to fifty years, of a +dark olive complexion which gave to his sea-green eyes an added charm; +he wore a black peruke and a brown coat trimmed with gold braid. His +features were intellectual, his words few, his eye piercing; his mouth, +or rather his lips, were altogether too thin and compressed to ever +smile; if he occasionally gave vent to sarcasm upon what had happened, +his face became still more serious than usual. He had also very polished +manners and showed his familiarity with the best society. His courage, +discretion and coolness were such that Monsieur de Louvois had already +frequently employed him in missions of the greatest difficulty and +danger.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant afforded a striking contrast to the governor, +Baron de Rupinelle, a large and indolent man, having but one care, that +of keeping cool; his face was gross, purple and full; his eyes, +unusually round, gave him a look of perpetual surprise. The baron, +honest and brave, but a perfect nonentity, owed his position to the +powerful influence of the Colbert family to which he was related through +his mother.</p> + +<p>In order to receive the lieutenant of the frigate, and Monsieur de +Chemerant with proper courtesy, the baron had removed, much to his +regret, a white cotton coat and a hat of Caribbean straw to put on an +enormous blond wig, squeeze into a coat of a kind of blue uniform +embroidered with gold braid, and buckled on a heavy shoulder-belt and +sword. The heat was intense, and the governor anathematized the +etiquette of which he was the victim.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said De Chemerant, who seemed perfectly indifferent to this +tropical temperature, "can we speak without fear of being overheard?"</p> + +<p>"There is no danger on that score, sir; this door opens into my study +where there is no one, and that one into the gallery which is also +unoccupied."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant arose, looked into the two places, and carefully +shut both doors.</p> + +<p>"Pardon, sir," said the governor, "if we remain here with only two +windows open——"</p> + +<p>"You are right, baron," said De Chemerant, interrupting the governor and +shutting the windows with equal care, "that is more prudent; we might be +heard from the outside."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, if we remain without a current of air we shall suffocate +here. It will become a perfect oven."</p> + +<p>"That which I have the honor to say to you, sir, will not take long; but +it concerns a state secret of the greatest importance, and the slightest +indiscretion may jeopardize the success of the mission which has been +confided to me by the king's command. You must accord me, then, the +privilege of shutting ourselves in here until the close of our +interview."</p> + +<p>"If it is the king's orders, I must submit, sir," said De Rupinelle, +with a heavy sigh and wiping his forehead. "I am entirely at your +service."</p> + +<p>"Be so good as to cast your eye upon my credentials from his majesty," +said De Chemerant; and he took a paper from a little box which he bore +with great care and never intrusted to any one.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE ENVOY FROM FRANCE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the governor read his dispatch De Chemerant looked with a +satisfied air at an object within his box and said to himself, "If I +have occasion to use it, this will be perfect; my idea is excellent."</p> + +<p>"This order, sir, is regular; I must execute all the commands you give +me," said the governor, looking at his visitor with profound +astonishment. Then he continued, "It is so very warm, sir, that I must +ask your permission to remove my wig, in spite of proprieties."</p> + +<p>"Make yourself comfortable, sir, make yourself comfortable, I beg of +you."</p> + +<p>The governor threw his wig on the table and seemed to breathe more +easily.</p> + +<p>"And now, baron, be so good as to reply to a number of questions which I +have the honor to put to you." And De Chemerant took from his little box +some notes wherein was stated, doubtless, what he wished to ask the +governor.</p> + +<p>"There is, not far from the parish of Macouba, in the midst of woods and +rocks, a kind of fortified mansion called Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, and this same house does not bear a very good name. Chevalier +de Crussol, my predecessor, made a visit to the place to learn what +foundation there was for these rumors, but I have searched in vain for +papers bearing upon this subject among his correspondence."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "This house is occupied by a woman—a +widow, baron?"</p> + +<p>"So thoroughly a widow, sir, that she has been surnamed in the country +Blue Beard, because of the rapidity with which she has successively made +way with the three husbands she has had. Might I venture to say that +this cravat in stifling me, sir?" added the unhappy governor; "we do +not usually wear them here, and if you will permit me——"</p> + +<p>"Take it off, sir, the service of the king will not suffer thereby. +Chevalier de Crussol, your predecessor, you say, began an investigation +on the subject of the disappearance of the three husbands of this Blue +Beard?"</p> + +<p>"So they told me, sir, but I have never found any trace of this +investigation."</p> + +<p>"Commander de Saint-Simon, who fulfilled the duties of governor after +the death of De Crussol, and before your arrival here, did not deliver +to you, baron, a confidential letter written by De Crussol?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes, sir," said the governor, looking at De Chemerant with +profound astonishment.</p> + +<p>"This letter was written by De Crussol a short time previous to his +death?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"This letter relates to the inhabitant of Devil's Cliff; is this not +true, baron?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said the governor, more and more surprised to find De +Chemerant so well informed.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Crussol assured you in this letter, upon his honor, that +this woman called Blue Beard was innocent of the crimes imputed to her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, but how can you know?"</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant interrupted the governor and said, "Allow me to +say, sir, that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you, and not +replies. I have the honor to ask of you if, in this letter, the +deceased, De Crussol, did not vouch for the entire innocence of the +widow surnamed Blue Beard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"He affirmed to you, on the faith of a Christian, and at the moment when +he was about to appear before his God, also on his word as a gentleman, +that you could, without prejudice to the service of the king, leave this +woman at liberty and in peace?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And that, finally, the Reverend Father Griffen, a man of well-known +piety and the most honorable character, would be further surety for +this woman, if you demanded it of him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, and, in truth, in a confidential interview, very special and +very secret——"</p> + +<p>"Which you had with Father Griffen, baron, this religious man confirmed +to you what De Crussol had stated in his last letter, and you made him, +in form, a promise not to disturb the aforesaid widow?"</p> + +<p>The governor, unable to fathom his being so well informed, gazed at De +Chemerant in bewilderment. The kind of emotion which this examination, +joined to the oppressiveness of the air, occasioned, was choking the +baron. After a short pause he said resolutely to De Chemerant, "Faith, +sir, one must accommodate oneself to one's situation. I must ask +permission to take off my coat. This trimming of gold and silver weighs +a hundred pounds, I believe."</p> + +<p>"Take it off, take it off, baron; the coat does not make the governor," +he said gravely, with a bow; then he continued: "Thanks to the advice of +De Crussol and the Reverend Father Griffen, the dweller at Devil's Cliff +has not been disturbed, baron? You have not visited the place, in spite +of the strange stories about it?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I assure you, the recommendation of the persons so respectable +as Father Griffen and the deceased De Crussol were sufficient. And then +the road to Devil's Cliff is impassable; the rocks bare and rent; it +takes two or three hours to climb them; and faith, I assure you, sir, to +make such a journey under the sun of the tropics," said the baron, +wiping his forehead, which was perspiring at the mere thought of such a +climb, "appears to me entirely inadvisable, because, morally, I am +convinced that the aforesaid stories have no foundation, and I think in +that I am not wrong."</p> + +<p>"Allow me, baron, to ask you some further questions."</p> + +<p>"At your service, sir."</p> + +<p>"The woman called Blue Beard has a counting house at St. Pierre?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Her business man is empowered to send out her vessels which are always +destined for France?"</p> + +<p>"That, sir, is very easily verified in the clearing books of the +captains.</p> + +<p>"And these registers?"</p> + +<p>"Are there in that case."</p> + +<p>"Will you take the trouble to look them over, baron, and to select from +them some dates which I was going to ask of you?"</p> + +<p>The governor arose, mounted painfully on a chair, and took down a large +volume bound in green leather, placing it on his desk; then, as if this +exertion had redoubled the heat he was suffering from and exhausted his +strength, he said to De Chemerant: "Sir, you have been, doubtless, a +soldier; you can understand that we live a little carelessly; for, +without further parley and asking pardon for the great liberty, I will +remove my vest, if you please; it is embroidered in cloth and as heavy +as a cuirass."</p> + +<p>"Take it off—take off everything that you wish to," replied De +Chemerant with impervious gravity; "there is so little left for me to +say to you that I trust you will not need to remove more of your +apparel. Can you feel assured, other than from these facts, that the +vessels loaded with cargoes by our widow have always been sent to +France?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the governor, opening his register; then, following +with the end of his finger the tables, he read, "'For Rochelle, for +Rochelle, for Bordeaux, for Bordeaux, for Rochelle, for Rochelle, for +Havre de Grace.' You see, sir, the vessels have always sailed for +France."</p> + +<p>"That is well, baron. According to the direction, frequent enough, of +vessels of commerce, which leave the counting-house wharves, it follows +that Blue Beard (we will adopt the popular surname) can put a vessel to +sea very quickly."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, sir."</p> + +<p>"Has she not a brigantine always ready to put to sea, and which can in +two hours be at the Creek of Caymans, not far from Devil's Cliff, where +there is a little harbor," said De Chemerant, consulting his notes once +more.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; this brigantine is called the Chameleon; Blue Beard recently +placed it, very generously, at my service (through the mediation of +Monsieur Morris, her man of business), to give chase to a Spanish +pirate, and there is an old filibuster of a captain called Hurricane, +who commands the vessel——"</p> + +<p>"We will speak of this filibuster later, sir, but this pirate——"</p> + +<p>"Was sunk in the Rivière des Saints."</p> + +<p>"To return to this filibuster, baron; he frequents the house of Blue +Beard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"As much so as another bad fellow, a buccaneer by trade?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said the baron in a dry tone, resolved to confine himself to +the secondary rôle which De Chemerant imposed upon him.</p> + +<p>"A Caribbean also is often there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"The presence of these men in the island is of how recent date?"</p> + +<p>"That I do not know, sir; they were established here at my arrival in +Martinique. They say that the filibuster formerly pursued his calling on +the north of the Antilles and the seas of the south. Like many captains +who have made something by filibustering, he has bought here a little +dwelling at the point of the island, where he lives alone."</p> + +<p>"And the buccaneer, baron?"</p> + +<p>"This kind of person is here to-day, gone to-morrow, according to +whether the hunt is more or less abundant; sometimes he remains away a +month, and it is the same with the Caribbean."</p> + +<p>"This information accords perfectly with that which was given me; +beside, I do not speak of men of this sort other than by hearsay. They +are far too unimportant, and too foreign to the mission which I am in +charge of, to merit their occupying my attention for any length of time. +They are, at most, passive instruments," continued De Chemerant to +himself, "and they are probably very indirectly connected with this +grave matter." Then, after a few minutes' reflection, he said aloud, +"Now, baron, one more question: have not your secret police notified you +that the English have tried to introduce themselves into this island +since the war?"</p> + +<p>"Twice, lately, sir, our cruisers have given chase to a suspicious +vessel coming from the Barbadoes seeking to approach from the windward, +the only places where one can land in the island; elsewhere the coast is +too rugged to permit landing."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said De Chemerant. After a moment's silence he said, "Tell +me, baron, how long would it take to go to Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"About eleven hours; the roads are difficult, one could not reach there +before nightfall."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, baron," said De Chemerant, taking out his watch, "in two +hours from now, that is to say, at one o'clock in the afternoon, you +will have the goodness to order thirty of your most reliable guards to +arm themselves, to provide themselves with scaling ladders, one or two +bombs, and to hold themselves in readiness to follow and obey me as they +would yourself."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, if you wish to go to Devil's Cliff, you must start at once in +order to arrive by daylight."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless baron; but as I desire to arrive in the middle of the night, +you will see the wisdom of my not starting for two hours."</p> + +<p>"That is another thing, sir."</p> + +<p>"Can you procure for me a covered litter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, there is mine."</p> + +<p>"And can this go to Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"To the foot of the mountain only, not a step further, for they say it +is impossible for a horse to climb the heaped-up and yawning rocks."</p> + +<p>"Very good; will you, then, be so good, baron, as to have this litter +prepared, as well as a mount for me; I will leave it at the foot of the +cliff."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"I warn you, baron, that it is of the greatest importance that the +object of this enterprise be perfectly concealed; all will be lost if +they are warned of my visit to Devil's Cliff; we shall not inform the +escort of our destination until outside Fort Royal, and we shall make, I +hope, as much haste as the roads will permit. In a word, baron," +continued the envoy, with a confidential air, which he had not assumed +until then, "mystery is so much the more indispensable that it concerns +a state secret and the future of two great nations."</p> + +<p>"Because of Blue Beard?" said the governor, questioning with a curious +glance the cold and grave face of De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"Because of Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>"How?" replied the baron. "Blue Beard, then, counts for something in a +state secret, in the peace of two great nations?"</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant, who did not like repetition, made an affirmative +sign and continued, "I also beg of you, baron, that you will see that +the frigate's boat does not leave the wharf, so that I may return on +board and put to sea without remaining here a second, if, as I hope, my +mission be successful. Ah! I forgot; the litter must be such that it can +be entirely closed."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, is it, then, a prisoner that you are in search of?"</p> + +<p>"Sir," said De Chemerant, rising, "a thousand pardons for repeating to +you that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you instead of——"</p> + +<p>"Good, very good, sir," said the governor. "Then I may open the +windows?" asked the baron, who was suffocated in this apartment.</p> + +<p>"I see nothing to prevent, baron."</p> + +<p>The governor arose.</p> + +<p>"So, baron," said De Chemerant, "it is understood that you do not inform +the guide who is to conduct me of my destination, until the moment of +our departure?"</p> + +<p>"But in the meantime, sir, if I send for him, what shall I say to him?"</p> + +<p>The visitor seemed astonished at the simplicity of the governor, and +said to him, "Who is this guide, sir?"</p> + +<p>"One of my blacks, who works at the king's house, a good league from +here. He is an oddity who has run away himself so often that he is more +familiar with the inaccessible spots of the island than with the open +roads."</p> + +<p>"Is this slave reliable, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Entirely, sir; he would have no object in leading you astray; beside, I +will warn him that if he does, I will have his nose and ears out off."</p> + +<p>"It is impossible that he should resist such a consideration, baron. But +to reply to your objection—how will this negro occupy himself until the +moment of our departure?"</p> + +<p>"An idea!" cried the baron triumphantly; "he can be flogged; that will +mislead him; he believes that no one summons him here other than for +that reason."</p> + +<p>"That would be, certainly, an excellent means, baron, of working a +diversion in his ideas, but it will suffice, I think, to keep him shut +up until the moment of our departure. Ah! I had forgotten another thing, +baron; I beg you will see that, during my absence, everything that can +be found in the way of delicacies in fruit, vegetables, game, fine +wines, confections, etc., etc., be sent on board ship. You need not +consider expense, I will meet that."</p> + +<p>"I understand you, sir; I must collect, in the way of refreshments, all +that it is possible to keep on board during the first days of the +voyage, as much so as if it were for the entertainment of a person of +the greatest distinction," said the governor curiously.</p> + +<p>"You understand me marvelously well, baron. But I fancy this black, our +guide, has viewed, at least from the outside, the habitation at Devil's +Cliff."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; and he tells very strange stories about that house and the +solitudes where it is builded."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, baron; here is a task for this slave; give orders that he be +brought to me pending the time of our departure, and I will question him +concerning what I wish to discover."</p> + +<p>"I will send in search of him at once," said the governor, going out.</p> + +<p>"May God or the devil convey this affair into safe harbor," said De +Chemerant, when he was alone. "Fortunately, I have no need of the aid of +this stupid governor; the greatest difficulty is still to be surmounted; +but no matter, I have faith in my star. The affair of Fabrio-Chigi was a +much more difficult matter, and then the hope, if not of a crown, at +least almost of a throne, the ambition to direct the course of a great +nation, the desire of recovering the good graces of the king, his +relative, would not there be reasons sufficient to determine the most +rebellious will? and, moreover, if these reasons were not enough," said +De Chemerant, after some moments of silence, striking his little box, +"here is another argument which will be, perhaps, more effectual."</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>Two hours later De Chemerant started for Devil's Cliff at the head of +thirty of the Governor's Guards, armed to the teeth. A litter, drawn by +two mules, followed this little detachment, preceded by the guide. This +slave had had a long interview with De Chemerant, and, as a consequence, +he had taken two scaling ladders and petards carried on a pack horse, a +bundle of stout ropes with grapples of iron, and two axes. Moreover, De +Chemerant had given orders to the lieutenant of the frigate to send him +two good sailors chosen from among the fifteen sailors forming the crew +of the boat which awaited, at the landing at Fort Royal, the result of +the expedition.</p> + +<p>This little company set out, preceded by the guide, who, flanked by the +two sailors, marched a little in advance of De Chemerant. After having +followed the coast for a long time, the troop climbed a very high hill, +and pressed on into the interior of the island.</p> + +<p>We will leave De Chemerant advancing slowly toward Devil's Cliff, and +will rejoin Father Griffen at Macouba, and Colonel Rutler at the bottom +of the precipice, where he had arrived by way of the subterranean +passage, after the wildcats, by devouring the corpse of John, had +removed the obstacle which before had held the English envoy in the +cavern of the Caraibe.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE STORM.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Monsieur De Chemerant</span> had scarcely left Fort Royal at the head of his +escort when a young mulatto of about fifteen, after having followed for +some time, hiding in the ravines or the swamps, on seeing the troop take +the road to Devil's Cliff, started with all haste for Macouba.</p> + +<p>Thanks to his perfect knowledge of the country and of certain roads not +open, this slave reached Father Griffen's parish very soon. It was about +four o'clock in the afternoon; the good priest was taking his afternoon +nap, comfortably extended in one of the hammocks so ingeniously made of +rushes by the Caribbeans. The young mulatto had the greatest difficulty +in persuading one of the priest's two slaves to awaken his master; +finally Monsieur concluded, after long hesitation, because of the deep +and peaceful sleep of the priest, to do so.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" said the priest.</p> + +<p>"Master, a young mulatto has come in haste from Fort Royal and wishes to +speak to you at once."</p> + +<p>"A mulatto from Fort Royal," said Father Griffen, springing from his +hammock. "Let him come in quickly. What do you want, my child?" +continued he, addressing the young slave; "have you come by direction of +Monsieur Morris?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Father. Here is a letter from him. He told me to follow an escort +of troops leaving Fort Royal this morning, and directed me, if they took +the road to Devil's Cliff, to come and tell you, Father. His letter will +explain the rest."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my child, the troop——"</p> + +<p>"Plunged into the Goyaviers valley, and took the road to the Black +Rocks; that leads only to Devil's Cliff."</p> + +<p>Father Griffen, much disturbed, broke the seal of the letter and seemed +overcome at its contents. He re-read it with evidence of the greatest +surprise, and then said to the mulatto, "Go quickly and find Monsieur."</p> + +<p>The mulatto went at once.</p> + +<p>"An envoy from France has arrived; he had a long interview with the +governor, and I fear he has started with armed men for Devil's Cliff, as +Monsieur Morris believes," said the priest, walking up and down +agitatedly. "Monsieur Morris does not know, cannot know more. But +I—I—I tremble to think of the consequences of this visit. Doubtless +the mystery has been unveiled. And how, how? Who can have put them on +the scent? Did not the secret die with De Crussol? His letter is my +guarantee. Did they not quiet the governor and cause him to give up all +pursuit of this unhappy woman?" Then, referring to Monsieur Morris' +letter, the priest continued: "'A French frigate which remains at anchor +outside the roadstead, an envoy who confers for two hours with the +governor, and who, after this interview, leaves for Devil's Cliff with +an escort'—there is more than suspicion, there is certainty? They have +come to carry her off. My God! can it be true? But, the secret—who but +myself knew it? for I only knew it, oh, yes, I alone, at least unless a +frightful sacrilege—but no, no!" said the priest, clasping his hands +with terror. "Such a thought on my part is a crime. No, it is +impossible. I would rather believe it was indiscretion on the part of +the only person who has an interest for life or death in the mystery, +than that it should be the most impious treachery. No, a thousand times +no; it is impossible! but I must start at once for Devil's Cliff. +Perhaps I can get the advance of this man who has left Fort Royal with +an escort. Yes, by hurrying, I may do it. I will find that unlucky +Gascon; they have nothing to fear there. His extraordinary appearance on +board made me believe the poor devil, for a time, to be an emissary from +London or Saint-Germain; but I have, as they say, turned him inside out, +in every way. I mentioned before him abruptly certain names which, had +he been in the secret, he would have found it impossible not to betray +it, however guarded he might be, and he remained impassible. I +understand men too well to have been deceived by him; the chevalier is +nothing but a crazy adventurer, a spoiled child, in whom, after all, +good qualities triumph over the bad ones."</p> + +<p>At this moment Monsieur appeared.</p> + +<p>"Saddle Grenadille at once."</p> + +<p>"Yes, master."</p> + +<p>"Unchain Colas."</p> + +<p>"Yes, master."</p> + +<p>"Do not forget to put my large traveling cloak behind my saddle."</p> + +<p>"Yes, master."</p> + +<p>The black went out, then returned almost immediately, saying, "Master, +shall I arm Colas?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, we go through the forest."</p> + +<p>While his mare was being saddled, the priest continued to pace up and +down restlessly. All at once he cried, with fright, as if struck by a +sudden thought, "But if I have been deceived; if this adventurer, under +a guise of frivolity, concealed some plan coolly resolved upon—some +sinister design? But no! no! cunning and dissimulation could not attain +to such an odious perfection. But what if his errand coincides with that +of this man who has started out with an escort? And I, I who have +answered for this adventurer, I who in my letter of yesterday have +almost approved their decision concerning him, thinking, as they did, +that this Gascon by repeating the mysterious stories connected with +Devil's Cliff, would only advance the ends of those who live there. But +what if I have been deceived? if I have helped introduce a dangerous +enemy there? But no! he would have taken action before this if he had +known the secret. And still—no! no! perhaps he waited the arrival of +this frigate and this emissary before acting? Perhaps he is working with +him? Oh! I am in terrible uncertainty."</p> + +<p>So saying, Father Griffen went out quickly to hasten the preparations +for his departure. Monsieur was saddling Grenadille and Jean was arming +Colas.</p> + +<p>Some explanation is necessary in order to instruct the reader in regard +to a new actor of which we have thus far had no occasion to speak. Colas +was a boar, possessed of marvelous intelligence; this boar always +accompanied him and went ahead on these excursions. Thanks to their +long, rough hair, and to their thick coat of fat, which impedes and +congeals, so to speak, the sting of serpents, boars and even +domesticated pigs carry on in the colonies a desperate war with these +reptiles; Colas was one of their most intrepid enemies. His armor +consisted of a kind of muzzle of iron pierced with little holes, and +ending in a kind of very sharp crescent. This protected the end of the +boar's head, its only vulnerable part, and furnished him with a +formidable weapon against serpents. Colas always preceded Grenadille +some steps, clearing the road and putting to flight the serpents which +would have stung the mare.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen, if he had known of the abrupt departure of Croustillac +(the adventurer had, as we know, left the parsonage without any farewell +to his host), would have offered Colas to the chevalier, when he became +assured that Croustillac was absolutely determined to penetrate the +forest. The priest thought that the boar would protect Croustillac from +some of the dangers to which he would be exposed; but the early flight +of the latter rendered the thoughtfulness of Father Griffen futile.</p> + +<p>After placing the house in charge of the two blacks, on whose +faithfulness he knew he could count, the priest spurred Grenadille, +whistled to Colas, who responded with a joyful grunt, and like another +St. Antony, the good father took the road which would lead him to +Devil's Cliff, fearful of arriving too late, and also of encountering on +the way De Chemerant, whom he could with difficulty hope to head off.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>The reader will remember that, thanks to the voracity of the wildcats +which had devoured the corpse of the sailor John, Colonel Rutler had +been enabled to emerge from the pearl-fisher's cave by way of the +underground passage. In order to understand the extreme importance and +difficulty of the expedition which Colonel Rutler had undertaken, we +must recall to the reader that the park contiguous to Blue Beard's +mansion ran from north to south, like a kind of isthmus surrounded by +abysms. On the east and west these abysms were almost without bottom, +for on these sides the furthermost trees of the garden overhung a peak +of tremendous height, whose granite face was washed by the deep and +rapid waters of two torrents. But on the north, the park jutted on a +steep incline, accessible, though dangerous in the extreme. +Nevertheless, this side of the garden was sheltered from attack, for in +order to climb these rocks, less perpendicular than those on the east +and west, it was necessary to first descend to the bottom of the abyss +by the opposite side, an undertaking physically impossible to attempt, +even with the aid of a rope of sufficient length, the face of the rock +sometimes jutting out and sometimes broken by the angles of the rocks +projecting or receding.</p> + +<p>Colonel Rutler, on the contrary, having passed through the underground +passage, had at once reached the foot of the precipice; there remained +for him only to essay the perilous ascent in order that he might gain +entrance into Devil's Cliff. It would take about an hour to climb these +rocks; he did not wish to enter the park surrounding the mansion until +night had fallen; he waited before starting on his road, until the sun +should be setting. The colonel had thrust the skeleton of John out of +the passage. It was thus, near these human remains, in a profound and +wild solitude, in the midst of a veritable chaos of enormous masses of +granite thrown up by the convulsions of nature, that the emissary of +William of Orange passed some hours, reclining in a cleft in the rocks +in order to escape the heat of a tropical sun.</p> + +<p>The oppressive silence of this solitary place was now and then +interrupted by the roar of the sea as it fell upon the beach. Soon the +golden light of the sun became more rosy; great angles of light outlined +the face of the rocks where one could discern the further trees of Blue +Beard's park, becoming fainter, little by little; and dull mists began +to envelop the bottom of the abyss where Rutler waited. The colonel +judged it time to depart.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding his rare energy, this man of iron felt himself seized, +in spite of himself, with a kind of superstitious fear; the horrible +death of his companion had affected him keenly, the enforced fast to +which he had been subjected since the preceding evening (he could not +bring himself to eat the serpent), mounted to his head, causing singular +and sinister ideas; but, surmounting this weakness, he commenced the +ascent.</p> + +<p>At first Rutler found the points of support allowed him to rapidly climb +a third of the face of the cliff. Then serious obstacles began to +present themselves; but with dogged courage he surmounted them. At the +moment when the sun disappeared suddenly below the horizon, the colonel +reached the summit of the cliff; broken by fatigue and pain, he fell +half-fainting at the foot of the further trees of the park at Devil's +Cliff; happily among these were several cocoanut trees; a large quantity +of ripe nuts lay on the ground. Rutler opened one with the point of his +dagger; the fresh liquid inclosed within appeased his thirst, and its +nourishing pulp his hunger. This unexpected refreshment renewed his +strength, and the colonel penetrated resolutely into the park; he walked +with extreme caution, guiding himself by the instructions John had given +him, in order that he might reach the white marble fountain not far from +which he wished to conceal himself. After walking some time in this +obscurity, under a tall forest of orange trees, Rutler heard in the +distance a slight sound as of a stream of water falling into a basin; +soon after he reached the border of the orange grove, and by the faint +light of the stars—for the moon would not rise until later—he saw a +large vase of white marble, situated in the midst of a circular space, +on all sides surrounded with trees. The colonel, pushing aside some +thick shrubs of Indian plants, enormous reeds which grow abundantly in +that humid soil, hid himself some steps away from the fountain and +quietly awaited events.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>In order to sum up the chances of the safety or danger to which the +mysterious dwellers at Devil's Cliff were exposed, we must remind the +reader that De Chemerant had started from Fort Royal in the afternoon, +and was advancing with all haste; that Father Griffen had hastily left +Macouba in order to head off the French envoy; and that Colonel Rutler +had secreted himself in the center of the garden.</p> + +<p>We must now relate all that since the morning had passed over the heads +of Youmäale, Blue Beard and the Chevalier de Croustillac.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE SURPRISE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> left the adventurer under the unexpected attack of a passion as +sudden as it was sincere, and waiting impatiently the explanation, +possibly the hope, which Blue Beard was about to give him.</p> + +<p>After partaking of a repast respectfully served him by Angela, to the +despair of the chevalier, the Caribbean gravely withdrew and seated +himself on the border of a small lake, under the shadow of a mangrove +tree which grew on its bank; then resting his elbows on his knees and +his chin in the palms of his hands Youmäale gazed into space, and +motionless maintained for a long time the contemplative idleness so dear +to savage races.</p> + +<p>Angela had re-entered the house. The chevalier walked up and down in the +park, throwing, at intervals, a jealous and angry glance at the +Caribbean. Impatient at the silence and immobility of his rival, and +hoping, perhaps, to draw from him some information, Croustillac placed +himself near Youmäale, who, however, did not appear to notice him. +Croustillac moved and coughed; no change on the part of the Caribbean. +Finally the chevalier, with whom patience was not a favorite virtue, +touched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "What the devil have you +been looking at for the past two hours? The sun is nearly setting, and +you have not moved."</p> + +<p>The Caribbean turned his head slowly toward the chevalier, looked +fixedly at him, still resting his chin on his palms, and then resumed +his former attitude, without replying.</p> + +<p>The adventurer colored angrily, and said, "Zounds! when I speak, I wish +to be answered."</p> + +<p>The Caribbean maintained silence.</p> + +<p>"These grand airs do not impress me," cried Croustillac. "I am not one +of those to be eaten alive!"</p> + +<p>No answer.</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" continued the chevalier; "do you not know, stupid cannibal +that you are, I can make you take an involuntary bath in the lake as a +means to teach you manners, and in order to civilize you, you savage?"</p> + +<p>Youmäale arose gravely, threw a disdainful glance at the chevalier, then +pointed at an enormous trunk of a mahogany tree with gnarled roots which +formed the rustic bench upon which he had been sitting.</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" said the chevalier. "I see that trunk, but I do not +understand your gesture, unless it signifies that you are as deaf and +dumb and as stupid as that tree."</p> + +<p>Without responding to this, the Caribbean stooped, took the trunk of the +tree in his muscular arms, and threw it into the lake with a significant +gesture, which seemed to say, "That is how I could treat you." Then he +slowly withdrew, without having revealed in his features the slightest +emotion.</p> + +<p>The chevalier was stupefied by this proof of extraordinary strength; for +the block of mahogany tree appeared to him, and in fact was, so heavy +that two men could with difficulty have accomplished what the Caribbean +unaided had done. His surprise having passed, the chevalier hastened +after the savage, exclaiming, "Do you mean to say that you would have +thrown me into the lake as you threw that trunk?"</p> + +<p>The Caribbean, without pausing in his passage, bent his head +affirmatively.</p> + +<p>"After all," thought Croustillac, halting, "this eater of missionaries +is not lacking in good sense; I threatened him first with throwing him +into the water, and after what I have seen I am obliged to confess that +I should have found it hard to do so, and then it would have been rather +a dishonorable way in which to dispose of a rival! Ah, the evening is +slow in coming. Thank God! the sun is setting, the night will soon fall; +the moon will rise and I shall know my fate; the widow will tell me +everything, I shall unravel all the profound mystery which is hidden +from me now. Let me think over the sonnet which I have reserved for a +grand effect—it is intended to describe the beauty of her eyes. Perhaps +she has never heard a sonnet—possibly she will be sensible of its +beauty and spirit; but no, I cannot hope for that happiness."</p> + +<p>Pacing the path with long strides, Croustillac began to declaim his +verses:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They are not eyes, they are two gods,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which are robed in power complete.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gods? nay, they are the heavens——"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The adventurer was not to finish his verse, for Mirette came to inform +him that her mistress was awaiting him at supper. The Caribbean never +partook of this meal, and Croustillac was to be alone with the widow. +She seemed dreamy and said little; she started involuntarily and +frequently.</p> + +<p>"What troubles you, madame?" said Croustillac, also preoccupied.</p> + +<p>"I do not know; strange presentiments, but I am foolish. It is your +gloomy face that gives me the blues," she added, with a forced smile. +"Come, amuse me a little, chevalier. Youmäale is doubtless at this +moment worshiping certain stars, and I am surprised at not seeing him; +but it rests with you to make me forget his absence."</p> + +<p>"Here is an excellent opportunity to produce my sonnet," said the Gascon +to himself. "If I dared, madame, I would recite some little verses which +might, perhaps, interest you."</p> + +<p>"Verses—how? are you a poet, chevalier?"</p> + +<p>"All lovers are, madame."</p> + +<p>"That is an admission—you are in love, in order to be entitled to be a +poet?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame," said Croustillac sadly. "I am in love by right of +suffering."</p> + +<p>"And to chant your sad martyrdom—let us hear the verses."</p> + +<p>"The verses, madame, do all in their power to picture two blue eyes, +blue and beautiful, like yours; it is a sonnet."</p> + +<p>"Let us have this sonnet."</p> + +<p>And Croustillac recited the following lines in a languorous and +impassioned tone:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They are not eyes, rather gods are they,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They are above kings in power true.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gods, no! they are the heavens of tender blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And their radiant glance makes kings obey."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"One must choose, chevalier," said Blue Beard; "are they eyes, or gods, +or the heavens?"</p> + +<p>Croustillac's reply was a happy one:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The heavens, no! each a radiant sun</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whose burning rays but blind the view.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Suns? not so, but light so strong, so true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They predict the love but just begun!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Really, chevalier, I am curious to know where you will stop. Suns, I +own, please me; gods also."</p> + +<p>Croustillac continued with a languorous softness:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ah! if gods, would they work me ill?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If the heavens, would add more sorrow still?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Two suns? 'tis false—that orb is one——"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Ah, heavens, chevalier, you delight me; among all these charming +comparisons there remains nothing more for me but lightening——"</p> + +<p>Croustillac bowed his head:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Stars! no, the stars are too many, too clear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Always my meaning shineth still,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Eyes, gods, suns, and stars appear."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"How charming; at least, chevalier," said Angela, laughing, "you have +given me a choice of comparisons, and I have but to select; therefore I +shall keep them all—gods, heavens, suns and stars."</p> + +<p>The adventurer looked at Blue Beard a moment in silence; then he said, +in a tone the sadness of which was so sincere that the little widow was +struck by it, "You are right, madame; this sonnet is absurd; you do well +to mock at it, but what would you have? I am unhappy, I am justly +punished for my mad presumption, my stupidity."</p> + +<p>"Ah, chevalier, chevalier, you forget my request; I told you to divert +me, to amuse me——"</p> + +<p>"And if, in so doing, I suffer? if, in spite of my absurd situation, I +experience a cruel mortification; how can I play the buffoon?"</p> + +<p>The adventurer uttered these words quietly but in a penetrating tone, +and with considerable emotion. Angela looked at him in astonishment, and +was almost touched by the expression of the chevalier's face. She +reproached herself for having played with this man's feelings; after +all, he lacked neither heart, courage nor goodness; these reflections +plunged the young woman into the midst of melancholy thoughts. In spite +of the passing effort which she had made to be gay and to laugh at the +sonnet of the Gascon, she was a prey to inexplicable forebodings, +oppressed by vague fears, as if she felt instinctively the dangers that +were gathering about her.</p> + +<p>Croustillac had fallen into a sad reverie. Angela's eyes fell upon him +and she felt sorry for him; she would no longer prolong the mystery of +which he was a victim. She rose abruptly from the table and said to him, +with a serious air, "Come, we will walk in the garden and rejoin +Youmäale. His absence worries me. I do not know why, but I am oppressed +as if a violent tempest were about to break upon this house."</p> + +<p>The widow left the room, the chevalier offered her his arm, and they +descended into the garden, where they sauntered through the different +paths. The adventurer was so impressed by the anxious frame of mind in +which he saw Angela that he retained little hope, and hardly dared to +recall to her the promise which she had made him. Finally he said with +some embarrassment, "You promised me, madame, to explain the mystery +of——"</p> + +<p>Blue Beard interrupted the chevalier by saying, "Listen to me, sir; +whether it is owing to timidity or to premonition, I grow more and more +agitated—it seems to me that misfortune menaces us; on no account would +I at this time, and in the condition of my spirits, prolong any further +a jest which has already lasted too long."</p> + +<p>"A jest, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; but I beg of you, let us descend to the lower terrace. Do you +see Youmäale there?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; the night is very clear, but I see no one. You say, then, a +jest only——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; I learned through our friend, Father Griffen, that you +intended to offer yourself to me; I sent the buccaneer to meet you, +charging him to bring you here. I received you with the intention, I +confess, and I beg your pardon, of amusing myself a little at your +expense."</p> + +<p>"But, madame, this evening, even, you intended to explain to me the +mystery of your triple widowhood—the death of your husbands and the +presence successively, of the filibuster, the——"</p> + +<p>Angela interrupted the Gascon by saying, "Do you not hear a footfall? Is +it Youmäale?"</p> + +<p>"I hear nothing," said Croustillac, overwhelmed in the view of his +ruined hopes, though he held himself in readiness for anything, now that +a true love had extinguished his stupid and foolish vanity.</p> + +<p>"Let us go further," said Blue Beard; "the Caribbean is among the orange +trees by the fountain, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"But, madame, this mystery?"</p> + +<p>"The mystery," replied Angela, "if it is one, cannot, must not be solved +by you. My promise to reveal this secret to you to-night was a jest of +which I am now heartily ashamed, I tell you; and if I kept this foolish +promise it would be to make you the object of another mystery more +culpable still."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame," said the chevalier quickly, "this is very cruel."</p> + +<p>"What more would you ask, sir? I accuse myself and beg your pardon," +said Angela, in a sweet and sad voice. "Forget the folly of what I have +said; think no longer of my hand, which can belong to no one; but +sometimes remember the recluse of Devil's Cliff, who is, perhaps, at +once very culpable and very innocent. And then," she continued +hesitatingly, "as a remembrance of Blue Beard, you will permit me, will +you not, to offer you some of the diamonds of which you were so enamored +before you had seen me."</p> + +<p>The chevalier blushed with shame and anger; the pure feeling which he +felt for Angela made him feel as derogatory an offer which at one time +would, doubtless, have been accepted without the slightest scruple. +"Madame," said he, with as much pride as bitterness, "you have accorded +me hospitality for two days; to-morrow I shall leave; the only request I +make of you is to give me a guide. As to your offer, it wounds me +doubly——"</p> + +<p>"Sir!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, that you should believe me low enough to accept payment +for the humiliating circumstances——"</p> + +<p>"Sir, such was not my idea."</p> + +<p>"Madame, I am poor, I am ridiculous and vain; I am what is termed a man +of expediencies; but even I have my point of honor."</p> + +<p>"But, sir——"</p> + +<p>"But, madame, that I should barter my pride and will as an exchange for +the hospitality offered me, would be a bargain like another, worse than +another, perhaps; so be it; when one places oneself in dependence upon +another more fortunate than oneself, one must be content with anything. +I entertained the captain of the Unicorn in exchange for my passage, +which he gave me on board his vessel. We are quits. I have cut a +contemptible figure, madame; I know it more fully than any one else, for +I have known misfortune more fully."</p> + +<p>"Poor man!" said the widow, touched by his avowal.</p> + +<p>"I do not say this to be pitied, madame," said Croustillac proudly. "I +only desire to make you understand that if, from necessity, I have been +compelled to accept the part of a complacent guest, I have never +received money as a compensation for an insult." Then he continued, in a +tone of profound emotion, "Can you, madame, be ignorant of the wrong +which has been done me by this proposition, not so much because it is +humiliating, as because it was made by you? My God! you wished to amuse +yourself with me: that I would have endured without complaint; but to +offer me money to compensate for your raillery—ah! madame, you have +made me acquainted with a misery of which I was heretofore ignorant." +After a moment's silence he continued, with added bitterness, "After +all, why should you have treated me otherwise? Who am I? Under what +auspices did I come here? Even the clothes I wear are not my own! Why +concern yourself with me?"</p> + +<p>These last words of the poor man had an accent of such sincere grief and +mortification that the young woman, touched by them, regretted deeply +the indiscreet proffer she had made him. With bent head she walked +beside Croustillac. They arrived, thus, near the fountain of white +marble of which they had spoken.</p> + +<p>The young widow still leaned on the adventurer's arm. After a few +minutes of reflection she said, "You are right; I was wrong. I judged +you wrongly. The compensation I offered you was almost an insult; but do +not for a moment think that I wished to humiliate you. Recall what I +said to you this morning of your courage and the generosity of your +heart. Well, all this I still think. You say you love me; if this love +is sincere it cannot offend me; it would be wrong in me to receive so +flattering a feeling with contempt. So," she continued, with a charming +air, "is peace declared? Are you still angry with me? Say no, that I may +ask you to remain here some days as a friend, without fear of your +refusal."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame," cried Croustillac, with transport "order, dispose of me—I +am your servant, your slave, your dog. These kind words which you have +spoken will make me forget all! Your friend! you have called me your +friend! Ah, madame, why am I only the poor younger son of a Gascon? I +should be so happy to have it in my power to prove my devotion."</p> + +<p>"Who knows but that I have a reparation to make you? Await me here; I +must go and look for Youmäale and find something, a present, yes, +chevalier, a present which I defy you to refuse this time."</p> + +<p>"But, madame——"</p> + +<p>"You refuse? Ah, heavens! when I think that you desired to be my +husband! Wait here, I will return." And so saying, Angela, who had +reached the marble fountain, turned quickly into the path in the park on +the side of the house.</p> + +<p>"What does she wish to say—to do?" asked Croustillac of himself, +looking mechanically into the fountain. Then he exclaimed, with fervor, +"It is all the same, I am hers for life and death; she has called me her +friend. I shall perhaps never see her again, but all the same, I worship +her; that cannot hurt any one; and I do not know but that it will make +me a better man. Two days ago I would have accepted the diamonds; to-day +I would be ashamed to do so. It is wonderful how love changes one."</p> + +<p>Croustillac was suddenly interrupted in the midst of his philosophical +reflections. Colonel Rutler, by the uncertain light of the moon, had +seen the adventurer walking arm in arm with Blue Beard; he had heard her +last words—"my husband; wait for me here." Rutler had no doubt that the +Gascon was the man for whom he was looking; he sprang suddenly from his +hiding-place, hurled himself upon the chevalier threw a cloak over his +face, and, profiting by Croustillac's surprise, felled him to the +ground. Then he passed a rope around his hands and had quickly mastered +his captive's resistance, thanks to great strength. The chevalier was +thus overpowered, garroted and captured in less time than it has taken +to write these words.</p> + +<p>This accomplished, the colonel held a dagger at Croustillac's throat, +and said, "My lord duke, you are dead if you make a movement, or if you +call Madame the Duchess to your aid. In the name of William of Orange, +King of England, I arrest you for high treason, and you will follow +me."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3> + +<p class="head">MY LORD DUKE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Suddenly</span> attacked by an adversary of extraordinary strength, Croustillac +did not even attempt to resist. The cloak which enveloped his head +almost deprived him of breath. He could hardly utter a few inarticulate +cries. Rutler leaned over him and said in English, with a strong Dutch +accent, "My lord duke, I can remove this cloak, but beware, if you call +for aid you are a dead man; can you feel the point of my dagger?"</p> + +<p>The unfortunate Croustillac did not understand English, but he +understood the dagger's point, and exclaimed, "Speak French!"</p> + +<p>"I can understand that your grace, having been brought up in France, +should prefer that language," replied Rutler, who believed that his +Dutch accent made his words a little obscure, and he continued, "You +must pardon me, my lord, if I do not express myself very well in French. +I have the honor to inform your grace that at the slightest sound from +you I shall be compelled to kill you. It depends upon you, my lord, to +preserve your life or not, by preventing madame the duchess, your wife, +from calling for aid if she returns."</p> + +<p>"It is evident that he takes me for some one else," thought the +chevalier. "In what devil of a network am I entangled? What is this new +mystery? and who is this brutal Dutchman with his eternal dagger and his +'my lord duke?' After all, it is gratifying not to be taken for an +insignificant man. And Blue Beard is a duchess and passes for my wife!"</p> + +<p>"Listen, my lord," said Rutler after some moments of silence, "for your +grace's greater convenience, I can free you from the cloak which enwraps +you; but, I repeat, at the slightest cry from madame the duchess, the +slightest indication of a rescue by your slaves, I shall be compelled to +kill you. I have promised the king, my master, to bring you to him, dead +or alive."</p> + +<p>"I stifle! take off the cloak at once, I will not make any outcry," +murmured Croustillac, believing that the colonel would discover his +error.</p> + +<p>Rutler removed the cloak which enveloped the face of the adventurer, who +saw a man kneeling beside him and threatening him with a dagger. The +night was clear; the chevalier could distinguish perfectly the features +of the colonel; they were absolutely unknown to him.</p> + +<p>"My lord! remember your promise," said Rutler, who did not evince the +slightest surprise when the face of the adventurer was seen.</p> + +<p>"How! he does not perceive his mistake," thought the astonished +chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile, my lord," replied the colonel, assisting Croustillac to seat +himself as comfortably as he could near the fountain, "meanwhile, my +lord, pardon the rudeness of my attack, but I was forced to this."</p> + +<p>Croustillac made no reply. Divided between fear and curiosity, he was +burning to know to whom these words were addressed: 'My lord duke.' +Naturally of an adventurous turn, he could not but be the gainer, +doubtless by being taken for another, above all, for the husband of Blue +Beard; and the chevalier resolved to play, as far as he could, the rôle +which he had involuntarily assumed, hoping, possibly, to thus learn the +secret of the dwellers of Devil's Cliff. He answered, however, "Are you +sure, sir, that it is I whom you are seeking?"</p> + +<p>"Your grace need not attempt to deceive me," said Rutler. "It is true +that I have not had the honor of seeing you before to-day, my lord; but +I heard your conversation with madame the duchess. Who but you, my lord, +would be walking with her at this hour? Who but you would be dressed in +this coat with the red sleeve, as shown by James Syllon, who painted you +in this costume?"</p> + +<p>"And I thought this costume so fantastic," reflected Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"It is not for me to express surprise at finding you wearing these +garments which must often recall memories so cruel," continued Rutler, +with a gloomy air.</p> + +<p>"Cruel memories!" repeated Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"My lord," said the colonel, "two years before the fatal day of +Bridgewater, dressed in this coat, did you not render homage to your +royal father, when hunting at Lancaster?"</p> + +<p>"To my royal father? a falcon?" said the chevalier, astounded.</p> + +<p>"I understand your grace's embarrassment, and that you do not wish to +recall these sad disputes for which you have been so severely and, +permit me to say it, my lord, so justly punished."</p> + +<p>"I will permit you to say anything to me, sir, in fact, I earnestly +insist upon it without delay," replied the Gascon; and, aside, "perhaps +I shall learn something in this way."</p> + +<p>"Time is precious," said Rutler. "I must hasten to inform your grace +that I only await your submission to the commands of my master, William +of Orange, King of England."</p> + +<p>"Speak, sir, and do not hesitate to enter into the most minute details."</p> + +<p>"In order to make you understand, your grace, what remains for me to +exact from you, it is very necessary to establish clearly your position, +my lord, however painful the duty may be."</p> + +<p>"Establish it, sir, speak frankly; hold back nothing. We are men and +soldiers; we should know how to hear all things."</p> + +<p>"You acknowledge, then, that from this moment you cannot escape."</p> + +<p>"That is true."</p> + +<p>"That your life is in my hands."</p> + +<p>"That is also true."</p> + +<p>"But that, which must be a very great consideration, my lord, is that, +in attempting to escape, or in refusing to obey the orders which I bear, +you put me to the hard necessity of killing you."</p> + +<p>"A hard necessity for both of us, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then your grace will give strict attention to what I have to say," said +the colonel, emphasizing the following words: "I can with the more +impunity kill you, my lord, because <i>you are already dead</i>—and +therefore it would not be necessary to render an account for shedding +your blood."</p> + +<p>The chevalier looked at Rutler with a stupefied air, thinking he must +have heard him wrong. "You say, sir, that you could with the more +impunity kill me?"</p> + +<p>"Since your grace is already dead," said Rutler, with a sinister smile.</p> + +<p>Croustillac looked at him more closely, believing he was dealing with a +madman; then he said, after a moment's silence, "If I understand you +aright, sir, you wish to make me believe that you could kill me with +impunity, under the pretext, specious enough, that I am already dead!"</p> + +<p>"Exactly, my lord; that is very simple."</p> + +<p>"You think that very simple, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think you wish to deny, my lord, what is known to all the +world," said Rutler impatiently.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that, without wishing to pass for a man who has lost his +head, and who is dominated with a desire to contradict the whole world, +I must still to a certain extent deny that I am dead."</p> + +<p>"I would not have believed, my lord, that you could jest at such a +moment, you who always carry with you such frightful memories," said the +colonel, with gloomy surprise.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, sir, at such a moment one cannot forget himself. That which +is more difficult is to retain memory," said Croustillac, smiling.</p> + +<p>The colonel could not prevent a gesture of indignation, and cried, "You +smile! when it is at the price of the noblest blood that you are here! +Ah, such then will always be the gratitude of princes!"</p> + +<p>"I must say to you, sir," impatiently replied Croustillac, "that it is +not of gratitude or ingratitude that we speak in this matter, and +that—but," he continued, fearing to make some blunder, "but it seems to +me that we wander strangely from the question at issue. I prefer to +speak of something else."</p> + +<p>"I can imagine that such a subject would be disagreeable to your grace."</p> + +<p>"It is not a lively one, sir, certainly; but return to the motive which +has brought you hither—what do you wish of me?"</p> + +<p>"I am ordered, my lord, to conduct you to the Barbadoes; from there you +will be transported and incarcerated in the Tower of London, of which +your grace has retained remembrance."</p> + +<p>"Zounds! to prison!" said the Gascon to himself, to whom this prospect +was not inviting; "to prison—in the Tower of London! I must inform this +Dutch animal of his mistake; this mistaken identity no longer pleases +me. The devil! to the Tower of London! this is paying for 'your grace' +and 'my lord' rather too dearly!"</p> + +<p>"It is unnecessary for me to say to you, my lord, that you will be +treated with the respect due to your misfortunes and your rank. Except +for liberty, which can never be accorded you, you will be surrounded by +care and consideration."</p> + +<p>"After all," thought Croustillac, "why should I hasten to dissuade this +northern bear? I have no hope, alas, of interesting Blue Beard in my +martyrdom. It seems to me that I perceive vaguely that the mistake of +this Dutchman in my person may serve this adorable little creature. If +that is so, I shall be delighted. Once having reached England, the +mistake will be discovered and I set free; and, as it is best, after +all, that I return to Europe, I should like better if it were possible, +to return in the character of a great prince, a lord, than as a free +passenger of Captain Daniel's. I shall not at least be compelled to +balance forks on the end of my nose nor be reduced to swallowing lighted +candles."</p> + +<p>The colonel, taking the Gascon's silence for despair, said to him, in a +gentler tone, "I suppose your grace perceives with pain the future +before you. There is enough occasion for it, it seems to me."</p> + +<p>"To be a prisoner always in the Tower of London?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord; but you cannot enjoy much liberty here; perhaps this life +of agony and continual unrest is not so much to be regretted?"</p> + +<p>"You wish to gild the pill, as they say, sir; your motive is +praiseworthy; but you appear very certain of carrying me to Barbadoes, +and from there to the Tower of London?"</p> + +<p>"To accomplish this, my lord, I had brought with me a most determined +man. He is dead, however—a most frightful death." And Rutler trembled +in spite of himself at the remembrance of John's death.</p> + +<p>"And so, sir, you were reduced to accomplish this expedition yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"And you flatter yourself that you can carry me off, unaided?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"You are sure of that?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly sure."</p> + +<p>"And by means of what miracle?"</p> + +<p>"There is no need of a miracle; the thing is very simple, my lord."</p> + +<p>"May I know it?"</p> + +<p>"You must be informed of it, my lord, because I count principally upon +your assistance."</p> + +<p>"To enable you to carry me off?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"The fact is, that, without vanity, I can, under these circumstances, if +I mix myself in the matter, be of some help to you?"</p> + +<p>After a moment's reflection, Rutler said, "Your firmness has not been +exaggerated, your grace; it would be impossible to show a more resolute +spirit or more coolness under ill fortune."</p> + +<p>"I assure you, sir, that it would be difficult for me to bear it +otherwise."</p> + +<p>"If I have spoken thus my lord, it is because you, being a man of +coolness and resolution, can understand better than any one what must be +accepted with coolness and resolution, for I have no choice but to carry +you away from here."</p> + +<p>"Listen, sir; if the expedient is good, I will be the first to +acknowledge it. One moment, however; you seem to forget that I am not +here alone."</p> + +<p>"I know that, my lord; madame the duchess has but just quitted you, she +may return any moment."</p> + +<p>"And not alone, I warn you of that."</p> + +<p>"Were she accompanied by a hundred armed men I should not fear."</p> + +<p>"Truly?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord, I will go further; I rather count upon the return of the +duchess to decide you to follow me in case you still hesitate."</p> + +<p>"Sir you speak in riddles."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you the word very soon my lord, but first I must inform you +that almost all is known concerning you since your flight from London."</p> + +<p>"In denying this to him I shall force him to speak; and I shall perhaps +learn something more," said the chevalier to himself. "As to that, sir +I, cannot believe it; it is not possible."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, my lord; it is now four years since you espoused in +France the mistress of this house. Whether the marriage be legal or not, +having been contracted after your execution, and consequently during the +widowhood of your first wife, does not concern me—that is a matter for +your conscience and the church."</p> + +<p>"Decidedly my friend the duke has placed himself in an exceptional +position," said Croustillac to himself, "he can be murdered because he +is dead; and he can remarry because his wife is his widow! I begin to +have my ideas singularly mixed, for since yesterday very strange things +have come to my knowledge."</p> + +<p>"You see, my lord, that my information is exact."</p> + +<p>"Exact—exact—to a certain point. You believe me capable of having +remarried after my execution; that is rather risky. The devil! sir, one +must be very sure of his facts, at least, to attribute to men such +original proceedings."</p> + +<p>"Hold, my lord, you doubtless do not believe in my authority, and you +jest; but your gayety does not surprise me; your grace has kept his +freedom of spirit in circumstances more serious than this."</p> + +<p>"What would you wish, sir? gayety is the wealth of the poor."</p> + +<p>"My lord," cried the colonel, in a severe tone, "the king, my master, +does not merit this reproach."</p> + +<p>"What reproach?" said the Gascon, stupefied.</p> + +<p>"Your grace said that gayety is the wealth of the poor."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I do not see what there is to insult your master, the king, +in that."</p> + +<p>"Is it not equivalent to saying, my lord, that because you see yourself +in the power of my master that you look upon yourself as despoiled of +everything?"</p> + +<p>"You are sensitive, sir. Be assured this reflection was purely +philosophical and did not have reference to my particular position."</p> + +<p>"That is different, my lord; but I am astonished to hear you speak of +your poverty."</p> + +<p>"Zounds! that has often made me bitterly lament," said Croustillac, +laughing.</p> + +<p>"Few fortunes equal yours, sir. The enormous sum you received from the +sale of a portion of your precious stones will be secured to you and +yours. William of Orange, my master, is not one of those who enrich +themselves by confiscating the goods of their political enemies."</p> + +<p>"I did not know thou wast so rich, poor Croustillac," said the Gascon to +himself. "If I had known this, how little would I have swallowed candles +for the amusement of that brute of a sea captain." Then he continued, +aloud, "I am aware of the generosity of your master, sir; also of my +goods and treasures." And the Gascon said to himself, "It does me good +to say this for once in my life—my goods, my treasures."</p> + +<p>"The king, my master, my lord, has directed me to say to you that you +can charter a vessel to carry your wealth to England."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my old pink hose, my old green coat, my felt hat and my old sword!" +said Croustillac to himself; "those are my real possessions, my real and +personal estate! It would not take a merchant ship to transport them." +Then he continued aloud, "But let us return to the motive, sir, which +brought you here, and to the discoveries which you have made as to my +past life."</p> + +<p>"For the past three years, my lord, you have lived on this island, +remaining hidden to every one, and causing to be spread by a filibuster +and others in your pay the strangest stories concerning your house, in +order to keep the curious away."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand this at all," thought Croustillac. "Blue Beard—no, +the widow, that is to say—no, the duchess or rather the wife of the man +who is dead, who is a widower—in fact, the wife of no matter whom, is +not, then, behind the best of them with her three oddities. For I have +seen with my own eyes her strange familiarity with them. I have +heard—come, come, if this lasts but a little longer I shall become mad; +I am beginning to feel stupid and to see an endless succession of Roman +candles in my head!"</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE SURPRISE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Rutler</span> continued: "The maneuvers of your emissaries were crowned with +perfect success, my lord, and it was due to the merest chance that your +existence was revealed to my master, some two months since, and in order +to inform him that without your knowledge, or without your full consent, +they would make, my lord, a dangerous instrument of you."</p> + +<p>"Of me? an instrument of me? and what kind of an instrument, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Your grace knows that as well as I do; the policy of the cabinet at +Versailles and of the papal court at Saint-Germain recoils before no +means; it matters little to them that civil war shall lay waste an +unhappy country provided their plans succeed. I have no need to say +more, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, yes. I desire that you tell me everything; I would see to +what point your credulity has been abused. Explain, sir."</p> + +<p>"The proof that my credulity has not been abused, my lord, is that my +mission has for its end the ruin of the projects of an emissary from +France, who, with or without the co-operation of your grace, may arrive +at any moment at this island."</p> + +<p>"I give you my word of honor, sir, that I am ignorant of the arrival of +this French emissary."</p> + +<p>"I must believe you, my lord. However, certain rumors have caused the +king to think that your grace, forgetting his old resentment against +James Stuart, your uncle, had written to this dethroned king to offer +him his services."</p> + +<p>"James Stuart, being dethroned," said Croustillac, with an accent full +of dignity, "changes entirely the face of things, and I should have been +able to condescend in regard to my uncle to proceedings which my pride +would never have permitted me before."</p> + +<p>"Then, my lord, from your point of view, your resolve would not have +lacked generosity."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless I could perfectly well, without compromitting myself, have +been reconciled to a dethroned king," replied Croustillac courageously; +"but I have not done so; I swear it on the honor of a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I believe you, your grace."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, your mission has no further object."</p> + +<p>"You understand, my lord, that, in spite of this guarantee, +circumstances may change, and your resolve change with circumstances. +The hope of ascending the throne of England causes one to forget many +promises and to evade many agreements. Far be it from me to wish to +reproach you for the past, but your grace knows what must be sacrificed +when one lays audacious hands upon the crown of three kingdoms."</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" said Croustillac to himself; "it seems that my hand is not +dead, and that I am, clearly, a courageous fellow to be well caged. If I +only knew how all this would end I should be very much amused."</p> + +<p>"The king can never forget, my lord, that you have your own aspirations +to the throne."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, that is true," cried Croustillac, with an expression of +frankness—"it is true, I do not deny. But what would you have? +ambition, glory, the vigor of youth! But believe me, sir," continued he +with a sigh and speaking in a melancholy tone, "age robs us of all that +and makes us wise; with added years, ambition is extinguished and one +becomes content with very little in one's retreat. Once safely in port, +we can cast a philosophical glance on the storms of passion and +cultivate the paternal lands, if one has such, or at least look upon the +tide of life placidly when about to be swallowed up in the ocean of +eternity. In a word, you understand, sir, that if in our first youth we +have let ourselves go at an audacious pace it does not follow that in +our ripe age we should not realize that all is vanity. I live obscurely +and peacefully in the bosom of my retreat, with a young and lovely +wife; loved by those about me and doing some good. Ah, sir, this is the +only life that I desire; I do not hesitate, then, in confirmation of +these words, to swear to you that I will never raise the slightest +pretension to the throne of England; on the word of a gentleman, I have +not the slightest desire to."</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, my lord, I am not at liberty to take your oath; the king, +alone, could receive it, and accept it if it seemed well to him, as a +sufficient guarantee against fresh troubles. As for me, I have been +ordered to conduct your grace to London, and I must fulfill my orders."</p> + +<p>"You are very persistent, sir. When you have an idea, you keep to it."</p> + +<p>"At whatever cost, my lord, I must carry out the orders given me. You +can see by the perfectly calm interview between us that I do not doubt +the success of my undertaking; your grace fully understands the motives +that influence me; and I do not doubt that you will follow me without +the slightest resistance."</p> + +<p>Croustillac had prolonged this interview as far as he could; he had +decided either to follow the colonel or to tell him the whole truth. He +then said to Rutler, "And suppose, sir, that I consent to follow you +willingly, what will be the order of our march, as they say?"</p> + +<p>"Your grace, though your hands are tied, permit me to offer you my left +arm; I shall hold my dagger in my right hand, ready at any moment to +plunge it into you, in case of a surprise, and we will proceed to your +house."</p> + +<p>"And then, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Once having reached your house, my lord, you will order one of your +slaves at once to direct your negro fishermen to get their boat in +readiness; it will suffice to transport us to Barbadoes. In that place +we will find a man-of-war which awaits us, and on board which, my lord, +you will be transported to London, and placed in the custody of the +governor of the Tower."</p> + +<p>"And you seriously believe, sir, that I will myself give the order to +prepare for my own abduction?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord, and for a very simple reason; your grace will feel the +point of this dagger."</p> + +<p>"Yes, doubtless; you always go back to that, you repeat it often, sir."</p> + +<p>"We Dutchmen have little imagination; what would you have? There is +nothing more churlish than our manner of acting; but to resume, what is +more to the point, this blade of steel will suffice, for if you refuse +to obey my slightest injunction, my lord, I have already said by way of +warning that I shall kill you without mercy."</p> + +<p>"I have also said to you, sir, that your manner of proceeding does not +lack originality; but I have slaves—friends, sir—and you see that, in +spite of your bravery——"</p> + +<p>"My God! your grace, if I kill you it is evident that I shall be killed +in turn, either by your slaves or your familiars, the filibuster or the +buccaneer, or by the French authorities, who would do perfectly right in +shooting me because I come from England, and I have come to this island, +which is considered as a stronghold in time of war."</p> + +<p>"You perceive, then, sir, that my death will not go unpunished?"</p> + +<p>"In accepting this charge I made, in advance, the offering of my life. +All that I desire, my lord, is that you shall no longer be the source of +fear to my master, a source of trouble for England. King William does +not love bloodshed, but he hates civil war. Your perpetual imprisonment +or your death alone can reassure him; choose, then, my lord, between the +dagger or prison; it must be one; you must become my prisoner or my +victim. Moreover, if you were not absolutely in my power I would not say +to you, at the price of my life, what I will now say."</p> + +<p>"Speak, sir."</p> + +<p>"This confidence, while showing you the evil which you can do to +England, my lord, also will show you what interest King William has that +an enemy like yourself should be rendered powerless to act; the +companions of your rebellion, who saw you beheaded before their own +eyes, cherish still for you the dearest memories."</p> + +<p>"Truly? This does not surprise me in them, and it is the more +disinterested in that they all believe that I can never thank them for +it." Then Croustillac said to himself, "It must be that this Dutchman, +who otherwise is reasonable enough, has a craze on this point—a fixed +idea concerning my execution."</p> + +<p>The colonel continued, "Ah, my lord, you pay dearly for your influence."</p> + +<p>"Very dearly, too dearly, sir, if this be so."</p> + +<p>"Why do you wish to deny it, when your enemies remember? when it is +known that your followers cherish portions of your clothing, stained +with your blood, as if holy relics, and each day lament your death? What +would be the result if you should suddenly appear before their eyes? +What enthusiasm would you not arouse? I repeat to you, my lord, it is +because your influence might be fatal in these troublous times, that it +must be neutralized at any cost."</p> + +<p>"To stab a man or imprison him for life is what you call <i>neutralizing +his influence</i>," said Croustillac. "Ah, well, this is probably a +political view of it. After all, I understand the distrust that I +inspire you with, for I am an incorrigible conspirator. They cut off my +head before my partisans, believing that thus I will be reformed. Not at +all! instead of taking warning by this paternal admonition, I conspire +still further. It is evident that this ends by making your master +impatient. Ah, well, sir, he is unnecessarily moved; for the last time, +I solemnly declare, before heaven, that I shall conspire no more; he can +rest in peace on his throne, and his crown does not excite in me the +slightest covetousness. Is this plain enough, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Very plain, and well put, my lord; but I must carry out the commands of +the king. When we shall have arrived at your house, I shall have the +honor to transmit to you an autograph letter of His Majesty King +William, which will leave you in no doubt as to the purpose and +authority of the mission with which I am intrusted. Come, my lord, +resign yourself; it is the fortune of war. Beside, if you hesitate, I +can count upon a powerful ally."</p> + +<p>"And that is——"</p> + +<p>"Informed by me of the fate which menaces you, you proceed under the +touch of my dagger."</p> + +<p>"Always his eternal dagger! he is insufferable with his dagger," thought +Croustillac. "He has but one word on his tongue."</p> + +<p>"The duchess," continued Rutler, "would far rather see you a prisoner +than killed; it is well known how she loves you, how devoted she is to +you. She would give her life for you. She will aid, then, I am sure, in +making you face your position wisely. Meanwhile, my lord, choose; either +summon some of your people, if they can hear you, or show me to your +house yourself, for your departure must be hastened."</p> + +<p>It must be said to Croustillac's credit, that, learning that Blue Beard +was the wife of an invisible lord whom she loved passionately, and that +he had been taken for this grand lord, he generously resolved to be of +some use to this young wife by prolonging as far as possible the +mistaken identity of which he was the victim, and to allow himself to be +carried off in place of the unknown duke. Happy at the thought that +Angela would be under a great obligation, the Gascon resigned himself +courageously to submit to all the consequences of the position which he +had accepted, only he did not know in what manner he could leave Devil's +Cliff without the discovery of his stratagem.</p> + +<p>"My lord, I am at your service; it is absolutely imperative that we +depart at once," said the colonel impatiently.</p> + +<p>"It is I who am at your service," replied the chevalier, who viewed with +some disquiet the approach of the critical moment of this interview.</p> + +<p>A brilliant idea struck Croustillac; he saw a means of escaping from +this danger and of saving the mysterious husband of Blue Beard. "Listen, +sir," said the adventurer, assuming an impressive manner. "I give you my +word as a gentleman that I will follow you willingly wherever you lead +me, but I desire that my wife, the duchess, shall not be informed of my +arrest until I have gone."</p> + +<p>"How, my lord, you are willing to thus abandon your wife without telling +her of your sad situation?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, because of reasons known to me alone, and then I would spare +myself farewells, which must always be distressing."</p> + +<p>"My orders concern you alone, my lord," said the colonel; "you are free +to act as seems best to yourself, as far as the duchess is concerned. +Nothing could be easier, it seems to me, than to do what you propose. If +your wife is astonished at your departure, you can plead the imperative +necessity of a journey of some days' duration to St. Pierre. As to my +presence here, you can easily explain that. We will go, and your boat +will take us to the Barbadoes."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, doubtless," said the embarrassed Gascon, for he saw a number +of dangers in the proposition which the colonel made. "Doubtless my +departure might be easily explained so, but to give my orders to the +negroes, to cause a commotion in the house, would attract my wife's +attention. She is extremely timid and is alarmed at everything. Your +presence here would arouse her suspicions, and they would necessarily +lead up to the painful scene which I would avoid at all cost."</p> + +<p>"But, then, my lord, what shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"There is a sure way, sir; however dangerous may have been the road by +which you have arrived, let us follow it; we will leave the island by +the same method by which you reached it. Once at the Barbadoes I will +inform my wife of my abduction—the cruel abduction which separates me +forever from her; and you will swear to me that she shall not be +disturbed after my departure."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, my lord, what you propose is impossible."</p> + +<p>"How is that?"</p> + +<p>"I came by way of the pearl diver's cavern, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Well, can we not leave by the pearl diver's cavern?"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible that you are ignorant, my lord, of the secret +communication which exists between this cavern and the abyss which +surrounds your park?"</p> + +<p>"I am entirely ignorant as to it, but if this communication exists, can +we not use it to leave by?"</p> + +<p>"That is impossible, my lord; no one can enter the cavern except by +allowing the waves to precipitate him to the bottom of a subterranean +lake, after having descended a cataract."</p> + +<p>"And in order to get out of this cavern?"</p> + +<p>"You must ascend a waterfall twenty feet in height."</p> + +<p>"That is too much for me. So, the vessel that brought you to the outside +of this cavern——"</p> + +<p>"Has already left for the Barbadoes, my lord. It could approach this +island in spite of the French cruisers only because this coast is +inaccessible."</p> + +<p>"I thought that this road was impenetrable," said the chevalier, +overcome.</p> + +<p>"If you will believe me, my lord, you will limit yourself to announcing +to madame the duchess that you will be absent for several days only. I +have faith in your word as a gentleman that you will make no attempt to +escape from my hands."</p> + +<p>"I have given you my word, sir."</p> + +<p>"I believe you, my lord, and my dagger answers to me for its +fulfillment."</p> + +<p>"I should have been very much astonished if the dagger had not +reappeared," thought Croustillac. "He trusts implicitly in my word; that +does not prevent his trusting as much to his dagger. Zounds! what +distrust! But that is not what concerns me. What shall I do? The duchess +is not prepared; the slaves will not obey me if I give them orders. It +is no use; behold me at the end of my falsehoods."</p> + +<p>Croustillac had forced himself to become resigned to his assumption. He +regretted sincerely that he was not to be permitted to devote himself +more efficaciously to the service of Blue Beard; for he did not doubt +that his ruse would be discovered the moment he put foot in the house. +He had shortly another apprehension. The Caribbean, seeing Croustillac +return accompanied by a stranger armed to the teeth, would attack the +colonel. Now, the latter had assured the adventurer that at the first +attack he would be compelled to kill him without mercy.</p> + +<p>The chevalier began to find his rôle less diverting and to curse the +stupid curiosity, the imprudent heedlessness which had thrown him into a +position as complicated as it was dangerous.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE DEPARTURE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> spirit of Croustillac was too mercurial and too adventurous to +remain long under the weight of fear or sadness. He reasoned as follows: +To-day, as heretofore, I have little or nothing to lose; if I decide to +go out from this house, I continue to pass for the duke, and I am +treated like a prince until some one discovers the imposition; then I +shall become big John as heretofore, and I shall have rendered a great +service to this pretty little Blue Beard, who has mocked at me, but who +enchants me, for she interests me more than I wish, more than she merits +perhaps, for, in spite of her love for this invisible husband, she +appears to me madly tender with the buccaneer and that other brute, the +cannibal. Well, what does it matter if it is my caprice to devote myself +to this little woman? I am surely my own master; yes! but if, on the +other hand, I do not leave this place? Suppose the Caribbean mixes +himself in the affair, this would spoil all; it is clear that I shall be +killed like a dog by this thick-headed Belgian. How, then, can I escape +such a catastrophe? Say at once to the man with the dagger that I am not +the duke? This might save me, perhaps, but no! this would be cowardice, +and useless cowardice; for, to prevent my alarming the house, this +beer-drinker would dispatch me at once. Yes, yes, in spite of my word as +a gentleman not to seek to escape, he presses near me. Zounds! this man +with his dagger is absurd! Bah! his dagger! he can only kill me once, +after all. Come, then, courage! courage! Croustillac! and above all do +not deliberate—this brings you sorrow; you never commit greater +stupidities or more tremendous mistakes than when you deliberate. +Commend yourself to your lucky star, shut your eyes, as usual, and go +ahead.</p> + +<p>Reassured by this excellent logic, the chevalier said aloud, "Well, sir, +as we must absolutely pass the house in order to get out of this, let us +go on."</p> + +<p>"Sir," said the colonel, after a moment's reflection, "you have given me +your word as a gentleman not to escape."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"But your people will wish to free you?"</p> + +<p>"My life is in your hands, sir; you have my word; I can do no more."</p> + +<p>"That is true, my lord; but then, in your interest, warn your slaves +that the slightest act against me, on their part, will cost your life, +for I have sworn, also, that I will carry you away, dead or living."</p> + +<p>"It will not be my fault, sir, if you do not keep your word; come on." +And the chevalier and the colonel advanced toward the house.</p> + +<p>Rutler held the arm of Croustillac under his left arm, and had his hand +constantly on his dagger; not that he doubted the word of his prisoner, +but the slaves at Devil's Cliff might wish to rescue their master.</p> + +<p>Croustillac and Rutler were not more than a few steps from the house +when from an obscure path a woman advanced dressed in white. The colonel +stopped, pressed firmly the arm of his prisoner, and said aloud, "Who is +this? My lord, warn this woman not to cry out."</p> + +<p>"It is Blue Beard! I am lost; she will scream like a peacock, and all +will be discovered," thought Croustillac. To his great astonishment the +woman paused and did not speak. The Gascon said, "Who is it, then?"</p> + +<p>"Is it so dark that my lord cannot recognize Mirette?" said the +well-known voice of Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>Croustillac was speechless with astonishment. Blue Beard also called him +my lord, and assumed the name of Mirette! "Zounds!" he said to himself, +"I understand nothing, nothing at all; all becomes more and more +obscure; all the same, hold steady and play out the game."</p> + +<p>"Who is this woman?" said the colonel, in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"She is the confidential maid of my wife," responded the chevalier.</p> + +<p>Angela spoke: "My lord, I come to say to your grace that my lady retired +not feeling very well; but she is asleep now."</p> + +<p>"All is in our favor, sir," said the colonel, in a low voice to +Croustillac. "Madame the duchess is asleep; you can depart without her +knowing anything about it."</p> + +<p>Angela, who had approached, said with a frightened manner, and +retreating a few steps, "Heavens! your grace is not alone, then?"</p> + +<p>"My lord," said the colonel, "if she gives a cry it is all over with +you."</p> + +<p>"Do not be afraid, Mirette," said the chevalier; "while you were with my +wife this gentleman arrived; he came from Fort Royal on pressing +business; it is necessary that I should accompany him back."</p> + +<p>"So late, my lord, but you must not think of it! I will go and inform +madame."</p> + +<p>"No! no! I forbid it; but I shall have need at once of the negro +fishermen and their canoe; go and notify them."</p> + +<p>"But, my lord——"</p> + +<p>"Obey."</p> + +<p>"That is not hard; to-morrow morning they fish in the open sea; the +negroes must be nearly ready to go; in order to be before dawn at the +Creek of Caymans, where their boat is moored."</p> + +<p>"My lord, all favors us; you see it; let us go," said the colonel in a +low voice.</p> + +<p>"It is astonishing how Blue Beard anticipates my demands; and how she +facilitates my departure," said Croustillac to himself; "there is +something very strange under this. I was not, perhaps, altogether wrong +in accusing her of magic or necromancy." Then he continued aloud, "You +will go and open the outer gates, Mirette, and tell the blacks to +prepare themselves at once. Well," said Croustillac, seeing the woman +remain motionless, "did you not hear me?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, my lord, but then your grace is determined——"</p> + +<p>"'My lord! your grace!' you have repeatedly called me this before a +stranger," said the Gascon with a threatening manner, thinking thus to +make a master stroke. "What would happen if this gentleman were not in +the secret?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know well that if this stranger is here at this time, it follows +that one may speak before him as before your grace and before madame. +But is it possible, my lord, that you intend to go away?"</p> + +<p>"The little fox wishes to have the air of detaining me in order to +better play her part," thought Croustillac. "But who has informed her? +who has designed this rôle for her so well? Decidedly, there must be +jugglery going on here."</p> + +<p>"But, my lord," continued Mirette, "what shall I say to madame?"</p> + +<p>"You may say to her," said poor Croustillac, with a tenderness which the +colonel attributed to most natural regrets, "you may say to this dear +and good woman not to be afraid, do you hear, Mirette? not to be afraid; +assure her that the short journey I am going to take is absolutely in +her interest; tell her to think sometimes of me."</p> + +<p>"Sometimes, my lord! why madame thinks of you and will think of you +always," replied she, in an agitated voice, for she understood the +hidden sense of Croustillac's words. "Be easy, my lord, madame knows how +you love her, and she never forgets. But you will be here to-morrow, +before she awakens, will you not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Croustillac, "certainly, to-morrow morning. Come, Mirette, +hurry and warn the negro fishermen and open the gates; it is necessary +to leave without delay."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord, and at the same time I will bring your sword and your +mantle in the <i>salon</i>, because the night is cold in the mountains. Ah! I +had forgotten; here is your <i>bonbonière</i> which you carry always with +you, and which you left in madame's room." So saying, Angela gave Gascon +the box, warmly pressed his hand and left.</p> + +<p>"Heaven be praised, my lord duke, that things are turning out better +than I hoped," said the colonel. "Is the house very far off?"</p> + +<p>"No; after we have climbed this last terrace we shall arrive there."</p> + +<p>At the end of several minutes, Rutler and his captive entered the +drawing room; the chevalier found Angela, who had put on a large veil +and a long cloak which hid her figure; the young woman offered the +chevalier a cloak which she had placed on a sofa.</p> + +<p>"Here are your cloak and sword, my lord," she said to Croustillac, +giving him a magnificent sword. "Now I will go and see if the slaves are +ready." So saying she left the room.</p> + +<p>The sword of which we have spoken was as rich in workmanship as curious +in shape; the hilt was of massive gold; the scabbard enameled with the +coat of arms of England; the hilt bore on it a rampant lion whose head, +surmounted by a royal crown, served as a handle; the belt of great +richness, although worn by frequent use, was of red velvet embroidered +with fine pearls, in the midst of which the letters "C. S." were +reproduced repeatedly.</p> + +<p>Before putting on his sword Croustillac said to the colonel, "I am your +prisoner, sir; may I retain my sword? I repeat my word not to make any +use of it against you."</p> + +<p>Doubtless this historic weapon was known to the colonel, for he replied, +"I knew that this royal sword was in the hands of your grace; I have +been ordered to respect it in case you followed me willingly."</p> + +<p>"I understand," said Croustillac to himself. "Blue Beard continues to +act with consummate cunning. She has decorated me with a part of the +outfit of this mysterious duke, in order to clinch the error of this +Flemish bear. My only regret is not knowing my name. I know, it is true, +that my head was cut off; that is something; but that is not sufficient +to prove my identity, as the lawyers say. Finally this will last as long +as God pleases; once I have turned my back, Blue Beard will, doubtless, +put her husband in some safe place. That is the principal thing. +Meanwhile, let me put on his cloak and my disguise will be complete."</p> + +<p>The mantle was of peculiar cut and was of blue with a kind of cape of +red cloth trimmed with gold lace; it was easy to see that it had been in +use a long time.</p> + +<p>The colonel said to the chevalier, "You are faithful to the memory of +the day at Bridgewater, my lord!"</p> + +<p>"Hum, hum—faithful—here or there; that depends on the disposition in +which I find myself."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, my lord," returned the colonel, "I recognize the mantle +of the red troops who fought so gallantly under your orders on that +fatal day."</p> + +<p>"That is what I tell you; whether I am cold or warm, I wear this mantle, +but it is always in commemoration of that battle, when the red troops, +as you say, fought so valiantly under me." The chevalier had placed the +snuff box on the table. He took it up and looked at it mechanically; on +the cover he recognized a very characteristic face which he had several +times seen reproduced in engravings or paintings. After having searched +his memory he remembered that the features were those of Charles II. of +England.</p> + +<p>Rutler said, "My lord, may your grace pardon me for recalling you from +thoughts it is easy to divine on seeing the portrait on that box—but +time is precious."</p> + +<p>Angela entered at this moment and said to Croustillac: "My lord, the +negroes are waiting with torches to light the way."</p> + +<p>"Let us go, sir," said the chevalier, taking his hat from the hands of +the young woman, who said to him in a low voice, "Next to my husband, it +is you whom I love most in the world, for you have saved him."</p> + +<p>The massive doors of Devil's Cliff closed on the chevalier and the +colonel, and they at once started on their road, preceded by four blacks +carrying torches to light the way.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>While the adventurer left Devil's Cliff as Colonel Rutler's prisoner, we +will introduce the reader into a secret apartment belonging to Blue +Beard.</p> + +<p>This was a large room very simply furnished; here and there, hung on the +walls, were costly arms. Above a couch was a beautiful portrait of King +Charles II. of England; beyond this was a miniature representing a woman +of most enchanting beauty. In an ebony frame were many studies in +crayon, well designed, and representing always the same people. It was +easy to see that they were drawn as portraits from memory. The frame was +supported by a kind of stand in chased silver, representing funeral +symbols, in the midst of which one might read the date, "July 15, 1685."</p> + +<p>This apartment was occupied by a young man in the prime of +manhood—large, supple and robust. His noble proportions recalled +vividly the height and figure of Captain Whirlwind, of the buccaneer +Rend-your-Soul, or of the Caribbean Youmäale. By coloring the fine +features of the man of whom we speak to the copper-colored tint of the +mulatto, the ruddy color of the Caribbean, or by half-concealing them +under the thick black beard of the buccaneer, one could almost see the +three individuals in the same person.</p> + +<p>We will here say to the reader, who has doubtless penetrated this +mystery, that the disguises of the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the +Caribbean, had been successively assumed by the same man, who was none +other than the natural son of Charles II., James, Duke of Monmouth, +<i>executed</i> at London, July 15, 1685, as guilty of high treason. All +historians agree in saying that this prince was very brave, very +affable, and of a very generous nature and a face beautiful and noble. +"Such was the end of a prince," says Hume, in (speaking of Monmouth) +"whose great qualities would have made him an ornament to the court, and +who was capable of serving well his country. The tenderness which his +father, the king, bore for him; the praises of a large faction and the +blind devotion of the populace, drew him into an enterprise beyond his +strength. The love of the people followed him in all the vicissitudes of +fortune; even after his execution, his followers cherished the belief +that they would some day see him at their head."</p> + +<p>We will explain later the cause of this singular hope of the prince's +adherents, and how Monmouth had, in effect, survived his execution.</p> + +<p>Having removed his disguise as the Caribbean, and the dye which stained +his features, Monmouth wore an ample gown of light blue covered with +orange flowers, and read attentively a large number of papers spread +before him.</p> + +<p>In order to explain the mistake of which the chevalier was the voluntary +victim, we must explain that Croustillac, without really resembling +Monmouth, was of the same age, the same height, brown as the other, as +slender, and that the duke had, in common with the Gascon, a nose +decidedly prominent, and a strong chin. Others beside Rutler, a Dutch +officer arrived from the United Provinces in the suite of William of +Orange, would have fallen into the same error, above all, seeing in the +hands of Croustillac certain priceless objects known to have belonged to +the son of Charles II.</p> + +<p>As to the choice of Rutler, one must understand that in order to fulfill +such a mission with all its consequences, it needed a man careful, +fearless, blindly devoted, and capable of pushing that devotion even to +assassination. The choice of William of Orange was necessarily +circumscribed by such exigencies; it would have been probably impossible +for him to have found a man who knew Monmouth personally who would not +have recoiled before such terrible extremities as were entailed in this +perilous and cruel undertaking.</p> + +<p>Monmouth was deeply absorbed in reading several English journals. All at +once the door of his room opened violently, and Angela threw herself on +his neck, crying, "Saved! saved!"</p> + +<p>Then, bursting into tears, laughing and sobbing by turn, kissing his +hands, his forehead, his eyes, she repeated, in a stifled voice, "Saved! +my beloved James! Saved! there is no longer any danger for thee, my +lover, my husband. God be praised, the danger is past! But what terror +has been mine! Alas! I tremble still!"</p> + +<p>Startled by the transports of Angela, Monmouth said to her with infinite +tenderness, "What is the matter, child? What do you say?"</p> + +<p>Without replying to him, Angela cried, "But this is not all; we must +fly, do you understand? King William of England is on our track; +to-morrow we must quit this island. All will be ready; I have given the +order to one of our negro fishermen to go and say to Captain Ralph to +have the Chameleon ready to set sail; it is anchored at Cayman's Creek; +and in two hours we shall have left Martinique."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE BETRAYAL.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in +agony. "What do you say?" cried he. "King William knows that I am on +this island?"</p> + +<p>"He knows it. One of his emissaries has obtained entrance here this +night. But be calm; he has gone; there is no danger," cried Angela, +seeing Monmouth run to arm himself.</p> + +<p>"But this man—this man?"</p> + +<p>"He has gone, I tell you; the danger is past. Should I be here if not +so? No; you have nothing to fear, at present, at least. But do you know +who has aided me in overcoming this threatening cloud?"</p> + +<p>"No; for mercy's sake explain."</p> + +<p>"It was the poor adventurer whom we have made our butt."</p> + +<p>"Croustillac?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, his presence of mind saved us; God be praised, the danger is +past."</p> + +<p>"Truly, Angela, I believe I am dreaming."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, then. It was an hour ago, when you left me to read the +papers arrived from England. I went into the garden with the chevalier. +I had a presentiment of our danger and I was sad and thoughtful. I +wished to get rid of our guest as soon as possible, not caring to amuse +myself with him longer. I said to him that I could not explain the +mystery of my three widowhoods; that my hand could belong to no one, and +that he must leave the house at break of day. Our object was thus +accomplished. The Gascon, by his exaggerated tales of what he had seen, +will give more credence still to the stories which have been circulated +during the past three years on the island, absurd stories but useful, +and which until now alas! have been our safeguards by so confusing +events that it has been impossible to separate the true from the false."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, but through what fatality this mystery? Tell me!"</p> + +<p>"Having informed the chevalier that he could no longer remain here, I +told him that we wished, nevertheless, to give him a valuable token of +his sojourn at Devil's Cliff. To my great surprise he refused with a +manner so painfully humiliated that I pitied him. Knowing how poor he +was, and wishing, for the very reason that he showed some delicacy, to +oblige him to accept a present, I came here to seek a medallion +surrounded by diamonds on which was my monogram, hoping that the +chevalier would not refuse that. I returned carrying this token, when in +approaching the inclosure where I had left him, at the end of the park, +near the fountain—Ah! my love, I tremble still!" And the young woman +threw her two arms around James' neck, as if she would protect him +against this past danger.</p> + +<p>"Angela, I beg of you, calm yourself," said Monmouth tenderly. "Finish +your story."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well," she continued, "when I approached the fountain I heard +voices; frightened, I listened."</p> + +<p>"It was this emissary, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my beloved."</p> + +<p>"But how had he effected an entrance? How did he leave? How did he +confide his designs to the Gascon?"</p> + +<p>"He mistook the chevalier for you!"</p> + +<p>"He mistook the chevalier for me?" cried Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"Yes, James. Doubtless he was deceived by the resemblance in figure, and +by the suit that the Gascon wore, and which you had had made, in order +to satisfy one of my caprices in dressing yourself like the portrait of +which you have told me."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Monmouth, passing his hand across his forehead, "Oh! you do +not realize the terrible memories that all this awakens in me."</p> + +<p>Then, after having heaved a deep sigh and looking sadly at the ebony +frame encrusted with silver containing the drawing of a portrait, the +duke resumed: "But what was the result of this strange encounter? What +did the chevalier say? What did <i>you</i> do? Truly, if your presence and +your words did not assure me, I should go myself——"</p> + +<p>Angela interrupted the duke. "Again, my beloved James, should I be so +calm if there was anything to fear at this hour?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. I hear you, but you can understand my impatience."</p> + +<p>"You shall not be in doubt long. From the few words I overheard I +divined that the chevalier, leaving our enemy in error, did not know how +to get him out of the place, fearing he would not be obeyed by our +servants. Counting, with reason, on the Gascon's intelligence, I +presented myself to him at the moment when he approached the house, +taking care to warn him, indirectly, that he must take me for Mirette. +Having seen that the emissary of King William, believing he was +addressing you, called him 'my lord duke' or 'my lord,' I called him so +also; I caused the doors to be opened, and, in order to complete the +illusion, I gave the Gascon your sword, your enameled snuff box, and the +old cloak to which you are so attached."</p> + +<p>"Ah! What have you done, Angela?" cried the duke, "my father's sword, +the snuff box my mother gave me, and the cloak which belonged to the +most saintly, the most admirable martyr who ever sacrificed himself to +friendship."</p> + +<p>"James, my love, pardon. I thought I was doing for the best," cried +Angela, overcome by the expression of bitterness and chagrin which she +read in the features of James.</p> + +<p>"Poor beloved angel," replied Monmouth, taking her hands in his, "I do +not reproach you, but I have so great a respect for these holy relics +that it grieves me to see them profaned by a falsehood, even of a few +moments' duration. I repeat, you do not know the terrible memories which +are attached to the cloak. Alas! I have not told you all!"</p> + +<p>"You have not told me all?" said Angela in surprise. "When you came to +seek me in France in the name of my second father, my benefactor, dead +on the field of battle," and Angela sighed sorrowfully, "did you not +offer to share your life with me, poor orphan that I was, did you not +say that you loved me? what matters the rest? If it did not concern your +well-being, your life, should I ever have dreamed of speaking to you of +your condition, of your birth? I married you proscribed, flying from the +furious hate of your enemies. We have escaped many dangers, evaded many +suspicions, thanks to my pretended marriages, and your various +disguises. Then, what can you have hidden from me? If it is some new +danger, James, my beloved husband, my lover, I will never forgive you, +for I must partake all with you, good or bad fortune. Your life is my +life; your enemies my enemies. Although this attempt happily failed, now +that they know your retreat, they will continue to seek you with +increased malignity. You must fly. In two hours the Chameleon will be +ready to set sail."</p> + +<p>Deeply occupied with his thoughts, Monmouth had not heard Angela. He +walked up and down with long strides, repeating to himself, "There is no +doubt, they know I am living; but how has William of Orange penetrated +this secret which was known only to Father Griffen and myself, because +the holy martyr who carried this secret to the tomb, and De Crussol, +last governor of this island, are dead. When I think that for greater +safety I have concealed my real name from my devoted and adored wife, +who then can have betrayed me? Father Griffen is incapable of such +sacrilege; for it is under the seal of the confessional that the +governor made the revelation to him."</p> + +<p>After some minutes of silent thought the duke said, "And what means did +the chevalier employ to discover the designs of the emissary of William +of Orange?"</p> + +<p>"His designs, my love, were not concealed; I heard them; he wished to +carry you away, dead or alive, to the Tower of London."</p> + +<p>"Without doubt. Since the Revolution of 1688 they fear that I may become +reconciled to the dethroned king; the public prints even announce that +my old partisans are moving," said Monmouth, speaking to himself. "I +recognize there the policy of my old friend William of Orange. But by +what right does he suspect me capable of ambitious designs? Again, who +has aroused in William these unjust suspicions, these ill-founded +fears?"</p> + +<p>After another silence he said to Angela, "God be praised, my child, the +storm is past; thanks to thee; thanks to this brave adventurer! +Nevertheless I am not sure if, in spite of the devotion which he has +shown on this occasion, I can confide to him a part of the truth; +perhaps it would be wiser to have him in ignorance and to persuade him +that the emissary had been misled by false information. What do you +think, Angela? Dare I appear to the chevalier under any other form than +that of Youmäale, or shall I charge you to-night to see and thank this +brave man? As to recompense, we will find a way to do that without +wounding his delicacy."</p> + +<p>Angela looked at her husband with growing astonishment. Monmouth had not +understood her; he thought that the Gascon had succeeded in removing +this emissary of William of Orange from Devil's Cliff; he did not know +he had accompanied him as a prisoner.</p> + +<p>"I do not know when the chevalier will return. He will doubtless make +this mistake last as long as possible in order to give us time to +escape."</p> + +<p>"The chevalier is no longer here, then?" cried the duke.</p> + +<p>"No, he has gone as a prisoner, under your name, with this man. Our +negro fishermen accompany them to the Cayman's Creek, where the emissary +will embark for the Barbadoes in one of our boats with the chevalier."</p> + +<p>The duke could hardly believe what he heard. "Gone under my name!" cried +he. "But this emissary, discovering his mistake, will be capable of +killing the chevalier. By heavens! I cannot allow that! Too much blood, +oh my God! has already been spilled for me."</p> + +<p>"Blood! oh, do not fear that; the chevalier will run no danger. In spite +of my desire to avert the danger that threatened from ourselves, I would +never have exposed this generous man to certain destruction."</p> + +<p>"But, unhappy woman," cried the duke, "you do not know the terrible +importance of the secret of state which the chevalier is now possessed +of?"</p> + +<p>"My God! what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"They are capable of killing him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what have I done? Where are you going?" cried the young wife, +seeing the duke preparing to leave the room.</p> + +<p>"I am going to join them and save this unfortunate man. I will take some +blacks with me. The Gascon has hardly an hour's advance of me."</p> + +<p>"James, I implore you, do not expose yourself."</p> + +<p>"What! cowardly abandon this man who has devoted himself to me? I give +him up to the resentment of William's emissary? never! Ah, you do not +know, unhappy child, that certain sacrifices impose on one gratitude as +dolorous as remorse. Go, I pray you, tell Mirette to order some slaves +to be in readiness to follow me at once. Thanks to the tide, the +chevalier cannot put to sea before daybreak, I can then overtake him."</p> + +<p>"But this emissary is capable of anything! if he sees you come to the +aid of the chevalier, he will understand, perhaps, and then——"</p> + +<p>"That it is not James of Monmouth, but the mulatto filibuster, who is on +his track. Beside, I have faced other dangers than these, I believe."</p> + +<p>So saying, the duke entered a small room connected with his apartments. +There he found all that was necessary for his disguise. Left alone, +Angela gave herself up to the most cruel regrets. She had not supposed +that the consequences of the mistake into which the Gascon had led +Rutler could be so fatal. She feared also that Monmouth would be +recognized in spite of his disguise. In the midst of her distress she +heard a sudden violent knock at the outer door of the apartment where +she was, apparently rigorously closed to all the servants in the house.</p> + +<p>Angela ran to this door and saw Mirette. The mulattress, with a +frightened air, said to Angela that Father Griffen sent an imperative +request to enter, having the most important matters to confide to her.</p> + +<p>The order was given to admit him at once into the reception hall on the +ground floor. At the same moment Monmouth came out of his room +completely disguised as the mulatto filibuster.</p> + +<p>"My love," said Angela, when the maid had gone, "Father Griffen has just +arrived, he has things of the utmost importance to say to us. In the +name of heaven, wait and speak to him."</p> + +<p>"Father Griffen!" exclaimed the duke.</p> + +<p>"You know he never comes here unless circumstances of the gravest +importance brings him. I beg you see him," said Angela.</p> + +<p>"I must; but each minute of delay may risk the life of this unhappy +chevalier," said the duke.</p> + +<p>He descended with Angela. Father Griffen, pale, agitated, broken with +fatigue, was in the hall.</p> + +<p>"In fifteen minutes they will be here," he cried.</p> + +<p>"Who, then, Father," said Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"That miserable Gascon," said the priest.</p> + +<p>"Oh, James! everything is discovered; you are lost!" said Angela, +uttering a cry of despair; and she threw herself into the arms of +Monmouth. "Fly; there is still time."</p> + +<p>"Fly, and where? there is but one road to Devil's Cliff, and from it. I +tell you that they follow me," said the priest; "but be calm, nothing is +hopeless."</p> + +<p>"Explain yourself, Father, what is it? In mercy speak, speak!" said +Angela.</p> + +<p>"Father, you alone knew my secret; I would rather believe the impossible +than doubt your sacred word," said the duke gravely.</p> + +<p>"And you are right not to doubt it, my son. There is some unaccountable +mystery, which will come to light some day, believe me; but the minutes +are too precious to seek now for the cause of the misfortune which +menaces you. I hurried to you, then I have not betrayed you. Let us +think of what is most pressing. Under this disguise it is impossible +that you should be recognized," said the priest. "But that is not all; +your situation has become almost inextricable."</p> + +<p>"What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"This Gascon is a traitor; a scoundrel. May God pardon me for having +been so deceived in him and having made you partake of my error. Cursed +be the hypocrite."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," said Angela, "he is the most generous of men; he has +voluntarily devoted himself for my husband."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has assumed your name," said the priest to the prince, "but do +you know for what vile purpose?"</p> + +<p>"Tell me, oh, tell me! I am dying of fear," cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"Listen, then," said the priest, "for the moments fly and the danger +approaches. This morning I received at Macouba a letter from Captain +Morris, of Fort Royal, in compliance with the order he had received from +you to warn me of all arrivals of vessels and of those whose appearance +seemed unusual. He sent me a special message to inform me that a French +frigate had dropped anchor in sight of the harbor, after having sent an +unknown passenger ashore. This person, after a long conference with the +governor, started at the head of an escort in the direction of Devil's +Cliff. In fact, he comes here."</p> + +<p>"An agent of France," said Monmouth; "what have I to fear at present, +even if my secret was known at Versailles? Is not France at war with +England?"</p> + +<p>"My God! my God! have pity on us!" cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"Listen! I started with all haste," continued the priest, "in order to +warn you, hoping to arrive before this man and his escort, in case he +was really coming here, and, unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, +joined him at the foot of the cliff. He recognized my robe; he said to +me that he was sent by the King of France; that he came to fulfill a +mission of state, and he begged me to be his guide and to introduce him, +because I knew the dwellers in this house. I could not refuse to do this +without arousing suspicions. I remained near him. He told me his name +was De Chemerant. He began to ask me some very embarrassing questions as +to you and your wife, my lord, when all at once, at some distance, we +heard a loud voice cry, 'Who goes there?' 'An agent of France,' replied +De Chemerant. 'Treason!' continued the voice, and a dull groan reached +us with these words, 'I am killed!' 'To arms!' cried De Chemerant, +taking his sword in hand, and running after two of our sailors who +served as guides. I followed him. We found the Gascon stretched on the +side of the road, four blacks kneeling, petrified with fear, while our +two sailors had thrown on the ground, and held there with difficulty, a +strong man clothed like a mariner."</p> + +<p>"And the chevalier?" exclaimed Monmouth, "was he wounded?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; and although this is a very wicked man, we must return thanks +to heaven for the wonderful chance which saved him. The man dressed as a +mariner, hearing the noise of our escort, and the words of De Chemerant, +who had responded 'Agent of the King of France,' believed himself +betrayed, and led into ambush; he had then given the Gascon such a +furious blow with his dagger that the unhappy adventurer would have been +killed if the blade had not broken on his shoulder-belt. Nevertheless, +thrown down by the violence of the shock, he fell to the ground, +exclaiming, 'I am killed,' and remained motionless. It was at this +moment we reached the group. Seeing us the assassin of the Gascon cried +with a ferocious laugh as he kicked the body of what he supposed his +victim, 'Mr. Agent of France, your designs have been unmasked, they are +frustrated. You have come to seek James, Duke of Monmouth, in order to +raise a standard for sedition; the standard is broken; take up the +corpse, sir. It is I, Rutler, colonel in the service of King William, +whom God preserve, who has committed this murder.'"</p> + +<p>"'Unhappy man,' exclaimed De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"'I glory in this murder,' replied the colonel. 'Thus have I foiled the +odious projects of the enemies of my master, the king; thanks to me, the +sword of Charles II., which James of Monmouth carried at his side, will +no more be drawn against England.'</p> + +<p>"'Colonel, you will be shot in twenty-four hours,' said De Chemerant. 'I +know my fate,' replied the colonel; 'a traitor is dead. Long live the +King of England.'"</p> + +<p>"But the chevalier?" asked the duke.</p> + +<p>"When he heard these words of Rutler's he made a slight movement, and +heaved a sigh; and while some of the escort held the colonel, who yelled +with rage at seeing that his victim was not dead, De Chemerant hurried +to reach the Gascon, to whom he said, 'My lord, are you dangerously +wounded?' I understood at once, without knowing why, that the chevalier +was playing a rôle and had assumed your name; this error would serve +you—I held my tongue. 'The blow had struck the belt of my father's +sword,' said the rascal, in a faint voice as they raised him. 'My lord +duke, lean on me,' replied De Chemerant, 'I come to you in the name of +the King of France, my master. Mystery is now unnecessary. In two words +I will tell you, sir, the object of my mission, and you can then judge +whether or not you will return as quickly as possible to Fort Royal to +embark with us.' 'I hear you, sir,' said the chevalier, feigning a +slight English accent, doubtless to better play his part. Then at the +end of several moments of thought, the Gascon said in a loud voice, 'If +this be so, sir, I cannot be separated from my wife, and I desire to go +and seek her at Devil's Cliff. She will accompany me; such is the +destiny which is reserved for me.'"</p> + +<p>"The wretch!" exclaimed Angela.</p> + +<p>"Then he continued," said the priest, "'I feel giddy from my fall; I +will rest here a moment.' 'That shall be as you wish, my lord,' said De +Chemerant. Then, turning to me, 'Will you be so good, Father, as to go +and announce to Madame the Duchess of Monmouth that the duke will come +to seek her to take her away; and request that she make hasty +preparations, for we must be at Fort Royal at daybreak and set sail the +same morning.' Now," said the priest to Monmouth, "do you understand the +plan of this traitor? He abuses the name that he has taken in order to +carry off your wife, and you will be compelled either to declare who you +are, or to consent to the departure of madame the duchess."</p> + +<p>"Rather a thousand times death!" cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"Cursed be the Gascon!" said the priest; "I believed him but a sot and +an adventurer, and he is a monster of hypocrisy."</p> + +<p>"Do not let us despair," said Angela suddenly. "Father, will you return +to the outer buildings and order Mirette to open the door to the Gascon +and the French agent when they come. I will take care of the rest."</p> + + +<p class="cdash top15">———</p> + +<p class="cdash">PART THIRD.</p> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE VICEROY OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the Duke of Monmouth and his wife, informed by Father Griffen of +the infamous treachery of Croustillac, were seeking to escape this new +danger, we will return to the adventurer, who, carelessly leaning on the +arm of De Chemerant, climbed the steep ascent of Devil's Cliff.</p> + +<p>Colonel Rutler, furious at having been thwarted in his attempt, was led +away by a guard of two soldiers.</p> + +<p>Chemerant did not know Croustillac; not having the slightest doubt as to +the identity of the Gascon with the Duke of Monmouth, the action and +words of Rutler confirmed his error. In the colonel's possession was +found an order from William of Orange for the capture of James, Duke of +Monmouth. What doubt could he then have when the emissary of King +William recognized Croustillac as the duke, so fully that he was ready +to pay with his life for his attempt to assassinate this pretended +prince.</p> + +<p>Seeing the new aspect this adventure was taking, Croustillac felt the +necessity of being more guarded, so as to complete the illusion which he +desired in order to accomplish his own ends.</p> + +<p>He at least knew, now, the name of the person whom he represented and to +what country he belonged. These points, however, were not very useful to +the adventurer as yet, for he was absolutely ignorant as to +contemporaneous history; but at any rate, the knowledge that the man he +personated was English led him to endeavor to modify his Gascon +pronunciation, and he gave it an English accent so strange that De +Chemerant was far from suspecting that he spoke with a Frenchman.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, in order not to compromise the part he was playing, deemed +it wisest to maintain an extreme reserve; De Chemerant was not +surprised; he knew the reserved character of the English.</p> + +<p>Some words which were exchanged by the two persons who walked at the +head of the escort will give an idea of the new and embarrassing +position of the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"When we arrive at your house, sir," said De Chemerant, "I shall +communicate to you the full powers which his majesty has charged me to +place before the eyes of your highness."</p> + +<p>"Highness—the devil!" thought Croustillac: "this man pleases me better +than the other; beside subjecting me to the inconvenience of his +everlasting dagger, he called me only my lord or your grace, while this +one calls me highness. This is progressive. I go on. I touch the +throne."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I shall also have the honor to hand to +you, sir, a number of letters from England which will prove to you that +the moment was never more favorable for an insurrection."</p> + +<p>"I know it," said the Gascon, with effrontery, remembering that this was +what Rutler had said to him; "I know it, sir; my partisans are acting, +and bestirring themselves greatly."</p> + +<p>"Your highness is better informed of affairs in Europe than I had +thought."</p> + +<p>"I have never lost sight of them, sir, never."</p> + +<p>"Your highness fills me with joy in speaking thus. It depends on you to +assure to yourself the brilliant position which is your due, and which +you will acquire if you obtain a decisive advantage."</p> + +<p>"And how, sir?"</p> + +<p>"By putting yourself at the head of the partisans of your royal uncle, +James Stuart; forgetting the dissensions which have heretofore separated +you, for the king no longer desires to see in you other than his worthy +nephew."</p> + +<p>"And, between us, he is right; it is always necessary to turn to one's +family. My God, if each one puts in a little of his own, it will end by +arranging itself."</p> + +<p>"Thus, your highness, King James gives you a mark of the highest +confidence in intrusting to you the defense of his rights and those of +his young son."<sup>[A]</sup></p> + +<p class="footnote"><sup>[A]</sup> The Pretender, born in 1688.</p> + +<p>"My uncle is dethroned; he is unhappy; this makes me overlook much," +said Croustillac gravely. "I will not betray his hopes. I will devote +myself to the defense of his rights and those of his young son, if the +circumstances permit."</p> + +<p>"Your highness need not have the slightest doubt as to the opportunity +to do so when you will have heard, in this respect, the large number of +your old companions at arms; of your most enthusiastic followers."</p> + +<p>"In fact, they, better than any one, will be able to give certain +information, but alas! before I can see them, these brave men, these +loyal and faithful men, much time must, unhappily, elapse."</p> + +<p>"I am going to give your highness a very delightful surprise."</p> + +<p>"A surprise?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness. Several of your partisans, having learned by what +happy occurrence the life of your highness has been preserved, have +asked permission of the king to accompany me here."</p> + +<p>"To accompany you?" cried the chevalier. "And where are they, then?"</p> + +<p>"They are here, aboard the frigate which brought me, your highness."</p> + +<p>"Aboard your frigate!" exclaimed Croustillac, with an expression of +surprise that De Chemerant interpreted in a very favorable manner to +affectionate memories of the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness. I understand your astonishment, your happiness, +your joy in the prospect of shortly seeing your old companions-in-arms."</p> + +<p>"You have not the slightest idea of the impatience with which I await +the moment when I shall again see them, sir," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"And their conduct justifies your eagerness, your highness; they will +bring you the loyalty of all your English friends; and they will very +soon put you in touch with the affairs of that country. Who can better +inform you on these subjects than Dudley and Rothsay?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that dear Rothsay, has he also come?" said the Gascon with an easy +manner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness, but he is suffering so from his old wounds that he +can hardly walk, still he said, 'It is no matter if I die—if I die at +the feet of our duke,' for it is thus they speak of you in the +familiarity of their devotion."</p> + +<p>"The poor Rothsay, always the same!" said Croustillac, passing his hand +across his eyes, with a touching air. "The dear friends."</p> + +<p>"And Lord Mortimer, then, your highness; he is as if mad. If it were not +for the king's orders, which were of the strictest, it would have been +impossible to have prevented his coming on shore with me."</p> + +<p>"Mortimer also—brave Mortimer!"</p> + +<p>"And Lord Dudley, your highness."</p> + +<p>"Lord Dudley is as wild as the others, I wager?"</p> + +<p>"He threatened to swim ashore as the captain had refused to give him a +boat."</p> + +<p>"Such a friend is a true spaniel for fidelity and love of the water!" +thought Croustillac, very much embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"Ah, your highness, and to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Well, what of to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"What a great day it will be for your highness."</p> + +<p>"Yes, superb."</p> + +<p>"Ah, your highness, what a touching scene! what a moment for you and for +those who are so devoted to you. Happy indeed are the princes who find +such friends in adversity."</p> + +<p>"Yes it will be a very touching interview," said Croustillac aloud; then +he continued, inaudibly, "To the devil with this animal of a Mortimer +and his companions! <i>Peste!</i> these are very stupid friends; what fly is +stinging them? They will recognize me, and I shall be lost, now that I +know De Chemerant's state secret."</p> + +<p>"The presence of those valiant nobles," replied De Chemerant, "has yet +another object. Your highness ought not to be ignorant of it?"</p> + +<p>"Speak, sir; they seem to me to have excellent ideas, these dear +friends."</p> + +<p>"Knowing your courage, your resolution, sir, the king, my master, and +the king, your uncle, have ordered me to make you an overture which you +cannot fail to accept."</p> + +<p>"What is it, sir? this begins excellently."</p> + +<p>"Not only are your most courageous partisans on board the frigate, which +is at anchor, sir, but the ship is filled with arms and ammunition. +Sentinels have been stationed on the coast of Cornwall; the whole +country awaits only a signal to rise in your favor. It but remains for +your highness to disembark at the head of your partisans, and give the +people the necessary arms. The movement will spread even to London, the +usurper will be driven from the throne, and you will restore the crown +to the king, your uncle."</p> + +<p>"I will do it, by the gods! I am capable of that. Of a surety here is a +magnificent project, but there must be contrary chances, and above all, +I must be careful, very careful of the lives of my partisans and of the +safety of my uncle's subjects."</p> + +<p>"I recognize the habitual generosity of the character of your highness; +but there are hardly any contrary chances to fear; all is ready, loyalty +prevails. You will be received with enthusiasm. The remembrance of you +is so lasting, they say, so ever present to the people of London, that +they have never believed in your execution, sir, not even those who were +present. Live, then, for this noble country which has so deeply mourned +you, and which awaits your coming as they await the day of their +deliverance."</p> + +<p>"Come! he also," thought Croustillac; "he thinks that I have been +executed; but this man is more reasonable than the other, who wished to +kill me in the name of the regrets that my death had caused; at least, +this one desires me to live in the name of these same regrets, and I +prefer this."</p> + +<p>"In a word, sir, set sail from Martinique for the coast of Cornwall, and +if, as all believe, the English people rise at the sound of your name, +my master, the king, will support this insurrection with his strong +forces, and make the movement a success."</p> + +<p>"Ah! ah! I see, my good fellow, I see. Although I am not a political +end," said the Gascon to himself, "in my humble opinion I understand +that the king, your master and mine, wishes to make use of me as a +forlorn hope. If I succeed, he will support me; if I do not, he will +leave me to be captured. All the same this tempts me; my ambition +awakens. To the devil with the Mortimers, the Rothsays, and my other mad +friends! Without these rogues I shall be curious to see Polyphème de +Croustillac revolutionizing Cornwall, driving William of Orange from the +throne of England, and generously restoring this same throne to King +James. Without being tempted to seat myself upon it—hum, perhaps I +shall seat myself a little, to see—there, there, Polyphème, no more of +that! give the throne to the old man, Polyphème, restore him his throne. +So be it, I will give it to him, but decidedly, for some time, very +strange things have happened to me, and the Unicorn which brought me +here must be an enchanted vessel." The chevalier then spoke, with a +thoughtful air: "This is a very serious thing, at least, sir; there is +much to be said for, and also much against it. I am far from wishing to +temporize too long, but it would be, I think, wisdom to consider more +fully before giving the signal for this uprising."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, permit me to say to you that the conditions are +pressing; action necessary; the secret projects of the king, my master, +have been betrayed. William of Orange has deputed Colonel Rutler to +carry you off, living or dead, so much does he fear to see you the +leader of an insurrection. Sir, we must strike a quick, decisive blow, +such as a sudden disembarkment on the coasts of Cornwall. I repeat, this +expedition made in the name of King James will be received with +enthusiasm and the all-powerful influence of Louis XIV., will +consolidate the revolution you will have so gloriously begun; and, +thanks to you, the rightful King of Great Britain will once more ascend +his throne."</p> + +<p>"This seems to me assured, if my side has the advantage."</p> + +<p>"It will have, sir, it will have!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, unless it is defeated, and then if I am killed, this time it will +be without pardon. It is not through unworthy egotism that I make this +reflection, sir; you can understand that, after the antecedents which +they attribute to me, I must be thoroughly accustomed to being dead, but +I would not leave my party orphaned; and then, consider, sir!—to plunge +this country once more into the horrors of civil war! Ah!" and +Croustillac heaved a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, sir, this is a sad thought; but to these passing troubles +would succeed a most profound calm. Doubtless, war has fatal chances, +but it has, also, happy ones; and then, what a future awaits you! The +letters I bring you will show you that the viceroyship of Ireland and +Scotland is reserved for you, without counting other favors which are +likewise reserved for you and my master, and James Stuart, your uncle, +when he is once more on the throne which he will owe to you."</p> + +<p>"<i>Peste!</i> Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland!" said Croustillac to himself. +"With this, husband of Blue Beard, and, in the bargain, son and nephew +of a king, ah Croustillac, Croustillac, I have well said thy star is in +the ascendent—it would be too bad that this should be for another. Come +on, while it lasts!"</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant, seeing the chevalier's hesitation, made use of a +more powerful means of forcing him to act conformably to the wishes of +the two kings, and said to him, "There remains, your highness, a last +communication to make you, and, painful as it is, I must obey my +master's orders."</p> + +<p>"Speak, sir."</p> + +<p>"It is almost out of the question to refuse to put yourself at the head +of the uprising, your highness; your ships are burned!"</p> + +<p>"My ships burned?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness, that is, figuratively."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir, I understand, the king would compel me to act as he +desires?"</p> + +<p>"Your habitual keensightedness does not allow you to be deceived, your +highness. In case you do not believe it your duty to follow the +pressing counsel of my master, the king, in case you thus show his +majesty King James that you are unwilling to make him forget these sad +and annoying memories, in devoting yourself to his cause, as he had +hoped——"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said the adventurer, becoming cautious, believing he was +going to see, as is said, the reverse side of the medal.</p> + +<p>"Well, your highness, the king, my master, for pressing reasons of +state, in such a case would see himself, with much regret, obliged to +possess himself of your person. That is why I have an escort with me."</p> + +<p>"Sir! violence?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, your highness, my orders are explicit. But I am sure +your highness will not put me to the hard necessity of carrying them +out."</p> + +<p>This menace caused Croustillac to reflect.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I must add, sir, that prudence demands +(seeing your execution has taken place) that your features should be +henceforth concealed, and your face must be covered with a mask that +will never be removed. In fact, in compliance with the orders of his +majesty, I shall have the honor of conducting you, sir, at once to the +Saint Margaret Islands, where you will remain henceforth a prisoner. I +leave to you to imagine the regrets of your partisans, who have come so +far in the hope of seeing you once more at their head."</p> + +<p>After remaining for a long time in the attitude of a man who was +thinking deeply and who struggled inwardly against many conflicting +thoughts, Croustillac raised his head proudly, and said to De Chemerant, +in a dignified manner, "Upon reflection, sir, I will accept the +viceroyship of Ireland and Scotland, you have my word. However do not +think that fear of a perpetual prison forces me thus to act. No, sir, +no; but after mature reflection, I am convinced that I would be culpable +not to yield to the wishes of an oppressed people, who are stretching +out their arms to me, and not to draw my sword for their defense," said +the adventurer with a heroic air.</p> + +<p>"If that is so, your highness," cried De Chemerant, "long live King +James and his Royal Highness the Duke of Monmouth. Long live the +Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland."</p> + +<p>"I accept the augury," gravely replied the chevalier, while he said to +himself, "Devil of a man! with his sweet manner, I do not know if I do +not like the other better in spite of his eternal dagger. This is a +difficult choice. To go with the Dutchman a prisoner to London Tower, +that was not difficult; while now my rôle is complicated and becomes +diabolical, thanks to my mad friends who like vultures are awaiting me +on board the frigate. To-morrow, I dare say, all will be discovered. And +Blue Beard? But I who believed I had made a master stroke in coming to +seek her at Devil's Cliff? What will happen from all this? Bah! after +all, what can happen me? Taken prisoner? or hanged? Prisoner?—that +gives me a future. Hanged?—it is a trifle, the dropping of an eyelid, a +gasp. Come, come, Croustillac! no cowardice! console yourself by mocking +at these men, and amuse yourself with the strange adventures the devil +sends you! It is all the same, cursed be my partisans! except for them +all would go well. Let us see if there is not some way of sending them +to love me—elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, sir," said he, aloud, "are my followers on board many?"</p> + +<p>"Your highness, there are eleven."</p> + +<p>"That must incommode you; they must be uncomfortable themselves."</p> + +<p>"They are soldiers, your highness, they are accustomed to the rough life +of a camp; beside, the end which they propose to attain is so important, +so glorious, that they do not dream of privations which the sight of +your highness will make them quickly forget."</p> + +<p>"It is all the same—is there not a means of finding a place elsewhere? +sending them to another vessel would be infinitely better, that I and my +wife may accommodate ourselves on the frigate? And then, for reasons +known to myself, I shall not discover myself to these dear and good +friends until the moment arrives to disembark in England."</p> + +<p>"That is impossible! to be on the same vessel with you, your friends +will sleep on deck in their clothes."</p> + +<p>"It is terrible to inspire such devotion," said Croustillac to himself. +"Then think no more of it," said he aloud. "I shall be very sorry to +thwart such faithful partisans. But what accommodations have you for +myself and wife?"</p> + +<p>"They will be very plain, sir, but your highness will deign to be +indulgent in recognizing the imperative necessity of the case. Beside, +the well-known attachment of your highness for the duchess," replied De +Chemerant, smiling, "will make you, I am sure, excuse the smallness of +the apartment, which is none other than the captain's cabin."</p> + +<p>The adventurer could not prevent a smile in return, and answered, "The +room, sir, will be sufficient."</p> + +<p>"Then, your highness, you have fully decided that you will bring madame +with you?"</p> + +<p>"More than ever, sir; when I was the prisoner of Colonel Rutler, when I +was destined to perish, perhaps, I left her ignorant of my peril, and +abandoned her without warning her of the fate that awaited me."</p> + +<p>"So the duchess is ignorant——"</p> + +<p>"Of everything, sir; the poor woman is ignorant of everything. Surprised +by Colonel Rutler, while she was asleep, I left word in quitting Devil's +Cliff, that my absence would extend over but a day or two. But +circumstances have suddenly changed. There are no more dangers that I am +going to run. I know my wife, sir; glory and danger, she would partake +all. In going to seek her, to carry her away with me, I am furthering +her dearest wish."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE ARREST.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Monsieur de Chemerant</span> and Croustillac walked on in silence for some +little time toward Devil's Cliff. Meanwhile the guard reached the +heights of the rocks. From this spot were discerned at a distance the +platform and the wall of the park surrounding Blue Beard's home.</p> + +<p>At the sight of this species of fortification De Chemerant said to the +chevalier, "This retreat is well chosen, your highness, to keep at a +distance curious persons; to say nothing of the fact that the reports +that you have caused to be made by the three fellows in your service, +are not such as to encourage many visitors."</p> + +<p>"You allude, I presume, to the buccaneer, the filibuster and the +Caribbean?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness, it is said that they are devoted to you, for life +and death."</p> + +<p>"They are singularly attached to me. Nevertheless," said Croustillac to +himself, "I do not yet know what right these three miscreants have to an +intimacy with the duchess, nor how, in fact, her husband, the Duke of +Monmouth, can permit such bandits to be so very familiar with his +wife—speaking tenderly to her and embracing her. The Caribbean, above +all, with his grave air like a donkey that one has curried—he has above +all the faculty of setting my nerves on edge. And then, how can the duke +permit these familiarities? Doubtless it is to mislead people. It saves +appearances. But, zounds! it seems to me that this misleads a little too +much. Ah, Croustillac, Croustillac! you are becoming more and more in +love, my friend; it is jealousy you feel for these bandits. Ah, well, I +shall unravel this mystery shortly. Meanwhile, I must endeavor to learn +how it was discovered that the prince was hidden at Devil's Cliff." +"Sir," continued Croustillac aloud, "I desire to ask you a very +important question."</p> + +<p>"I am all attention, your highness."</p> + +<p>"If you are permitted to answer this, tell me how it became known at +Versailles that I was hidden in Martinique?"</p> + +<p>After a moment's silence De Chemerant replied, "In telling you what you +wish to know, your highness, I do not in any way betray a state secret. +Neither the king nor his ministers have confided to me anything on this +point. It is entirely due to a circumstance which it would take too long +to tell you now, that I had discovered that of which they thought I was +in ignorance. I can, however, count upon your silence on this subject, +your highness."</p> + +<p>"You may be sure of that, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then, I believe, your highness, that the late Governor of Martinique, +the late Chevalier de Crussol, had known you in Holland, where he owed +his life to you. At the battle of Saint Denis, where you commanded a +Scotch regiment in the army of the stadtholder, while the Chevalier de +Crussol served in the army of the Marshal Luxembourg——"</p> + +<p>"This is true in every particular," said Croustillac imperturbably. +"Proceed."</p> + +<p>"I believe, also, your highness, that the late Chevalier de Crussol +having been, by a combination of events, chosen governor of this colony, +and, having believed it his duty to inquire into the mysterious +existence of a young widow called Blue Beard, went to Devil's Cliff, +entirely ignorant of the fact that you had found refuge there."</p> + +<p>"That also is true, sir; you see I am frank," said Croustillac, charmed +at penetrating, little by little, this mystery.</p> + +<p>"Finally, it appears certain that Chevalier de Crussol, recognizing in +you the prince who had saved his life, swore to you that he would guard +your secret——"</p> + +<p>"He swore it, sir, and if anything surprises me on the part of so +gallant a man, it is that he failed to keep his word," said the Gascon +severely.</p> + +<p>"Do not be too hasty in accusing Chevalier de Crussol, your highness."</p> + +<p>"I will reserve my judgment, then."</p> + +<p>"You know, your highness, there were few men more religiously inclined +than De Crussol?"</p> + +<p>"His piety was proverbial; it is that fact which so surprises me at his +failure to keep his word."</p> + +<p>"When dying, your highness, Chevalier de Crussol felt it a point of +conscience that he had not made known to his master, the king, a state +secret of such importance. He therefore confessed the truth to Father +Griffen."</p> + +<p>"I know all that, sir; go on," said Croustillac, who did not desire that +the devouring curiosity with which he listened to De Chemerant should +appear.</p> + +<p>"As for that, your highness, I speak of what occurred then only from +memory. I shall touch upon certain particulars unknown, I think, to your +highness. At the point of death, Chevalier de Crussol, wishing so far as +possible, to continue to you the protection which had surrounded you +during his life, and, fearing that his successor would begin a search +against the mysterious residents at Devil's Cliff, he wrote a letter to +the governor who would succeed him. In this letter he affirmed on his +guarantee and on that of Father Griffen that the conduct of Blue Beard +was in no wise to be suspected. It is believed, your highness, that the +dying governor had warned you that scruples of conscience having +compelled him to confess all to Father Griffen, under the seal of the +confessional, he did not consider he had broken the promise that he had +given you."</p> + +<p>"If this is so, sir, this poor man remained until the close of his life +the pious and loyal gentleman that I always knew him to be," said +Croustillac, deeply affected; "but must one then, accuse the good Father +Griffen of a sacrilege? This would be cruel. I can with difficulty +reconcile myself to that, sir."</p> + +<p>After a moment's silence, De Chemerant said to the adventurer:</p> + +<p>"Do you know, your highness, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot?" +The Gascon looked at the envoy with surprise. "Is this a pleasantry, +sir?"</p> + +<p>"I would not take such a liberty, your highness," said De Chemerant, +bending his head.</p> + +<p>"Then, sir, what connection——"</p> + +<p>"Permit me, your highness, to explain to you what this game is, and by +the aid of this figure, I shall perhaps be able to also explain to your +highness the fortunes of the state secret.</p> + +<p>"Explain this figure, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot consists in this: a circle +of men and women is made; one man takes one of the shoulder-knots from +his coat and seeks to slip it into his neighbor's pocket as secretly as +possible, for the person who is found in possession of it is obliged to +give a forfeit."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," said the Gascon, "the skill of the play resolves +itself into getting rid as soon as possible of the shoulder-knot, by +passing it, adroitly, on to another."</p> + +<p>"There you have it, your highness."</p> + +<p>"But I do not see what connection there is between the state secret +which concerns me and this game."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, sir, to some consciences, at once scrupulous and timid, +certain confidences, or rather certain confessions, have the same effect +as the poisoned shoulder-knot in the play of that name; the aforesaid +consciences think only of getting rid of the secret to a neighboring +conscience in order to protect themselves from all responsibility."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I see the analogy; it seems that the game of the poisoned +shoulder-knot has been played with the confessor of this unhappy +Chevalier de Crussol."</p> + +<p>"That is just what happened, your highness. Father Griffen, seeing +himself the depository of such an important state secret, found himself +terribly embarrassed; he feared to commit a culpable action toward his +sovereign in keeping silent; he feared by speaking to violate the seal +of the confessional and to ruin you. In this quandary, and desiring to +quiet his conscience, he resolved to go to France, to confess all to the +general of his order, and to thus free himself of all responsibility."</p> + +<p>"I understand, now, your comparison, sir; but as this secret has been +noised abroad, it necessarily follows that, in order to carry out your +comparison, some one has cheated."</p> + +<p>"I can assure your highness that it is many months since Father Griffen, +after his resolution had been taken, arrived in France and confided all +to the general of the order; he, in turn, took all the responsibility +upon himself, and completely absolved Father Griffen, recommending to +him the greatest secrecy."</p> + +<p>"And to whom the devil did the general of the order pass the +shoulder-knot?" said the Gascon, who was much amused by this story.</p> + +<p>"Before answering your highness, I must say that the general of the +order concealed beneath an austere exterior a most unbridled ambition; +that few men possessed to so high a degree the genius for intrigue; or +played more audaciously with what the world reveres. Once master of the +important secret that Father Griffen had confided to him, as his +spiritual superior, in order to quiet his conscience, the general of the +order desired to use this secret for his own personal advancement. +Intimately linked with the confessor of his majesty, King James, Father +Briars, a cunning Jesuit, who understood perfectly the condition of +affairs in England, he led the conversation one day to the location of +this island, and the general of the order asked Father Briars if, in +case you had been still living, your highness, you would not have many +opportunities for rallying about you the partisans of the Stuarts, and +thus placing yourself at the head of a movement against the Prince of +Orange. Father Briars replied that if you had lived your influence would +have been immense, if you were sincerely devoted to the cause of King +James; that this prince had often regretted your death, when thinking of +the services you could have rendered to the cause of the Stuarts. You +can imagine, your highness, the joy of the general of the order. The +secret of the confessional was betrayed, your highness, and your +existence revealed.</p> + +<p>"But this is an abominable man, this general of the order," cried +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Doubtless, sir; but he was ambitious to wear the cardinal's hat; and as +the prime mover of the enterprise, he would be a prince of the church +if King James, your uncle, ascended the throne of England. It is +unnecessary to tell you, sir, that once Father Briars was master of this +secret, he availed himself of it with his royal penitent, and that the +remainder of the arrangements were converted between Louis XIV. and +James Stuart."</p> + +<p>"All is clear now," said Croustillac to himself. "I am not surprised at +the uneasiness of Father Griffen when I persisted in going to Devil's +Cliff. Knowing the secret of the place, he doubtless, believed me to be +a spy. I can now understand the questions with which he overwhelmed me +during our journey, and which seemed so absurd."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant attributed to astonishment the silence of +Croustillac at this recital, and he said, "Now all should be clear to +you. Without doubt, the preparations of this enterprise have not been so +secret that William of Orange has not been kept posted by spies who +gained entrance into the cabinet at Versailles, and even into the inner +circle of the lesser court at Saint Germain. In order to baffle the +projects which rest entirely upon your highness, the usurper has given +to Colonel Rutler the mission which came so near being fatal to you, +your highness. You see, then, in all this Father Griffen has been +perfectly innocent. Some one has abused his confidence most +sacrilegiously; but, after all, sir, you must exercise forbearance, for +it is to this discovery that you will have the glory, some day, of +re-establishing James Stuart upon the throne of England."</p> + +<p>Although this confidence had satisfied the adventurer's curiosity, he +regretted having provoked it; if he was discovered, he would, no doubt, +be made to pay dearly for his knowledge of this state secret, which he +had involuntarily surprised; but Croustillac could not retrace his +steps; he was to become more and more involved in the dangerous way +wherein he walked. The escort arrived on the plain at the foot of the +wall of the house. It was agreed that Rutler, still bound, should remain +outside, and that six soldiers and two sailors should accompany +Chemerant and Croustillac. On reaching the foot of the wall, the Gascon +called, resolutely, "Ho, slaves!"</p> + +<p>After waiting some moments, the ladder was lowered. The adventurer and +De Chemerant, followed by their men, entered the house; the arched door +used exclusively by Blue Beard was opened by Mirette. Chemerant ordered +the six soldiers to remain outside the arch.</p> + +<p>Mirette, instructed by her mistress, as to what she should do and say in +response to questions, appeared struck with surprise at the sight of the +Gascon, and exclaimed, "Ah, my lord!"</p> + +<p>"You did not expect me? and Father Griffen?"</p> + +<p>"What, my lord is it you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly it is I; but where is Father Griffen?"</p> + +<p>"Learning that you were going away for some days, madame had ordered me +to allow no one to enter."</p> + +<p>"But the reverend Father, who came here on my account—has he not seen +your mistress?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord; madame told me to allow no one to enter, so the reverend +priest has been shown to a room in the outer building."</p> + +<p>"Then your mistress is not expecting my return?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord; but——"</p> + +<p>"It is well; leave us."</p> + +<p>"But, my lord, I will go and inform Madame de——"</p> + +<p>"No, it is no matter; I will go myself," said the Gascon, passing before +Mirette and walking toward the drawing room.</p> + +<p>"Your highness, you are about to give a pleasant surprise to the +duchess, who does not expect you for some days, and will thus change her +regrets to a very tender joy, since Father Griffen has not yet been able +to see your wife," said De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"She is always thus, poor dear child, she is very timid; when I am not +here," said Croustillac, tenderly, "she will not see a human face, not +even this good priest; my shortest absence causes her sadness, +desolation and tears; this is what worries me; all this is very simple; +since I have been condemned to this absolute retirement I have never +left my wife, and this absence to-day, short as she believes it to be, +is terribly hard for her, poor, dear soul."</p> + +<p>"But then, your highness, what a delightful surprise! If your highness +will permit me to advise, I will promise to persuade the duchess to +leave this night, for you know, our enterprise cannot succeed except it +be by a very rapid move."</p> + +<p>"My wish also is to carry away my wife as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"This hasty journey will unfortunately cause the duchess some +inconveniences."</p> + +<p>"She will not think so, sir; it concerns following me," said +Croustillac, with a triumphant manner.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant and the adventurer reached the little gallery +which gave entrance to the drawing room of Blue Beard. As we have said, +this room was separated from the drawing room only by <i>portières</i>; a +thick Turkish carpet covered the floor.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant and Croustillac approached the inner room +noiselessly, when they suddenly heard peals of laughter. The chevalier +recognized the voice of Angela, and, seizing the hand of De Chemerant, +he said in a low voice, "It is my wife—listen."</p> + +<p>"The duchess appears to me less overcome than your highness believed."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, sir; there are sobs, you know, which in their violence have +something of the sound of convulsive laughter. Do not move; I wish to +surprise her in the abandon of her grief," said the Gascon, making a +sign to his companion to remain motionless and to keep silent.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE INTERVIEW.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> order to explain the confidence of the Gascon, we must say that, +having heard Mirette address him as master, he was fully persuaded that +Blue Beard was on her guard, and that Monmouth was securely hidden. In +spite of what the mulattress said, he was convinced, with reason, that +Father Griffen had informed Angela that her supposed husband would come +to see her. The situation was so grave that the priest, knowing all the +mysteries of Devil's Cliff, could not but have insisted on warning Blue +Beard of the fresh peril which menaced her.</p> + +<p>If Mirette had stated that Father Griffen had not seen Blue Beard, it +was because it was in accord with her wishes that it should appear that +he had not communicated with the inhabitants of Devil's Cliff.</p> + +<p>This explains at once what will seem contradictory in Croustillac's +conduct, and will answer the question "if he wished to take advantage of +the name he had assumed, to carry off Blue Beard, why had he warned +Father Griffen of his intention?"</p> + +<p>Croustillac, having warned De Chemerant to be silent, advanced on +tiptoe, to the half-drawn <i>portière</i>, and looked into the room, for the +peals of laughter still continued. He had scarcely cast a glance into +the room when he quickly turned toward De Chemerant; and with a +distorted face and outraged manner said, "See and listen, sir! this is +the reward of surprises. I had a presentiment when I sent Father Griffen +here. By heavens! prudent husbands should be preceded by an escort of +cymbals to announce their return!"</p> + +<p>In spite of these ironical words, the features of Croustillac were +convulsed; his whole physiognomy expressed a singular mixture of sorrow, +anger and hatred.</p> + +<p>Rapidly glancing into the room, De Chemerant, in spite of his assurance, +lowered his eyes, colored, and for some moments remained perfectly +overwhelmed with confusion.</p> + +<p>Let one judge of the spectacle which caused the confusion of De +Chemerant, and the rage, not feigned but sincere, even cruel, of +Croustillac, who, as we have said, passionately loved Blue Beard, +devoted himself generously for her, and was not in the secret of the +prince's different disguises.</p> + +<p>Monmouth, in the disguise of the mulatto filibuster, Whirlwind, was +negligently extended on a sofa; he was smoking a long pipe, the bowl of +which rested on a low stand.</p> + +<p>Angela, kneeling beside the latter, quickened the flame of the pipe with +a long golden pin.</p> + +<p>"Good! that is all right," said Monmouth, whom we will call Whirlwind, +during this scene. "My pipe is lighted, now for something to drink."</p> + +<p>Angela placed on a table a large Bohemian glass and a crystal <i>carafe</i>, +and, going over to the divan, while the filibuster puffed several +mouthfuls of tobacco, poured out a brimming glass of Muscatel wine and +handed it to him with a charmingly graceful air.</p> + +<p>The filibuster emptied it at a single draught, after which he kissed her +roughly, saying, "Wine is good, and the woman is pretty; to the devil +with the husband!"</p> + +<p>Hearing these very significant words, De Chemerant wished to retire. +Croustillac took hold of him and said, in a low tone, "Remain, sir, +remain, I desire to surprise, to confound them, the miserable wretches!"</p> + +<p>The face of Croustillac clouded more and more. The warning which he had +given in begging Father Griffen to go and prepare Blue Beard that he was +about to seek her, concealed a very praiseworthy and generous purpose, +which we will explain later.</p> + +<p>The sight of the filibuster exciting the adventurer's jealousy into rage +quickly changed his good intentions. He could not understand the +audacity of this young woman. He could not be blind to the evidence of +these familiarities on the part of the mulatto whom he had not yet +seen. He remembered those, no less shocking, of the Caribbean and the +buccaneer. He believed himself to be the dupe of a frightfully depraved +creature; he believed that Monmouth, her husband, no longer existed or +no longer lived at Devil's Cliff; and if Angela had co-operated with +himself (Croustillac) in his strategy, it was in order to rid herself of +an awkward witness.</p> + +<p>Furious at being thus deceived and played with, deeply wounded in a true +love, Croustillac resolved to avenge himself without pity, and, this +time, to really abuse the power his assumed name and the situation which +he assumed with such honorable motives had given him. He said to De +Chemerant, in a stifled voice, but with an expression of concentrated +wrath, which entered admirably into the spirit of his rôle, "Not a word, +sir; I wish to hear all, because I wish to punish both without mercy."</p> + +<p>"But, your highness——"</p> + +<p>An imperious gesture from Croustillac closed De Chemerant's mouth; both +of them gave an attentive ear to the conversation of Angela, and the +filibuster, who, we must say, knew perfectly that they were overheard.</p> + +<p>"At last, my beautiful child," said Whirlwind, "you are free for a time +at least."</p> + +<p>"If not forever," said Blue Beard, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Forever? what do you mean, you little demon," returned the filibuster.</p> + +<p>Angela arose and seated herself near the mulatto. While talking to him +she passed her hand through his hair with a cajoling coquetry which put +the unhappy Croustillac beside himself.</p> + +<p>"Your highness, one word, and my men shall rid you of this scoundrel," +said De Chemerant, in an undertone, in pity for the Gascon.</p> + +<p>"I shall know well how to avenge myself," said the adventurer sullenly, +who no longer desired to prolong the scene; and so, turning to De +Chemerant, continued, "Sir, leave me alone with these two wretches."</p> + +<p>"But, your highness, this man appears strong and robust."</p> + +<p>"Be easy, I will give a good account of him."</p> + +<p>"If you will listen to me, your highness, we will leave at once; you +will abandon to her remorse, a woman so unhappy as to thus forget her +duty."</p> + +<p>"Leave her? No, my heavens! Willingly or otherwise, she shall follow +me—that will be my revenge."</p> + +<p>"If your highness will permit me a remark: After a disclosure so +scandalous, the sight of the duchess can only be forever odious to you. +Let us go; forget such a guilty spouse; glory shall console you."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I desire to speak to my wife," said Croustillac impatiently.</p> + +<p>"But, your highness, this miserable——"</p> + +<p>"Once more, am I a man without courage and without force, that such a +rascal should intimidate me? Some domestic scenes must be secret. Will +you await me in the next room? In a quarter of an hour I will be with +you."</p> + +<p>Croustillac said these words with an intonation so imperious, and with +such an agonized manner, that De Chemerant bowed without persisting +further. He went into a room the door of which the chevalier had opened, +and which he immediately closed upon him.</p> + +<p>Crossing the drawing room with quick steps, the adventurer entered +suddenly into the room where the mulatto and Blue Beard were.</p> + +<p>"Madame," said the Gascon with sorrowful indignation, "your conduct is +abominable."</p> + +<p>The mulatto, who was extended on the divan, arose quickly; he was about +to speak; Angela with a glance begged him to do nothing. As much as +Monmouth had generously desired to prevent the sacrifice of the +chevalier when he believed this sacrifice disinterested, he was as much +resolved not to make himself known when he believed the adventurer +capable of an unworthy betrayal.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Angela coldly, to the Gascon, "the French emissary may still +overhear us; let us go into another room."</p> + +<p>She opened the door of Monmouth's own room, and entered, followed by the +filibuster and Croustillac. The door once closed, the adventurer cried: +"I repeat that you have shamefully abused my trust in you."</p> + +<p>"I demand an explanation of your disloyal conduct," said Angela proudly. +"Explain yourself at once."</p> + +<p>During this scene, Monmouth, gravely preoccupied, walked up and down the +room with his arms folded, his eyes fixed on the carpet.</p> + +<p>"You desire that I explain myself, madame? Oh, that will not take long! +First know that, right or wrong, I love you," cried Croustillac, in a +burst of tenderness and anger.</p> + +<p>"That is to say, that you have boasted to your fellow-travelers that you +would marry the rich widow of Devil's Cliff?"</p> + +<p>"So be it, madame; on board the Unicorn my language was impertinent, my +pretensions absurd, madame; covetous, I admit. But when I spoke thus, +when I thought thus, I had not seen you."</p> + +<p>"The sight of me, sir, has not inspired you with ideas much more +honorable," said Angela severely, still convinced that Croustillac +wished to cruelly abuse the position in which he found himself.</p> + +<p>"Hear me, madame; I love you truly; that is to say, that I was capable +of anything to prove to you my love, absurd and stupid as it appears to +you. Yes, I loved you, because my heart told me I did well to love you; +because I felt myself better for loving you. You may laugh at this love; +I was sufficiently repaid by the happiness it gave me. When you have +said, 'Sir, I mock at you, I use you for a plaything, you are a poor +devil, I have bestowed charity upon you, and you should be content +therewith—— '"</p> + +<p>"Sir!"</p> + +<p>"When you have said all this, do not think that I was humiliated. No, +that hurt me, hurt me much, but I quickly forgot this injury, when I saw +that you understood that, poor as I am, I could be touched by something +else than money. Then you said to me some kind words, you called me your +friend—your friend! After this I would have thrown myself into the fire +for you, and that for the sole pleasure of throwing myself into it, for +I had nothing more to hope for from you; the time of my folly is past; I +see too clearly into my heart not to recognize that I was a kind of +mendicant buffoon; I can never have anything in common with a woman as +beautiful and as young as you. My only ambition—and this can offend no +one—would have been to devote myself to you. But how to have such +happiness? I, a vagabond, with nothing but my old sword, my old hat, and +my pink hose! Ah! well, by a chance which I at first blessed, Colonel +Rutler to-night mistook me for him they call your husband; this mistake +might be useful to you. Judge of my joy—I could save the man whom you +so passionately loved. I should have preferred to save something else, +but I had no time to choose. I risked all, including the everlasting +dagger of the colonel. I augmented, by every means possible, his double +mistake. You came to my assistance; that is, you buried me in the mud up +to the neck, by means of the bagatelles with which you loaded me. It is +all the same—I go with all my heart; I am satisfied to do so, and I +leave this house without hope of ever seeing you again, with the gallows +or prison in prospect, not to count the everlasting dagger of the +Dutchman. Ah, well, in spite of all, I repeat, I was content: I said to +myself, I know not what awaits me, rope or dungeon; but I am sure Blue +Beard will say, 'It is fortunate, very fortunate for us at least, that +this eccentric Gascon came here. Poor devil! what has happened to him?' +There! that was my ambition. But I did not ask even a regret, a +memory—a memory," said the Gascon, moved in spite of himself.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Angela, "as long as I believed you really generous, my +gratitude did not fail you."</p> + +<p>These words increased the Gascon's wrath; he exclaimed, "Your gratitude, +madame! Zounds! it is beautiful. But to proceed. We started from this +place with the Belgian. In descending the hill we met the French +emissary. Rutler at once believed himself betrayed, and made a furious +lunge at me with his everlasting dagger. These are the fruits of +devotion. If the blade had not broken, I should have been killed. +Nothing is simpler; when one sacrifices oneself for others, it is hardly +with the expectation of being crowned with roses, or caressed by nymphs +of the woods. Well, the dagger broke; one of the men throttled Rutler; +I found myself face to face with the French emissary. I did not lose my +head. It was a matter touching you and the unhappy exile whom you loved +passionately. I would rather it had been your father or your uncle, but +I had no choice. Beside, the idea of being useful to two young and +interesting people threw my egotism into the background. The greater the +complications the more my pride incited me to save you. I redoubled my +audacity and coolness. The great but honest falsehoods I have uttered +for you should absolve me from those which I have spoken for an unworthy +cause. The good God took up the cause; I was inspired to the greatest +falsehoods you can imagine; they were swallowed up as eagerly by the +French envoy as if it had been manna from on high. I played my rôle with +all my might. Monsieur De Chemerant told me in two words the object of +his mission; an insurrection favored by the King of France was on foot +in England; if the Duke of Monmouth were to put himself at the head of +the affair its success was assured."</p> + +<p>Monmouth made a movement and stealthily exchanged glances with Angela.</p> + +<p>The Gascon continued: "When I was on the way to an English prison with +the Belgian and his everlasting dagger I did not breathe a word. I was +well protected from any wish to return here. But when De Chemerant +confided to me a thing of possible advantage to the prince, I had no +right to refuse it for him. I therefore accepted in his name all manner +of viceroyalties. But, if he really desired to take part in this +uprising, how was I to let him know? Monsieur De Chemerant desired to +set sail at once. By what means could I return here with the envoy of +France without exposing the duke, who was ignorant of my last adventure +and believed me still to be the Belgian's prisoner, thinking, doubtless, +that he was secure here? An idea seized me. I said to De Chemerant, +'Things have changed their aspect; I desire to take my wife with me. +Come, let us return to Devil's Cliff.' Faith, it was the only way in +which I could manage an interview with you, madame—of warning the +prince of this proposal. If he accepted it, I would throw off the +prince; if he refused, I would refuse as before, and he would be saved."</p> + +<p>"How, sir!" cried Angela. "Such was your generous intention? You +would——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, wait, madame, wait; do not think me either more stupid or more +generous than I am," said the Gascon bitterly. "I begged Father Griffen +to come and prepare you, madame, that I desired to take you with me. +Chemerant heard me; I could say no more to the priest, but this +sufficed. One of two things would result: either you would understand +the situation or you would believe me guilty of infamous intentions; in +either case, you would be on your guard, and the prince saved; for it +was my fixed idea——"</p> + +<p>"So, sir," cried Angela, looking at him with mingled surprise and +gratitude, "you did not really intend to abuse——"</p> + +<p>The Gascon interrupted her shortly. "No, madame, no. I had then no such +wicked intentions, though certain particulars of your life appear to me +inexplicable. I believed you sincerely attached to an unhappy prince, +and at any cost I would have saved the duke."</p> + +<p>"Ah! sir, how I have misjudged you? You are the most generous of men," +cried Angela.</p> + +<p>The adventurer burst into a sardonic laugh, which stupefied the young +woman; then he continued with a somber air:</p> + +<p>"Thank God, my eyes have been opened. I see now that generosity would be +stupid, devotion foolish. I shall profit by this lesson. Polyphème de +Croustillac rarely revenges himself, but when he does, he revenges +himself well; above all, when the vengeance is as charming as that which +awaits him."</p> + +<p>"You would be revenged, sir," said Angela, "and on whom?"</p> + +<p>"On whom, madame? You have the audacity to ask me that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly, what have I done; why this hatred?"</p> + +<p>The adventurer stamped his foot so violently that the mulatto made a +step toward him; but Croustillac curbed himself and said to Angela +shortly, and with ironical bitterness, "Listen to me, madame. It seems +to me, that without being possessed of colossal pride, I deserved +something, when for you I threw myself into the midst of the most +dangerous situations. It seems to me, madame," continued the Gascon, who +could not contain his indignation, which increased in measure as he +spoke, "It seems to me that it was not at the moment when, at the risk +of my life, I was doing all I could to save the husband whom you love so +passionately, as they say, that it was not at such a time that you +should forget all modesty——"</p> + +<p>"Sir!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, forget all modesty, all shame, by throwing yourself into +the arms of this miserable mulatto, and go to the depth of lighting his +pipe. Truly, I was very stupid," continued the Gascon with an increase +of rage. "In my devotion to you I risked my skin for the husband of +madame! while madame, outrageously mocking her husband and me, abandoned +herself to orgies with a lot of scamps. I am beside myself! My mother's +son does not merit having been born in my country and having played all +manner of pranks, as they say, in the capital of the world, if he cannot +find something, in his turn, to laugh at in this adventure. In a word, +madame," he said, sullenly, "you can believe me to entertain the +wickedest intention in the world, and you will not overstep the reality, +for I am now as much your enemy as I was your friend. As for the rest, I +am well pleased; nothing is more wearying than fine sentiments. I should +have resumed my shepherd songs and my morning sonnets. I shall take good +care not to do so. I prefer the fashion in which I love you now, rather +than heretofore," said Croustillac, throwing a glittering look at +Angela.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h3> + +<p class="head">REVELATIONS.</p> + +<p>The poor Gascon, carried away by anger and jealousy, appeared more +furious than he was in reality. Unhappily, the Duchess of Monmouth did +not know him well enough to understand the exaggeration of this +ferocious appearance.</p> + +<p>Angela thought the adventurer seriously regretted having shown a +generous spirit; in doubting him she naturally hesitated to calm the +Gascon's jealousy by imparting the disguise of the duke; this avowal +would ruin everything if the chevalier was not faithful. It was, then, +prudent to hold this in reserve.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Angela, "you deceive yourself; there is a certain mystery in +my conduct which I cannot yet explain to you."</p> + +<p>These words redoubled Croustillac's irritation; for the past three days +he had been surrounded by mysteries; therefore he exclaimed, "I have had +enough mystery; I have had too many concerning yourself. I do not wish +to be your dupe any longer, madame. I do not know what may await me; I +do not know how all this will end, but I <i>swear</i> you shall follow me!"</p> + +<p>"Sir!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, I have all the inconveniences of the rôle of your +well-beloved husband; I will at least have its pleasures; as to this +unworthy scoundrel of a mulatto, who says nothing, but thinks evil and +would do it, I will deliver him over to De Chemerant, who will give me a +good account of him. If it was not for soiling the sword of a gentleman +by dipping it in his slave blood, I myself would take this vengeance."</p> + +<p>Angela exchanged glances with Monmouth, whose imperturbability +exasperated the Gascon. Both of them realized the necessity of calming +the chevalier; his anger might prove dangerous; he must be quieted at +once, without betraying the secret of the prince's disguise.</p> + +<p>The young woman said to the adventurer, "All will be explained, sir; my +greatest, my only wrong toward you has been in doubting the generosity +of your character, and the loyalty of your devotion. Father Griffen, +although he answered for you, has been, like myself, deceived as to the +real motive of your intentions; we have believed, and we have been wrong +in so believing, that you were capable of abusing the name which you +have taken. In order to escape a fresh danger with which you seemed to +threaten us, it became necessary to attempt a means, very uncertain, +doubtless, but which might succeed. I could not escape—that would be +only to meet you. I gave the necessary orders, then, that you should be +introduced here with De Chemerant, hoping that you would surprise me, +suddenly, and thus become a witness of the tender intimacy which linked +me with the captain——"</p> + +<p>"How! did you arrange this agreeable scene for me?" cried the Gascon +furiously, "and you dare say it to my face? But this is the last degree +of degradation and shame, madame. And for what purpose, if you please, +did you wish to prove to me the abominable intimacy which binds you to +this bandit?"</p> + +<p>"To the end that it should be impossible for you to take me with you. +Monsieur De Chemerant being a witness to my culpable intimacy with +Captain Whirlwind, you could not, you who are passing as the Duke of +Monmouth, take with you a woman, who, in the eyes of the French envoy, +is as culpable as I would appear to him—as culpable as I am."</p> + +<p>"You acknowledge it, then, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and again yes, sir! Do not be generous by halves; what does it +matter to you whom I love—a slave, as you say?"</p> + +<p>"How, madame? What does it matter to me? have you then sworn to drive me +mad? And what does it serve that I play the part of your husband? Does +he really exist? Is he here, and do you not avail yourself of the +mistakes of which I am a victim to get rid of me? Is he not already +safely at a distance, this husband of yours? This is enough to drive one +mad!" cried the Gascon wildly. "I believe my head is turned; am I or am +I not for the past two days the sport of an abominable nightmare? Who +are you? Where am I? Who am I? Am I Croustillac? Am I my lord? Am I the +prince, am I a viceroy, or even a king? Have I had my throat cut or not? +How is this to be explained? This thing must stop! If there <i>is</i> a Duke +of Monmouth, where is he? Show him to me," cried the unhappy adventurer, +in a state of excitement impossible to describe, but easy to imagine.</p> + +<p>Angela, frightened and less ready than ever to tell the Gascon +everything, said hesitatingly, "Sir, certain mysterious +circumstances——"</p> + +<p>Croustillac did not give her time to go on, but cried, "Still more +mysteries! I tell you I have had enough mystery. I do not believe my +brain is weaker than any other, but one hour more of this and I shall be +a lunatic!"</p> + +<p>"Sir, if you could understand——"</p> + +<p>"Madame, I do not wish to understand," cried the chevalier, stamping his +foot in a rage. "It is just because I have wished to understand that my +head is almost turned."</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Angela, "I beg you to be calm and reflect——"</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to reflect nor to comprehend," cried Croustillac, +exasperated afresh. "Right or wrong, I have determined that you +accompany me, and you <i>shall</i> accompany me. I do not know where your +husband is and I do not wish to know; what I do know is that you have +not been obdurate either to Caribbeans, or buccaneers, or mulattoes; +very well you shall not be obdurate to me. You see that clock—if in +five minutes you do not consent to accompany me, I will tell De +Chemerant everything, come of it what will. Decide, then; I shall speak +no more; I shall be deaf, for my head will burst like a bombshell at the +slightest word."</p> + +<p>Croustillac threw himself into a chair, put his hands over his ears in +order to hear nothing, and fixed his eyes on the clock.</p> + +<p>Monmouth had walked up and down the room incessantly; he, as well as +Angela, was in terrible perplexity.</p> + +<p>"James, perhaps he is an honest man," said Angela in a low tone, "but +his excitement terrifies me; see how wild his manner is."</p> + +<p>"We must risk confiding to his loyalty, otherwise he will speak."</p> + +<p>"But if he deceives us—if he tells all?"</p> + +<p>"Angela! between two dangers we must choose the least."</p> + +<p>"Yes, if he consents to pass for you, you are saved, at least this +time."</p> + +<p>"But in this case I cannot leave him in the power of De Chemerant."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it is frightful!"</p> + +<p>"Never will I consent to again plunge England into a civil war. I would +a thousand times prefer prison and death; but to leave you, my God!"</p> + +<p>"What shall we do, James? What danger does this man run?"</p> + +<p>"Immense! the possessor of such a state secret."</p> + +<p>"But then, I must lose you or follow him. Ah, what shall I do? Time +presses."</p> + +<p>After a moment's reflection, Monmouth said, "We must not hesitate. Tell +him everything. If he then consents to play my rôle for some hours, I am +safe, and will have the means to place him beyond the resentment of the +French envoy."</p> + +<p>"James! if this man should be a traitor? Heavens! take care."</p> + +<p>At this moment the adventurer, seeing the hand of the clock reach the +fifth minute, said to Angela, "Well, madame, what have you decided upon? +Yes or no? For I am incapable of listening to or understanding anything +beyond. Will you follow me or will you not? Speak."</p> + +<p>Monmouth approached him with a grave and imposing air. "I am going, sir, +to give you a proof of the highest esteem and of——"</p> + +<p>"Your esteem, scoundrel," cried Croustillac indignantly, interrupting +the duke. "Is it, indeed, to me that you dare speak thus? Your +esteem——"</p> + +<p>"But, sir——"</p> + +<p>"Not another word," continued Croustillac, turning toward Angela. +"Madame, will you follow me? Is it yes or no?"</p> + +<p>"But listen——"</p> + +<p>"Is it yes or no?" exclaimed he, walking toward the door; "answer, or I +will call De Chemerant."</p> + +<p>"But by St. George!" cried Monmouth.</p> + +<p>The chevalier was about to open the door when the young woman seized him +by the hands with such a beseeching air that he paused in spite of +himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I will go with you," she said, in a frightened manner.</p> + +<p>"At last!" said the Gascon, "so be it. Take my arm and let us go; De +Chemerant has waited a long time."</p> + +<p>"But just a moment—you must know all," said the poor woman hastily. +"The Caribbean is in reality the filibuster, or rather the buccaneer and +the Caribbean are——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, there you go again; do you wish that I should retain my senses?" +cried the Gascon, making a desperate effort and running toward the door +in order to call De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>The prince flung himself upon Croustillac, and, seizing his two wrists +in one hand, placed the other over his mouth at the moment Croustillac +called "Help, De Chemerant!" then he said, "I am the Duke of Monmouth!"</p> + +<p>The prince thought the chevalier would understand everything the moment +he spoke, but in the exasperation which Croustillac felt, he only saw in +this statement a new artifice or a new provocation, and he redoubled his +efforts to escape. Though much less strong than the duke, the chevalier +was not without energy; he began to struggle violently, when Angela, +terrified, ran and took up a flask, and, putting on her handkerchief a +drop of the liquid, rubbed the hand of the prince, removing the stain +upon it and showing the white skin.</p> + +<p>"Do you understand now, sir, that the three persons are one?" said the +prince, releasing Croustillac and showing him his white hand.</p> + +<p>These words were a revelation to Croustillac, and he understood all.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, at the moment when the prince took his hand from the +mouth of the Gascon, the latter had uttered the words, "Help! De +Chemerant!"</p> + +<p>The sound of the struggle had already attracted the attention of the +French envoy, and, hearing the cry of Croustillac, he rushed into the +room, sword in hand. It would be impossible to depict the stupefaction, +the fright of the three when De Chemerant appeared. The duke put his +hand upon his sword. Angela fell back into a chair and hid her face in +her hands. Croustillac looked about him with an agonized air, regretting +his imprudence, but too late.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the adventurer's presence of mind returned to him little +by little; as it needs but a ray of the sun to dispel the thick mist, so +the moment that the good chevalier had the key to the three disguises of +the prince, everything became clear to him. His mind, until then so +sadly agitated, became calm; his unworthy doubt of Blue Beard ceased; +there only remained his regret at having accused her, and the desire to +devote himself to her and the prince.</p> + +<p>With wonderful quickness of invention (we are familiar enough with the +Gascon now to say with a marvelous facility for lying) Croustillac +formed his plan of campaign against De Chemerant, who still, sword in +hand, stood on the threshold and said for the second time, "What is it, +your highness? what has happened? I thought I heard a cry and struggle, +and an appeal for aid."</p> + +<p>"You were not deceived, sir," said Croustillac gloomily.</p> + +<p>Monmouth and his wife experienced a terrible anxiety. They were ignorant +of the Gascon's intentions; knowing Monmouth's secret, he was now +completely master of their fate.</p> + +<p>If Angela and her husband had had enough presence of mind to scrutinize +Croustillac's face, they would have seen a kind of triumphant and +malignant joy, which betrayed itself in spite of him in the menacing +frown of his forehead.</p> + +<p>Monsieur De Chemerant asked him a third time why he had called.</p> + +<p>"I called you, sir," said the chevalier in a dismal voice, and with the +air of coming out of a deep study, "I called you to my aid——"</p> + +<p>"Was it this wretch? your highness," said the envoy, pointing to +Monmouth, who, standing with arms crossed, remained by the chair where +Angela had seated herself, ready to defend her and to sell his life +dearly, for, as we have said, he was ignorant of the adventurer's +intention. "Speak the word, your highness," continued De Chemerant, "and +I will hand him over to my guards."</p> + +<p>The Gascon shook his head, and answered, "I charge myself with this man; +this is my affair. It is not against such a creature as this that I +called you to my assistance, sir, it is against myself."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that I was afraid that I would allow myself to be softened by +the tears of his woman, as dangerously hypocritical as she is +audaciously culpable."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, it often takes courage—much courage—to be just."</p> + +<p>"You are right, sir; that is why I feared my weakness. I called you in +order that the sight of you might keep alive my indignation and rekindle +my wrath, for you have been a witness of my dishonor, sir. So, tell me +that if I pardon I would be a coward, that I should merit my fate. Is it +not so, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Your highness——"</p> + +<p>"I understand you—you are right—yes, by St. George!" Croustillac +remembered having heard the prince use this oath; "by St. George, I will +be revenged."</p> + +<p>Angela and the duke breathed again. They understood that the chevalier +wished to save them.</p> + +<p>"Your highness," said De Chemerant severely, "I do not hesitate to +repeat to your highness, before madame, what I had the honor to say to +you some short time ago, that an insurmountable barrier now separates +you from a guilty spouse," continued the envoy, with an effort, while +Angela hid her confusion by covering her face with her handkerchief.</p> + +<p>Croustillac raised his head, and cried in a heartbroken tone, "Deceived +by a mulatto; think of it, sir, a miserable mulatto, a mongrel, a +copper-colored animal!"</p> + +<p>"Your highness——"</p> + +<p>"In a word, sir," said Croustillac, turning toward the envoy with an +indignant and sorrowful manner, "you know why I returned, what my plans +were; what I would have placed upon the brow of madame. Ah, well, is it +not a frightful irony of fate that at this very moment a wife—a +criminal——"</p> + +<p>"Your highness," cried De Chemerant, interrupting the Gascon, "at +present these projects must be a secret from madame."</p> + +<p>"I know it; I know it! but then what a horrible surprise! I enter with a +heart beating with joy, into the home circle, into my peaceful home, and +what is it that I hear?"</p> + +<p>"Your highness——"</p> + +<p>"You have heard it as well as I. That is not all—what is it that I +see?"</p> + +<p>"Your highness, calm yourself."</p> + +<p>"You have seen, as I have, a mulatto outlaw. But this shall not stop +here, no, by St. George! Yes, I did well to call you. Now my anger +boils; the most cruel plans crowd in upon my imagination. Yes, yes, that +is it;" said Croustillac, with a meditative air. "I have it at last! I +have found a revenge fitting the offence!"</p> + +<p>"Your highness, the contempt——"</p> + +<p>"The contempt—that is very easy for you to say, sir, contempt. No, sir, +there remains another thing; I have found something better, and you +shall assist me."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, anything that depends upon my zeal, without prejudice to +the orders which I have received, and the success of my mission."</p> + +<p>"I renounce and cast off this unworthy woman. From this day, from this +moment, all is forever at an end between her and me."</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" cried De Chemerant, delighted with this resolve; "you could +not act more wisely."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow at daybreak," said the Gascon, in a curt tone, "she and her +odious accomplice will embark on board of one of my vessels."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3> + +<p class="head">DEVOTION.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Yes</span>, sir!" repeated the Gascon, "to-morrow my wife and this miserable +wretch shall go aboard one of my vessels. That is all my vengeance," +continued he, dwelling on these words with savage irony. "Oh, I know +what I am doing. Yes, by heaven! She and her guilty accomplice, those +two, as if they were really husband and wife, the miserable wretches! +shall embark together. As to the destination of the vessel," said the +chevalier, with a glance of such horrible ferocity that De Chemerant was +struck by it, "as to the fate that awaits these guilty ones, I cannot +tell you, sir; that concerns no one but myself."</p> + +<p>Then, taking Angela roughly by the arm, Croustillac exclaimed, "Ah, you +desire a mulatto for a lover, duchess? very well, you shall have him. +And you, scoundrel, you must have a white woman, a duchess? very well +you shall have her. You shall never separate, tender lovers that you +are, never again; but you do not know at what a terrible price you will +be reunited."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, what do you intend to do?"</p> + +<p>"That is my affair; your responsibility will be at an end; the rest will +take place on neutral ground," returned the Gascon with a smile at once +mysterious and ferocious; "yes, on a desert island; and since this +tender couple love one another, love each other to death, there will be +time for them to prove it—until death."</p> + +<p>"I understand you, your highness; I see perfectly; but that will be +terrible," said De Chemerant, who thought that Croustillac intended to +starve his wife and the mulatto.</p> + +<p>"Terrible! you have said it, sir. All that I ask of you, and as a +witness of my injury you cannot refuse me, is to give me the necessary +assistance in order to conduct this guilty pair on board one of my +ships. I will, myself, place them with the captain and give him his +orders; orders which, perhaps he would not dare to obey if I did not +give them in person."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Chemerant, in spite of his cunning, was duped by the seeming +rage of Croustillac; he said to him respectfully, "Your highness, +justice is severe, but should not be cruel."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, sir?" cried Croustillac proudly, "am I not the sole +judge of the punishment due this guilty pair? Do you refuse me your +assistance when it only requires you to take this man and his accomplice +on board a vessel belonging to me?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but I would say to your highness that it would be, perhaps, +more generous——"</p> + +<p>Angela, seeing that she must no longer remain inactive, threw herself at +the feet of Croustillac, crying, "Have mercy!" while Monmouth seemed to +be wrapped in a deep and sad silence; then, addressing De Chemerant, the +young woman continued, "Oh, sir, you seem to be sensible and good; +intercede for me with my dear lord, that he condemn me to less cruel +pain. I have merited it all, I will suffer all, but that my dear +lord——"</p> + +<p>"I forbid your calling me your 'dear lord,' madame," said Croustillac. +"I am no longer your dear lord."</p> + +<p>"Ah well, your highness, do not send me on board the vessel of which you +speak."</p> + +<p>"And why not, madame?"</p> + +<p>"My God! because that the brigantine is the Chameleon, commanded by +Captain Ralph; your highness, this man is cruel; he succeeded the +filibuster Whirlwind in this command."</p> + +<p>"And that is just why I have chosen the Chameleon, madame; it is just +because Captain Ralph is the most cruel enemy of your unworthy lover," +said Croustillac, who understood perfectly Angela's meaning.</p> + +<p>"But, your highness, you know very well that this vessel will be +anchored to-morrow morning very near here, almost at the foot of the +cliff in the alligators' cave."</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, I know it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, your highness, would you compel me to embark there when nothing in +the world would make me even approach its banks? My God! have you +forgotten the frightful memories that this place is connected with in my +mind?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! the cunning creature," thought Croustillac; "she wishes to say, +what I did not know, that there is a vessel of hers called the +Chameleon, whose captain is devoted to her, and who will anchor +to-morrow near here. I have it! This is just her own vessel she had +prepared hastily to furnish her and the duke a means of escape, when she +saw me carried off by Colonel Rutler; one of the negro fishermen was +doubtless sent ahead to deliver her directions."</p> + +<p>The Gascon, after some little reflection, said aloud, "Yes, those +memories are terrible to you, I know it, madame."</p> + +<p>"Then, your highness, have you the heart——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried the chevalier, in an explosion of rage, "yes, no pity +for the infamous creature who has so unworthily outraged me! All the +better, my vengeance commences but the sooner. I will show you that you +have no pity to look for from me; you shall see!" He struck a bell.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, your highness."</p> + +<p>"Your faithful Mirette will come; you shall yourself give her the order +to send to Captain Ralph to prepare everything on board the Chameleon to +set sail at daybreak."</p> + +<p>"Ah, your highness, it is barbarous to make me give the order, myself."</p> + +<p>"Obey, madame, obey."</p> + +<p>Mirette appeared. Angela gave the order in a broken voice.</p> + +<p>"I have obeyed you, and now your highness, in pity grant me a last favor +in the name of our past love."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, by St. George!" cried Croustillac, "past? oh, past, +decidedly."</p> + +<p>"Allow me one moment, your highness, the favor of an interview."</p> + +<p>"No, no, never!"</p> + +<p>"Do not refuse me; do not be so pitiless?"</p> + +<p>"Out of my sight, faithless woman!"</p> + +<p>"My lord!" said Angela, clasping her hands.</p> + +<p>"Your highness," said De Chemerant, "at the moment of quitting madame +forever, do not refuse her this last consolation."</p> + +<p>"You also, De Chemerant, you also? and though you have been a +witness?—Ah, well, I consent, madame, but upon one condition."</p> + +<p>"You have but to order."</p> + +<p>"That your paramour remain during our conversation."</p> + +<p>"Really, this is not so bad, I think," said Croustillac to himself; "I +hope the duchess will understand me and at first refuse."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear lord," said Angela; "the last interview that you grant me +should be between us alone."</p> + +<p>"Marvelous! oh, she comprehends a half word," said Croustillac to +himself; then aloud, "And why, then, should our interview be private? +Have you something you desire to hide from your best beloved—from the +lover of your choice?"</p> + +<p>"But if I desire to beg your forgiveness, sir?"</p> + +<p>"You can do so before your accomplice. The more you accuse yourself, the +more you depict your conduct as disloyal, infamous, unworthy, the more +you affirm the lowness of your choice. This will be your punishment and +this scoundrel's also."</p> + +<p>"But, my lord?"</p> + +<p>"That is my ultimatum," replied Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Do you not fear the despair of this man?" said De Chemerant in a low +tone.</p> + +<p>"No; traitors are always cowards. Behold this one—what a gloomy, +downcast air. He does not dare as much as lift his eyes to me. In any +case, sir, send, I beg, some men of yours to the gallery outside, +instructed to enter at my first signal." Then, turning with an air of +reconsidering, and desiring to make a master stroke, Croustillac said, +"In fact, if you will be present at this interview, Monsieur De +Chemerant, the punishment of this guilty couple will be complete."</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, in pity do not condemn me to such a depth of shame and +humiliation," cried Angela, in despairing tones. "And you, sir, have the +generosity not to consent to this," she said to De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>Monsieur De Chemerant had the delicacy to excuse himself to the Gascon; +he left the room, and left Monmouth, Angela, and the adventurer +together.</p> + +<p>The envoy had hardly left the room before Monmouth, after assuring +himself that he could not be overheard, held out his hand cordially to +Croustillac, and said to him, feelingly, "Sir, you are a man of spirit, +courage, and resolution; accept our thanks, and pardon us for having +suspected you even for a moment."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, pardon our unjust suspicions," said Angela, on her part +taking the Gascon's hand between her own. "We were so disturbed, and +your manner was so furious, so wild!"</p> + +<p>"We all had reason, madame;" said the adventurer, "you had reason to be +disturbed, because my return was not very reassuring. I had reason to be +furious, because I supposed the duke to be a bandit. As to my wild +manner, by heavens! it may be said without offense, you will acknowledge +that enough strange things have occurred during the last two days, and I +may be excused for being a little astounded. Fortunately, I recovered my +self-possession when I saw I had been a fool and had risked everything."</p> + +<p>"Brave and excellent man," said Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"Bravery is in the blood of the Croustillacs, sir; as to being +excellent, I do not know about that; if such be the case, it is not my +fault; it is your wife's work, who has aroused in me the desire to be +better that I really am. Ah, well, prince, time is precious; everything +is in train to raise a county of England in your favor; Louis the XIV. +will support this insurrection. There is offered you the viceroyship of +Ireland and Scotland, and all kinds of other favors."</p> + +<p>"Never will I consent to profit by these offers. Civil wars have cost me +too dear," cried Monmouth; "and"—looking at Angela, "I no longer have +ambitions."</p> + +<p>"Your highness! reflect well! If your heart counsels remove the bronze +color from your face, and say to De Chemerant that reasons known only to +yourself obliged you to guard your secret until now. You will prove to +him who you are; I will return your duchy to you, and ask your +permission to go and fight at your side in Cornwall, or elsewhere, in +order to serve you, as they say, as a living armor. I am sure this will +please the duchess."</p> + +<p>"And we have suspected him," said Angela, looking at her husband.</p> + +<p>"He must forgive us," said the duke. "Men like him are so rare that it +is not unnatural to doubt them when one encounters them."</p> + +<p>"Hold on, my lord, you embarrass me. Let us speak of other matters. Do +you, or do you not, accept the viceroyship? After that, do not think I +shall press you to speak in order to relieve me from your rôle; it +pleases me, it amuses me. I have become quite accustomed to it. +Nevertheless, it will be somewhat unpleasant to no longer hear myself +addressed as 'my lord duke,' to say nothing of my laughing in my sleeve +when I think of all the absurdities which I have made that good De +Chemerant, with his important air, swallow. If I persist, your highness, +in praying that you resume your rank, as it seems they are terribly in +need of you in England in order to secure the happiness of the people in +general and that of Cornwall in particular; you must know that better +than I do——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I know only too well the vain pretexts that one offers to +ambition."</p> + +<p>"But, your highness, all appears to be perfectly prepared. The frigate +which has brought the good De Chemerant is filled with arms and +ammunition; there is in it enough to arm and revolutionize all the +Cornishmen in the world; moreover, you can count on a dozen of your +partisans."</p> + +<p>"Of my partisans! and where, then?" cried Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"On board Chemerant's frigate. These brave men are waiting for me, that +is to say, waiting for you, your highness, with great impatience. There +is above all a madman named Mortimer, whom De Chemerant had the +greatest difficulty in the world to keep on board, so much was he +possessed with the desire to embrace me—I would say embrace you, for I +confound us all the time."</p> + +<p>Angela, seeing the troubled manner of her husband, said to him, "My God! +what ails you?"</p> + +<p>"I can no longer hesitate," replied Monmouth, "I must tell De Chemerant +the whole truth."</p> + +<p>"Heavens, James! what are you saying?"</p> + +<p>"You wish to be viceroy, your highness?" interposed Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I desire to prevent your ruining yourself on my account. My +gratitude will be no less lasting for the service that you wished to do +me."</p> + +<p>"How, your highness? Is it not, then, to become viceroy that you would +dispossess me of my principality?"</p> + +<p>"My partisans are on board the frigate; if I should accept your generous +offer, sir, to-morrow you would be known—lost."</p> + +<p>"But, your highness——"</p> + +<p>"Except for this circumstance which, I repeat, would cause your +discovery in a moment, I would, perhaps, have excepted your generous +devotion, the mistake of De Chemerant might have continued for a few +days, and I could have put you beyond the reach of his resentment; but +to accept your offer, sir, knowing the presence of my friends on board +the frigate, would be to expose you to certain danger. I can never +consent to do that."</p> + +<p>"Your highness forgets that it means perpetual imprisonment for you if +you do not place yourself at the head of this movement?"</p> + +<p>"It is because it means for me the escape from a danger that I do not +choose to sacrifice you, sir. When I learned that you were taken +prisoner by Rutler I was going to rush to your assistance in order to +release you."</p> + +<p>"My God, James! think of the prison! of eternal confinement! but it is +not possible! and what will become of me, if I should be forbidden to +accompany you? No, no! you will not reject the sacrifice which this +generous man offers to make!"</p> + +<p>"Angela!" said the duke, in a tone of reproach; "Angela! and this +generous man, shall we abandon him shamefully when he is devoted to +us—to escape imprisonment, shall we condemn him to an eternal +captivity?"</p> + +<p>"Him?"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless! is he not the possessor of a state secret? Will not De +Chemerant be furious at seeing himself tricked. I tell you, he cannot +escape prison when the trick shall be discovered."</p> + +<p>"Confound it! my duke, attend to your own affairs!" cried Croustillac, +"and do not take the bread out of my mouth, as they say. Prisoner of +state! that disgusts you, but do you not know that that would be an +assured retreat for me, a refuge for my old days? To be frank, the life +of an adventurer palls upon me; there must be an end to it. I would have +something more sure; judge, then, if that would not suit me? Prisoner of +state! can I not secure that? I beg of you not to take from me the last +resource of my old age; do not destroy my future."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, you brave and worthy man," responded Monmouth, +affectionately pressing his hand. "I am not deceived by your ingenious +pretenses."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, I swear——"</p> + +<p>"Listen, I beg of you; when you have heard me you will no longer be +surprised at my refusal. You will see that I cannot accept your generous +offer without being doubly culpable. You will understand the sad +memories, not to say remorse, that your devoted offer and the present +chain of circumstances awake in me. And you, Angela, my dearly beloved, +you shall at last learn a secret that until this present moment I have +hidden from you; it needed circumstances as grave as these in which I am +now placed to force me to make this sad revelation."</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE MARTYR.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"James</span>! James! what are you saying? you terrify me!" exclaimed Angela, +as she witnessed the duke's emotion.</p> + +<p>"You know," said the duke to Croustillac, "in consequence of what +political events I was arrested and confined to the Tower of London in +1685?"</p> + +<p>"You will excuse me, your highness, if I know not a word of it; I am as +ignorant as a fish of contemporaneous history, which, be it said in +passing, and without boasting, rendered my part outrageously difficult +to play; for I was always afraid I should make some ridiculous +statement, and thus compromise, not my reputation as a scholar—I am no +priest—but your fortune which I so imprudently assumed."</p> + +<p>"Very well then," said the duke; "after the death of my father; when the +Duke of York, my uncle, ascended the throne under the title of James +II., I entered into a conspiracy against him. I shall not seek to +justify my conduct; years of reflection have made things clear to me. I +know now that I was as culpable as I was insane; the young Duke of +Argyle was the soul in this plot. All this was carried on under the very +eyes of the Prince of Orange, then a stadtholder, now King of England. +Argyle knew my views of the Protestant action, my ambition, my +resentment against James II.; he had no trouble in associating me with +his plans. At once, owing to my name and influence, I was at the head of +the conspiracy. I had news from England which only waited my presence +there to overthrow the throne of the papist king to proclaim me king in +his place. I departed from the Texel with three vessels transporting +soldiers whom I had recruited. Argyle, having preceded me in Scotland, +had paid with his head for the audacity of his attempt. I landed in +England at the head of a number of devoted partisans. I realized then +how greatly I had been deceived. Three or four thousand men at the most +joined the handful of brave men who were pledged to my cause, and among +others were Mortimer, Rothsay and Dudley. The son of Monck, the young +Duke of Albemarle, advanced against me at the head of a royal army; and +I, desiring to bring fortune to the point, made a decisive move. I +attacked the enemy at Sedgemore, near Bridgewater; I was beaten in spite +of the prodigies of valor shown by my little army, and, above all, by my +cavalry, commanded by the brave Lord George Sidney." In pronouncing this +name, the voice of the prince failed him, and deep emotion was depicted +upon his face.</p> + +<p>"George Sidney! my second father! my benefactor!" cried Angela. "It was +in fighting for you he was killed! it was at that battle, then, that he +was killed? This is the secret you have hidden from me?"</p> + +<p>The duke bent his head, and after a few minutes' silence, said, "You +will know all, very soon, child! Our rout was complete. I wandered off +at hazard; my head had a price upon it. I was seized the day after this +fatal defeat and conducted to the Tower of London. My case was tried. +Convicted of high treason, I was condemned to death."</p> + +<p>"Oh," cried Angela, throwing herself into the duke's arms; "you deceived +me; I believed you to be only exiled."</p> + +<p>"Be calm, Angela; yet I have hidden this from you, as much that you +should not be troubled as—." Then, after a moment's hesitation, +Monmouth continued, "you shall know all; it requires much courage to +make this revelation."</p> + +<p>"Why? What have you to fear?" said Angela.</p> + +<p>"Alas! poor child, when you have heard me, perhaps you will regard me +with horror!"</p> + +<p>"You, James? do you believe that I can ever do that?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Monmouth, "whatever the result, I must speak, at the risk, +perhaps, of separating us forever."</p> + +<p>"Never, never!" cried Angela despairingly.</p> + +<p>"Zounds! I will sooner throw De Chemerant from these cliffs at the least +pretense," cried Croustillac. "And, as for that, with your slaves, we +could furnish him a fine escort. But I think—will you try this method? +How many slaves can you arm, sir?"</p> + +<p>"You forget that De Chemerant's escort is considerable; the negro +fishermen have gone—there are not more than four or five men here. +Violent means are impossible. Providence doubtless wills that I shall +expiate a great crime. I will be resigned."</p> + +<p>"A crime, James? guilty of a great crime? I will never believe it!" +cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"If my crime was involuntary, it was none the less horrible. Angela, it +is now my duty to tell you what I owe to Sidney, your noble relative who +took such care of you in your infancy, poor orphan! While you were +receiving your education in France, where he had himself taken you, +Sidney, whom I had seen in Holland, attached himself to my fortunes; a +singular similarity of tastes, of principles and thoughts, had drawn us +together; but he was so proud that I was obliged to make the advances. +How happy I was at having first pressed his hand! Never was there a +living soul as beautiful as Sidney's. Never was there a nobler character +or a more generous and ardent heart! Dreaming of the happiness of the +people, deceived as I was myself as to the true end of my plans, he +believed that he was serving the holy cause of humanity, when he was in +reality only serving the fatal ambition of a man! While the conspiracy +was organizing, he was my most active emissary and my most intimate +confidant. To describe to you, my child, the profound, blind attachment +of Sidney for myself would be impossible; one affection only struggled +in his heart with that which he had vowed to me; it was his tenderness +for you—you, his distant relative of whom he had assumed the care. Oh! +how he cherished you! Through all the agitations, and the perils of his +life as a soldier and conspirator, he always found some moments in which +to visit his Angela. There were ever tears in his eyes when he spoke to +me of you. Yes, this man, of intrepid courage and indomitable energy, +wept like a child in speaking of your tender grace, the qualities of +your heart, and your sad and studious youth, poor little abandoned one, +for you had no one in the world but Sidney. On that fatal day at +Bridgewater he commanded my cavalry. After prodigies of valor, he was +left for dead on the battlefield; as for me, carried away in a rush of +flying troops, grievously wounded, it was impossible for me to find +him."</p> + +<p>"Was not that the day when he died?" said Angela, wiping her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Angela; oh, you do not know how these sad memories break my +heart!"</p> + +<p>"And ours also," said Croustillac. "Brave Sidney! I do not know what it +is that tells me that he did not die that day at Bridgewater, and that +we shall hear of him again."</p> + +<p>Monmouth trembled, remained silent a moment, and then continued: "I must +have courage. I will tell you all. Sidney was left for dead on the +battlefield; I was arrested, condemned to death, and my execution fixed +for the 15th of July, 1685. When they told me I was to be executed the +following day, I was alone in my prison.</p> + +<p>"In the midst of the terrible thoughts to which I was a prey during +those dreadful hours that preceded the moment of my execution, I swear +to you, Angela, before the God that hears me, if I had any sweet and +consoling thoughts to calm me, they were those I gave to Sidney, in +recalling the beautiful days of our friendship. I believed him dead and +I said, 'In a few hours I shall be united to him forever.' All at once +the door of my cell opened and Sidney appeared!"</p> + +<p>"Zounds! so much the better! I was sure he was not dead," exclaimed +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"No, he was not dead," replied the duke with a sigh. "Would to God he +had died as a soldier on the field of battle."</p> + +<p>Angela and Croustillac looked at Monmouth in astonishment. He continued: +"At the sight of Sidney I believed myself the dupe of a fancy conjured +up by my extreme agitation; but I soon felt his tears on my cheek, and +myself pressed within his arms. 'Saved! you are saved!' he said, +through his tears. 'Saved?' said I, gazing at him stupidly. 'Saved, yes; +listen to me,' said he, and this was what he told me: My uncle the king +could not openly show me mercy; policy forbade; but he did not wish his +brother's son to perish on the scaffold. Informed by one of his +courtiers who was, notwithstanding, one of my friends, of the +resemblance between Sidney and myself, a resemblance which so struck you +the first time you saw me," said Monmouth to Angela, "King James had +secretly provided Sidney with means to get into my prison. This devoted +friend was to assume my clothes, and I to put on his, and go out of the +Tower by means of this strategy. The next day, learning of my escape and +the devotion of Sidney remaining prisoner in my stead, the king would +put him at liberty and give orders to seek me out; but these orders +would only be in appearance. He favored, secretly, my departure for +France. I was only to write to the king and give him my word to never +return to England."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well," said Angela, interested to the last degree by this recital; +"you accepted Sidney's offer, and he remained a prisoner in your stead?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes, I accepted it, for all that Sidney said to me seemed so +probable; his presence at that hour in the prison, in spite of the +severe watch to which I was subjected, made me believe that an +all-powerful will aided mysteriously in my flight."</p> + +<p>"It was not so, then?" cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be more naturally arranged, it seems to me," said +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"In effect," said Monmouth, smiling bitterly, "nothing was more +naturally arranged; it was only too easy for Sidney to persuade me, to +turn aside my objections."</p> + +<p>"And what objections could you make?" said Angela. "What was there +astonishing in that King James, not wishing to shed your blood on the +scaffold, should connive at your escape?"</p> + +<p>"And how could Sidney succeed in getting into the prison, sir, without +the assistance of some powerful influence?" said the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, is it not so?" said the duke with sad satisfaction, "was it not +that all that Sidney said to me might seem probable, possible? Was I not +justified in believing him?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," said Angela.</p> + +<p>"Was it not," continued Monmouth, "was it not possible to put faith in +his words without being misled by the fear of death, without being +influenced by a cowardly, horrible egotism? And still, I swear to you, I +did not agree to what Sidney said to me. Before accepting life and +liberty which he came to offer me in the name of my uncle, I asked +myself what would happen to my friend if James did not keep his promise? +I said to myself that the greatest punishment that could befall a man +who was an accomplice in aiding another to escape, was imprisonment in +turn; thus, admitting this hypothesis, once free, although compelled to +hide myself, I had sufficient resources at my disposal not to quit +England before having, in my turn, liberated Sidney. What more can I say +to you? The instinct of life, the fear of death, doubtless obscured my +judgment, troubled my discernment. I accepted, for I believed everything +Sidney said to me. Alas! why was I so insane?"</p> + +<p>"Insane? Faith, you would have been insane had you not accepted!" cried +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Who, indeed, would have hesitated in your place?" added Angela.</p> + +<p>"No, no, I tell you that I should not have accepted; my heart, if not my +head, should have revolted at this deceptive thought. But what did I +know. A strange fatality, perhaps a frightful egotism, pushed me on. I +accepted. I pressed Sidney in my arms, I took his clothes, and I said to +him, 'To-morrow!' with the conviction that I should see him the +following day. I left my cell; the jailer escorted me to the gate; +thanks to my resemblance to Sidney, he noticed nothing wrong, and led me +in haste by a secret road as far as a door of the Tower. I was free! I +forgot to tell you that Sidney had informed me of a house in the city +where I could wait for him safely, for he would return, he said, to me +the following day, in order to plan our departure. At last I found, at +this house in the city, the precious stones I had confided to Sidney on +my departure from Holland, the value of which was enormous. Wrapped up +in his mantle, a mantle which you wear to-day, and which has remained +sacred to me, I directed my steps toward the city. I rapped at the door; +an old woman opened it, and leading me into a secluded chamber, she gave +into my hands the iron casket, the key of which Sidney had handed me. I +found there my precious stones. Broken with fatigue, for the sleepless +hours I had passed were frightful, I fell into a slumber. For the first +time since my sentence to death, I sought sleep without saying to myself +that the scaffold awaited me on my awakening. When I arose the following +day it was broad daylight; a bright sun penetrated between my curtains. +I raised them; the sky was clear; it was a radiant summer day. Oh! I +felt such rapturous joy and such inexpressible happiness. I had seen my +open tomb, and I still lived. I breathed the air in every pore. Seized +with gratitude, I threw myself upon my knees, and blessed God, the king, +and Sidney. I waited to see this dear friend from one moment to another. +I did not doubt, no, I could not doubt, the king's clemency. All at once +I heard in the distance the criers announcing important events; it +seemed to me that I heard my name. I thought it was an illusion, but, in +fact, it was my name. Oh, then, a frightful presentiment seized me; my +hair stood on end. I remained on my knees. I listened with my heart +beating violently; the voices came nearer; I still heard my name mingled +with other words. A ray of joy, as foolish as my presentiment had been +horrible, changed my terror into hope. Madman! I believed they were +crying the details of the <i>escape of the Duke of Monmouth</i>. In my +impatience, I descended to the street; I bought the account; I mounted +again with palpitating heart, holding the paper in my hands."</p> + +<p>Saying these words, Monmouth became frightfully pale, and could hardly +support himself. A cold perspiration bathed his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Well?" cried Angela and Croustillac, who experienced a piercing agony.</p> + +<p>"Ah," cried the duke despairingly, "it was the details of the <i>execution +of the Duke of Monmouth</i>."<sup>[B]</sup></p> + +<p>"And Sidney?" cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"Sidney had died for me, died a martyr to friendship. His blood, his +noble blood, had been shed upon the scaffold instead of mine. Now, +Angela, you see, unhappy child, why I have always hidden this terrible +secret."</p> + +<p>At these words the duke fell back on the sofa, hiding his face in his +hands. Angela threw herself at his feet, sobbing bitterly.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><sup>[B]</sup> Hume says: "After his execution, his partisans held to the +hope of yet seeing him at their head; they flattered themselves that the +prisoner who had been beheaded was not the Duke of Monmouth, but one of +his friends, who resembled him greatly, and who had had the courage to +die in his stead." +</p> +<p class="footnote"> +Sainte-Foix, in a letter on the Iron Mask (Amsterdam, 1768), says: "It +is true that the report spread through London that an officer of +Monmouth's army who greatly resembled the duke, having been taken +prisoner, and knowing death to be inevitable, received a proposition to +represent the duke with as much joy as if life had been offered him; and +hearing this, that a great lady, having bribed those who could open his +coffin, and having looked at the form, cried, 'Ah, that is not the Duke +of Monmouth.'" Furthermore, Sainte-Foix, who sought to prove that the +Iron Mask was no other than the Duke of Monmouth, cited a passage of +another English work by Pyms, in which he says: "Count Landy sent to +seek Colonel Skelton, who was the ex-lieutenant of the Tower, and whom +the Prince of Orange had dismissed to give the place to Lord Lucas." +"Skelton," said Count Landy to him the previous evening, in dining with +Robert Johnston, "you say that the Duke of Monmouth is living and +imprisoned in an English castle?" "I cannot vouch for this, because I do +not really know," said Skelton, "but I affirm that the night after the +pretended execution of the Duke of Monmouth, the king, accompanied by +three men, came himself to the tower and carried the duke away." +</p> +<p class="footnote"> +Sainte-Foix cites still another conversation with Father Tournemine, +saying, "The Duchess of Portsmouth said to Father Tournemine and to the +confessor of King James that she always imputed to that prince the +execution of the Duke of Monmouth, because Charles II., at the moment of +his death and when about to receive the last communion, had made King +James (then Duke of York) promise on the Host, which Huldeston, a +Catholic priest, secretly carried, that whatever revolt the Duke of +Monmouth might attempt he (James) would never punish him with death; so +King James did not put him to death," said Father Sanders. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> +We will not multiply citations. We only desire to establish that the +foundation of this story is not merely a romantic fiction, and that if +it is not based upon a historic certainty, it is at least based upon a +likely supposition.</p> + + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE DUKE RELATES THE SACRIFICE TO WHICH HE OWES HIS LIFE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> chevalier, profoundly moved by the recital of Monmouth, furtively +brushed aside his tears, and said, "I understand now what that animal +Rutler, with his everlasting dagger, meant by speaking to me of my +execution."</p> + +<p>"Angela, Angela, my child," exclaimed the duke, lifting his noble +countenance bathed in tears, and pressing the young woman to his heart, +"how can you ever forgive me the murder of Sidney, my friend, my +brother, your only relative, your only protector."</p> + +<p>"Alas! have you not replaced him to me, James? I have bewailed his +death, believing him killed on the field of battle. Do you believe that +my regrets will be greater, now that I know that he sacrificed his life +for you—that he did what I would gladly do for you, James, my lover, my +husband!"</p> + +<p>"Angela! best beloved guardian angel of my life!" cried the duke; "your +words cannot assuage the violence of my remorse, but at least you know +what religious gratitude I have always had for Sidney, this holy martyr +to friendship. What more can I tell you? I passed two days in a state +bordering on madness; when I returned to myself I found a letter of +Sidney's. He had arranged that I should not receive it until the evening +of the day on which he died for me. He explained his pious falsehood; he +had not seen King James."</p> + +<p>"He had not seen him!" exclaimed Angela.</p> + +<p>"No; all that he had said to me was false. So you can understand that I +had reason to forever curse the culpable facility with which I had +allowed myself to be persuaded. Meanwhile he had died for me; the fable +which I had believed in now seemed monstrous folly. No, he had not seen +the king! From the depository of my precious stones, he had subtracted +wherewith to procure a sum sufficient to gain over one of the officers +of the Tower, whom he besought to allow him to see me for the last time. +Was this officer in league with Sidney as to the substitution of some +one who desired to save me? or was he deceived by the resemblance to +such an extent that he suspected nothing. I do not know. The following +day, when they went to seek Sidney, he followed the hangman, but he +refused to speak for fear his voice would be recognized. The sacrifice +was accomplished," said Monmouth, wiping his tears away, which had not +ceased to fall during his recital. "I quitted London secretly and went +to France under a false name, in order to seek you, Angela. Sidney had +given me full power to take her away from the persons to whom he had +confided her," said the duke, addressing Croustillac. "Struck by her +beauty, her candor, and her other adorable traits, I, believing myself +worthy and able to fulfill the last wishes of Sidney in making his +adopted child happy, married this angel. We started for the Spanish +colonies, where I believed we would be safe. We took the greatest +precautions not to be recognized. By chance I encountered an English +captain at Cuba whom I had seen at Amsterdam. I believed myself +discovered. We left. After a journey of some months, we established +ourselves here. In order to divert suspicion, to watch over my wife, and +not wishing to be condemned to an imprisonment which would have been +fatal to me, I assumed, by turns, the disguises which you are aware of, +and I could, with impunity, traverse the island. Thanks to my precious +stones, we were able to purchase a number of small vessels, through the +good offices of Master Morris, a man of great probity, who knew, without +being in the secret, what to think of the pretended widowhoods of my +wife. Not only our commercial vessels increased little by little our +fortune, which we shall bequeath to our children, but they afford us +always a means of flight. The Chameleon was built for this very purpose, +and I have sometimes commanded in the guise of a filibuster, and +encountered a Spanish pirate, much to the fright of Angela. We were +living here very happily, almost peacefully, when I learned that the +Chevalier de Crussol, whose life I had once saved, had become the +governor of the island. Although he was a man of honor, I feared to tell +him who I was. My first idea was to quit Martinique with my wife; but I +then learned of the declaration of war from France to England, Spain and +Holland, and that certain rumors began to circulate in England as to the +miraculous manner in which I had been saved. My partisans were +bestirring themselves, it was said. I could expect no justice from +William of Orange, and believed myself safer in this colony than +anywhere else. I remained, therefore, in spite of the presence of De +Crussol, but redoubled my precautions. The pretended widowhoods of my +wife, the frequent visits of the filibuster, the Caribbean, and the +buccaneer, furnished a collection of facts so incomprehensible that it +was impossible to distinguish the truth, which was in our favor. We +were, however, much troubled.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Crussol, curious to know the strange woman of whom such +different tales were related, came to Devil's Cliff. Fate ordained that +I should be there, also, in the disguise of the buccaneer. I could not +avoid meeting the governor, whom we were far from expecting. In spite of +the thick beard which disguised my features, De Crussol had preserved +too clear a remembrance of me not to recognize me; but, in order to +assure himself of the truth, he said to me abruptly, 'You are not what +you appear.' Fearing that all would be disclosed to Angela, who knew +that I was a fugitive, but who was ignorant of the dangers to which I +would be exposed if my existence was known, I said to De Crussol, 'In +memory of a past service, I ask silence, but I will tell you all;' and I +did not hide anything from him. He swore on his honor to keep my secret +and do everything in his power to prevent our being disturbed. He kept +his promise, but in dying——"</p> + +<p>"He told Father Griffen everything from scruples of conscience," said +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" said the duke.</p> + +<p>Croustillac then told Monmouth how the mystery of Devil's Cliff had been +revealed to the confessor of King James, and how Father Griffen had +unintentionally betrayed him.</p> + +<p>"Now, chevalier," said Monmouth, "you know at the price of what an +admirable sacrifice I owe this life which I have sworn to consecrate to +Angela. I have related to you the frightful remorse which the devotion +of Sidney causes me. You understand, I hope, that I cannot expose myself +to new and cruel regrets by causing your destruction."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you think, your highness, that what you have told me will take from +me any desire to devote my life to you? Zounds! you are greatly +mistaken."</p> + +<p>"How?" exclaimed the duke, "you persist?"</p> + +<p>"I persist? I persist more than ever, if you please, and for a very +simple reason. Hold, sir! why should I hide it from you? A short time +since it was more for the sake of the duchess that I wished to serve +you, than for interest in you; this is no offense to you, for I did not +know you; but now, that I see what you are; now, that I see how you +regret your friends, and how gratefully you remember them, and what they +do for you, your wife may be a real Blue Beard, she may be the devil in +person, she may be in love with all the buccaneers and the cannibals of +the Antilles, but I will do for you all that I would have done for the +duchess, sir."</p> + +<p>"But, chevalier——"</p> + +<p>"But, your highness, all I can say to you is that you have inspired me +with the desire to be a second Sidney to you; that is all. Zounds! it is +very simple; one never inspires such devotion unless one merits it."</p> + +<p>"I wish to believe you, chevalier, but a person is unworthy such +devotion when he accepts it willingly."</p> + +<p>"Zounds, sir; without offense, I must say you are as pig-headed in your +generosity as that Flemish bear was insupportable with his everlasting +dagger. Come, let us reason together. What you most desire, is it not, +is to save me from prison?"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless."</p> + +<p>"Now I do not think you are very anxious to abandon the duchess. Well, +by telling De Chemerant who you are, would you save me? I am not much of +a lawyer but it seems to me that that is the question, is it not, +madame?"</p> + +<p>"He is right, my love," said Angela, looking at her husband +beseechingly.</p> + +<p>"To proceed," said Croustillac proudly. "Now, you say to this good +Chemerant, 'Sir, I am the Duke of Monmouth, and the chevalier here is +only a scapegoat.' So be it; so far all goes well. But at this stage the +good Chemerant will reply, 'Your highness, do you or do you not consent +to head this insurrection in England?"</p> + +<p>"Never! never!" cried the duke.</p> + +<p>"Very well, your highness, now I know what insurrection has cost you. +Now I have the honor of knowing the duchess; like you I say, 'Never!' +only what will the good Chemerant say to this? The good Chemerant will +say, 'You are my prisoner,' is it not so?"</p> + +<p>"Unhappily it is very likely," said Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"Alas! it is only too true!" said Angela.</p> + +<p>"'As to this rascal, this schemer,' the good Chemerant will continue, +addressing himself to me," said Croustillac, "'as to this imposter, this +sharper, as he has impudently imposed upon me, so that I confided to him +a half-dozen secrets of state, each more important than the other, +particularly as to how the confessors of the great kings have played the +game of the poisoned shoulder-knot with their penitents, he shall be +treated as he deserved.' Now the said Chemerant, so much the more +furious that I had caused him to make such a fool of himself, will not +handle me very gently, and I may consider myself very lucky if he leaves +me to perish in a dungeon, instead of hanging me quickly (seeing his +full power), which would be another method of reducing me very +effectually to silence."</p> + +<p>"Oh! do not speak so, the idea is frightful," cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"You see well, then, generous madman, the imminent danger to which you +are exposed," said the duke to him tenderly.</p> + +<p>"Now, your highness," said the Gascon with imperturbable calm, "as I +said a short time ago, to madame, as I believed her madly in love with a +certain fellow of leathern tint, it is clear that one does not devote +oneself to people to the sole end of being crowned with roses and +caressed by sylvan nymphs. It is the danger that constitutes the +sacrifice. But that is not the question. In delivering yourself up as +prisoner to the good Chemerant, do you in any way spare me prison or +scaffold, sir?"</p> + +<p>"But, chevalier——"</p> + +<p>"But, sir, I shall pursue you constantly with this argument <i>ad hominum</i> +(that is all my Latin), as the Belgian pursued me with his everlasting +dagger."</p> + +<p>"You deceive yourself, my worthy and brave chevalier, in believing that +your situation is so desperate, when I shall have delivered myself up to +Chemerant."</p> + +<p>"Prove it to me, your highness."</p> + +<p>"Without insisting too much upon my rank and my position, they are such +that one would be always obliged to account for with me. So, when I say +to De Chemerant, that it is my desire that you be not punished for a +trait which does you honor, I do not doubt that De Chemerant will be +eager to please me and put you at liberty."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, allow me to say that you are entirely mistaken."</p> + +<p>"But what more could he ask? Should I not be in his power? What would +your capture amount to to him?"</p> + +<p>"Your highness, you have been a statesman; you have been a conspirator; +you are a great nobleman, consequently you must know men; you reason, +pardon my bluntness, as if you did not know them at all, or rather, your +generous desires in my behalf blind you."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, sir——"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, your highness. You concede, do you not, that the news +that comes from England, and the part Louis XIV. has taken in this +conspiracy, prove the importance of Chemerant's mission?"</p> + +<p>"Without doubt."</p> + +<p>"You will, therefore, concede, your highness, that Chemerant relies upon +the success of this mission for his good fortune?"</p> + +<p>"That is true."</p> + +<p>"Well, your highness, by refusing to take part in this insurrection, +you leave Chemerant only the part of a jailer; your capture cannot make +a success of the enterprise in which these two kings have so lively an +interest. Then, believe me, you will cut a very sorry figure asking +clemency of Chemerant, above all, at a time when he will be furious at +seeing his hopes destroyed; above all, when he knows that the man in +whose favor you intercede has made him see numberless stars at full +noon. Believe me, then, your highness, by accepting all Chemerant's +propositions, by seconding the plans of these two kings, you could +scarcely hope to secure my pardon."</p> + +<p>"James! what he says is full of wisdom," said Angela. "I would not +counsel you to be cowardly or egotistical, but he is right, you cannot +deny it."</p> + +<p>The duke bent his head without answering.</p> + +<p>"I indeed believe I am right," said Croustillac. "I am wrong often +enough once, by chance, to have common sense."</p> + +<p>"But, for the love of heaven, at least look things in the face, if I +accept," said the duke, taking both hands of Croustillac in his own. +"You must conduct me and my wife on board the Chameleon; we will hoist +sail and will be saved."</p> + +<p>"All right, your highness, that is how I like to hear you speak!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we shall be saved, but you, unhappy man, you will return on the +frigate with Chemerant, and when you are brought face to face with my +friends, your ruse will be discovered and you will be lost!"</p> + +<p>"Zounds! sir, how you go on! Without offending you, you then look upon +me as a pitiful fellow; you deprive me of all imagination, of all +ingenuity. If I am not mistaken, it is some distance to the Cayman's +Creek, at Fort Royal?"</p> + +<p>"About three leagues," said the duke.</p> + +<p>"Very well, your highness, in this country three leagues are three +hours, and in three hours a man like myself has at least six chances of +escaping. I have long legs and strong as a stag's. The companion of +Rend-your-Soul has taught me how to walk," replied the Gascon, smiling +with a malicious air. "Now I swear to you that it will make the good +Chemerant's escort take some pretty lively strides to keep up with me."</p> + +<p>"And you desire that I should allow you to stake your life on a chance +as doubtful as that of an escape, when thirty soldiers, used to the +country, would instantly be on your track?" said the duke. "Never!"</p> + +<p>"And you desire, your highness, that I place my life, my salvation on a +chance as uncertain as the clemency of the good Chemerant?"</p> + +<p>"At least I should not sacrifice you to a certainty, and the chances are +equal," said the duke.</p> + +<p>"Equal!" cried the adventurer indignantly. "Equal, your highness? Do you +dare compare yourself with me? Who am I? and what purpose do I serve +here below if not to carry an old sword at my side, and to live here and +there according to the whims of humankind? I am nothing, I do nothing, I +have nothing to care for. To whom is my life of any use? Who interests +himself about me? Who even knows if Polyphème de Croustillac exists or +not?"</p> + +<p>"Chevalier, you are not right, and——"</p> + +<p>"Zounds! your highness, you belong to the duchess, the adopted child of +Sidney. If he died for you, it is the least you can do to live for her +whom he loved as his own child! If you reduce her to despair, she may +die of grief, and you will have two victims instead of one to lament."</p> + +<p>"But once more, chevalier——"</p> + +<p>"But!" cried Croustillac, with a significant glance at Angela, and +beginning to talk loudly enough to deafen one, thus drowning the voice +of the duke, "But you are a miserable wretch! an insolent fellow! to +speak so to me! Help! help! come to my assistance!"</p> + +<p>Then Croustillac said rapidly, and in a low tone, to the duke, "You +force me to do this, your highness, for I have no alternative." And the +adventurer began to shout at the top of his lungs.</p> + +<p>The duke, paralyzed with surprise, remained motionless and looked at him +in stupefaction.</p> + +<p>At the cry of the Gascon, six men, forming a portion of the escort, +which De Chemerant had stationed as sentinels in the gallery by the +request of Croustillac, rushed into the room.</p> + +<p>"Gag this rascal! gag him instantly!" cried Croustillac, who trembled at +the fear that Chemerant might enter at this juncture.</p> + +<p>The soldiers obeyed the chevalier's order; they threw themselves upon +the duke, who cried, as he struggled with them, "I am the prince; I am +Monmouth."</p> + +<p>Happily, these dangerous words were stifled by the loud cries of the +chevalier, who, from the beginning of this scene, pretended to be a prey +to the greatest anger, and stamped his foot with rage.</p> + +<p>One of the soldiers, with the aid of his scarf, succeeded in gagging the +duke, who was thus prevented from speaking.</p> + +<p>Chemerant, attracted by the noise, entered quickly. He found Angela pale +and greatly agitated. While she understood the reason of this struggle, +she could not help being deeply moved.</p> + +<p>"What has he done, then? your highness," cried Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"That miserable wretch made such abominably insolent propositions to me +that, in spite of my contempt for him, I was obliged to have him +gagged."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, you were right; but I foresaw that this miserable wretch +would break his ominous silence!"</p> + +<p>"This scene, however," cried Croustillac, "was not without its use. I +was still hesitating, yes, I avow it, I was weak enough to. Now the die +is cast; the guilty ones shall suffer for their crime. Let us start at +once for the Cayman's Cove; I have sent my orders to Captain Ralph; I +shall not be content until I have seen them embark, under my own eyes; +then we will return to Fort Royal."</p> + +<p>"Do you really wish to be present at this sad scene, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"Do I wish to? I would not give up that precious moment for the throne +of England! I shall go to the vessel, and see these two criminals set +sail for their destination where the breath of my vengeance will take +them!"</p> + +<p>"It is final, then, that you insist upon this?" said De Chemerant, still +hesitating.</p> + +<p>"It is final," returned Croustillac, in a most imposing and threatening +voice, all in admirable accord with the part he played; "I expect to be +obeyed when my orders are just. Make all preparations for the departure, +I beg of you; if this miserable wretch does not choose to walk, he shall +be carried; but above all, see that he is securely gagged, for if he +should offer any further insolence I do not desire to hear it at any +price."</p> + +<p>One of the soldiers assured himself that the gag was securely tied; +taking the duke, they tied his hands behind his back, and marched him +off under guard.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, De Chemerant?" said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your highness, I have only to give some orders to my men."</p> + +<p>"Go, then, I will await you; I also have some orders to give."</p> + +<p>The governor saluted and withdrew.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE DEPARTURE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Angela</span> and the chevalier were alone.</p> + +<p>"Saved! saved by you!" cried Angela.</p> + +<p>"I would have wished to use different means, madame, but, without +reproach to the duke, he is as obstinate as I am. It was impossible to +do differently. There only remain a few moments now in which we may act. +Chemerant will return; let us think of what is most pressing. Your +diamonds—where are they? Go quickly and get them, madame. Take them +with you. Once all is discovered, beware of confiscation."</p> + +<p>"The stones are there, in a secret box, in the duke's apartment."</p> + +<p>"Go quickly and get them. I will ring for Mirette to get you some +clothing."</p> + +<p>"Generous friend! But you! Oh God!"</p> + +<p>"Be quiet; when I have no longer need to protect you, I will look out +for myself. But quick! get your diamonds. Chemerant will be here +shortly; I will ring for Mirette." The chevalier touched the bell.</p> + +<p>Angela disappeared through the door leading to the duke's private +apartments.</p> + +<p>Mirette appeared.</p> + +<p>"She is very pretty, this little duchess," mused Croustillac to himself, +"very pretty. Oh, this time I am struck to the heart, I know it only too +well. I shall never forget her. This is love; yes, this is true love. +Happily this danger will distract me, or these emotions would make me +dizzy. Ah! there she comes!"</p> + +<p>Angela entered carrying a small box. "We have always kept these stones +in reserve, in case we should be suddenly compelled to fly," said she to +Croustillac. "Our fortune is a thousand times assured. Alas! why is it +that you——"</p> + +<p>The young woman paused, fearing to offend the Gascon; then she continued +sadly, with tears in her eyes, "You must have thought me very ignoble, +did you not, in accepting without hesitation your noble sacrifice? But +you will be kind and indulgent. It was necessary in order to save the +one who is the dearest object in the world to me—the man for whom I +would give my own life a thousand times over. But wait, this is +frightful egotism, to speak to you thus, to you whom I owe everything, +and who are going, perhaps, to death for me. I am mad! Forgive me."</p> + +<p>"Not another word on this subject, madame, I beg of you. Here is the +duke's sword, it was his father's; here also is this little box which +his mother gave him. These are precious relics; put them all in this +large basket."</p> + +<p>"Good and generous man!" exclaimed Angela, who was deeply moved; "you +think of everything!"</p> + +<p>Croustillac made no reply; he turned his head away in order that the +duchess should not see the great tears rolling down his cheeks. He +extended his large, bony hands to the duchess, and said, in a stifled +voice, "Adieu, forever adieu! You will forget that I am a poor devil of +a fellow and you will remember me sometimes as——"</p> + +<p>"As our best friend, as our brother," said Angela, bursting into tears.</p> + +<p>Then she took from her pocket a small medallion containing her cipher, +and said to Croustillac, "See what I returned to the house to seek this +evening. I desired to offer you this token of our friendship; it was in +bringing it to you that I overheard your conversation with Colonel +Rutler. Accept it, it will be a double souvenir of our friendship and of +your generosity."</p> + +<p>"Give it to me! oh, give it to me!" cried the Gascon, and then, pressing +it to his lips, he said, "I am more than paid for what I have done for +you, for the duke——"</p> + +<p>"We are not ingrates. As soon as the duke is safe, we shall not leave +you in the power of Chemerant, and——"</p> + +<p>"Here is Mirette; let us resume our rôle," cried Croustillac, +interrupting the duchess.</p> + +<p>Mirette entered, followed by the slave, carrying in her hand +Croustillac's old sword; a soldier bore the basket containing the +clothes.</p> + +<p>Angela placed the box of diamonds and Monmouth's sword in the basket.</p> + +<p>Chemerant entered the room, saying, "Your highness, all is in +readiness."</p> + +<p>"Offer madame your arm, if you please," said the chevalier to Chemerant, +with a gloomy manner.</p> + +<p>Angela appeared struck with a sudden thought and said to the chevalier, +"Sir, I wish to say something, privately, to Father Griffen. Do you +refuse me this last petition?"</p> + +<p>"Just now, your highness, the good Father, hearing the noise, came to +ask if he might speak to madame."</p> + +<p>"He is here!" cried Angela, "God be praised!"</p> + +<p>"Let him enter," said the Gascon gloomily.</p> + +<p>Chemerant bowed and the guard withdrew.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen entered. He was grave and sad.</p> + +<p>"My Father," said Angela, "can you give me some moments' interview?"</p> + +<p>So saying, she entered a room near by, followed by the priest.</p> + +<p>"Your highness," said Chemerant, showing a paper to the Gascon, "here is +a letter which was found on the person of Colonel Rutler; it leaves no +doubts as to the plots of William of Orange against your highness. +Rutler will be shot upon our arrival at Fort Royal."</p> + +<p>"We will speak of that later, sir, but I lean toward clemency in the +colonel's case—not through weakness, but from policy. I will explain to +you another time my reasons for this."</p> + +<p>The little bay in which the Chameleon lay at anchor was not very far +from the residence of Blue Beard. When the escort arrived there the +horizon was tinged with the first rays of the rising sun. The Chameleon +was a brigantine, light and swift as a kingfisher, riding gracefully on +the waves, at her mooring. Not far from the Chameleon was seen one of +the coast guards who traversed in his rounds the only point of +Cabesterre which was accessible.</p> + +<p>The launch of the Chameleon, commanded by Captain Ralph's first mate, +waited at the landing; in it were four sailors seated, with oars raised, +ready to row at the first signal.</p> + +<p>The Gascon's heart beat as if it would burst. At the moment of attaining +the price of his sacrifice, he trembled lest an unlooked-for accident +should upset the fragile scaffolding of so many stratagems.</p> + +<p>The litter in which Monmouth was shut up arrived on the bank, and was +quickly followed by that containing Angela.</p> + +<p>The soldiers ranged themselves along the landing. The Gascon said to +Angela, in an agitated tone, "Go on board ship, madame, with your +accomplice; this package (and he put into the hands of the mate a paper) +will inform Captain Ralph of my final orders. Meanwhile," said the +chevalier all at once, "wait—I have an idea!"</p> + +<p>Chemerant and Angela gazed at Croustillac with surprise.</p> + +<p>The adventurer believed he had discovered a means of saving the duke, +and of himself escaping from Chemerant; he had no doubt of the +resolution and devotion of the five sailors in the boat; he thought of +precipitating himself with Angela and Monmouth into the boat and +ordering the sailors to make all speed over the waves in order to join +the Chameleon, and to set sail with speed. The soldiers, though thirty +in number, would be so surprised by this sudden flight that success +would be possible. A new incident upset this project of the chevalier.</p> + +<p>A voice which, though distant, was very powerful, cried, "In the name of +the king, stop; allow no one to embark!"</p> + +<p>Croustillac turned suddenly toward the direction from which the voice +came, and he saw a marine officer who was coming out of a redoubt +erected near Cayman's Cove.</p> + +<p>"In the name of the king, allow no one to embark," came the voice again.</p> + +<p>"Be easy, lieutenant," responded a subordinate, who until then had not +been perceived, for he was hidden by the piles of the wharf, "I will +not allow the tender to leave without your orders."</p> + +<p>"That is well, Thomas, and beside," replied the officer, firing a shot +from his gun as a signal, "the coastguard will not permit the brigantine +to sail."</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to paint the frightful agony of the actors in +this scene. Croustillac saw that his plan for flight was out of the +question, because the slightest signal from the coastguard would prevent +the departure of the Chameleon.</p> + +<p>The officer who had just appeared stopped in front of Croustillac and +Chemerant, and said to them, "In the name of the king, I order you to +tell me who you are and where you are going, gentlemen; by the +governor's orders no one can sail from here without a permit from him.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Chemerant, "the soldiers who are with me are part of the +governor's guard; you see, I am acting by his consent."</p> + +<p>"An escort, sir! you have an escort!" said the astonished officer.</p> + +<p>"There, near the mole, sir," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is another matter, sir; the light was so feeble that I had not +noticed the soldiers. I hope you will pardon me, sir."</p> + +<p>This man, who seemed extremely talkative, approached the governor's +guard, examined them a moment, and said with excessive volubility, "My +orders are simply to prevent persons going toward the wharf, just now +the Chameleon, and a fine vessel she is, belonging to Blue Beard, and +which has bravely run down a Spanish pirate—came last night to the +mooring."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I beg you to silence this insupportable babbler," said the +chevalier to Chemerant, "you must see how painful this scene is to me."</p> + +<p>"You see, sir," said Chemerant to the lieutenant of marines, "the +persons who are going to embark, do so under my personal responsibility. +I am Chemerant, commissioner extraordinary to the king, and am furnished +with full powers."</p> + +<p>"Sir," said the lieutenant, "it is unnecessary to cite your authority; +this escort is sufficient guarantee, and——"</p> + +<p>"Then, sir, remove the order."</p> + +<p>"Nothing is easier, sir; the order being now useless, it is useless to +maintain it." "Thomas," cried this irrepressible talker to his +subordinate, "you know the order that I gave you?"</p> + +<p>"Which, lieutenant?"</p> + +<p>"How! brainless one!"</p> + +<p>"Sir, my time is valuable, I must return shortly to Fort Royal," said +Chemerant.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant continued, recklessly, "How! you have forgotten the order +I gave you?"</p> + +<p>"The last one? no, lieutenant."</p> + +<p>"No, lieutenant! well, repeat it, then; let us hear the order." Then, +addressing Chemerant, he said to him, while pointing to his soldier, "He +hasn't the memory of a gosling! I am not sorry to give him this lesson +before you, it will profit him."</p> + +<p>"Confound it! I am not here to assist in educating your functionaries," +said Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"Well, Thomas, this order?"</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant, it was to let no one embark on the vessel."</p> + +<p>"Very well, that is all right; now I remove the embargo."</p> + +<p>"Go on board at once, madame," said Croustillac, unable to moderate his +impatience.</p> + +<p>Angela cast a last look at him.</p> + +<p>The duke made a despairing effort to break his fetters, but he was +quickly carried off to the tender by the soldiers.</p> + +<p>At a sign from Blue Beard, the sailors dipped their oars into the sea +and headed for the Chameleon.</p> + +<p>"Are you satisfied now, your highness," said Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"No, no; not yet, sir. I shall not be content until I see the vessel set +sail," replied the Gascon in a changed voice.</p> + +<p>"The prince is implacable in his hate," thought Chemerant; "he trembles +still with rage, although his revenge is assured."</p> + +<p>All at once the sky was irradiated by the rays of the sun which made +more somber still the line of azure which the sea formed on the horizon; +the sun rose majestically, pouring torrents of red upon the water, the +rocks, and the bay.</p> + +<p>At this instant the Chameleon, which had been joined by the small boat, +flung to the breeze its white sails, and began to draw in its cable, by +which it was attached to the mooring. The brigantine, with a graceful +movement, began to tack; during a few seconds it completely hid the disk +of the sun, and appeared enveloped in a brilliant aureole. Then the +swift vessel, turning its prow toward Cayman's Cove, began to make +toward the open sea.</p> + +<p>Croustillac remained motionless in sorrowful reverie, with his eyes +fixed upon the vessel, which was carrying away the woman whom he so +suddenly and so madly loved.</p> + +<p>The adventurer, thanks to his keen sight, could perceive a white +handkerchief which was waved from the stern of the vessel. It was the +last farewell of Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>Shortly the breeze freshened. The little vessel, with swift movement, +bent under her sails, and went so rapidly that it was, little by little, +lost in the midst of the warm mist of the morning. Then it entered into +a zone of torrid light which the sun threw on the waves.</p> + +<p>For some time Croustillac could not follow the Chameleon with his eyes; +when he saw her again, the brigantine drew nearer and nearer to the +horizon, appearing but a speck in space. Then, doubling the last point +of the island, she disappeared all at once.</p> + +<p>When the poor chevalier could no longer see the vessel, he experienced a +profound sorrow. His heart seemed as empty and as solitary as the ocean.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," said Chemerant, "let us go and find the friends who are +awaiting you so impatiently. In an hour we will be on board the +frigate."</p> + + +<p class="cdash top15">———</p> + +<p class="cdash">PART IV.</p> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h3> + +<p class="head">REGRETS.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">As</span> long as Croustillac contemplated his sacrifice; as long as he had +been exalted by its dangers and upheld by the presence of Angela and +Monmouth; he had not realized the cruel consequences of his devotion; +but when he was alone, his thoughts became very painful. Not that he +feared the danger which menaced him, but he felt keenly the absence of +Angela, for whom he had braved everything. Under the eye of Angela, he +had gayly faced the greatest peril; but he would never see her again. +This was the real reason of his gloomy dejection.</p> + +<p>With arms crossed upon his breast, bowed head, fixed gaze and somber +manner, the adventurer remained silent and motionless. Twice De +Chemerant addressed him: "Your highness, it is time to go."</p> + +<p>Croustillac did not hear him. Chemerant, realizing the uselessness of +words, touched him lightly on the arm, repeating louder, "Your highness, +there still remain more than four leagues to travel before arriving at +Fort Royal."</p> + +<p>"Zounds! sir; what do you want?" cried the Gascon, turning impatiently +toward De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>The face of the latter expressed so much surprise at hearing the man +whom he believed to be the Duke of Monmouth give vent to such a peculiar +exclamation, that the Gascon realized the imprudence of which he had +been guilty. He quickly recovered his usual coolness, looked at De +Chemerant in an abstracted manner; then, as if he had awakened from a +profound meditation, he said, in a short tone, "Very well, sir, let us +go." Again mounting his horse, the Gascon took the road to Fort Royal, +still followed by the escort and accompanied by De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>Croustillac was not a man, in spite of his chagrin, to entirely despair +of the present. Chemerant, recovering from his surprise, attributed the +somber taciturnity of the Gascon to the painful thoughts which the +criminal conduct of the Duchess of Monmouth must cause him; while the +adventurer, summing up the chances of escape which remained to him, +analyzed the state of his heart, reasoning as follows: "Blue Beard (I +shall always call her that—it was thus I heard her name for the first +time, when I thought of her without knowing her), Blue Beard is +gone—forever gone; I shall never see her again, never, never, it is +evident. It will be impossible to escape from the memory of her. It is +absurd, stupid, not to be imagined, but so it is—this proves it that +this little woman has completely subjugated me. I was gay, careless and +loquacious as a bird on the bough, but little scrupulous as to delicacy, +and now behold me, sad, morose, taciturn, and of a delicacy so +inordinate that I had a horrible fear lest Blue Beard should offer me, +in parting, some remuneration other than the medallion from which she +had the generosity to remove the jewels. Alas! from this time forth, +this memory will be all my happiness—sad happiness! What a change! I, +who heretofore cared so much the more for bravery of attire since I was +badly clothed; I, who would have found such happiness in wearing this +velvet coat garnished with rich gold buttons—I wish for the moment to +come when I can don my old green garments and my pink hose, proud to say +'I leave this Potosi, this Devil's Cliff, this diamond mine, as much of +a beggar as when I entered into it.' Is it not, my faith, very plain +that before knowing Blue Beard, I had never in my life had such +thoughts? Now, what remains for me to hope?" said Croustillac, adopting, +as was his wont, the interrogative form to make what he called his +"examination of conscience."</p> + +<p>"Now, then, be frank, Polyphème, do you care much for life?</p> + +<p>"Eh! eh!</p> + +<p>"What say you to being hanged?</p> + +<p>"H—m, h—m.</p> + +<p>"Come, now, frankly?</p> + +<p>"Frankly? well, the gallows, strictly speaking, might please me if Blue +Beard was there to see me hanged. And yet, no, it is an ignoble death, a +ridiculous death; one's tongue hangs out, one kicks about——</p> + +<p>"Polyphème, you are afraid—of being hanged?</p> + +<p>"No, faith! but hanged all alone, hanged by myself, hanged like a mad +dog, hanged without two beautiful eyes looking at you, without a pretty +mouth smiling at you——</p> + +<p>"Polyphème, you are a stupid oaf; do you believe that Her Grace the +Duchess of Monmouth would come to applaud your last dance? Once more, +Polyphème, you are tricking, you seek all sorts of evasions. You are +afraid of being hanged, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"So be it—yes, I am afraid of the gallows, I own it; let us speak no +more of it. Put aside these probabilities, do not admit into our future +this exaggerated fear. Zounds! one is not hanged for so little, while +the prison is possible, not to say probable. Let us talk, then, of the +prison.</p> + +<p>"Well, how does the prison seem to you, Polyphème?</p> + +<p>"Eh! eh! the prison is devilishly monotonous. I know well that I should +have the resource of thinking of Blue Beard, but I shall think of her so +much, I shall think of her even better in the peaceful solitude of the +woods, in the calm of the paternal valley. The paternal valley! yes, +decidedly, it is there that I would prefer to finish my days, dreaming +of Blue Beard. Only, shall I ever find it again, this paternal valley? +Alas! the mists of our Gavonne are so thick that I shall wander long, +without doubt, before I find this dear valley again.</p> + +<p>"Polyphème, you purposely wander from the subject; you wish to escape +the prison as well as the gallows, in spite of your philosophical +bombast.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, zounds! I do want to escape both; to whom should I avow it +if not to myself? Who will comprehend me if not I, myself?</p> + +<p>"That admitted, Polyphème, how will you evade the fate that threatens +you?</p> + +<p>"Just at present this road is hardly favorable for escape, I know; rocks +on the right hand, on the left the sea, in front of and behind me the +escort. My horse is not bad; if it was better than that of the good +Chemerant, I might make a trial of swiftness with him.</p> + +<p>"And then, Polyphème?</p> + +<p>"And then I would leave good Chemerant on the road.</p> + +<p>"And then?</p> + +<p>"And then, abandoning my horse, I would conceal myself in some cavern; I +would climb the rocks; I have long legs and muscles of steel.</p> + +<p>"But, Polyphème, you will be sure to find the maroons. You, who are not +accustomed as they are to a nomadic life, you will be easily found by +them, at least if you are not devoured by wildcats or killed by +serpents. Such are your only two chances of escaping the efforts they +will make to catch you again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but at least I have some chance of escape, while in following the +good Chemerant, as the sheep follows the butcher who leads it to the +slaughter-house, I fall full into the hands of my partisans. Mortimer +will fall on my neck, not to embrace me, but to strangle me, when he +sees who I am, or rather, whom I am not; while in attempting to escape I +may succeed, and, who knows? perhaps rejoin Blue Beard. Father Griffen +is devoted to her; through him I shall learn where she is, if he knows.</p> + +<p>"But, Polyphème, you are mad! You love this woman without a ray of hope. +She is passionately in love with her husband; and, although people have +complacently taken you for him, he is as handsome, as much of a 'grand +seigneur,' as interesting, as you are ugly, ridiculous, and +insignificant, although of ancient race, Polyphème.</p> + +<p>"Eh? Zounds! what does it matter? In again beholding Blue Beard I shall +not be happy, that is true, but I shall be content. Cannot one enjoy a +beautiful sight, an admirable picture, a magnificent poem, an enchanting +piece of music, although this sight, this picture, this poem, this +music, are not one's own? Well, such will be the kind of my content in +the presence of the divine Blue Beard.</p> + +<p>"A last observation, Polyphème. Your rhapsody, happy or not, will it not +awaken the suspicions of De Chemerant? Will you not thus compromise the +safety of those whom you have, I must avow, very skillfully rescued?</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to fear on that side. The Chameleon flies like an +albatross—she is already the devil knows where. She will put to their +wits' ends all the coastguards of the islands to know where she is. +Thus, then, I see no inconvenience in trying whether my horse goes +faster than that of the good Chemerant. The good man seems to me plunged +in meditation just now; the strand is good and straight. If I should +start——</p> + +<p>"Come, then, try—start, Polyphème!"</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the adventurer mentally given himself this permission, +when, giving some touches of his spur to the horse, he set off suddenly +with great rapidity.</p> + +<p>Chemerant, surprised for a moment, gazed after the flying Croustillac; +then, not comprehending this strange action on the part of the supposed +duke, he started in pursuit.</p> + +<p>Chemerant had been in many wars, and was an excellent rider. His horse, +without being superior to that of Croustillac, being much better managed +and trained, immediately regained the distance the adventurer had +covered. Chemerant closely followed the track of Croustillac, crying, +"My lord, my lord, where are you going?"</p> + +<p>Croustillac, seeing himself so closely pursued, urged his horse forward +with all his force.</p> + +<p>Very soon the adventurer was obliged to stop short; the strand formed an +elbow in this place, and the Gascon found himself face to face with +enormous blocks of rock leaving only a narrow and dangerous passage.</p> + +<p>Chemerant rejoined his companion. "By all the furies! my lord," he +cried, "what gnat has bitten your highness? Why this sudden and furious +gallop?"</p> + +<p>The Gascon responded, coolly and boldly, "I am in great haste, sir, to +rejoin my partisans—this poor Mortimer especially, who awaits me with +such lively impatience. And then, in spite of me, I am besieged with +certain vexatious ideas concerning my wife, and I wish to fly from them, +these ideas, to fly from them by any means," said the Gascon, with a +dolorous sigh.</p> + +<p>"It appears to me, my lord, that morally and physically you fly from +them with all your might; unfortunately the road forbids your escaping +them any further."</p> + +<p>Chemerant called the guide. "At what distance are we from Fort Royal?" +he asked him.</p> + +<p>"A league at most, sir."</p> + +<p>Chemerant pulled out his watch and said to Croustillac, "if the wind is +good at eleven o'clock, we might be under sail and <i>en route</i> for the +coast of Cornwall, where glory awaits you, my lord."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, sir, without which it would be absurd in me to go there. But +apropos of our enterprise, it seems to be a bad beginning to inaugurate +it with a murder."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"I should see with pain the shooting of Colonel Rutler. I am +superstitious, sir; this death seems to me a bad omen. The crime was one +entirely personal to me; I then formally demand from you his pardon."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, his crime was flagrant, and——"</p> + +<p>"But, sir, the crime has not been committed. I insist that the colonel +shall not be shot."</p> + +<p>"He should, at least your highness, expiate by perpetual imprisonment +his audacious attempt."</p> + +<p>"In prison? so be it; one can get out of it, thank God! or at least, one +can hope so, which shortens the time infinitely. Beside, the colonel +might noise abroad my approaching descent into Cornwall, which would be +truly disastrous."</p> + +<p>"What you desire in this case shall be done, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"Another thing, sir. I am superstitious, as I have told you. I have +remarked in my life certain lucky and unlucky days. Now, for nothing in +this world would I choose to begin an enterprise so important as ours +under the influence of an hour which I believe to be fatal to me. +Beside, I am much fatigued; you ought to be able to understand that, in +thinking of the emotions of all kinds which have beset me since +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"What, then, are your designs, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"They will perhaps not agree with yours, but I will credit you with +doing what I desire, which is not to set sail before to-morrow morning +at sunrise."</p> + +<p>"Your highness!"</p> + +<p>"I know, sir, what you are going to say to me, but twenty-four hours, +more or less, are not of much consequence, and, finally, I have decided +not to put my foot on board to-day. I should bring upon you the most +direful fate; I should draw upon your frigate all the tempests of the +tropics. I will, then, pass the day with the governor, in absolute +retirement. I have need of being alone," added Croustillac, in a +melancholy tone; "alone, yes, always alone, and I ought to begin my +apprenticeship to solitude."</p> + +<p>"Solitude? But, my lord, you will not find it among the agitations which +await you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! sir," responded Croustillac philosophically, "the unfortunate finds +solitude even in the midst of the crowd, when he isolates himself in his +regrets. A wife whom I loved so much!" added he, with a profound sigh.</p> + +<p>"Ah! your highness," said De Chemerant, sighing in order to put himself +in sympathy with Croustillac, "it is terrible; but time heals the +deepest wounds."</p> + +<p>"You are right, sir, time heals the deepest wounds. I will have courage. +Well rested, well recovered from my fatigue and my cruel agitations, +to-morrow I will console myself, I will forget all in embracing my +partisans."</p> + +<p>"Ah! your highness, to-morrow will be a blessed day for all."</p> + +<p>The position of the supposed duke demanded too much consideration from +De Chemerant for him not to give in to the suggestions of his companion; +he acquiesced, then, though with regret, in the will of Croustillac.</p> + +<p>The Gascon, in postponing the hour in which his deception should be +discovered, hoped to find a chance to escape. He remembered that Blue +Beard had said to him, "We will not be ungrateful; once the duke is in +safety, we will not leave you in the power of De Chemerant; only seek to +gain time."</p> + +<p>Although Croustillac did not count much on the promise of his friends, +knowing all the difficulties which they would have to brave and to +conquer before they could succor him, he wished in any case not to +sacrifice this chance of safety, however uncertain it should be.</p> + +<p>Thus, as the guide had informed them, they arrived at Fort Royal at the +end of an hour's march.</p> + +<p>The residence of the governor was situated at the extremity of the city, +on the edge of the savannahs; it was easy to reach it without +encountering any one.</p> + +<p>Chemerant sent one of the guards in all haste to warn the governor of +the arrival of his two guests.</p> + +<p>The baron had replaced his long peruke, and resumed his heavy, +tight-fitting coat, in order to receive De Chemerant and the supposed +duke. He regarded the latter with eager curiosity, and was extremely +puzzled by the black velvet coat with the red sleeve. But, remembering +that De Chemerant had spoken to him of a state secret in which the +inhabitants of Devil's Cliff found themselves mixed up, he did not dare +to meet Croustillac without profound deference.</p> + +<p>The governor, profiting by a moment during which the adventurer cast a +melancholy glance at the window, striving to see whether it would serve +his purpose, said in a low tone to De Chemerant, "I expected to see a +lady, sir. This litter that you brought with you——"</p> + +<p>"Well, baron, you unfortunately counted without your hostess."</p> + +<p>"You must have been much heated by this morning sun," added the baron +with a careless air, although he was piqued by De Chemerant's answer.</p> + +<p>"Very much heated, sir, and your guest also. You should offer him some +refreshment."</p> + +<p>"I have thought of that, sir," replied the baron, "and have ordered +three covers laid."</p> + +<p>"I do not know, baron, whether my lord (indicating Croustillac) will +deign to admit us to his table."</p> + +<p>The governor, stupefied with surprise, regarded Croustillac with a new +and burning curiosity. "But, sir, is this, then, a great personage?"</p> + +<p>"Baron, I am again under the necessity of reminding you that it is my +mission to ask questions of you and not——"</p> + +<p>"Sufficient, sufficient, sir. Will you ask the guest whom I have the +honor to receive if he will do me the favor to accept this breakfast?"</p> + +<p>Chemerant transmitted the invitation of the baron to Croustillac, who, +pretending fatigue, asked to breakfast alone in his apartment.</p> + +<p>Chemerant whispered a few words in the ear of the governor, who +immediately offered his finest apartment to the supposed great +personage.</p> + +<p>Croustillac prayed the baron to have the pannier, of which one of the +two guards had taken charge, and which, as we know, contained only +Croustillac's old garments, brought to his room.</p> + +<p>Chemerant was in the room of the Gascon when the pannier was brought in.</p> + +<p>"Who would think, to look at this modest pannier, that it contained more +than three millions' worth of jewels?" said Croustillac negligently.</p> + +<p>"What imprudence! your highness!" cried De Chemerant. "These guards are +trusty, but——"</p> + +<p>"They are ignorant of the treasure they carry; there is, then, nothing +to fear."</p> + +<p>"Your highness, I ought to tell you that it is not the intention of the +king that you should use your personal resources in order to bring this +enterprise to a successful end. The purser of the frigate has a +considerable sum destined to the payment of the recruits who are +embarked, and for necessary expenses, once the debarkation is +accomplished."</p> + +<p>"It does not matter," said Croustillac. "Money is the sinew of war. I +had not foreseen this disposition of the 'great king,' and I wish to put +at the service of my royal uncle that which remains to me of blood, +fortune and influence."</p> + +<p>After this sounding peroration, De Chemerant went out.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h3> + +<p class="head">CROUSTILLAC DEPARTS.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Croustillac</span> seated himself at the table which had been prepared for him, +ate but little, and then lay down, hoping that sleep would calm him and +perhaps bring to him some fortunate idea of how to escape. He had +recognized with chagrin the impossibility of escaping by the window of +the chamber he occupied; the two sentries of the governor's residence +paced constantly at the foot of the building.</p> + +<p>Once alone, De Chemerant began to reflect on the singular events of +which he had been the witness. Although he did not doubt that the Gascon +was the veritable Duke of Monmouth, the conduct of the duchess seemed so +strange to him, the manners and language of Croustillac, although very +skillfully adapted to his rôle, were sometimes so redolent of the +adventurer, that without the aid of the evident proofs which should +demonstrate to him the identity of the person of the duke, De Chemerant +would have conceived some suspicions. Nevertheless, he resolved to +profit by his sojourn at Fort Royal to question the governor anew on the +subject of Blue Beard, and Colonel Rutler on the subject of the Duke of +Monmouth. The baron did no more than to repeat certain public rumors, +viz., that the widow was on the best possible terms with the three +bandits who haunted Devil's Cliff.</p> + +<p>Chemerant was reduced to deploring the depravity of the young woman, and +the blindness of the unfortunate duke, a blindness which had, without +doubt, endured till that very moment.</p> + +<p>As for Rutler, his arrest by De Chemerant, the arrival of the envoy from +France at Devil's Cliff, far from shaking his conviction in respect to +Croustillac, had confirmed it; thus, when De Chemerant came to question +him, in announcing to him that he was not to be shot, the colonel, on +his part unwittingly, concurred in giving still more authority to the +false rôle of the adventurer.</p> + +<p>The sun was on the point of setting. Chemerant, completely reassured as +to the very satisfactory result of his mission, was thinking over the +advantages it must bring to him, while walking up and down the terrace +of the governor's residence, when the baron, out of breath with having +climbed so high, came to tear his guest away from the ambitious thoughts +with which he was delighting himself.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said the governor to him, "a merchant captain called Master +Daniel, and commanding the three-master the Unicorn has arrived from St. +Pierre with his ship; he asks to talk with you for a moment on very +pressing affairs."</p> + +<p>"May I receive him on this terrace, baron?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, sir; it is much cooler here than below." Then advancing to +the staircase by which he had ascended, the baron said to one of his +guards, "Send Master Daniel up here."</p> + +<p>We have forgotten to say that as soon as the supposed duke had +manifested a desire to pass the night on land the frigate had received +orders to anchor at the extremity of the roads.</p> + +<p>After some minutes, Captain Daniel, our old acquaintance, appeared on +the terrace. The physiognomy of the captain, ordinarily so frank and +joyous, betrayed great embarrassment.</p> + +<p>The worthy captain of the Unicorn, so completely king on the deck of his +vessel, seemed uncomfortable and ill at ease. His cheeks, always more +than red, were slightly pale; the almost imperceptible quivering of his +upper lip agitated his thick gray mustache—a physiological sign which +indicated in Captain Daniel a grave preoccupation; he wore trousers and +tunic of blue and white striped cloth; in his girdle of red cotton was +thrust a long Flemish knife; an India handkerchief, knotted sailor +fashion, surrounded his brick-colored throat; finally, he mechanically +gave the most whimsical forms to the large and flexible straw hat which +he twisted about with both hands.</p> + +<p>The worthy master, with many low bows, approached De Chemerant, whose +dry, harsh face, with its piercing glance, seemed to intimidate him +greatly.</p> + +<p>"I am sure that this poor man is all in a perspiration," said the +governor to De Chemerant, in a pitying tone.</p> + +<p>In fact, great drops of perspiration covered the prominent veins on the +bald and sunburned forehead of Captain Daniel.</p> + +<p>"What do you wish?" said De Chemerant to him brusquely.</p> + +<p>"Come, speak, explain yourself, Master Daniel," added the baron, in a +gentler tone, seeing the merchant captain more and more intimidated.</p> + +<p>At last the captain ended by saying, in a voice strangled by emotion, +and addressing himself to De Chemerant, "Your highness——"</p> + +<p>"I am not 'your highness' but 'sir,'" replied Chemerant; "speak, I am +listening."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, my good sir, I arrived at St. Pierre with a cargo, a very +rich cargo of sugar, coffee, pepper, cloves, tafia——"</p> + +<p>"I do not need to know the inventory of your cargo; what do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Come, Master Daniel, my boy, reassure yourself, explain yourself, and +dry your forehead; you look as if you had come out of the water," said +the baron.</p> + +<p>"Now, your high—now, good sir, although I have a dozen small guns, and +a few swivel guns, my cargo is of such value that I come, good sir, in +fear of corsairs and pirates——"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Go on, Master Daniel, I have never seen you thus."</p> + +<p>"I come, good sir, to ask your permission to set sail in company with +the frigate which has anchored just now in the roads."</p> + +<p>"Confound it! I can understand why you are embarrassed in making such a +request, Master Daniel," said the baron. "They are to give you his +majesty's frigates to serve as escort to your cargo!"</p> + +<p>Chemerant looked fixedly at the captain, shrugged his shoulders, and +responded, "It is impossible! The frigate is a fast sailer; she could +not diminish her speed to attend on your vessel—you are crazy!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, if it is only that, fear nothing. Without decrying his +majesty's frigate, since I do not know her, I can engage to follow her, +no matter how much sail she carries, or whatever wind or sea is in her +sails or ahead."</p> + +<p>"I tell you you are crazy. The Thunderer is the swiftest of ships."</p> + +<p>"My good sir, do not refuse me," said Master Daniel, in a supplicating +tone. "If this proud frigate sails quicker than the Unicorn—well, this +man-of-war will desert the poor merchant ship, but at least I shall have +been a good part of the way under the shelter of the flag of the king, +and the prowlers of the sea are only especially to be feared in the +starting. Ah, sir, a cargo worth more than a million, by which the +enemies of our good king will profit if they succeed in getting +possession of the Unicorn——"</p> + +<p>"But I repeat to you that the frigate, although a man-of-war, would not +have time to defend you if you were attacked; her mission is such that +she ought not to be embarrassed with a convoy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, good sir," replied Captain Daniel, clasping his hands, "you will +have no embarrassment because of me; there will be no risk of my being +attacked if they see me under the protection of your guns. There is not +a corsair who would dare even to approach me, seeing me so bravely +accompanied. With all respect, sir, the wolves attack the lambs only +when the dogs are absent."</p> + +<p>"Poor lamb of a Master Daniel!" said the governor.</p> + +<p>"Ah, good sir, let it not be said that a warship of the king, our +master, refused a poor unfortunate merchant who asked only the +protection of his flag, so long as he was able to follow it."</p> + +<p>Chemerant found it hard to refuse this request, which in nowise +interfered with the maneuvers of the frigate, as Captain Daniel engaged +to follow the course of the Thunderer or allow himself to be abandoned. +Nevertheless, De Chemerant refused. "You know well," he said to the +captain, "that if, in spite of our escort, a corsair attacked you, a +king's ship could not leave you defenseless. Again, you will hinder the +maneuvers of the frigate. It is impossible."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, my rich cargo——"</p> + +<p>"You have guns, defend it. I will not allow you the convoy. It is +impossible."</p> + +<p>"Alas! my good God! I, who have come expressly from St. Pierre to ask +this favor from you!" said Daniel, in a dolorous tone.</p> + +<p>"Well, you will wait for another chance. I cannot cover you with my +flag."</p> + +<p>"However, good sir——"</p> + +<p>"Enough!" said Chemerant, in a harsh and peremptory tone.</p> + +<p>Captain Daniel made a last reverence, and, retreating slowly to the +staircase, he disappeared.</p> + +<p>"To see these merchants! To hear them one would think there were no +interests in the world but those of their cargoes," said De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"There are, however, very few circumstances in which one refuses an +escort," said the governor, with an air of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"There are very few, indeed, baron, but there are some," said Chemerant +brusquely, while withdrawing.</p> + +<p>Croustillac had been conducted to the finest apartment in the house. +When he awoke night had fallen, and the moon shone with so brilliant a +light that it illuminated his chamber perfectly.</p> + +<p>Croustillac looked out of his window; the two sentinels paced peacefully +at the foot of the wall.</p> + +<p>"The devil!" said the adventurer. "It is decidedly impossible to make my +escape on this side; there are at least twenty feet to descend just to +fall on the backs of these sentinels, and they would find this manner of +quitting the governor's house very singular. Let us look at the other +side, then."</p> + +<p>Croustillac approached the door with a light step; but a bright light +thrown on the floor showed him that the neighboring room was lighted and +probably occupied.</p> + +<p>By the aid of a tinder-box which he found on the mantel, he lighted a +candle, and dressed himself in his old clothes, with a melancholy +satisfaction. They exhaled the strong and aromatic odor of the plants +and herbs of the surroundings through which Croustillac had so long +walked in his wanderings in the forest around Devil's Cliff.</p> + +<p>"Zounds! Chance is devilishly well named Chance," said the Gascon to +himself. "It has always had a particular affection for me. If it was +canonized, I would make it my patron saint. Chance—Polyphème, Sire de +Croustillac! When, on board the Unicorn, I made a bet that I would marry +Blue Beard, who could have foreseen that this foolish wager was almost +won; for, after all, in the eyes of the man with the dagger and of De +Chemerant, I passed, I still pass, as the husband of the lady of Devil's +Cliff. How all things hang together in fate! When I quitted the +parsonage of Father Griffen, nose in air, shoulders squared, my switch +in my hand to drive away the serpents, who the devil would have said +that I left to go, not directly it is true, to incite the Cornwallers to +revolt in favor of King James and Louis XIV! Zounds! One may well say +that the ways of Providence are inscrutable. Who could have penetrated +into this? Ah! now the critical moment approaches. I am sometimes +tempted to disclose all to the good man Chemerant. Yes, but I think that +each hour gained removes the duke and his wife three or four leagues +further from Martinique. I think that here, on land, my trial might be +carried out immediately and my gallows raised in the wink of an eye, +while on the open sea there would perhaps be no persons present +competent to judge me. I think, after all, that if Blue Beard has begged +(as I suppose) Father Griffen to endeavor to withdraw me from the claws +of Chemerant, that a sudden and imprudent revelation on my part would +spoil all. Much better, then, to keep silence. Yes, all well +considered," resumed Croustillac after a moment of reflection, "to let +De Chemerant's mistake last as long as possible, that is the better part +for me to take."</p> + +<p>During these reflections Croustillac had dressed himself. "Now," he +said, "let me see if there are any means of getting out of here +secretly."</p> + +<p>So saying, he softly opened the door and beheld with disappointment the +lackeys of the governor, who rose respectfully on seeing him. One went +to seek the baron; the other said to Croustillac, "Monsieur the governor +forbade us to enter the chamber of your highness until called; he will +come on the instant."</p> + +<p>"No matter, my boy, only show me the door to the garden. It is very +warm; I wish to take the air for awhile—but no, there are undoubtedly +trees in the garden; I prefer the open space, the field——"</p> + +<p>"That is very simple, your highness; in descending from the gallery you +will find yourself in the garden, from which a gate opens into the +fields."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, my boy, conduct me there quickly. I long for the +fields like a bird in a cage."</p> + +<p>"Ah, it is not necessary, your highness; here is monsieur the baron, he +will conduct you himself," said the lackey.</p> + +<p>"To the devil with the baron!" thought Croustillac. The governor was not +alone; Chemerant accompanied him.</p> + +<p>"Faith, your highness," said the latter, "fortunately we see you risen. +We came to wake you."</p> + +<p>"To wake me—and why?"</p> + +<p>"Wind and tide wait for no one. The tide goes out at three o'clock; it +is now half-past two. It will take us a half hour to reach the mole, +where the boat awaits us. We have just time to get there, your +highness."</p> + +<p>"Now, then, the die is cast," said Croustillac. "Let us try only to gain +a few hours before being presented to my partisans. Sir, I am at your +orders," added the adventurer, draping himself in a brown mantle which +he had found with his clothes.</p> + +<p>The governor felt it his duty to accompany, as escort, De Chemerant and +the mysterious unknown to the mole; the flight of the Gascon was thus +rendered absolutely impossible.</p> + +<p>At the moment of quitting the governor, Chemerant said to him, "Sir, I +will render to the king a full account of the efficient aid you have +given me. I can now say it to you, the secret has been perfectly kept."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, may I know what were these indications?" cried the baron, so +poorly informed on what he was burning to know.</p> + +<p>"You may be certain, baron," said Chemerant, cordially pressing his +hand, "that the king will know all—and it will not be my fault if you +are not rewarded as you deserve."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, Chemerant gave the order to put off.</p> + +<p>"If the king is to know all he will be much ahead of me," said the +baron, slowly returning to his house. "What I have learned from the +guards of the escort has only augmented my curiosity. It was hardly +worth the trouble to toil and moil, and stay on one's feet all night, to +be so badly informed of things of the greatest importance, taking place +in my own government!"</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE FRIGATE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> moon threw a brilliant light over the waters of Fort Royal. The long +boat which bore Croustillac and his fortunes advanced rapidly toward the +Thunderer, which was anchored at the entrance of the bay.</p> + +<p>The Gascon, enveloped in his mantle, occupied the place of honor in the +boat, which seemed to fly over the water.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said he to Chemerant, "I wish to reflect ripely on the discourse +which it is my intention to address to my partisans; you comprehend—it +is necessary that I pronounce a sort of manifesto in which I disclose my +political principles; that I tell them my hopes in order to make them +partakers in them; that, in fine, I give them, in a manner, a plan of +campaign; now all this needs long elaboration. These are the bases of +our undertaking. It is necessary to disclose all to them—the +consequences of the alliance, or rather the moral, that is to say +material support which England lends us, or rather France—In short," +said Croustillac, who began to be singularly mixed up in his politics, +"I do not wish to receive my partisans till to-morrow, in the morning. I +wish, even, that my arrival on board should be conducted as quietly as +possible."</p> + +<p>"It is very probable, my lord, that all these brave gentlemen are +asleep, for they did not know at what hour your highness was to arrive."</p> + +<p>"This mad—this brave Mortimer is capable of waiting up all night for +me," said Croustillac, with disquietude.</p> + +<p>"That is not to be doubted, your highness, by one who knows the ardent +impatience with which he desires your return."</p> + +<p>"Hold, sir," said the Gascon, "between you and me, I know my Mortimer; +he is very nervous, very impressionable. I should fear for him—a shock, +a too sudden effect of joy, should I appear abruptly before him. Thus, +in going aboard I shall take the precaution of well wrapping myself up +in order to escape his eyes—and even if he asks you if I shall soon +arrive, oblige me by answering him in an evasive manner. In this way we +can prepare him for an interview, which without these precautions might +prove fatal to this devoted friend."</p> + +<p>"Ah! fear nothing, your highness; excess of joy can never be fatal."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, you deceive yourself, sir; without taking account of a thousand +general facts with which I might corroborate my opinion, I will cite on +this subject a fact quite personal and particular to the very man of +whom we are now talking."</p> + +<p>"To Lord Mortimer?"</p> + +<p>"To him, sir. I shall never forget that once I saw him seized with +frightful convulsions under circumstances almost similar. There were +nervous starts—swoons——"</p> + +<p>"However, your highness, Lord Mortimer has an athletic constitution."</p> + +<p>"An athletic constitution? Come, then, it only remained that I should +encounter a Hercules in this run-mad Pylades," thought Croustillac. He +spoke aloud:</p> + +<p>"You don't know, sir, that it is these very men of great strength who +are just the ones who most keenly feel such shocks. I will even tell +you—but this is entirely between ourselves—at least——"</p> + +<p>"Your highness may be sure of my discretion."</p> + +<p>"You will understand my reserve, sir. I will tell you then that, on the +occasion of which I speak—this unfortunate Mortimer was so +stupefied—(if it were not for our intimate friendship, I should say +rendered stupid) by seeing too suddenly some one he had not met for a +long time—that his head—you comprehend——"</p> + +<p>"What, your highness, his reason——"</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes, in this instance only—. You now comprehend why I demand +secrecy of you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, your highness."</p> + +<p>"But that was not all; the shock suffered by poor Mortimer was such +that, after having remained several moments stupefied with surprise, he +no longer recognized this person; no, sir, he did not recognize him, +though he had seen him a thousand times!"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible, your highness?" said De Chemerant, in a tone of +respectful doubt.</p> + +<p>"It is, alas! only too true, sir, for you have no idea of the +excitability of this good fellow. So I, who am his friend, should watch +carefully that no trouble come to him. Think, then, if I should expose +him to the risk of not knowing me. Mortimer is now the one whom I love +most in the world, and you know, alas! sir, if the consolations of +friendship are necessary to me."</p> + +<p>"Still these unhappy memories, your highness?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am weak, I own it—it is stronger than I."</p> + +<p>"What is this ship anchored not far from the frigate?" demanded De +Chemerant of the master of the long boat, in order to change the +conversation, out of regard for the feelings of the supposed duke.</p> + +<p>"That, sir, is a merchantman, which arrived last night from St. Pierre," +said the sailor, respectfully removing his cap.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I know," said De Chemerant; "it is probably the ship of that fool +of a merchant-captain who demanded our escort. But here we are, your +highness—the lights are all out—you are not expected."</p> + +<p>"So much the better, so much the better; provided Mortimer is not +there."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that I see him on the bridge, your highness."</p> + +<p>Croustillac raised his mantle almost to his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ah! there is the officer of the watch on the ladder. What a pity to +arrive so late, your highness. It is to the beat of drums, the flourish +of trumpets, that your highness should have been received, with the +ship's crew presenting arms."</p> + +<p>"Honors to-morrow—honors to-morrow," said Croustillac; "the hour of +these frivolities always comes soon enough."</p> + +<p>Chemerant drew aside to allow the Gascon to mount the ladder first. The +latter breathed freely again on seeing on deck only an officer of +marines, who received him with bared head and a profoundly respectful +air. Croustillac responded with great dignity, and above all, very +briefly, enveloping himself in his mantle with the utmost care, and +casting uneasy glances around him, fearing to see the terrible Mortimer. +Fortunately he saw only the sailors talking together or reclining by the +side of the guns.</p> + +<p>The officer, who was speaking in a low tone to De Chemerant, saluting +Croustillac again, said to him:</p> + +<p>"Your highness, since you command it, I will not awaken the captain, and +I shall have the honor of conducting you to your cabin."</p> + +<p>Croustillac inclined his head.</p> + +<p>"Till to-morrow, your highness," said De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"Till to-morrow," responded the adventurer.</p> + +<p>The officer descended by the hatchway to the gun-deck, opened the door +of a large, wide cabin perfectly lighted by a skylight, and said to the +Gascon: "Your highness, there is your cabin; there are two other small +rooms to the right and left."</p> + +<p>"This is admirable, sir; do me the favor, I pray you, to give the +strictest orders that no one enters my cabin to-morrow until I call. No +one, sir, you understand—absolutely no one!—this is of the last +importance."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my lord. Your highness does not wish that I should send one +of the people to assist you to disrobe?"</p> + +<p>"I am a soldier, sir," said Croustillac proudly, "and I disrobe without +assistance."</p> + +<p>The young officer bowed, taking this response for a lesson in stoicism; +he went out, ordering one of the orderlies to allow no one to enter the +cabin of the duke, and again ascended on deck to rejoin De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"Your duke is a veritable Spartan, my dear De Chemerant," said he to +him. "Why! he has not brought even a lackey."</p> + +<p>"That is true," responded De Chemerant; "such strange things have taken +place on land that neither he nor I thought of it; but I will give him +one of my people. Just now the important thing is to set sail."</p> + +<p>"That is also the opinion of the captain. He gave me orders to wake him +if you judged it necessary to depart at once."</p> + +<p>"We will start on the instant, for both wind and tide are in our favor, +I think," answered De Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"So favorable," said the officer, "that if this wind holds, to-morrow by +sunrise we shall no longer be able to see the shores of Martinique."</p> + +<p>A half-hour after the arrival of the Gascon on board, the Thunderer got +under sail with an excellent breeze from the southwest.</p> + +<p>When De Chemerant saw the frigate leaving the roads, he could not +refrain from rubbing his hands, saying to himself, "Faith it is not that +I am vain and boastful, but I would only have given this mission in a +hundred to the most skillful of men—to unravel the projects of the +English envoy, to conquer the scruples of the duke, to aid him to +revenge himself on a guilty wife, to tear him by force of eloquence from +the overwhelming feelings this conjugal accident has roused in his soul, +to bring him back to England at the head of his partisans—by my faith, +Chemerant, my friend, that was left to you to do! Your fortune, already +on the road to success, behold it forever assured; this good success +delights me the more that the king regards this affair as important. +Once more, bravo!"</p> + +<p>Chemerant with a light and joyful heart slept, cradled by the most +pleasing and ambitious thoughts.</p> + +<p>It was half-past ten in the morning; the wind was fresh, the sea a +little rough, but very beautiful; the Thunderer left behind her a +shining wake. The land was no longer to be seen. The ship was in +mid-ocean.</p> + +<p>The officer of the watch, armed with a glass, examined with attention a +three-masted vessel about two cannon shots distant, which kept precisely +the same route as the frigate and sailed as quickly as she did, although +carrying a few light sails the less.</p> + +<p>On the extreme horizon the officer remarked also another ship which he +as yet distinguished vaguely, but which seemed to follow the same +direction as the three-master, whose maneuver we have just pointed out. +Wishing to find out if this latter ship would persist in imitating the +movements of the Thunderer, the officer ordered the man at the wheel to +bear away a little more to the north.</p> + +<p>The three-master bore away a little more to the north.</p> + +<p>The officer gave orders to bear away to the west.</p> + +<p>The three-master bore away to the west.</p> + +<p>More annoyed than startled at this persistence, because the three-master +was not capable of a struggle with a frigate, the officer, by the order +of the captain, tacked about and sailed straight down upon the +importunate vessel.</p> + +<p>The importunate three-master tacked about also, and continued to +scrupulously imitate the evolutions of the frigate, and sailed in +concert with her, but always beyond reach of her guns.</p> + +<p>The captain, irritated by this, veered about and ran straight down upon +the three-master. The three-master proved that she was, if not a better +sailer, at least as good a one as the frigate, which was never able to +shorten the distance between them. The captain, not wishing to lose +precious time in this useless chase, resumed his course.</p> + +<p>The vexatious three-master also resumed its course.</p> + +<p>This mysterious ship was no other than the peaceable Unicorn. Captain +Daniel, in spite of the refusal of De Chemerant, had judged it proper to +attach himself obstinately to the Thunderer until they reached the open +sea.</p> + +<p>A new personage appeared on the deck of the frigate. This was a man of +about fifty years of age, large, stout, wearing a buff coat with wide +scarlet breeches, and boots of sheepskin. His hair and mustache were +red, his eyes light blue, the eyeballs veined with little vessels which +the slightest emotion injected with blood, showing a violent and +passionate temper.</p> + +<p>We hasten to inform the reader that this athletic personage was the most +fanatical of all the fanatical partisans of Monmouth, and he would have +thought himself a thousand times blessed to have shared the fate of +Sidney; in a word, this man was Lord Percy Mortimer. His disquietude, +his agitation, his impatience, were inexpressible; he could not stay in +one place a moment.</p> + +<p>Twenty times had Lord Mortimer descended to the door of Croustillac's +cabin to know if "my lord the duke" had not asked for him. In vain had +he implored the officer to send word to the duke that Mortimer, his best +friend, his old companion in arms, wished to throw himself at his feet; +his wishes were vain, the orders of the unhappy Croustillac, who +regarded each minute gained as a precious conquest, were rigorously +carried out.</p> + +<p>Chemerant also went upon deck, clothed in a magnificent dress, his air +radiant and triumphant; he seemed to say to all: "If the prince is here, +that is thanks to my ability, to my courage." Seeing him, Mortimer +approached him quickly.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," he said to him, "may we know at last at what hour the duke +will receive us?"</p> + +<p>"The duke has forbidden any one to enter his apartment without his +order."</p> + +<p>"I am on red-hot coals," replied Mortimer; "I shall never forgive myself +for having gone to bed this night, and not to have been the first to +press our James in my arms, to throw myself at his feet—to kiss his +royal hand."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Lord Mortimer, you love our brave duke well?" said De Chemerant; +"partisans such as you are rare!"</p> + +<p>"<i>If</i> I love our James!" cried Mortimer, turning a deep and apoplectic +red, "<i>if</i> I love him! Hold! I and Dick Dudley, my best friend, who +loves the duke, not as much as I (we fought once because he made this +absurd claim)—I and Dudley, I tell you, asked each other just now if we +should have the strength to again see our James without giving way—like +silly women."</p> + +<p>"The duke was right," thought De Chemerant. "What enthusiasm! It is not +attachment, it is frenzy." Mortimer resumed with vehemence: "This +morning on rising we embraced each other; we committed a thousand +extravagances on thinking we should see him again to-day. We could not +believe it, and even yet I doubt it. Ah! what a day! what a day! To see +again in flesh and blood a friend, a companion in arms whom we had +believed dead, whom we had wept for for five years! Ah! you do not know +how he was cherished and regretted, our James! How we recalled his +bravery, his courage, his gayety! What happiness to say, not <i>it was</i>, +but <i>it is</i> the heart of a king, a true heart of a king, that of our +duke."</p> + +<p>"It must be that this is true, my lord, since with the exception of +yourself, of Lord Dudley, and this poor Lord Rothsay who, ill as he is +from his old wounds, has chosen to accompany you, the other gentlemen +who came to offer their arms, their lives and their fortunes to our +duke, knew him only by reputation."</p> + +<p>"And I should like well to see if, on his renown alone, and on our +guarantee, they would not love him as much as we love him. This recalls +to me that once I fought my friend Dick Dudley because he vowed he loved +me a little more than our James!"</p> + +<p>"The fact is, my lord," said De Chemerant, "that few princes are capable +of inspiring such enthusiasm simply by their renown."</p> + +<p>"Few princes, sir!" cried Lord Mortimer in a formidable voice, "few +princes! Say, then, no other prince—ask Dudley!"</p> + +<p>Lord Dudley appeared at this moment on the deck. The hair and mustache +of this nobleman were black and beginning to turn gray; in stature, +strength, and stoutness there was a great conformity between him and +Mortimer; true types (physically speaking) of what are called +gentlemen-farmers.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Percy?" said Lord Dudley familiarly to his friend.</p> + +<p>"Is it not true, Dick, that no prince can be compared with our James?"</p> + +<p>"Excepting our worthy friends and allies on this vessel, any dog who +dares maintain that James is not the best of men I will beat him till +the blood comes, and cut him in quarters," said this robust personage, +striking with one of his fists the gunwale of the ship. Then, addressing +De Chemerant: "But now you know him as well as we—you, the chosen you, +the happy man who saw him first! Your hand, De Chemerant, your brave and +loyal hand—more brave and more loyal, if it is possible, since it has +touched that of our duke!"</p> + +<p>Dudley violently shook the right hand of De Chemerant, while Mortimer +shook no less violently the left hand.</p> + +<p>There is nothing more contagious than enthusiasm. The partisans of +Monmouth had one by one come up on deck and grouped themselves around +the two noblemen—all wishing in their turn to press the hand which had +touched that of the prince.</p> + +<p>"Ah! gentlemen, I suspect that his grace puts off the honor of seeing +you. He fears the emotion inseparable from such a moment."</p> + +<p>"And we, then!" cried Dudley. "It is now about forty days since we left +Rochelle, is it not? Well, may I die if I have slept more than three or +four hours any night, and then the sleep, at once agitated and pleasant, +that one sleeps on the eve of a duel—when one is sure of killing one's +man. At least, that is the effect of this impatience on me. And you, +Percy?" said the robust gladiator to Mortimer.</p> + +<p>"On me, Dick?" responded the latter; "it has a contrary effect on me; +every moment I wake with a start. It seems to me that I should sleep +thus the eve of the day that I was going to be shot."</p> + +<p>"As for me," said another gentleman, "I know the duke only from his +portrait."</p> + +<p>"I only from his renown."</p> + +<p>"I, as soon as I knew that it concerned marching against the Orange +faction—I quitted all, friends, wife, child."</p> + +<p>"So did we——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, it is also for James of Monmouth," said another, "that is a +name which is like the sound of a trumpet."</p> + +<p>"It suffices to pronounce this name in Old England," said another, "to +drive all these Holland rats into their marshes."</p> + +<p>"Beginning with this William——"</p> + +<p>"On my honor, gentlemen," said De Chemerant, "you make me almost proud +of having succeeded so well in an enterprise which, I dare to say, is a +very delicate one. I do not wish to attribute to my reasoning, to my +influence, the resolution of the prince—but believe, at least, +gentlemen, that I have known how to make good use with him of the +enthusiasm with which his memory has inspired you."</p> + +<p>"And so, our friend, we will never forget what you have done! You have +brought him here to us—our duke!" cried Mortimer cordially.</p> + +<p>"For that alone we owe you eternal gratitude," added Dudley.</p> + +<p>"To see him! to see him," cried Mortimer in a new access of feeling, "to +see him again whom we believed to be dead—to see him indeed face to +face—to again find before our eyes this proud and noble figure—to see +it again in the midst of the fire—the—the—ah, well—yes, I weep—I +weep," cried the brave Mortimer, no longer restraining his emotion; +"yes, I weep like a child, and a thousand thunderbolts crush those who +do not comprehend that an old soldier thus can weep."</p> + +<p>Emotion is as contagious as enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Dick, followed the example of his friend Percy, and the others did as +Dick and his friend Percy did.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE JUDGMENT.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">A</span> new personage came to augment the number of the passionate admirers of +Monmouth. There was seen advancing, supported by two servants, a man +still young, but condemned to premature infirmity by numerous wounds.</p> + +<p>Lord Jocelyn Rothsay, in spite of his sufferings, had wished to join +himself to the partisans of the prince, and if not to fight for the +cause that Monmouth was going to defend, at least to come before the +duke and to be one of the first to felicitate him on his resurrection.</p> + +<p>Lord Rothsay's hair was white, although his pale face was still young +and his mustache was as black as his bold and brilliant eyes. Enveloped +in a long dressing-gown, he advanced with difficulty, supported on the +shoulders of the two servants.</p> + +<p>"Here is the brave Rothsay who has as many wounds as hairs in his +mustache," cried Lord Dudley.</p> + +<p>"By the devil, who will not carry me away before I have seen our duke, +at least," said Rothsay, "I will be, like you, one of the first to press +his hand. Have I not, in my fresh youth, risked my life to hasten by a +quarter of an hour a love tryst? Why should I not risk it in order to +see our duke a quarter of an hour sooner?"</p> + +<p>A man with troubled face appeared on deck shortly after Rothsay.</p> + +<p>"My lord," said he entreatingly, "my lord, you expose your life by this +imprudence! The least violent movement may renew the hemorrhage from +this old wound which——"</p> + +<p>"The devil! doctor, could my blood flow better or more nobly than at the +feet of James of Monmouth?" cried Rothsay with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"But, my lord, the danger——"</p> + +<p>"But, doctor, it would be to his everlasting shame if Jocelyn Rothsay +should be one of the last to embrace our duke. I made this voyage for no +other purpose. Dick will lend me one shoulder, Percy another, and it is +sustained by these two brave champions that I shall come to say to +James: Here are three of your faithful soldiers of Bridgewater."</p> + +<p>So saying, the young man abandoned his two servants, and supported +himself on the shoulders of the two robust noblemen.</p> + +<p>The roll of drums, to which was added the flourish of trumpets, the +shrill noise of the boatswain's whistle, announced that the marines and +infantry belonging to the frigate were assembling; very soon they were +drawn up on deck, with their officers at their head.</p> + +<p>"Why this show of arms?" asked Mortimer of Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"To render homage to the duke and to receive him with the honors of war +when he comes directly to review the troops."</p> + +<p>The captain of the frigate advanced toward the group of gentlemen: +"Gentlemen, I have just received the orders of his grace."</p> + +<p>"Well?" all said with one voice.</p> + +<p>"His highness will receive you at eleven o'clock precisely; that is to +say, in exactly five minutes."</p> + +<p>It is impossible to give any idea of the exclamations of profound joy +which escaped from every breast.</p> + +<p>"Hold! now, Dick, I feel myself growing faint," said Mortimer.</p> + +<p>"The devil! pay attention, Percy," said Rothsay; "do not fall; you are +one of my legs."</p> + +<p>"I," said Dudley, "I have a sort of vertigo——"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Dick; listen, Jocelyn," said Mortimer; "these worthy companions +have never seen our duke; be generous, let them go first; we shall see +him first from a distance; that will give us time to place ourselves in +his sight. Is it done?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said Dick and Jocelyn.</p> + +<p>Eleven o'clock sounded. For some moments the deck of the frigate +offered a spectacle truly grand. The soldiers and marines in arms +covered the gangways. The officers, bareheaded, preceding the gentlemen, +slowly descended the narrow stairway which led to the apartment +appropriated to the Duke of Monmouth.</p> + +<p>Last, behind this first group advanced Mortimer and Dudley, sustaining +between them the young Lord Rothsay, whose bowed figure and trembling +steps contrasted with the tall stature and manly bearing of his two +supports.</p> + +<p>While the other gentlemen incumbered the narrow stairway, the three +lords—these three noble types of chivalrous fidelity—remained on the +deck.</p> + +<p>"Listen, listen," said Dudley, "perhaps we shall hear the voice of +James——"</p> + +<p>In fact, the most profound silence reigned at first, but it was soon +interrupted by exclamations of joy with which mingled lively and tender +protestations. At last the stairway was free.</p> + +<p>Scarcely moderating their impatience from regard for Lord Rothsay, who +descended with difficulty, the two lords reached the gun-deck and +entered in their turn the great cabin of the frigate, where Croustillac +gave audience to his partisans. For some moments the three noblemen were +stupefied by the tableau presented to their eyes.</p> + +<p>At the back of the great cabin, which was lighted by five portholes, +Croustillac, clothed in his old green coat and pink stockings, stood +proudly beside De Chemerant; the latter, swelling with pride, seemed to +triumphantly present the chevalier to the English gentlemen.</p> + +<p>A little back of De Chemerant stood the captain of the frigate and his +staff. The partisans of Monmouth, picturesquely grouped, surrounded the +Gascon.</p> + +<p>The adventurer, although a little pale, retained his audacity; seeing +that he was not recognized, he resumed little by little his accustomed +assurance, and said to himself: "Mortimer must have boasted of knowing +me intimately in order to give himself airs of familiarity with a +nobleman of my degree. Come then, zounds! let that last which can!"</p> + +<p>The force of illusion is such that among the gentlemen who pressed +around the adventurer some discovered a very decided "family look" to +Charles II.; others, a striking resemblance to his portraits.</p> + +<p>"My lords and gentlemen," said Croustillac, with a gesture toward De +Chemerant, "this gentleman, in reporting to me your wishes, has decided +me to return to your midst."</p> + +<p>"My lord duke, with us it is to the death!" cried the most enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>"I count on that, my lords; as for me, my motto shall be: 'All for +England and'——"</p> + +<p>"This is too much impudence! blood and murder!" thundered Lord Mortimer, +interrupting the chevalier and springing toward him with blazing eyes +and clinched fists, while Dudley upheld Lord Jocelyn.</p> + +<p>The apostrophe of Mortimer had an astounding effect on the spectators +and the actors in this scene. The English gentlemen turned quickly +toward Mortimer. De Chemerant and the officers looked at each other with +astonishment, as yet comprehending none of his words.</p> + +<p>"Zounds! here we are," thought Croustillac; "only to see this tipsy +brute; I should smell the Mortimer a league off." The nobleman stepped +into the empty space that the gentlemen had left between the Gascon and +themselves, in recoiling; he planted himself before him, his arms +crossed, his eyes flashing, looking him straight in the face, exclaiming +in a voice trembling with rage: "Ah! you are James of Monmouth—you!—it +is to me—Mortimer—that you say that?"</p> + +<p>Croustillac was sublime in his impudence and coolness; he answered +Mortimer with an accent of melancholy reproach: "Exile and adversity +must indeed have changed me much if my best friend no longer recognizes +me!" Then, half-turning toward De Chemerant, the chevalier added in a +low tone: "You see, it is as I told you; the emotion has been too +violent; his poor head is completely upset. Alas, this unhappy man does +not know me!"</p> + +<p>Croustillac expressed himself so naturally and with so much assurance, +that De Chemerant still hesitated to believe himself the dupe of so +enormous an imposition; he did not long retain any doubts on this +subject.</p> + +<p>Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay joined Mortimer and the other gentlemen in +showering upon the unfortunate Gascon the most furious apostrophes and +insults.</p> + +<p>"This miserable vagabond dares to call himself James of Monmouth!"</p> + +<p>"The infamous impostor!"</p> + +<p>"The scoundrel must have murdered him in order to pass himself off for +him!"</p> + +<p>"He is an emissary of William!"</p> + +<p>"That beggar, James, our duke!"</p> + +<p>"What audacity!"</p> + +<p>"To dare to tell such a lie!"</p> + +<p>"He ought to have his tongue torn out!"</p> + +<p>"To deceive us so impudently—we who had never seen the duke!"</p> + +<p>"This cries for vengeance!"</p> + +<p>"Since he takes his name he must know where he is!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he shall answer for our duke!"</p> + +<p>"We will throw him into the sea if he does not give our James back to +us!"</p> + +<p>"We will tear out his nails to make him speak!"</p> + +<p>"To play thus with what is most sacred!"</p> + +<p>"How could De Chemerant have fallen into a trap so gross!"</p> + +<p>"This miserable wretch has deceived me most outrageously, gentlemen!" +cried De Chemerant, striving in vain to make himself heard.</p> + +<p>"Come, then; explain yourself, sir."</p> + +<p>"He shall pay dearly for his audacity, gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"First, chain up this traitor."</p> + +<p>"He abused my confidence by the most execrable lies. Gentlemen, any one +would have been deceived as much as I was."</p> + +<p>"One cannot mock thus the faith of brave gentlemen who sacrifice +themselves to the good cause."</p> + +<p>"De Chemerant, you are as culpable as this miserable scoundrel."</p> + +<p>"But, my lords, the English envoy was deceived as well as I."</p> + +<p>"It is impossible; you are his accomplice."</p> + +<p>"My lords, you insult me!"</p> + +<p>"A man of your experience, sir, does not allow himself to be made +ridiculous in this way."</p> + +<p>"We must avenge ourselves!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, vengeance! vengeance!"</p> + +<p>These accusations, these reproaches bandied about so rapidly, caused +such a tumult that it was impossible for De Chemerant to make himself +heard among so many furious cries. The attitude of the English gentlemen +became so threatening toward him, their recriminations so violent, that +he placed himself alongside the officers of the frigate, and all carried +their hands to their swords.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, alone between the two groups, was a butt for the +invectives, the attacks, and the maledictions of both parties. Intrepid, +audacious, his arms crossed, his head high, his eye unblenching, the +adventurer heard the muttering and bursting forth of this formidable +storm with impassible phlegm, saying to himself: "This ruins all; they +may throw me overboard—that is to say, into the open sea; the leap is +perilous, though I can swim like a Triton, but I can do no more; this +was sure to happen sooner or later; and beside, as I said this morning, +one does not sacrifice oneself for people in order to be crowned with +flowers and caressed by woodland nymphs."</p> + +<p>Although at its height, the tumult was dominated by the voice of +Mortimer who cried: "Monsieur De Chemerant, have this wretch hanged +first; you owe us this satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, hang him to the yardarm," said the English gentlemen; "we +will have our explanations afterward."</p> + +<p>"You will oblige me much by explaining yourselves beforehand!" cried +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"He speaks! he dares to speak!" cried one.</p> + +<p>"Eh! who, then, will speak in my favor, if not myself?" replied the +Gascon. "Would it be you, by chance, my gentleman?"</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," cried De Chemerant, "Lord Mortimer is right in proposing +that justice be done to this abominable impostor."</p> + +<p>"He is wrong; I maintain that he is wrong, a hundred thousand times +wrong!" cried Croustillac; "it is an obsolete, tame, vulgar means——"</p> + +<p>"Be silent, unhappy wretch!" cried the athletic Mortimer, seizing the +hands of the Gascon.</p> + +<p>"Do not lay your hands on a gentleman, or, Sdeath! you shall pay dear +for this outrage!" cried Croustillac angrily.</p> + +<p>"Your sword, scoundrel!" said De Chemerant, while twenty raised arms +threatened the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"In fact, the lion can do nothing against an hundred wolves," said the +Gascon majestically, giving up his rapier.</p> + +<p>"Now, gentlemen," resumed De Chemerant, "I continue. Yes, the honorable +Lord Mortimer is right in wishing to have this rascal hanged."</p> + +<p>"He is wrong! as long as I can raise my voice I will protest that he is +wrong! it is a preposterous, an unheard-of idea; it is the reasoning of +a horse. A fine argument is the gallows!" cried Croustillac, struggling +between two gentlemen who held him by the collar.</p> + +<p>"But before administering justice, it is necessary to oblige him to +reveal to us the abominable plot which he has concocted. It is necessary +that he should unveil to us the mysterious circumstances by the aid of +which he has shamelessly betrayed my good faith."</p> + +<p>"To what good? 'Dead the beast, dead the venom,'" cried Mortimer +roughly.</p> + +<p>"I tell you that you reason as ingeniously as a bulldog which leaps at +the throat of a bull," cried Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Patience, patience; it is a cravat of good hemp which will stop your +preaching very soon," responded Mortimer.</p> + +<p>"Believe me, my lords," replied De Chemerant, "a council will be formed; +they will interrogate this rascal; if he does not answer, we shall have +plenty of means to force him to it; there is more than one kind of +torture."</p> + +<p>"Ah, so far I am of your mind," said Mortimer; "I consent that he shall +not be hanged before being put to the rack; this will be to do two +things instead of one."</p> + +<p>"You are generous, my lord," said the Gascon.</p> + +<p>In thinking of the fury which must have possessed the soul of De +Chemerant, who saw the enterprise which he thought he had so skillfully +conducted a complete failure, one understands, without excusing it, the +cruelty of his resolution in regard to Croustillac.</p> + +<p>Their minds were so excited, the disappointment had been so irritating, +so distressing even, for the greater part of the adherents of Monmouth, +that these gentlemen, humane enough otherwise, allowed themselves on +this occasion to be carried away by blind anger, and but little more was +needed to bring it about that the unfortunate Croustillac should not +even be cited before a species of council of war, whose meeting might at +least give an appearance of legality to the violence of which he was the +victim.</p> + +<p>Five noblemen and five officers assembled immediately under the +presidency of the captain of the frigate.</p> + +<p>De Chemerant placed himself on the right, the chevalier stood on the +left. The session commenced.</p> + +<p>De Chemerant said briefly, and with a voice still trembling with anger: +"I accuse the man here present with having falsely and wickedly taken +the names and titles of his grace the Duke of Monmouth, and with having +thus, by his odious imposture, ruined the designs of the king, my +master, and under such circumstances the crime of this man should be +considered as an attack upon the safety of the state. In consequence, I +demand that the accused here present be declared guilty of high treason, +and be condemned to death."</p> + +<p>"'Sdeath, sir, you draw your conclusions quickly and well; here is +something clear and brief," said Croustillac, whose natural courage rose +to the occasion.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, this impostor merits death; but before that, it is necessary +that he should speak, and that he should at once be put to the +question," said the English lords.</p> + +<p>The captain of the frigate, who presided over the council, was not, like +De Chemerant, under the influence of personal resentment; he said to the +Englishmen: "My lords, we have not yet voted a punishment; it is +necessary before interrogating him to listen to his defense, if he can +defend himself; after which we will consult as to the punishment which +should be inflicted upon him. Let us not forget that we are judges and +that he has not yet been declared guilty."</p> + +<p>These cool, wise words pleased the five lords less than the angry +excitement of De Chemerant; nevertheless, not being able to raise any +objection, they were silent.</p> + +<p>"Accused," said the captain to the chevalier, "what are your names?"</p> + +<p>"Polyphème, Chevalier de Croustillac."</p> + +<p>"A Gascon!" said De Chemerant, between his teeth; "I might have known it +from his impudence. To have been the sport of such a miserable +scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>"Your profession?" continued the captain.</p> + +<p>"For the moment, that of an accused person before a tribunal over which +you worthily preside, captain; for you do not choose, and with reason, +that men should be hanged without a hearing."</p> + +<p>"You are accused of having knowingly and wickedly deceived Monsieur de +Chemerant, who is charged with a mission of state for the king, our +master."</p> + +<p>"It is De Chemerant who deceived himself; he called me 'your highness,' +and I innocently answered to the name."</p> + +<p>"Innocently!" cried De Chemerant furiously; "how, scoundrel! have you +not abused my confidence by the most atrocious lies? have you not +surprised from me the most important secrets of state by your impudent +treachery?"</p> + +<p>"You have spoken, I have listened. I may even declare, for my +justification, that you have appeared to me singularly dull. If it is a +crime to have listened to you, you have rendered this crime +enormous——"</p> + +<p>The captain made a sign to De Chemerant to restrain his indignation; he +said to the Gascon: "Will you reveal what you know relative to James, +Duke of Monmouth? Will you tell us through what chain of events you came +to take his names and titles?"</p> + +<p>Croustillac saw that his position was becoming very dangerous; he had a +mind to reveal all; he could address himself to the devoted partisans of +the prince, assure himself of their support in announcing to them that +the duke had been saved, thanks to him. But an honorable scruple +withheld him; this secret was not his own; it did not belong to him to +betray the mysteries which had concealed and protected the existence of +the duke, and might still protect him.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE CHASE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the captain intimated anew to Croustillac the order to reveal all +he knew about the duke, the adventurer responded, this time with a +firmness full of dignity:</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to say on this subject, captain; this secret is not +mine."</p> + +<p>"Thunder and blood!" cried Mortimer, "the torture shall make you speak. +Light two bunches of tow dipped in sulphur. I will myself place them +under his chin; that will loosen his tongue—and we shall know where our +James is. Ah! I had indeed a presentiment that I should never see him +again."</p> + +<p>"I ought to say to you," said the captain to the Gascon, "that if you +obstinately maintain a culpable silence, you will thus compromite in the +gravest manner the interests of the king and of the state, and we shall +be forced to have recourse to the harshest means in order to make you +speak."</p> + +<p>These quiet words, calmly pronounced by a man with a venerable +countenance, who since the beginning of the scene had endeavored to +moderate the violence of the adversaries of Croustillac, made on the +latter a lively impression; he shivered slightly, but his resolution was +not shaken; he answered with a steady voice: "Excuse me, captain, I have +nothing to say, I will say nothing."</p> + +<p>"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "in the name of the king, by whom I am +empowered, I formally declare that the silence of this criminal may be +the occasion of grave prejudice to the interests of his majesty and the +state. I found this man in the very domain of my lord the Duke of +Monmouth, provided even with precious objects belonging to that +nobleman, such as the sword of Charles II., a box with a portrait, etc. +All concurs, in fine, to prove that he has the most precise information +concerning the existence of his grace the Duke of Monmouth. Now this +information is of the highest importance relative to the mission with +which the king has charged me. I demand therefore that the accused +should immediately be constrained to speak by all the means possible."</p> + +<p>"Yes! yes! the torture," cried the noblemen.</p> + +<p>"Reflect well, accused," said the captain, again. "Do not expose +yourself to terrible suffering; you may hope everything from our +indulgence if you tell the truth. If not, take care!"</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to say," replied Croustillac; "this secret is not mine."</p> + +<p>"This means a cruel torture," said the captain. "Do not force us to +these extremities."</p> + +<p>The Gascon made a gesture of resignation and repeated: "I have nothing +to say."</p> + +<p>The captain could not conceal his chagrin at being obliged to employ +such measures.</p> + +<p>He rang a bell.</p> + +<p>An orderly appeared.</p> + +<p>"Order the provost to come here, four men to remain on the gun-deck near +the forward signal light, and tell the cannoneer to prepare bunches of +tow dipped in sulphur."</p> + +<p>The orderly went out.</p> + +<p>The orders were frightfully positive. In spite of his courage, +Croustillac felt his determination waver; the punishment with which they +threatened him was fearful. Monmouth was then undoubtedly in safety; the +adventurer thought that he had already done much for the duke and for +the duchess. He was about to yield to the fear of torture, when his +courage returned to him at this reflection, grotesque, without doubt, +but which, under the circumstances in which it presented itself to his +mind, became almost heroic, "One does not sacrifice oneself for others +with the sole aim of being crowned with flowers."</p> + +<p>The provost entered the council room.</p> + +<p>Croustillac shuddered, but his looks betrayed no emotion.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, three reports of a gun, in succession resounded long over the +solitude of the ocean.</p> + +<p>The members of the improvised council started from their seats.</p> + +<p>The captain ran to the portholes of the great cabin, declaring the +session suspended. Partisans and officers, forgetting the accused, +ascended in haste to the deck.</p> + +<p>Croustillac, no less curious than his judges, followed them.</p> + +<p>The frigate had received the order to lay to until the issue of the +council which was to decide the fate of the chevalier.</p> + +<p>We have said that the Unicorn had obstinately followed the Thunderer +since the evening before; we have also said that the officer of the +watch had discovered on the horizon a ship, at first almost +imperceptible, but which very soon approached the frigate with a +rapidity almost marvelous.</p> + +<p>When the Thunderer lay to, this ship, a light brigantine, was at the +most only half a league from her; in proportion as she approached, they +distinguished her extraordinarily high masts, her very large sails, her +black hull, narrow and slender, which scarcely rose out of the water; in +one word, they recognized in this small ship all the appearance of a +pirate.</p> + +<p>At the apparition of the brigantine the Unicorn at once proceeded to +place herself in her wake, at a signal which she made to her.</p> + +<p>It was in time of war; the preparations for combat began in a moment on +board the frigate. The captain, observing the singular maneuver of the +two ships, did not wish to expose himself to a hostile surprise.</p> + +<p>The brigantine approached, her sails half reefed, having at her prow a +flag of truce.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Sainval," said the captain to one of his officers, "order +the gunners to stand by their guns with lighted matches. If this flag of +truce conceals a ruse, this ship will be sunk."</p> + +<p>De Chemerant and Croustillac felt the same astonishment in recognizing +the Chameleon on board of which the mulatto and Blue Beard had embarked.</p> + +<p>Croustillac's heart beat as if it would burst; his friends had not +abandoned him, they were coming to succor him—but by what means?</p> + +<p>Very soon the Chameleon was within speaking distance of the frigate and +crossed her stern. A man of tall stature, magnificently dressed, was +standing in the stern of the brigantine.</p> + +<p>"James!—our duke! there he is!" cried enthusiastically the three peers, +who, leaning over the taffrail of the frigate, at once recognized the +duke.</p> + +<p>The brigantine then lay to; the two ships remained immovable.</p> + +<p>Lord Mortimer, Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay gave vent to cries of the +wildest joy at the sight of the Duke of Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"James! our brave duke!—to see you—to see you again at last!"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? you are the Duke of Monmouth, my lord?" cried De +Chemerant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am James of Monmouth," said the duke, "as is proved by the +joyful acclamations of my friends."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is our James!"</p> + +<p>"It is he indeed, this time!"</p> + +<p>"It is indeed our duke, our veritable duke!" cried the noblemen.</p> + +<p>"Your highness, I have been most unworthily deceived since day before +yesterday, by a miserable wretch who has taken your name."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and we are going to hang him in honor of you!" cried Dudley.</p> + +<p>"Be careful how you do that," said Monmouth; "the one whom you call a +miserable wretch has saved me with the most generous devotion, and I +come, De Chemerant, to take his place on board your ship, if he is in +any danger for having taken mine."</p> + +<p>"Surely, your highness," said De Chemerant, seizing this occasion of +assuring himself of the person of the prince, "it is necessary that you +should come on board; it is the only means by which you can save this +vile impostor."</p> + +<p>"That is, if this 'vile impostor' does not save himself, however," said +Croustillac, springing upon the taffrail and leaping into the sea.</p> + +<p>The movement was so sudden that no one could oppose it. The Gascon +plunged under the waves, and reappeared at a short distance from the +brigantine, toward which he directed his course.</p> + +<p>There was but a short distance between the two vessels; the Chameleon +was almost level with the sea; the chevalier, aided by the Duke of +Monmouth and some of the sailors, found himself on the deck of the +little ship before the passengers on the frigate had recovered from +their surprise.</p> + +<p>"Here is my savior, the most generous of men!" said Monmouth, embracing +Croustillac.</p> + +<p>Then James said a few words in the ear of Croustillac, who disappeared +with Captain Ralph.</p> + +<p>The duke, advancing to the edge of the stern of the brigantine, +addressed himself to De Chemerant: "I know, sir, the projects of the +king, my uncle, James Stuart, and those of the king, your master; I know +that these brave gentlemen come to offer me their arms to aid me in +driving William of Orange from the throne of England."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, when you shall be at our head we will drive away these Dutch +rats," cried Mortimer.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, our duke, with you we will go to the end of the world," +said Dudley.</p> + +<p>"My lord, you may count on the support of the king, my master. Once on +board, I will communicate to you my full powers," cried De Chemerant, +ravished to see that his mission, which he had believed desperate, +revived with every chance of success.</p> + +<p>"Your highness, do you wish the long boat sent for you, or will you come +in one of your own boats?" added De Chemerant; "and since your highness +is interested in this miserable rascal, his pardon is assured."</p> + +<p>"Make haste, noble duke——"</p> + +<p>"Come as you wish, James—our James—but come at once!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, come," said Mortimer, "or we will do as this rascal in green +cassock and pink stockings; we will leap into the water like a band of +wild ducks, to be the sooner with you."</p> + +<p>"No imprudence, no imprudence, my old friends," said Monmouth, who +sought to gain time since the Gascon disappeared.</p> + +<p>At last Captain Ralph came to say a word in the ear of the prince; the +latter gave a new order in a low voice and with a radiant air.</p> + +<p>"Your highness, they are about launching the long boat," said De +Chemerant, who was burning with impatience to see the duke on board.</p> + +<p>"It is useless, sir," said the duke. Then, addressing himself formally +to the noblemen with an accent of profound emotion: "My old friends, my +faithful companions, farewell, and forever farewell, I have sworn by the +memory of the most admirable martyr to friendship, never to take part in +civil troubles which might deluge England with blood; I will not break +my oath. Farewell, brave Mortimer, farewell good Dudley, farewell +valiant Rothsay; it breaks my heart not to embrace you for a last time. +Forget this my appearance. Henceforth let James of Monmouth—be dead to +you as he has been to all the world for five years! Again farewell, and +forever farewell!"</p> + +<p>Then turning toward his captain, the duke cried quickly in a sonorous +voice:</p> + +<p>"Set all sails, Ralph!"</p> + +<p>At these words Ralph seized the helm; the sails of the brigantine, +already prepared, were hoisted and trimmed with marvelous rapidity. +Thanks to the breeze and her galley oars, the Chameleon was under way +before the passengers of the frigate had recovered from their surprise. +The brigantine, in moving off, kept in the direction of the stern of the +frigate in order not to be exposed to her guns.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to paint the rage of De Chemerant, the despair of the +noblemen, in seeing the light vessel rapidly increasing the distance +between them.</p> + +<p>"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "set all sail; we will overhaul this +brigantine; there is no better sailer than the Thunderer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried the peers, "board her!"</p> + +<p>"Let us capture our duke!"</p> + +<p>"When we have him we will force him to place himself at our head!"</p> + +<p>"He will not refuse his old companions!"</p> + +<p>"My boys, two hundred louis to drink the health of James of Monmouth if +we overtake this waterfly," cried Mortimer, addressing the sailors, and +pointing to the little vessel.</p> + +<p>The Chameleon soon found herself beyond reach of the guns of the +frigate. She quitted the direction she had first taken, and in place of +keeping close to the wind, altered her course.</p> + +<p>This maneuver exposed the Unicorn, which during the conference of the +duke and De Chemerant had remained behind in the wake of the Chameleon +and absolutely in a line with her.</p> + +<p>It is on board the latter ship that we shall conduct the reader; he can +thus assist at the chase which the frigate is about to give to the +brigantine.</p> + +<p>Polyphème de Croustillac was on the deck of the Unicorn in company with +his old host, Captain Daniel, and Father Griffen, who embarked the +evening before on this vessel.</p> + +<p>The reader recalls the plunge that Croustillac made in leaping from the +taffrail of the frigate into the sea in order to rejoin Monmouth. While +the Gascon shook himself, rubbed his eyes, and allowed himself to be +cordially embraced by the duke, the latter had said to him: "Go quickly +and await me on board the Unicorn; Ralph will conduct you there."</p> + +<p>Croustillac, still dizzy from his leap, enraptured at having escaped +from De Chemerant, followed Captain Ralph. The latter made him embark in +a little yawl rowed by a single sailor.</p> + +<p>It was thus that the adventurer boarded the Unicorn. In order not to +lose time, Ralph had ordered the sailor to follow the chevalier and +abandon the yawl; the transfer of the Gascon was then executed very +rapidly.</p> + +<p>The duke had not given the order to hoist the sails of the frigate until +he knew Croustillac to be in safety, for he foresaw that De Chemerant +would inevitably abandon the shadow for the substance, the false +Monmouth for the true, the Unicorn for the Chameleon.</p> + +<p>Master Daniel, at sight of the Gascon, cried out: "It is written that I +never shall see you come aboard my ship but by strange means! In leaving +France you fell from the clouds; in quitting the Antilles, you come to +me from out of the sea like a marine god; like Neptune in person."</p> + +<p>Very much surprised at this encounter, and especially at seeing Father +Griffen, who, standing on the poop, attentively observed the maneuvers +of the two ships, the chevalier said to the captain: "But how the devil +do you find yourself here at a given point to receive me, coming out of +that nutshell down there, floating away at hazard?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, to tell the truth, I know almost nothing about it."</p> + +<p>"How is that, captain?"</p> + +<p>"Yesterday morning my shipowner at Rochelle asked me if my cargo was +complete. I told him it was; he then ordered me to go to Fort Royal, +where a frigate was just leaving, and earnestly demand her escort; if +she refused it, I was to <i>make</i> myself escorted all the same, always +keeping in sight of the said frigate, whatever she might do to prevent +me. Finally, I was to conduct myself toward her almost as a mongrel cur +toward a passer-by to whom he attaches himself. The man in vain drives +the dog away; the dog always keeps just beyond reach of foot or stone; +runs when he runs, walks when he walks, gets out of the way when he +pursues him, stops when he stops, and finishes by keeping at his heels +in spite of him. That is how I have maneuvered with the frigate. That is +not all; my correspondent also said to me: 'You will follow the frigate +until you are joined by a brigantine; then you will remain just behind +her; it may be that this brigantine will send you a passenger (this +passenger I now see was yourself); then you will take him and set sail +at once for France without troubling yourself about either the +brigantine or the frigate; if not, the brigantine will send you other +orders, and you will execute them.' I know only the will of my +shipowners; I have followed the frigate from Fort Royal. This morning +the brigantine joined me, just now I fished you out of the water; now I +set sail for France."</p> + +<p>"The duke will not come on board, then?" asked Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"The duke? what duke? I know no other duke than my shipowner or his +correspondent, which is all the same as—ah! look there! there goes the +frigate, giving tremendous chase to the little ship."</p> + +<p>"Will you abandon the Chameleon thus?" cried Croustillac. "If the +frigate overhauls her will you not go to her aid?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, by the Lord, although I have a dozen little guns which can say +their word as well as others, and the twenty-four good fellows who form +my crew are a match for the marines of the king—but that is not the +point. I know only the orders of my shipowners. Ah, now the brigantine +cuts out some work for the frigate," said Daniel.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE RETURN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Thunderer pursued the Chameleon furiously. Whether from calculation, +or from an enforced slackening in her course, several times the +brigantine seemed on the point of being overtaken by the frigate; but +then, taking a turn better suited to her construction, she regained the +advantage she had lost.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, by a brisk evolution, the brigantine tacked about, came +straight toward the Unicorn, and in a few minutes came within reach of +the voice.</p> + +<p>One may judge of the joy of the adventurer when on the deck of the +Chameleon, which passed astern of the three-master, he saw Blue Beard +leaning on the arm of Monmouth, and heard the young woman cry to him in +a voice full of emotion: "Adieu, our savior—adieu—may Heaven protect +you! We will never forget you!"</p> + +<p>"Adieu, our best friend," said Monmouth. "Adieu, brave and worthy +chevalier!"</p> + +<p>And the Chameleon moved off, while Angela with her handkerchief, and +Monmouth with a gesture of the hand, made a last sign of farewell to the +adventurer.</p> + +<p>Alas! this apparition was as short as it was ravishing. The brigantine, +after having for a moment grazed the stern of the Unicorn, turned back +on her way and made straight toward the frigate, with incredible +boldness, keeping almost within range of her guns.</p> + +<p>The Thunderer in her turn tacked about; without doubt the captain, +furious at this useless chase, wished to end it at any price. A sudden +flash, a dull and prolonged report was heard a long distance, and the +frigate left behind her a cloud of bluish smoke.</p> + +<p>At this significant demonstration, no longer amusing herself with +doubling before the frigate, the Chameleon came close up to the wind—a +movement particularly favorable to her—and then took flight seriously. +The Thunderer pursued her, both ships directing themselves to the south.</p> + +<p>The Unicorn had the cape on the northeast. She sailed splendidly. One +thus comprehends that she would leave very soon and very far behind the +two ships which sank more and more below the horizon.</p> + +<p>Croustillac remained with his eyes riveted on the ship which bore Blue +Beard away. He followed it with yearning and desolate eyes until the +brigantine had entirely disappeared in space. Then two great tears +rolled down the cheeks of the adventurer.</p> + +<p>He let his head fall into his two hands with which he covered his face.</p> + +<p>Captain Daniel came to suddenly interrupt the sad reverie of the +chevalier; he slapped him joyously on the shoulder and cried out: "Ah, +ha, our guest, the Unicorn, is well on her way; suppose we go below and +drink a madeira sangaree while waiting for supper? I hope you are going +to show me again some of your funny tricks which made me laugh so much, +you know? when you held forks straight on the end of your nose. Come, +let us drink a glass."</p> + +<p>"I am not thirsty, Master Daniel," said the Gascon, sadly.</p> + +<p>"So much the better; you will only drink with the more pleasure; to +drink without thirst—that is what distinguishes the man from the brute, +as they say."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Master Daniel, but I cannot."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the devil! what is the matter with you then? You have a very queer +air; is it because you have not been lucky, you who boasted you were +going to marry Blue Beard before a month had passed? Say then, do you +remember? You must have lost your bet completely; you have not dared +only to go to Devil's Cliff, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"You are right, Master Daniel, I have lost my bet."</p> + +<p>"As you bet nothing at all it will not ruin you to pay it, fortunately. +Ah! say then, I have had several questions on my tongue for a quarter of +an hour: how did you come to be on board the frigate? how did the +captain of the brigantine pick you up? did you know him? and then, this +woman and this lord who said adieu to you just now—what does all this +mean? Oh, as to that, if it bothers you, do not answer me; I ask you +that, only to know it. If it is a secret, <i>motus</i>, let us speak no more +of it."</p> + +<p>"I can tell you nothing on that subject, Master Daniel.''</p> + +<p>"Let it be understood, then, that I have asked no questions about it, +and long live joy! Come, laugh then, laugh then! what makes you sad? Is +it because here you are still with your old green coat and the very pink +hose so prettily stained with seawater, be it said without offending +you? I will lend you a change, although it is as hot as a furnace, +because it is not healthy to let one's clothes dry on one's body. Come, +come, quit that gloomy air! See, are you not my guest, since you are +here by order of my shipowner? And, whatever comes, have I not told you +that you can stay on board the Unicorn as much as you please? for, by +the Lord, I adore your conversation, your stories, and especially your +tricks. Ah! say, I have a species of tow made with a thread of the bark +of the palm tree, that will burn like priming; that will be famous, you +will swallow that, and you will spit flame and fire like a real demon; +is it not true?"</p> + +<p>"The chevalier appears not disposed to amuse you very much, Master +Daniel," said a grave voice.</p> + +<p>Croustillac and the captain turned; it was Father Griffen who, from the +poop, had watched the pursuit of the brigantine, and who now was +descending to the deck.</p> + +<p>"It is true, Father, I feel somewhat sad," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"Bah! bah! if my guest is not in the mood, he will be, very soon, for he +is not naturally a melancholy man. I will go to prepare the sangaree," +said Daniel. And he quitted the deck.</p> + +<p>After some moments of silence, the priest said to Croustillac:</p> + +<p>"Here you are, again, the guest of Captain Daniel; here you are, as poor +as you were ten days ago."</p> + +<p>"Why should I be richer to-day than I was ten days ago, Father," asked +the Gascon.</p> + +<p>It must be said to the praise of Croustillac, that his bitter regrets +were pure from all covetous thoughts; although poor, he was happy to +think that, apart from the little medallion Blue Beard had given him, +his devotion had been entirely disinterested.</p> + +<p>"I believe," said Father Griffen, "that the Duke of Monmouth will be +annoyed at not being able to requite your devotion as he ought. But it +is not altogether his fault; events have so pressed upon one +another——"</p> + +<p>"You do not speak seriously, Father. Why should the duke have wished to +humiliate a man who has done what he could to serve him?"</p> + +<p>"You have done for the duke what a brother might have done; and why, +knowing you to be poor, should he not, as a brother, come to your aid?"</p> + +<p>"For a thousand reasons, I should be disturbed beyond measure, Father. I +even count on the events of the life, more adventurous than ever, that I +am about to lead, to distract my mind, and I hope——"</p> + +<p>The Gascon did not finish his sentence, and again concealed his face in +his hands. The priest respected his silence and left him.</p> + +<p class="dotted">. . . . . . . . .</p> + +<p>Thanks to trade winds and a fine passage, the Unicorn was in sight of +the coast of France about forty days after her departure from +Martinique.</p> + +<p>Little by little the gloomy sadness of the chevalier softened. With an +instinct of great delicacy—an instinct as new to him as the sentiment +which, without doubt, had developed it—the chevalier reserved for +solitude the tender and melancholy thoughts awakened in him by the +remembrance of Blue Beard, for he did not wish to expose these precious +memories to the rude pleasantries of Captain Daniel, or to the +interpretations of Father Griffen.</p> + +<p>At the end of eight days the chevalier had again become in the eyes of +the passengers of the Unicorn what he had been during the first voyage. +Knowing that he was to pay his passage by his good companionship, he put +that kind of probity which was natural to him into his efforts to amuse +Captain Daniel; he showed himself so good a companion that the worthy +captain saw with despair the end of the voyage approach.</p> + +<p>Croustillac had formally declared that he was going to take service in +Moscow where the Czar Peter then received soldiers of fortune gladly.</p> + +<p>The sun was on the point of setting when the Unicorn found herself in +sight of the shores of France. Captain Daniel, from motives of prudence, +preferred waiting for the morning before proceeding to the anchorage.</p> + +<p>Shortly before the moment of sitting down to the table, Father Griffen +prayed the Gascon to come with him to his room. The grave, almost +solemn, air of the priest appeared strange to Croustillac.</p> + +<p>The door closed, Father Griffen, his eyes filled with tears, extended +his arms to the Gascon, and said: "Come, come, excellent and noble +creature; come, my good and dear son."</p> + +<p>The chevalier, at once moved and astonished, cordially pressed the +priest in his arms and said to him: "What is it, then, my father?"</p> + +<p>"What is it? what is it? How, you, a poor adventurer, you, whose past +life should have rendered less scrupulous than others, you save the life +of the son of a king, you devote yourself to his interests with as much +abnegation as intelligence; and then, that done and your friends in +safety, you return to your obscure and miserable life, not knowing even +at this hour, on the eve of reentering France, where you will lay your +head to-morrow! and that without one word, one single word of complaint, +of the ingratitude, or at least, of the forgetfulness of those who owe +you so much!"</p> + +<p>"But, my Father——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have observed you well during this voyage! Never a bitter word, +never even the shadow of a reproach; as in the past, you have become gay +and thoughtless again. And yet—no—no—I have well seen that your +gayety was assumed; you have lost in this voyage your one possession, +your only resource—the careless gayety which has aided you to bear +misfortune."</p> + +<p>"My Father, I assure you, no."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do not deceive myself, I tell you. At night I have surprised you +alone, apart, on the deck, sadly dreaming. Of old, did you ever dream +thus?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not, on the contrary, during the voyage, diverted Captain Daniel +by my pleasantries, good Father?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have observed you well; if you have consented to amuse Master +Daniel, it was in order to recompense him as you could for the +hospitality he has given you. Listen, my son—I am old—I can say all to +you without offending you; well, conduct such as yours would be very +worthy, very fine on the part of a man whose antecedents, whose +principles rendered him naturally delicate; but on your part, whom an +idle, perhaps culpable youth, should seem to have robbed of all +elevation of thought, it is doubly noble and beautiful; it is at once +the expiation of the past and the glorification of the present. Thus, +such sentiments cannot remain without their recompense—the trial has +endured too long. Yes, I almost blame myself for having imposed it on +you."</p> + +<p>"What trial, my Father?"</p> + +<p>"Yet, no; this trial has permitted you to show a delicacy as noble as +touching——"</p> + +<p>A knock at the door of Father Griffen's room.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Supper, Father."</p> + +<p>"Come, let us go, my son," said Father Griffen, regarding Croustillac +with a peculiar air; "I do not know why it seems to me that the journey +will terminate fortunately for you."</p> + +<p>The chevalier, very much surprised that the Reverend Father should have +brought him to his room in order to hold the discourse we have reported, +followed Father Griffen on deck.</p> + +<p>To the great astonishment of Croustillac, he saw the crew in gala +attire; lighted torches were suspended to the shrouds and the masts. +When the adventurer appeared on deck, the twelve guns of the +three-master resounded in salute.</p> + +<p>"Zounds! Father, what is all this?" said Croustillac; "are we attacked?"</p> + +<p>Father Griffen had no leisure to respond to the adventurer; Captain +Daniel, in his holiday clothes, followed by his lieutenant, his officer +and the masters and mates of the Unicorn, came to respectfully salute +Croustillac, and said to him with ill-concealed embarrassment: +"Chevalier, you are my shipowner; this ship and its cargo belong to +you."</p> + +<p>"To the devil with you, comrade Daniel!" responded Croustillac; "if you +are as crazy as this before supper, what will you be when you have been +drinking, our host?"</p> + +<p>"I ask no end of pardons, chevalier, for having made you balance things +on your nose, and for having led you to chew oakum in order to spit fire +during the voyage. But as true as we are in sight of the coast of +France, I did not know that you were the proprietor of the Unicorn."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Father, explain to me," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"The Reverend Father will explain to you many things—so much the +better, chevalier," continued Daniel, "that it is he who brought me just +now the letter of my correspondent of Fort Royal, which announces to me +that in view of the power of attorney he has always had from my +shipowner in Rochelle, he has sold the Unicorn and her cargo as attorney +to Chevalier Polyphème de Croustillac; thus then the Unicorn and her +cargo belong to you, chevalier; you will give me a receipt and discharge +of the said Unicorn and of the said cargo when we reach a port of +France, or foreign land which it shall suit you to designate; which +receipt and discharge I will send to my shipowner for my entire +discharge of the said ship and said cargo."</p> + +<p>Having pronounced this legal formula all in a breath, Captain Daniel, +seeing Croustillac abstracted and anxious, thought that the chevalier +bore him some grudge; he replied with new embarrassment: "Father +Griffen, who has known me for many years, will affirm to you, and you +will believe it, chevalier, I swear to you that in asking you to swallow +oakum and spit out flame, I did not know that I had to do with my owner, +and the master of the Unicorn. No, no, chevalier, it is not for one who +possesses a ship, which, all loaded, might be worth at least two hundred +thousand crowns——"</p> + +<p>"This ship and her cargo is worth that price?" said the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"At the lowest price, sir; at the lowest price, sold in a lump and at +once; but, by not hurrying, one would have fifty thousand crowns more."</p> + +<p>"Do you now comprehend, my son?" said Father Griffen, "our friends of +Devil's Cliff, learning that grave interests recalled me suddenly to +France, have charged me with making you accept this gift on their parts. +Pardon me, or rather felicitate me for having so well proved the +elevation of your character, in revealing to you only at this late hour, +the bounty of the prince."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Father," said Croustillac bitterly, drawing from his breast the +medallion that the duchess had given him, and which he wore suspended by +a leathern cord, "with that, I was recompensed as a gentleman, why now +do they treat me as a vagabond in giving me this splendid alms?"</p> + +<p>The next day the Unicorn entered port, Croustillac, making use of his +new rights, borrowed twenty-five louis of Captain Daniel, on the value +of the cargo, and forbade him to land for twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen was to lodge at the seminary. Croustillac appointed a +meeting with him for the next day at noon. At noon the chevalier did not +appear, but sent the priest the following note by a messenger of La +Rochelle:</p> + +<p class="top5">"My good Father I cannot accept the gift which you have offered me. I +send you a deed drawn up according to rule, which substitutes you in all +my rights over this ship and her cargo. You will employ it all in good +works, as you understand how to do. The notary who will send you this +note will consult with you as to formalities; he has my power of +attorney.</p> + +<p>"Adieu, my good Father; sometimes remember the Gascon, and do not forget +him in your prayers.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 50%;">"<span class="smcap">Chevalier de Croustillac.</span>"</span></p> + +<p class="top5">It was years before Father Griffen heard of the adventurer again.</p> + + +<p class="cdash top15 top15">EPILOGUE.</p> + +<p class="cdash">———</p> + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h3> + +<p class="head">THE ABBEY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> abbey of St. Quentin, situated not far from Abbeville and almost at +the mouth of the Somme, possessed the finest farms in the province of +Picardy; each week its numerous tenants paid in kind a part of their +rents. In order to represent abundance, a painter might have chosen the +moment when this enormous tithe was carried to the convent.</p> + +<p>At the end of the month of November, 1708, about eighteen years after +the events of which we have spoken, the tenants were met together on a +misty, cold autumn morning, in a little court situated outside the +buildings of the abbey and not far from the lodge of the porter.</p> + +<p>Outside one saw the horses, the asses, and the carts which had served +for the transportation of the immense quantity of produce destined for +the provisioning of the convent.</p> + +<p>A bell rang, all the peasants pressed to the foot of a small staircase +of a few steps, situated under a shed which occupied the back part of +the court. The flight of steps was surmounted by a vault through which +one came out from the interior of the convent.</p> + +<p>The cellarer, accompanied by two lay brethren, appeared under this +vault.</p> + +<p>The fat, rubicund, animated face of the Father, detached itself like a +Rembrandt on the obscure depth of the passage at the extremity of which +he had stopped; from fear of the cold, the monk had drawn over his head +the warm hood of his black cloak. A soft <i>soutane</i> of white wool draped +itself in large folds about his enormous obesity.</p> + +<p>One of the brothers carried an ink bottle at his girdle, a pen behind +his ear, and a big register under his arm; he seated himself on one of +the steps of the staircase, in order to enter the rents brought by the +farmers.</p> + +<p>The other brothers classified the goods under the shed as they were +placed there; while the cellarer, from the top of the flight of steps, +presided solemnly over their admission, his hands concealed in his large +cuffs.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to number and describe this mass of comestibles placed +at the foot of the staircase. Here were enormous fish from the sea, the +lake, or the river, which still wriggled on the slabs of the court; +there magnificent capons, monstrous geese, large ducks coupled by their +feet, fluttered convulsively in the midst of mountains of fresh butter +and immense baskets of eggs, vegetables, and winter fruits. Further on +were tethered two of these sheep fattened on the salt meadows, which +give such fine flavor to their succulent flesh. Fishers rolled along +small barrels of oysters; further on were shellfish of every kind, +lobsters, eels and shrimps, which shook the wicker baskets in which they +were inclosed.</p> + +<p>One of the porters of the abbey was on his knees before a buck a year +old, in full flesh, and killed the day before; he weighed with his hand +a quarter, to make the cellarer admire its weight; near the buck lay two +kids, a good number of hares and partridges; while another porter opened +hampers filled with every species of marsh fowl and birds of passage, +such as wild duck, woodcock, teal, plovers, etc.</p> + +<p>Finally, in another corner of the court, were spread out the more +modest, but no less useful offerings, such as sacks of the purest flour, +dried vegetables, strings of perfumed hams, etc.</p> + +<p>At one time these gastronomics were so heaped up that they reached the +level of the staircase where the cellarer stood.</p> + +<p>Seeing this rotund monk with his shining face, his vast abdomen, +standing on this pedestal of comestibles which he watched with the eye +of a gormand, one would have called him the genius of good cheer.</p> + +<p>According to the quantity or quality of his tribute, each tenant, after +having received a word of blame or praise from the cellarer, withdrew +with a slight genuflection. The Reverend Father even deigned at times to +withdraw from his long sleeves his fat, red hand, to give it to the most +favored to kiss.</p> + +<p>The roll-call of the lay brother was almost at an end.</p> + +<p>There was brought to the cellarer a savory caudle in a silver bowl borne +on a tray of the same metal. The Reverend Father swallowed this +consommé, a perfect specific against the morning cold and fog. At this +moment the lay brother complained of having in vain twice called James, +the tenant of the farm of Blaville, who owed ten hens, three sacks of +wheat and one hundred crowns for the rent of his farm.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well!" said the cellarer, "where then is James? He is ordinarily +exact. For fifteen years that he has held the farm of Blaville, he has +never failed in his rent."</p> + +<p>The peasants still called for James.</p> + +<p>James did not appear.</p> + +<p>From out the crowd of farmers came two children, a young boy and a young +girl from thirteen to fourteen years of age; trembling with confusion, +they advanced to the foot of the staircase—redoubtable +tribunal!—holding each other by the hand, their eyes downcast and full +of tears.</p> + +<p>The little girl fingered the corner of the apron of coarse cloth +covering her petticoat of whitish cloth rayed with wide black stripes; +the young boy convulsively grasped his cap of brown wool. They stopped +at the foot of the staircase.</p> + +<p>"These are the children of the farmer James," said a voice.</p> + +<p>"Very well! and the ten hens, and the three sacks of wheat, and the one +hundred crowns from your father?" said the reverend man severely.</p> + +<p>The two poor children pressed against each other, nudging one another +with the elbow, as an encouragement to answer.</p> + +<p>Finally the young boy, having more resolution, raised his noble, +handsome face, which his coarse garments rendered still more remarkable, +and sadly said to the monk: "Our father has been very ill for two +months; our mother is taking care of him—there is no money in the +house; we have been obliged to take the wheat and the rent to support +the day laborer and his wife who takes my father's place in the farm +work, and then it has been necessary to sell the hens to pay the +doctor."</p> + +<p>"It is always the same story when tenants fail in their rents," said the +monk roughly. "James was a good and punctual farmer; this is how he +spoils all, just like the others; but in the interests of the abbey as +well as in his own, we will not let him wander into the bad way." Then, +addressing himself to the children, he added severely: "The +father-treasurer will consider this—wait there."</p> + +<p>The two children withdrew into an obscure corner of the shed. The young +girl seated herself, weeping, on a bench; her brother stood near her, +looking at his sister with gloomy sadness.</p> + +<p>The roll-call finished, the monks re-entered the abbey, the peasants +regained the horses and carts which had brought them, the two children +remained alone in the court, waiting with sad disquietude the decision +of the treasurer with regard to their father.</p> + +<p>A new personage appeared at the gate of the little court. This was a +tall old man with large, white mustache and neglected beard; he walked +with difficulty with the help of a wooden leg, and wore a uniform-coat +of green with an orange-colored collar; a wallet of leather slung on his +back carried his modest baggage; he supported himself on a thick cane +made from the dogwood tree, and on his head was a big Hungarian cap of +black worn fur, which descending to his eyebrows, gave him the most +savage air in the world; his hair, as white as his mustache, tied with a +leathern string, formed a long queue which fell to his shoulders; his +skin was tanned, his eyes were bright and lively, though age had bowed +his tall stature.</p> + +<p>This old man entered the court without seeing the children; he looked +about him like a man seeking to find his way; perceiving the two little +peasants, he went straight to them.</p> + +<p>The young girl, startled by this strange figure, or rather, by this +enormous cap of bristling fur, gave a cry of affright; her brother took +her hand to reassure her, and although the poor child wished to withdraw +it, he advanced resolutely toward the old man.</p> + +<p>The latter stopped, struck with the beauty of these two children, and +especially the delicate features of the young girl, whose face of +perfect regularity was crowned with two bands of blond hair half +concealed under a poor little child's cap of a brown color; she wore, +like her brother, rude wooden shoes and wool stockings.</p> + +<p>"You are afraid of me then! Zounds! you will not tell me, then, where +the Abbey of St. Quentin is?" said the old soldier.</p> + +<p>Although he was far from wishing to intimidate the children, the tone of +his voice frightened the young girl still more, who, pressing closely to +her brother, said to him in a low tone: "Answer him, James, answer him; +see what a wicked air he has."</p> + +<p>"Have no fear, Angela, have no fear," answered the boy. Then he said to +the soldier: "Yes, sir, this is the Abbey of St. Quentin; but if you +wish to enter the porter's lodge is on the other side, outside of this +court."</p> + +<p>The boy might have spoken a long time without the soldier paying +attention to his words.</p> + +<p>When the young girl called her brother "James" the old man made a +movement of surprise; but when James, in his turn, called his sister +"Angela" the old man started, let his stick fall, and was obliged to +support himself against the wall, so violent was his agitation.</p> + +<p>"You call yourselves 'James' and 'Angela,' my children?" said he, in a +trembling voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the young boy entirely reassured, but astonished at +this question.</p> + +<p>"And your parents?"</p> + +<p>"Our parents are tenants of the abbey, sir."</p> + +<p>"Come," said the soldier, whom the reader has doubtless already +recognized, "I am an old fool—but—the union of these two +names—James—Angela. Come, come, Polyphème, you lose your head, my +friend; because you encounter two little peasants you imagine—" he +shrugged his shoulders; "it is hardly worth while to have this big white +beard at one's chin only to give way to such visions! If it is to make +such discoveries that you return from Moscow, Polyphème, you might just +as well—have done——"</p> + +<p>While speaking thus to himself, Croustillac had examined the young girl +with the greatest curiosity; more and more struck with a resemblance +which seemed incomprehensible, he fastened eager eyes on Angela.</p> + +<p>The young girl again frightened, said to her brother, hiding her face +behind his shoulder: "Heavens! how he frightens me, again!"</p> + +<p>"However, these features," said Croustillac, feeling his heart beat with +doubt, anxiety, fear and despair all at once, "these charming features +recall to me—but no—it is impossible—impossible. By what probability? +Decidedly, I am an old fool. Farmers? Come, that sabre cut I got on the +head at the siege of Azof has deranged my brain. After all, there are +chances so strange (and surely, more than any one else, I should believe +in the oddities of chance; I should be an ingrate to deny it); yes, +chance might occasion peasants to give their children certain names +rather than others, but chance does not make these resemblances—come, +it is impossible. After all, I can ask them, and in asking them I shall +laugh at myself; it is stupid. My children, tell me, what is your +father's name?"</p> + +<p>"James, sir."</p> + +<p>"Yes, James—but James—what?"</p> + +<p>"James, sir."</p> + +<p>"James? nothing more?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the boy, regarding Croustillac with surprise.</p> + +<p>"This is more and more strange," said Croustillac, reflecting.</p> + +<p>"Has he been long in France?"</p> + +<p>"He has always been here, sir."</p> + +<p>"Come, I was mad; decidedly, I was mad. Has your father ever been a +soldier, my children?"</p> + +<p>Angela and James looked at each other with astonishment.</p> + +<p>The young boy answered: "No, sir, he has always been a farmer."</p> + +<p>At this moment the door which communicated with the abbey opened and one +of the lay brothers appeared at the top of the stairway.</p> + +<p>This brother was the type of an ignoble monk, gross and sensual. He made +a sign to the children, who tremblingly approached.</p> + +<p>"Come here, little one," said he to the girl.</p> + +<p>The poor child, after casting a doubtful look at her brother, whom she +could not make up her mind to leave, timidly mounted the steps.</p> + +<p>The monk took her insolently by the chin with his coarse hand, turned up +her face which she held down, and said to her: "Pretty one, you will +warn your father that if he does not pay eight days from now his rent in +kind and the hundred crowns which he owes, there is a farmer who is more +solvent than he who wants the farm and who will obtain it. As your +father is a good fellow, they will give him eight days—but for that, +they would have turned him out to-day."</p> + +<p>"My God! my God!" said the children, weeping and clasping their hands, +"there is no money at home. Our poor father is sick. Alas! what shall we +do?"</p> + +<p>"You will do what you can," said the monk, "that is the order of the +prior;" and he made a sign to the young girl to go.</p> + +<p>The two children threw themselves into each other's arms, sobbing, and +saying: "Our father will die of this—he will die!"</p> + +<p>Croustillac, half-hidden by a post of the shed, had been at once touched +and angered by this scene. At the moment the monk was about to close the +door, the Gascon said to him: "Reverend Father, a word—is this the +Abbey of St. Quentin?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and what of it?" said the monk rudely.</p> + +<p>"You will willingly give me a lodging till to-morrow, will you not?"</p> + +<p>"Hum—always beggars," said the monk. "Very well; go and ring at the +porter's gate. They will give you a bundle of straw and give you bread +and soup." Then he added: "These vagabonds are the plague of religious +houses."</p> + +<p>The adventurer became crimson, drew up his tall form, thrust, with a +blow of his fist, his fur cap over his eyes, struck the earth with his +stick, and cried in a threatening tone: "Zounds! Reverend Father, know +your company a little better, at least."</p> + +<p>"Who is this old wallet-bearer?" said the irritated monk.</p> + +<p>"Because I carry a wallet it does not follow that I ask alms of you, +Reverend Father," said Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"What dost thou want, then?"</p> + +<p>"I ask a supper and a shelter because your rich convent can well afford +to give bread and shelter to poor travelers. Charity commands this from +your abbot. And beside, in sheltering Christians, you do not give, you +restore. Your abbey grows very fat from its tithes."</p> + +<p>"Wilt thou be quiet, thou old heretic, thou insolent old fellow!"</p> + +<p>"You call me an insolent old fellow. Very well; learn, Don Surly, that I +have still a crown in my wallet, and that I can do without your straw +and your soup, Don Ribald."</p> + +<p>"What dost thou mean by Don Ribald, rascal that thou art?" said the lay +brother, advancing to the top of the steps. "Take care lest I give thy +old rags a good shaking."</p> + +<p>"Since we thee-and-thou each other, Don Drinker, take care in thy turn, +Don Greedy, that I do not make thee taste of my stick, Don Big Paunch, +infirm as I am, Don Brutal."</p> + +<p>The vigorous monk for a moment made as though he was about to descend to +chastise the Gascon, but he shrugged his shoulders and said to +Croustillac: "If thou hast ever the impudence to present thyself at the +porter's lodge, thou wilt be thrashed to some purpose. That is the kind +of hospitality thou wilt receive henceforth from the Abbey of St. +Quentin." Then addressing himself to the children: "And you be sure to +tell your father that in eight days he pays or quits the farm, for, I +repeat to you, that there is a farmer more solvent than he who wants +it."</p> + +<p>The monk shut the door brusquely.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell it to the children," said the adventurer, speaking to +himself; "that would be a bad example for youth; but I had something +like a feeling of remorse for having aided in the burning of a convent +in the Moravian War—well, it pleases me to imagine that the roasted +ones resembled this fat, big-bellied animal, and it makes me feel quite +cheerful. The scoundrel! to treat those poor children so harshly! It is +strange how I interest myself in them—if I had at least some reason for +it, I should let myself hope. After all, why not clear up my doubts? +What do I risk by it? I have plenty of money. Ah, then, my children," +said he to the young peasants, "your father is sick and poor? He will +not be vexed to gain a little windfall; although I carry a wallet, I +have a purse. Well, instead of going to dine and sleep at the inn (may +the lightning strike me if I ever set foot in this abbey, the Lord +confound it!) I will go and dine and sleep at your place. I will not be +any trouble to you. I have been a soldier, I am not hard to suit; a +stool in the chimney corner, a morsel of lard, a glass of cider, and for +the night a bundle of fresh straw, the gentle warmth of the stable—that +is all I need; and that means a piece of twenty-four sous which will +come into your house. What do you say to that?"</p> + +<p>"My father is not an innkeeper, sir," answered the young boy.</p> + +<p>"Bah! bah! my boy, if the good man has sense; if the good mother is a +housekeeper, as she ought to be, they will not regret my coming; this +piece of good luck will make your pot boil for a whole day. Come, +conduct me to your farm, my children; your father would scold you for +not bringing him an old soldier."</p> + +<p>In spite of his apparent roughness and his uncouth figure, the chevalier +inspired James and Angela with confidence; the children took each other +by the hand and walked before the invalid soldier, who followed them +absorbed in a profound reverie.</p> + +<p>At the end of an hour's walk, they arrived at the entrance of a long +avenue of apple trees, which led to the farm.</p> + + + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3> + +<p class="head">REUNION.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">James</span> and Angela entered the farm in order to learn if their father +would consent to give the old soldier hospitality. While waiting the +return of the children, the adventurer closely scanned the outbuildings +of the farm.</p> + +<p>Everything appeared to be carried on with care and neatness; at the side +of the working buildings was the farmer's house; two immense walnut +trees shaded the door and its thatched roof of velvety green moss; a +light smoke escaped from the brick chimney; the sound of the ocean was +heard in the distance, as the farm lay almost on the cliffs of the +coast.</p> + +<p>The rain began to fall; the wind moaned; a shepherd boy was bringing +home from the fields two beautiful brown cows which turned toward their +warm stable, causing their little bells to give forth a melancholy +sound. The adventurer was touched by this peaceful scene. He envied the +lot of the people of this farm, even though he knew their momentary +embarrassment. He saw approaching him a woman pale and small in figure, +and of middle-age. She was dressed like the peasants of Picardy, but +with extreme neatness. Her son accompanied her; her daughter remained in +the doorway.</p> + +<p>"We are very much grieved, sir."</p> + +<p>Hardly had the woman said these words, when Croustillac became as pale +as a ghost, extended his arms toward her without saying a word, let his +cane escape, lost his equilibrium and fell suddenly his full length on a +heap of dry leaves which was, happily, behind him.</p> + +<p>The adventurer had fainted.</p> + +<p>The Duchess of Monmouth (for it was she) not at once recognizing the +chevalier, attributed his weakness to fatigue or need, and hastened, +with the assistance of her two children, to resuscitate the stranger.</p> + +<p>James, a strong boy for his age, supported the old man to the trunk of +one of the walnut trees, while his mother and sister hurried off to seek +a cordial. In opening the chevalier's coat in order to facilitate his +respiration, James saw, attached by a leathern braid, the rich medallion +which the adventurer carried on his breast.</p> + +<p>"Mother! see this beautiful reliquary," said the young lad.</p> + +<p>The duchess approached and was in turn stupefied at recognizing the +medallion she had once given Croustillac. Then, regarding the chevalier +with closer attention, she cried:</p> + +<p>"It is he! it is the generous man who saved us!"</p> + +<p>The chevalier began to revive. When he opened his eyes they were filled +with tears.</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to paint the happiness, the transports of the +good Croustillac.</p> + +<p>"You in this dress, madame! you whom I see after so many years! When I +heard these children just now call each other James and Angela, my heart +beat so strong! But I could not believe—hope—And the duke?"</p> + +<p>The Duchess of Monmouth put one finger on her lips, shook her head +sadly, and said: "You are going to see him! Alas! why should the +pleasure of seeing you again be saddened by the sickness of James? Had +it not been for this, to-day would have been beautiful for us."</p> + +<p>"I can hardly recognize you again, madame; you, in this costume—in this +sad condition."</p> + +<p>"Silence! my children may hear you. But wait a moment here; I will go +and prepare my husband to receive you."</p> + +<p>After some minutes the adventurer entered Monmouth's room; the latter +was extended on one of those green serge canopied beds such as may still +be seen in the houses of some of the peasants.</p> + +<p>Although he was emaciated by suffering, and was at that time more than +fifty years old, the physiognomy of the duke showed the same gracious +and high character.</p> + +<p>Monmouth held out his hands affectionately to Croustillac, and +indicating a chair at his bed, said to him: "Seat yourself there, my +good friend. To what miraculous chance do we owe this happy meeting? I +cannot believe my eyes! So, chevalier, we are reunited after more than +eighteen years of separation. Ah! how often Angela and I have spoken of +you and of your devoted generosity. Our regret was not being able to +tell our children the debt of gratitude that we owe you, and which they +also owe you."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, my duke, consider what is most pressing," said the Gascon, +"each in his turn."</p> + +<p>So saying, he took his knife from his pocket, unfastened his coat, and +gravely made a large incision in the lining.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" asked the duke.</p> + +<p>The chevalier drew from his secret pocket a kind of leathern purse, and +said to the duke: "There is in this one hundred double-louis, your +highness; on the other side there is as much. This is the first of my +savings on my pay, and the price of the leg which I left the past year +at the battle of Mohiloff, after the passage of Beresina; for he was +first, Peter the Great—well-named—in paying generously the soldiers of +fortune who enrolled themselves in his service and who gave, many of +them, the sacrifice of some one of their limbs."</p> + +<p>"But, my friend, I do not understand you," said Monmouth, gently pushing +away the purse which the adventurer tendered him.</p> + +<p>"I will be explicit, my lord; you are in arrears to the amount of one +hundred crowns of rent, and you are threatened with being turned out of +this farm in eight days. It is a pot-bellied animal, bearded and +corpulent, robed in the garb of a monk, who has made this threat to your +poor, dear children but a short time since at the convent door."</p> + +<p>"Alas, James! this is only too probable," said Angela, sadly, to her +husband.</p> + +<p>"I fear it," said Monmouth, "but this is not a reason, my friend, to +accept——"</p> + +<p>"But, my lord, it seems to me that you made me such a fine gift, it is +now eighteen years ago, that we might well share it to-day; and when we +speak of the past, in order to disembarrass yourself at once of what +concerns me, and to speak henceforth of your affairs at our ease, my +lord, in two words, this is my history. Upon my arrival at Rochelle, +Father Griffen told me that you had presented me the Unicorn and its +cargo!"</p> + +<p>"My God! my friend, this was such a small thing after all that you had +done for us," said James.</p> + +<p>"May we not at least recognize all that you have done for us?" said +Angela.</p> + +<p>"Without doubt, it was little—it was nothing at all—a cup of coffee +well sugared, with rum to soften it, was it not? Only the cup was a +ship, and to fill it there was coffee and sugar and rum, the cargo of a +vessel of eight hundred tons—the whole worth two hundred thousand +crowns. You are right—it was less than nothing—but in order to put +aside useless discussion and to be frank, Zounds! this gift wounded +me——"</p> + +<p>"My friend——"</p> + +<p>"I was paid by this medallion—speak no more of it. Besides, I have no +longer the right to resent it; I made deed of gift of the whole to +Father Griffen in order that he might in his turn give it to the poor, +or to the convent, or to the devil if he chose to."</p> + +<p>"Can it be possible that you refused it?" exclaimed both husband and +wife.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did refuse it, and I am sure, my lord, although you pretend +surprise, that you would have acted as I did. I was not already so rich +in good works as not to keep the memory of Devil's Cliff pure and +without stain. It was a costly luxury, perhaps, but I had been James of +Monmouth twenty-four hours, and somewhat of my rôle of grand seigneur +still clung to me."</p> + +<p>"Noble and excellent heart!" exclaimed Angela.</p> + +<p>"But," said Monmouth, "you were so poor!"</p> + +<p>"It is just because I am used to poverty and an adventurous life that +that cost me nothing—I said to myself: 'Polyphème—consider! thou hast +dreamed this night that thou wast worth two hundred thousand crowns.' I +dreamed this dream—all has been said—and that did me good. Yes, often +in Russia, when I was in misery—in distress—or when I was nailed to my +pallet by a wound, I said to myself, to comfort and to rejoice me: +'After all, Polyphème, for once in thy life thou hast done something +noble and generous.' Well, you may believe me, that restored my courage. +But this is boasting, and what is worse, it unmans me—let us return to +my departure from Rochelle. I avow it to you and I thank you for it; +nevertheless, I have profited a little by your generosity. As nothing +remained to me of my three unlucky crowns, and that was a small sum to +travel to Moscow on, I borrowed twenty-five louis from Master Daniel on +the cargo; I paid my passage on a Hamburg ship from Hamburg to Fallo; I +embarked for Revel on a Swedish vessel; from Revel I went to Moscow; I +arrived there like seafish in Lent; Admiral Lefort was recruiting a +forlorn hope to reinforce the <i>polichnie</i> of the czar; in other words, +the first company of infantry equipped and maneuvering after the German +mode which had existed in Russia. I had made the campaign in Flanders +with the '<i>reiters</i>;' I knew the service; I was then enrolled in the +<i>polichnie</i> of the czar, and I had the honor of having this great man +for file closer, for he served in this company as a simple soldier, +seeing he had the habit of thinking that in order to know a trade it is +necessary to learn it.</p> + +<p>"Once incorporated in the Muscovite army, I served in all the wars. Do +not think, my lord, that I am going to recount to you my campaigns, to +speak to you of the siege of Azof, where I received a saber cut on my +head; the taking of Astrakhan under Scheremetoff, where I received a +lance thrust in my loins; of the siege of Narva, where I had the honor +of aiming at his majesty, Charles XII., and the good fortune to miss +him; and finally, the great battle of Dorpat.</p> + +<p>"No, no, do not fear, my lord; I keep these fine stories to put your +children to sleep with during the winter nights, in the chimney corner, +when the seawinds rage in the branches of your old walnut trees. All +that remains for me to say to you, my lord, is that I have made war ever +since I left you, first as a noncommissioned officer, and then as +lieutenant. I might have done it still, perhaps, if last year I had not +forgotten one of my legs at Mohiloff. The czar generously gave me the +capital of my pension, and I returned to France because, after all, it +is there that one dies best—when one is born there; I went on foot, +lounging along, regaining my paternal valley, lodging and sleeping in +the abbeys to spare my purse, when chance—this time, no," said the +chevalier, in a grave and penetrating tone which contrasted greatly with +his ordinary language, "oh, this time, no—it was not chance, but the +providence of the good God which caused me to meet with your children, +my lord; they have brought me here; I fell back in a swoon on a heap of +dry leaves on recognizing the duchess, and here I am.</p> + +<p>"Now, here is my plan—at least, if you consent to it, my lord. My +paternal valley is very empty—my father and my mother are long since +dead; I should wish, of all things, to establish myself near you. +Although lame, I am still good for something, if only to serve as a +scarecrow to hinder the birds from eating your apples and cherries. I +will forget that you are 'my lord:' I will call you 'Master James,' I +will call the duchess, 'Dame James,' your children shall call me Father +Polyphème; I will tell them of my battles, and it will go on like that, +<i>vitam æternam</i>."</p> + +<p>"Yes! yes! we accept; you shall never leave us," said James and Angela +together, their eyes filled with tears.</p> + +<p>"But on one condition," said the chevalier, drying his eyes also, "that +is, that I, who am as proud as a peacock, shall pay you, in advance, my +board; and that you will accept from me these two hundred louis that you +refused; total, six thousand livres; at five hundred francs a year, +twelve of board. In twelve years we will make another lease."</p> + +<p>"But, my friend——"</p> + +<p>"But, my lord, it is yes or no. If it is yes, I remain, and I am more +happy than I deserve to be. If it is no, I take again my stick, my +wallet, and I start for the paternal valley, where I shall die, in a +corner sadly and all alone, like an old dog who has lost his master."</p> + +<p>Grotesque as were these words, they were spoken in a tone so full of +emotion and so touching that the duke and his wife could not refuse the +offer of the chevalier: "Well then, I accept."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" cried Croustillac, in the voice of a stentor, and he +accompanied this Muscovite exclamation by throwing into the air his old +fur cap.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I accept with all my heart, my old friend," said Monmouth, +"and—why conceal it from you?—this unexpected succor which you offer +us so generously, saves, perhaps, my life—saves, perhaps, my wife and +children from misery, for this sum sets us afloat again, and we can +brave two years as bad as those which have been the cause of our first +embarrassment. Fatigue, chagrin, fear for the future, have made me ill; +now, tranquil as to the fate of my dear ones, assured of a friend like +you—I am sure that my health will return to me."</p> + +<p>"Zounds! my lord, how did it happen that, with the enormous amount of +jewels that you had, you are reduced?"</p> + +<p>"Angela will tell you that, my friend; emotion at once so keen and so +sweet as I feel has fatigued me."</p> + +<p>"After having left you on board of the Unicorn," said Angela "we set +sail for Brazil; we sojourned there some time, but from prudence, we +resolved to depart for India on board a Portuguese vessel. We had lived +three years in this little-known country, very happy and very tranquil, +when I fell seriously ill. One of the best physicians in Bombay declared +that the climate of India would become fatal to me; my native air alone +could save me. You know how James loves me; it was impossible for me to +alter his resolution; he chose at all hazards to return to Europe, to +France, in spite of the dangers that threatened him. We started from the +Cape in a Dutch ship, making sail for the Texel. We possessed a very +considerable sum coming from the sale of our jewels. Our voyage was very +fortunate as far as the coast of France, but there a terrible tempest +assailed us. After losing her masts, and being beaten about by the waves +for three days, our ship went ashore on the coast a quarter of a league +from here; by a miracle of Heaven, James and I alone escaped an almost +certain death. Several of the passengers were, like us, cast on the +beach during this horrible night—all perished. I repeat to you, my +friend, that a miracle from Heaven was necessary to save us, James and +me—to save me especially, ill as I was. The tenants whom we replaced on +this farm found us almost dying on the shore; they brought us here. The +ship was swallowed up with all our riches; James, occupied solely with +me, had forgotten all; we no longer possessed anything; I was an orphan +with no fortune; James could not apply to any one without being +recognized.</p> + +<p>"What remained to us in Martinique had, without doubt, been +confiscated—and then, how could we claim this property? For all +resource there remained to us a ring which I wore on my finger at the +time of the ship-wreck; we intrusted it to the tenants of this farm, who +had received us, to sell the diamond at Abbeville; they got for it about +four thousand livres—that was all our store. My health was so affected +that we were obliged to stop here; this measure, besides reconciled both +prudence and economy; the farmers were good, full of cares for us.</p> + +<p>"Little by little my health became re-established. Almost without +resources we thought of the future with terror; however, we were young, +misfortune had redoubled our love; the simple, obscure, peaceable life +of our hosts impressed us; they were old, without children; we proposed +to them to take the half of their farm, and to make our apprenticeship +under their direction, avowing to them that we had no other resources +than the four thousand livres that we would share with them. Touched +with our position, these good people wished at first to dissuade us from +this project, representing to us how hard and laborious this life was. I +insisted; I felt myself full of courage and strength; James had lived a +hard life too long not to accustom himself to that of the fields. We +accomplished our design; I was tranquil about James. Who would seek the +Duke of Monmouth in an obscure farm in Picardy? At the end of two years +we had finished our apprenticeship, thanks to the lessons and teaching +of our good forerunners; their little fortune, augmented by our four +thousand livres, was sufficient. They made an agreement with the +treasurer of the abbey that we should succeed them and we take the +entire farm."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, what resignation! what energy!" cried the chevalier.</p> + +<p>"Ah, if you knew, my friend," said Monmouth, "with what admirable +serenity of soul, with what gentle gayety Angela endured his rough +life—she, accustomed to a life of luxury!—if you knew how she always +knew how to be gracious, elegant, and charming, all the while +superintending the affairs of the household with admirable activity!—if +you knew in fine, what strength I drew from this brave and devoted +heart; from this gentle regard always fixed upon me with an admirable +expression of happiness and content precarious as was our position! Ah, +who will ever recompense this beautiful conduct?"</p> + +<p>"My friend," said Angela tenderly, "has not God blessed our laborious +and peaceful life? Has He not sent us two little angels to change our +duties into pleasures? What shall I say to you?" resumed Angela, +addressing the chevalier; "for the almost sixteen years that this +uniform life has lasted, of which each day has brought its bread, as the +good folks say, never a chagrin had come to trouble it, when, in the +past year, a bad harvest hampered us very much. We were obliged to +discharge two of our farm hands for economy's sake. James redoubled his +efforts and his work, his strength gave out; he took to his bed; our +small resources were exhausted. A bad year, you see, for poor farmers," +said Angela, smiling softly, "is terrible. In short, without you, I do +not know how we could have escaped the fate which threatened us, for the +Abbot of St. Quentin is inflexible toward tenants in arrears, and yet it +was our pride to pay him always a term in advance. One hundred +crowns—as much as that—and a hundred crowns, chevalier, are not easily +gotten together."</p> + +<p>"A hundred crowns? That does not pay for the embroidery on a baldric," +said James with a melancholy smile. "Ah, how many times, in experiencing +what misfortune is, have I regretted the good I might have done."</p> + +<p>"Listen, my lord," said Croustillac gravely, "I am no devotee. Just now +I came near shaking a monk out of his robes; I committed irregularities +during my campaign in Moravia, but I am sure there is One above Who does +not lose sight of honest people. Now, it is impossible that after +nineteen years of work and resignation, now when you grow old, with two +beautiful children, you should dream of remaining at the mercy of an +avaricious monk or a year of frost. In listening to you, an idea has +come to me. If I was the boaster of old, I should say that it was an +idea from above; but I wholly believe that it is a fortunate idea. What +has become of Father Griffen?"</p> + +<p>"We do not know; we did not return to Martinique."</p> + +<p>"He belongs to the order of Preaching Friars; he must be at the end of +the world," said Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"I, who have had no news of France for eighteen years, I know no more +than you, my lord, but this is why I concern myself. I left to him the +price of the Unicorn; he is a good and honest priest; if he still lives, +there must remain to him some of it, for he would have been prudent and +careful in his almsgiving. My advice would be to seek to know where the +Reverend Father is, for if the good God has willed that he should have +kept some good morsel from the Unicorn, own, my lord, that this would +not be bad eating at this moment; if not for you, at least, for these +two beautiful children, for my heart bleeds to see them with their +wooden shoes and their woolen hose, although they may keep their feet +warmer than boots of leather and gilded spurs, or shoes of satin with +silken hose, should they be red, these hose! red like those I wore in +1690," added the chevalier, with a sigh. Then he resumed: "Ah, well! my +lord, what say you to my Griffen idea?"</p> + +<p>"I say, my friend, that it is an idle hope. Father Griffen is without +doubt dead; he will doubtless have left your fortune to some religious +community."</p> + +<p>"To the Abbey of St. Quentin, perhaps," said Angela.</p> + +<p>"Zounds! it wants but that! I would instantly set fire to the +monastery!"</p> + +<p>"Ah—fie! fie! chevalier!" said Angela.</p> + +<p>"It is also because I am raging at having done what I did with your two +hundred thousand crowns; but could I then imagine that I should find +again, as a farmer, the son of a king who handled his diamonds by the +shovelful? Ah, it is no use to philosophize here; but to find Father +Griffen again if he is still living!"</p> + +<p>"And how to find him again?" said Monmouth.</p> + +<p>"By seeking him, my lord. I who have no reason for concealing myself, +to-morrow I will take up this quest, hobbling around. Nothing is more +simple; in truth, I am stupid not to have thought of it sooner. I will +direct myself at once to the Superior of Foreign Missions, thus we shall +know what we have to look to. The Superior will at least inform me if +the good Father is alive or not; and even, on this account, I will +to-morrow make a visit to your neighbor, the abbot of St. Quentin. He +will tell me what to do about it—how to get this information. I will +carry him your hundred crowns; that will be a good way to contrive the +interview."</p> + +<p>The three friends passed the day together. We leave the reader to +imagine the stories, the reminiscences, gay, touching, or sad, which +were recalled.</p> + +<p>On the morrow Croustillac, who had already made friends with young +James, started for the abbey. The amount of the rent, in bright <i>louis +d'or</i>, was an excellent passport to the presence of the treasurer.</p> + +<p>"Father," said Croustillac, "I have a very important letter to place in +the hands of a good priest of the order of Preaching Brothers; I do not +know if he is alive or dead; if he is in Europe, or at the end of the +world; to whom should I address myself for information on this subject?"</p> + +<p>"To one of our canons, my son, who has had much to do with missions, and +who, after long and painful apostolic labors, came six months since to +repose in a canonicate of our abbey."</p> + +<p>"And when can I see this venerable canon, Father?"</p> + +<p>"This very morning. In descending to the court of the cloister, ask a +lay brother to conduct you to Father Griffen."</p> + +<p>Croustillac gave so tremendous a blow of his staff on the floor, +shouting three times his Muscovite exclamation, "hurrah! hurrah! +hurrah!" that the reverend treasurer was startled by it, and rang the +bell precipitately, thinking he had to do with a madman.</p> + +<p>A friar entered.</p> + +<p>"Pardon, good Father," said Croustillac; "these savage cries, and this +no less savage blow of the stick, paint to you the state of my soul, my +astonishment, my joy! It is Father Griffen, himself, that I seek."</p> + +<p>"Then conduct this gentleman to Father Griffen," said the treasurer.</p> + +<p>We will not attempt to depict this new recognition, so important in the +results the Gascon expected from it. We will only say that the good +priest, charged with the trust of Croustillac, and fearing lest the +chevalier should one day come to regret his disinterestedness, but +wishing, however, to execute till then his charitable intentions, and +not to deprive the unfortunate of this rich alms, had each year +distributed to the poor the revenue of the capital, which he reserved +for a pious foundation if the Gascon should not reappear.</p> + +<p>The sale of the Unicorn, prudently managed, had brought about seven +hundred thousand livres. The Father, finding by chance an advantageous +sale of property in the environs of Abbeville, not far from the abbey of +St. Quentin, had profited by it. He had thus become proprietor of a very +fine estate called Chateauvieux.</p> + +<p>On his return from his long voyages, six months before the time of which +we speak, Father Griffen had asked by preference, a canonicate in +Picardy, in order to be more within reach of the property which he +managed, always ignorant whether the Gascon was dead or alive, but +inclining rather to the former supposition, after a silence of eighteen +years.</p> + +<p>Father Griffen, very old, very infirm, quitted the abbey only to visit +the estate of Chateauvieux. During the six months he lodged at St. +Quentin, he had never gone to the side of the farm of which James of +Monmouth was the farmer. The reunion of Father Griffen, the duke and his +wife, was as touching as that of the adventurer.</p> + +<p>After much discussion it was decided that one-half of the estate +belonged to James; the other half to Croustillac, in whose name it +remained.</p> + +<p>The Gascon immediately made his will in favor of the two children of +Monmouth on condition that the son should take the name of Jacques de +Chateauvieux.</p> + +<p>In order to explain this sudden change of fortune to the eyes of the +people of the abbey and the environs, it was agreed that Croustillac +should pass as an uncle from America, who had come incognito to test his +nephew and his wife, poor cultivators of the soil.</p> + +<p>James gave up his farm to the tenant who had been destined to replace +him, and departed with his wife, his children and his uncle Croustillac +for Chateauvieux.</p> + +<p>The three friends lived long and happily in their domain, and their +children and grandchildren lived there after them. The chevalier never +left Monmouth and his wife. Once a year Father Griffen came to pass some +weeks at Chateauvieux.</p> + +<p>One single day yearly cast a gloom over this peaceful and happy life; +this was the anniversary of the 15th of July, 1685, the anniversary of +the sacrifice of the courageous Sidney.</p> + +<p>Never did the son of James of Monmouth know that his father descended +from a royal race. The secret was always kept by James, by his wife, by +Croustillac, and by Father Griffen.</p> + +<p>Age had so changed the duke; so many years, beside, had passed over the +event of Martinique, that he was no longer disquieted by it. Only +sometimes, the children and grandchildren of James of Monmouth opened +astonished eyes when their good and old friend, the Chevalier de +Croustillac, addressing himself to the Duchess of Monmouth with an air +of understanding, said to her, while striving to hide a tear of emotion, +the following apparently truly cabalistic words:</p> + +<p><i>Blue Beard, Whirlwind, Rend-your-Soul, Youmäale, Devil's Cliff</i>.</p> + +<p class="c top5"><b>THE END.</b></p> + +<hr class="full" /> + + +<p class="commercial">OMEGA</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">"A REPORTER"</p> + +<p class="c">Neely's Prismatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a love story of a negative character, which, however, +occasionally approaches positiveness. Suppressed passion manifests a +tendency to explode, especially when it is confined by a vow of +celibacy. But when an author steps into the prophetic department of the +religious field, and mixes a little of this variety into a love story, +making the lover and the lovees act their respective parts as if so +foreordained, it is really curious what antics they indulge in, but not +surprising that the theater of action reaches from ancient Chaldea to +Salt Lake City, the actors variate from Mohammedanism to Mormonism, and +the time limit stretches into the centuries. It is a fitting climax that +the sublime heights of the second part are culminated in the third's +last chapters by a description of the end of national destiny, the +<i>Armageddon</i> of capitalist and socialist, the beginning of the world +period, in short, Millennium.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">THE SECRET OF THE EARTH</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">CHARLES WILLING BEALE</p> + +<p class="c">Cloth, $1.00</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">A</span> story of thrilling adventure from cover to cover which embodies a +theory of our planet so tremendous and appalling that the most +conservative mind can hardly fail to be impressed with the startling +array of facts adduced in support of it. Two young men set out upon a +voyage of discovery under very peculiar circumstances and with +exceptional facilities for accomplishing their purpose. The result of +their enterprise is something so astounding, and yet so entirely +probable when judged from the realm of the known, that the climax +appears inevitable. The story bears the imprint of experience. There is +no padding, and one is carried along with a rush from marvel to marvel +and venture to venture through vast areas of undreamed civilizations, +magnificent cities, and a people whose existence has been entirely +unsuspected by denizens of the known world, and yet which is shown to be +more than a mere conjecture as the story unfolds. The mode of travel is +entirely unique, no similar method having ever been employed, though it +is one which seems likely to become popular in the near future. The book +is worth reading, and will furnish food for the thoughtful.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">THE LITTLE BLIND GOD A-WHEEL</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">SIDNEY HOWARD</p> + +<p class="c">Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Surely</span> the name of this author is not familiar, and yet it seems as +though we must have met it before. No one but an experienced writer +could have given us such a charming combination of incident and +description. Perhaps some well-known author is testing his real merit by +a little masquerade. We will wait, in confidence that such an excellent +production will be traced to its rightful source. Briefly, it is a +bicycling novel. A jolly party make a tour through northern New England +with all the amusing happenings incident to such a trip, not excepting +the experiences of the chaperon, who learns to ride that she may better +perform her duties. And then—there is a boy. And besides the boy there +is the little blind god who shoots his arrows so industriously that the +whole party return engaged save the boy, the chaperon, and the poor odd +man; and even he makes a determined effort to join the majority; but in +his case the Fates are stronger even than the Little Blind God.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">TWO WASHINGTON BELLES</p> + +<p class="c">by</p> + +<p class="c">LESTER M. DEL GARCIA</p> + +<p class="c">Neely's Primatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"This</span> is a modern, up-to-date "society" novel with considerable local +coloring and many pictures of life in the "hupper suckles." It describes +the career and love experiences of one who eventually becomes +Viscountess Landale. The frou-frou and fripperies of nineteenth-century +social gatherings and drawing-rooms are here described in analytical +detail, while much plot and counterplot go toward the making of a book +that is a departure from the usual run of what is ordinarily written +under the <i>genre</i> of "novel" literature.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">ALLIQUIPPA</p> + +<p class="c">AND</p> + +<p class="commercial top5">DR. POFFENBURGH'S CHARM</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">W. A. HOLLAND</p> + +<p class="c">Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Are</span> tales that deal with life in Pennsylvania, within whose rich valleys +and sequestered byways are hidden many phases of quaint and charming +life of which the world knows all too little. "Alliquippa" is the story +of an Indian prince of the Alleghanies, and deals with pioneer life in +that wild region. There is an air of freshness and novelty to these +tales which, combined with the interest of the plots, commends the +volume to the attention of book-buyers. In "Dr. Poffenburgh's Charm" Mr. +Holland has told a romantic tale, which he has located in the historic +locality of eastern Pennsylvania originally settled by the Germans, +whose descendants are now known as Pennsylvania Dutch.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">AMONG THE DUNES</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="commercial top5 smcap">Mrs. D. L. RHONE</p> + +<p class="c">Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Among</span> the Dunes' reads like some of the best work of the new school of +Scandinavian writers; but it is in fact an American book, the production +of a Pennsylvania lady. The scene is laid in Jutland, and the story, +which is quite out of the common, is full of an intense romantic +interest and charm."—<i>Review of Reviews.</i></p> + +<p>"Excellent entertainment for a fireside audience."—<i>Richard Henry +Stoddard.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a pleasure of the simplest and purest sort to turn from the +high-pressure novels of the day and read a tender and touching romance +like this story of the Far North."—<i>New York Independent.</i></p> + +<p>"Readers who are old-fashioned enough, in these days of so much somber, +realistic writing, to enjoy a romance pure and simple, full of variety, +adventure, and mystery, will be pleased with 'Among the Dunes.'"—<i>New +York Christian Advocate.</i></p> + +<p>"The narrative has a wonderful, fresh, salt-sea flavor, and the strange +series of events culminate in a most dramatic situation."—<i>Boston +Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"Exuberant fancy is shown by the author, and there is a plenty of +adventure in her volume. It fills one of the main wants of the novel +reader—it is always interesting and sometimes strikingly so."—<i>New +York Times.</i></p> + +<p>"There is all the weird fascination that belongs to the Danish country +and the Oriental race contained in the plot."—<i>Baltimore Telegram.</i></p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">THE CHILD WITNESS</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">HELEN NORWOOD HALSEY</p> + +<p class="c">Cloth, $1.00</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is a story within a story, and will appeal to all; childhood and +youth will devour it with a keen interest, and the maturer mind will +detect in the simple, light, fantastic wording a portrayal of the +deepest passion to which the human heart is susceptible. Thus it is a +story for all, and will be read by all with a zest and interest which +will neither flag nor grow dim from the title to the finale. There are +few characters, and the story is simply told, and while the reader is +following with an unflagging interest the tragic events which present +themselves so rapidly and vividly before the mind's eye, there lies +hidden beneath the startling drama the germ of the story, the pitiful +picture of the little Child Witness, Danny, whose life is sacrificed to +the greed and cunning of a nature far below his own; but so lightly has +the author touched upon this phase of the story, so daintily is it +handled, that the heart of the reader goes out in a deep and mighty +compassion to the helpless child, the victim of the brute negro Barney, +and there is no feeling of revolt even to the most sensitive mind; and +while, in some of the situations of the story, the reader is carried +into the center of the slums, among the fallen and degraded, and while +there are scenes and circumstances from which the delicate mind may +shrink in horror, let the reader remember that it is wholesome at times +that those in the higher walks of life should realize that such a +condition of life actually exists and has grown too common even to +command a passing notice from those who pass by on the other side. The +story has, too, a touch of fine humor from which the mind may find a +relaxation and relief from the almost oppressing tragedy with which +every page is replete, and is an offset to that portion of the story +which presents, like a living, moving panorama, the torturous suffering +of the helpless child in the grasp of the negro. It is a story which +will be read and re-read from Maine to California—a story which will +linger in the memory and be eagerly devoured while one word remains—a +story which will be laid aside, stored away, and turned to again with a +fresh and reviving interest.</p> + + +<p class="c">For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="c">F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + +<p class="c">96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="commercial">NEW YORKERS OF THE XIX CENTURY</p> + +<p class="c">BY</p> + +<p class="c">MRS. 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TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher,</p> + + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Romance of the West Indies, by Eugène Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + +***** This file should be named 29894-h.htm or 29894-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/8/9/29894/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Romance of the West Indies + +Author: Eugene Sue + +Translator: Marian Longfellow + +Release Date: September 2, 2009 [EBook #29894] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +EUGENE SUE. + +BY + +MARIAN LONGFELLOW. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, + +PUBLISHER. +LONDON. NEW YORK. + +Copyright, 1898, + +by + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, + +in + +United States + +and + +Great Britain. + +All Rights Reserved. + +TO THE MEMORY OF +WILKIE COLLINS, +AUTHOR AND ARTIST, +WHO FIRST DIRECTED MY ATTENTION TO THIS +WORK AND SUGGESTED ITS TRANSLATION +INTO ENGLISH, +I DEDICATE THIS BOOK IN KINDLY REMEMBRANCE. +THE TRANSLATOR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +I. The Passenger + +II. A Female Blue Beard + +III. The Arrival + +IV. The Priest's House + +V. The Surprise + +VI. The Warning + +VII. The Cavern + +VIII. The Devil's Cliff + +IX. Night + +X. A Buccaneer + +XI. Master Rend-Your-Soul + + +PART II. + +XII. The Marriage + +XIII. Supper + +XIV. True Love + +XV. The Envoy from France + +XVI. The Storm + +XVII. The Surprise + +XVIII. My Lord the Duke + +XIX. A Second Surprise + +XX. The Departure + +XXI. The Betrayal + + +PART III. + +XXII. The Viceroy of Ireland and Scotland + +XXIII. The Arrest + +XXIV. The Interview + +XXV. Revelations + +XXVI. Devotion + +XXVII. The Martyr + +XXVIII. The Duke Relates the Sacrifice to which He Owes his Life + +XXIX. The Departure + + +PART IV. + +XXX. Regrets + +XXXI. Croustillac Departs + +XXXII. The Frigate + +XXXIII. The Judgment + +XXXIV. The Chase + +XXXV. The Return + + +EPILOGUE. + +XXXVI. The Abbey + +XXXVII. Reunited + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. + + + + +PART I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE PASSENGER. + + +Toward the latter part of May, 1690, the three-masted schooner the +Unicorn sailed from Rochelle for the island of Martinique. + +A Captain Daniel commanded this vessel, which was armed with a dozen +pieces of medium-sized ordnance, a defensive precaution necessary at +that period. France was at that time at war with England, and the +Spanish pirates would often cross to the windward of the Antilles, in +spite of the frequent pursuit of filibusters. + +Among the passengers of the Unicorn, few in number, was the Reverend +Father Griffen, of the Order of the Preaching Brothers. He was returning +to Martinique to resume his parish duties at Macouba, where he had +occupied the curacy for some years to the satisfaction of the +inhabitants and the slaves of that locality. + +The exceptional life of the colonies, then almost continually in a state +of open hostility against the English, the Spanish, and the natives of +the Antilles, placed the priests of the latter in a peculiar position. +They were called upon not only to preach, to hear confessions, to +administer the sacraments to their flocks, but also to aid in defending +themselves during the frequent inroads of their enemies of all nations +and all colors. + +The priest's house was, as other habitations, alike isolated and +exposed to deadly surprises. More than once had Father Griffen, assisted +by his two slaves, intrenched himself securely behind a large gateway of +mahogany, after having repulsed their assailants by a lively fire. + +Formerly a professor of geometry and mathematics, and possessed of +considerable theoretical knowledge of military architecture, Father +Griffen had given most excellent advice to the successive governors of +Martinique on the construction of works of defense. + +This priest knew thoroughly the stonecutter's and carpenter's trades; +learned in agriculture, an excellent gardener, of an inventive spirit, +full of resources, of rare energy, a determined courage, he was a +valuable man to the colony, and, above all, to the quarter he inhabited. + +The word of the gospel had not, perhaps, in his mouth all the unction to +be desired; his voice was rough, his exhortations were unpolished; but +their moral quality was excellent; they abounded in charity. He said the +mass as rapidly and as forcibly as if he were a buccaneer. One could +pardon him when one knew that this holy office was often interrupted by +a raid of the heretical English or the idolatrous Caribbeans; and that +then Father Griffen, leaping from the pulpit from which he had preached +"peace and concord," was always one of the first to put himself at the +head of his flock in order to defend it. + +As to the wounded and prisoners, once the engagement was ended, the +worthy priest ameliorated their situation as far as he could, and with +the greatest care dressed the wounds which he had himself made. + +We will not undertake to prove that the conduct of Father Griffen was in +all points canonical, nor to solve the question so often debated, "Under +what circumstances may the clergy go to war?" We do not claim for this +subject either the authority of Saint Gregory nor that of Leo IV. We +simply say that this worthy priest did good and combated evil with all +his might. + +Of a loyal and generous character, frank and gay, Father Griffen was +mischievously hostile and mocking where women were concerned. He was +continually making jests upon the daughters of Eve; these temptresses, +these diabolical allies of the Serpent. In justice to Father Griffen, we +must say that he showed in his railleries, otherwise without malice, a +little rancor and contempt; he jested lightly on the subject of a +happiness that he regretted not being able to desire; for, in spite of +the extreme license of Creole customs, the purity of Father Griffen's +life was never questioned. + +He might have been accused of loving the pleasures of the table; not +that he abused them (he observed bounds in enjoying the good gifts which +God bestowed), but he was singularly fond of indulging himself with +marvelous recipes for dressing game, seasoning fish, or preserving in +sugar the fragrant fruits of the tropics; at times, even the description +of his epicurean tastes became contagious, when he would enlarge upon +certain repasts after the manner of buccaneers, prepared in the depths +of the forests or on the shore of the island. Between you and me, Father +Griffen possessed, among others, the secret of cooking a turtle, +buccaneer-fashion, of which the mere recital was enough to excite +ravenous hunger on the part of his hearers. In spite of his usually +formidable appetite, Father Griffen scrupulously observed his fasts, +which an edict of the pope's decreed should be much less strict at the +Antilles and in the Indies than in Europe. + +It is unnecessary to say here that the worthy priest would abandon the +most delicate repast in order to fulfill his duties as a priest to a +poor slave; no one was more pitiful than he--a more charitable or +prudent manager, regarding the little he possessed as the property of +the unfortunate. + +Never was his consolation or succor lacking to those who suffered; but +once his Christian task fulfilled, he worked gayly and vigorously in his +garden, watered his plants, hoed his paths, pruned his trees, and when +night came he loved to rest after his salutary and rustic labor, and +enjoy, with an intelligent keenness of palate, the gastronomic riches of +the country. + +His flock never allowed his cellar or his larder to become empty. The +finest fruit, the best portion from the chase or the rod, was always +faithfully sent to him. He was beloved--he was blessed. They came to +him to settle all points of dispute, and his judgment was finally +accepted on all questions. + +The physique of Father Griffen accorded perfectly with the impression +perhaps formed of him after what has just been said of his character. + +He was a man of not more than fifty years, robust, active, though +perhaps rather too stout; his long robe of white wool and his black cape +set off his broad shoulders; a felt cap covered his bald crown. His red +face, his triple chin, his lips thick and crimson, his nose long and +flat at the end, his small and lively gray eyes, gave him a certain +resemblance to Rabelais; but what specially characterized Father +Griffen's physiognomy was a rare mixture of frankness, goodness, +strength and innocent raillery. + +At the commencement of this story, the Preaching Brother stood on the +stern of the vessel, in conversation with Captain Daniel. The ease with +which he maintained his equilibrium, in spite of the violent rolling of +the vessel, proved that Father Griffen had long since found his +sea-legs. + +Captain Daniel was an old sea-dog; once at sea, he left the management +of his vessel to his mates and pilot, and became intoxicated regularly +every night. Frequently making the trip from Martinique to Rochelle, he +had already brought Father Griffen from America. The latter, accustomed +to the inebriety of the worthy captain, attentively studied the ship's +management; for without possessing the nautical science of Father +Fournier, and other of his religious colleagues, he had a sufficiently +theoretical and practical knowledge of navigation. Often had the priest +made the passage from Martinique to San Domingo and beyond, on board the +privateer vessels, which always yielded a tithe of their prizes to the +churches of the Antilles. + +Night approached. Father Griffen inhaled with pleasure the odor of +supper which was being prepared. The captain's boy came to announce to +the passengers that the repast was ready; two or three among them, who +had successfully resisted seasickness, entered the cabin. + +Father Griffen said grace; they had hardly seated themselves when the +door of the cabin opened suddenly, and the following words were +pronounced with a strong Gascon accent: + +"There is, I hope, noble captain, a small place for the Chevalier de +Croustillac?" + +All the guests made a movement of surprise, then strove to read in the +features of the captain an explanation of this singular apparition. The +captain remained stupefied, regarding his new guest with an air almost +of affright. + +"Eh, there, who are you? I do not know you. Where the devil did you come +from, sir?" he finally said. + +"If I came from the devil, this good priest," and he kissed the hand of +Father Griffen, "this good priest would send me back there very quickly, +by saying, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.'" + +"But where _do_ you come from, sir?" cried the captain, stupefied by the +confident and smiling air of this unexpected guest. + +"One does not come thus on board. You are not on my list of passengers. +You have fallen from the sky, perhaps?" + +"A few minutes since it was from the infernal regions; now it is from +the heavens that I come. Faith! I do not lay claim to an origin so +divine nor so infernal, worthy captain; I----" + +"It matters not as to that," replied the captain. "Tell me, how came you +here?" + +The chevalier assumed a majestic air. "I should be unworthy of belonging +to the noble house of de Croustillac, one of the oldest in Guienne, if I +had the slightest hesitation in satisfying the legitimate curiosity of +the illustrious captain." + +"So--this is very lucky," cried the latter. + +"Do not say it is lucky, rather say it is right. I fall upon your vessel +like a bomb; you are astonished; nothing is more natural; you ask me how +I came on board. This is your right. I explain it to you--that is my +duty. Completely satisfied by my explanation, you extend to me your hand +and say, 'This is well, chevalier, place yourself at table with us.' I +respond to you, 'Captain, I cannot refuse, for I am dying for lack of +sustenance. Blessed be your benevolent offer.' So saying I slip in +between these two estimable gentlemen. I make myself small; very small; +in order not to incommode them; on the contrary, the motion is so +violent that I wedge----" + +So saying, the chevalier put his words into execution; profiting by the +general surprise, he insinuated himself between two guests and provided +himself with the glass of one, the plate of another, and the napkin of a +third. Profound amazement made his neighbors oblivious to the things of +this world. All this was accomplished with so much quickness, dexterity, +confidence and boldness that the guests of the illustrious captain of +the Unicorn and the illustrious captain himself did not dream of more +than looking with the greatest curiosity and astonishment at the +Chevalier de Croustillac. The adventurer proudly wore an old waistcoat +of rateen, once green, but now of a yellowish blue; his frayed breeches +were of the same shade; his stockings, at one time scarlet, were now a +faded pink, and seemed in places to be fairly embroidered with white +thread; a badly worn gray felt hat, an old sword-belt trimmed with +imitation gold lace, now tarnished, supported a long sword upon which +the chevalier, on entering, leaned with the air of a grandee. +Croustillac was a very tall and excessively thin man. He appeared to be +from thirty-six to forty years of age. His hair, mustache, and eyebrows +were jet black, his face bony, brown and tanned. He had a long nose, +small hazel eyes, which were extraordinarily lively, and his mouth was +very large; his physiognomy betrayed at the same time an imperturbable +assurance and an excessive vanity. + +Croustillac had that overweening belief in himself which one finds only +among the Gascons. He so exaggerated his merits and natural graces to +himself that he believed no woman was able to resist him; the list of +his conquests of every kind had been interminable. In spite of the most +amazing falsehoods, which cost him little, it cannot be denied that he +possessed true courage and a certain nobility of character. This +natural valor, joined to his blind confidence in himself, sometimes +precipitated him into almost inextricable situations, into which he +threw himself headlong, and from which he never emerged without hard +blows--for if he was as adventurous and boastful as a Gascon, he was as +obstinate and opinionated as a Breton. + +Heretofore his life had been very similar to that of his Bohemian +companions. The younger son of a poor Gascon family of doubtful +nobility, he had come to seek his fortune at Paris; by turns petty +officer of a forlorn hope; provost of an academy, bath-keeper, horse +jockey, peddler of satirical news and Holland gazettes; he had more than +once pretended to be a Protestant, feigning conversion to the Catholic +faith in order to secure the fifty crowns that M. Pelisson paid each +neophyte as the price of conversion. This cheat discovered, the +chevalier was condemned to the lash and to prison. He suffered the lash, +escaped from prison, disguised himself by means of an immense shade over +his eye, girded himself with a formidable sword with which he ambled +about, then embraced the profession of wheedling country folk for the +benefit of gambling houses, into which he led those innocent lambs, who +did not come forth again until completely shorn. It must be said--to the +chevalier's credit that he took no part himself in these rascalities; as +he said to himself--if he did bait the hook, he at least did not eat the +fish. + +The laws regarding duels were at that time very severe. One day the +chevalier encountered a well-known brave named Fontenay-Coup-d'Epee. The +latter roughly elbowed our adventurer, saying, "Take care! I am Fontenay +Sword-Thrust." "And I," said the Gascon, "Croustillac Cannon-Ball," +whipping out his sword. + +Fontenay was killed, and Croustillac obliged to flee in order to escape +capture. + +The chevalier had often heard of the wonderful fortunes to be realized +in the colonies. Journeying sometimes on foot, sometimes on horse, +sometimes in a wagon, he went to Rochelle hoping to embark for America. +Once there, Croustillac found that he not only must pay his passage on +board a vessel, but must also obtain from the intendant of marine, +permission to embark for the Antilles. + +These two things were equally difficult of accomplishment; the +emigration of Protestants, which Louis XIV. wished to prevent, made the +officers of the ports extremely severe, and the voyage to Martinique +cost no less than eight or nine hundred livres. In all his life the +adventurer had never been possessed of a tithe of this amount. Arriving +at Rochelle with ten crowns in his pocket, dressed in a smock frock and +carrying his clothing on the end of his scabbard, the chevalier went, +like a journeyman, to lodge at a poor tavern, ordinarily frequented by +sailors. + +There he inquired as to outgoing vessels, and learned that the Unicorn +would set sail in a few days. Two of the crew of this vessel frequented +the tavern which the chevalier had selected for the center of his +operations. It would take too long to tell by what prodigies of +astuteness and address; by what impudent and fabulous lies; by what mad +promises Croustillac succeeded in interesting in his behalf the master +cooper charged with the stowage of the casks of fresh water in the hold; +it is enough to know that this man consented to hide Croustillac in an +empty cask and to carry him on board the Unicorn. + +According to custom, the intendant's assistants and the admiralty clerks +carefully examined the vessel at the moment of its departure, in order +to see that no one had fraudulently embarked. The chevalier kept quiet +at the bottom of his cask and escaped the careful search of the king's +servants. His heart bounded freely when he felt the vessel under way; he +waited some hours before daring to show himself, knowing well that, once +on the high seas, the captain of the Unicorn would not return to port to +bring back a contraband passenger. + +It had been arranged between the master cooper and the chevalier that +the latter should never disclose the means whereby he had been smuggled +on board. + +A man less impudent than our adventurer would have timidly kept his +place among the sailors, waiting with uneasiness the moment when +Captain Daniel should discover the stowaway. Croustillac, on the +contrary, went boldly to his end; preferring the captain's table to the +mess of the crew, he was not a moment in doubt that he would be seated +at that table--if not rightfully, at least in fact. + +We have seen how his audacity served his purpose. + +Such was the unexpected visitor at whom the guests of the Unicorn looked +curiously. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BLUE BEARD. + + +"Now, sir, explain how you came here!" cried the captain of the Unicorn, +too impatient to learn the Gascon's secret to send him from the table. + +The Chevalier de Croustillac poured out a large glass of wine, stood up, +and said in a loud tone, "I will first propose to the illustrious +company to drink the health of one who is dear to us all--that of our +glorious king, that of Louis the Great, the most adored of princes!" + +In that troublous time, it would have been unwise and even dangerous for +the captain to receive the chevalier's proposition with coolness. +Captain Daniel and the passengers following his example, responding to +the toast, repeated in chorus, "To the king's health! to the health of +Louis the Great!" One person alone remained silent; this was the +chevalier's neighbor. Croustillac looked at him frowningly. + +"By the gods, sir, are you not one of us?" said he; "are you, then, an +enemy of our beloved king?" + +"Not at all, sir; not at all. I love and venerate this great king, but +how can I drink. You have taken my glass," replied the passenger +timidly. + +"What! gods! Is it for such a trifle as this that you expose yourself to +passing for a bad Frenchman?" exclaimed the chevalier, shrugging his +shoulders. "Are there not enough glasses here? Waiter! bring this +gentleman a glass. My dear friend, good luck. Now stand and let us say, +'To the king's health--our great king!'" + +After this toast all reseated themselves. The chevalier profited by the +confusion to give a napkin and plate to his neighbor. Then, uncovering a +dish placed before him, he said boldly to Father Griffen, "Father, may I +offer you some of this potted pigeon?" + +"Zounds, sir," cried the captain, struck by the liberties taken by the +chevalier, "you put yourself very much at your ease." + +The adventurer interrupted the captain and said to him with a solemn +air, "Captain, I know how to render to each what is due. The clergy is +the first order of the state; I conduct myself then as a Christian in +serving at once this reverend father. I shall do more--I shall seize +this occasion to render homage, in his respectable and holy person, to +the evangelical virtues which distinguish and always will distinguish +our church." + +So saying, the chevalier served Father Griffen. From this moment it +became very difficult for the captain to oust the adventurer. He had not +refused the chevalier's toast, nor prevented him from doing the honors +of the table. Meanwhile he continued to question him. "Come, sir, you +are a gentleman, so be it! you are a good Christian, you love the king +as we all love him--this is very well, but tell me, how the devil came +you here to eat supper with us?" + +"Father," said the chevalier, "I call upon you to bear witness, in the +presence of this honorable company----" + +"To bear witness to what, my son?" replied the priest. + +"To bear witness to what the captain has said." + +"How? What have I said," exclaimed the captain. + +"Captain, you have said, you will remember, in the presence of this +company, that I am a gentleman." + +"I have said so, no doubt, but----" + +"That I am a good Christian." + +"Yes, but----" + +"That I love the king." + +"Yes, because----" + +"Very well," replied the chevalier. "I again call this illustrious +company to bear witness that when one is a good Christian, when one is a +gentleman, when one loves his king, what more can be asked? Father, +shall I help you to some of this roast?" + +"I will take some, my son, for my seasickness takes the form of a robust +appetite; once on shipboard, my hunger redoubles." + +"I am delighted, Father, at this similarity in constitution. I, too, +have a ravenous appetite." + +"Very well, my son; as our good captain has given you the means +wherewith to satisfy your appetite, I would say, to make use of your own +words, that it is just because you _are_ a gentleman, a good Christian, +and well-disposed toward our beloved sovereign, that you ought to answer +the questions of Captain Daniel as to your extraordinary appearance on +board his ship." + +"Unhappily, that is just what I cannot do, Father." + +"How? cannot do?" cried the irritated captain. + +The chevalier assumed a solemn air, and replied, as he turned toward the +priest, "This reverend father can alone hear my confession and my vows; +this secret is not mine alone; this secret is grave, very grave," he +added, raising his eyes in contrition to heaven. + +"And I--I can force you to speak," cried the captain, "when I cause a +cannon ball to be tied to each of your feet and ride you on a rail until +you disclose the truth." + +"Captain," answered the chevalier, with imperturbable calm, "I never +permit any one to threaten me. The motion of an eyelid, a sneer, a +gesture, a nothing, which seems insulting--but you are king on your own +ship, and therefore I am in your kingdom and recognize myself to be your +subject. You have admitted me to your table--I shall continue to be +worthy of this favor always--but there is no reason to arbitrarily +inflict upon me such bad treatment. Nevertheless, I shall know how to +resign myself to it, to support it, unless this good priest, the refuge +of the feeble against the strong, deigns to intercede with you in my +behalf," replied the chevalier humbly. + +The captain was very much embarrassed, for Father Griffen did not +hesitate to speak a few words in behalf of the adventurer who had so +suddenly sought his protection, and who had promised to reveal, under +the seal of the confessional, the secret of his presence on the Unicorn. +The anger of the captain was somewhat appeased; the chevalier, at first +flattering, insinuating, became jovial and comical; for the amusement of +the passengers he performed all kinds of tricks; he balanced knives on +his nose; he built up a pyramid of glasses and bottles with wonderful +ingenuity; he sang new songs; he imitated the cries of various animals. +In fact, Croustillac knew so well how to amuse the captain of the +Unicorn, who was not very hard to please, that when supper was concluded +the latter clapped the Gascon on the shoulder, saying: + +"After all, chevalier, you are here on board, there is no way to undo +that. You are good company, and there will always be a plate for you at +my table, and we will manage to find some corner in which to swing a +hammock for you." + +The chevalier overwhelmed the captain with thanks and protestations of +gratitude, and betook himself quickly to the place assigned to him, and +soon was profoundly sleeping, perfectly satisfied as to his well-being +during the voyage, although a little humiliated from having had to +suffer the captain's threats, and from having had to descend to tricks +to win the good will of one whom he mentally designated a brute and a +seabear. + +The chevalier saw in the colonies a veritable Eldorado. He had heard of +the magnificent hospitality of the colonists, who were only too happy, +he had been told, to keep the Europeans who came to see them as guests, +for months, and he drew this very simple deduction: there are about +fifty or sixty rich plantations at Martinique and Guadeloupe; their +proprietors, bored to death, are delighted to keep with them men of wit; +of gay humor, and of resources. I am essentially one of these; I have +only, then, to appear to be petted, feted, spoiled; admitting that I +spend six months at each plantation, one after another--there are fully +in the neighborhood of sixty--this will give me from twenty-five to +thirty years of enjoyment and perfectly assured comfortable existence, +and I count only on the least favorable chances. I am in the full +maturity of my gifts; I am amiable, witty, I have all kinds of society +talents; how can one believe that the rich owners of these colonies, +will be so blind, so stupid, as not to profit by the occasion and secure +to themselves in this way the most charming husband that a young girl or +a fascinating widow has ever pictured in sleepless nights. + +Such were the hopes of the chevalier; we shall see if they were +realized. + +The following morning Croustillac kept his promise and made his +confession to Father Griffen. + +Although sincere enough, the avowal revealed nothing new as to the +position of the penitent, which he had very nearly divined. This was, in +effect the chevalier's confession: He had dissipated his fortune; killed +a man in a duel; pursued by justice and finding himself without +resources, he had adopted the dangerous part of going to the West Indies +to seek his fortune; not having the means of paying for his passage, he +had had recourse to the compassion of a cooper, who had carried him on +board and hidden him in an empty cask. + +This apparent sincerity caused Father Griffen to look upon the +adventurer with leniency; but he did not hide from the Gascon that any +hope of finding a fortune in the colonies was an error; he must bring +quite an amount of capital with him to obtain even the smallest +establishment; the climate was deadly; the inhabitants, as a general +thing, were suspicious of strangers, and all the traditions of generous +hospitality of the first colonists completely forgotten, as much through +the egotism of the inhabitants as because of the discomforts following a +war with England--which had gravely affected their interests. In a word, +Father Griffen counseled the chevalier to accept the offer which the +captain made, of taking him back to Rochelle after having touched at +Martinique. In the priest's opinion, Croustillac could find a thousand +resources in France, which he could not hope to find in a half-civilized +country; the condition of the Europeans being such in the colonies that +never, in consideration of their dignity as whites, could they perform +menial employment. Father Griffen was ignorant of the fact that the +chevalier had exhausted the resources of France, and therefore had +expatriated himself. Under certain circumstances, no one was more easily +hoodwinked than the good priest; his pity for the unhappy blinding his +usual penetration. The past life of the chevalier did not appear to have +been one of immaculate purity; but this man was so careless in his +distress, so indifferent to the future which menaced him, that Father +Griffen ended by taking more interest in the adventurer than he +merited, and he proposed that the latter should stay in his parsonage at +Macouba, while the Unicorn remained at Martinique; an invitation that +Croustillac took care not to refuse. + +Time went on. Captain Daniel was never tired of praising the wonderful +talents of the chevalier, in whom he discovered new treasures of +sleight-of-hand each day. Croustillac had finished by putting into his +mouth the ends of burning candles, and by swallowing forks. This last +feat had carried the captain beyond bounds of enthusiasm; he formally +offered the Gascon a situation for life on board ship if the chevalier +would promise to charm thus agreeably the tedium of the voyages of the +Unicorn. + +We would say here, in order to explain the success of Croustillac, that +at sea the hours seem very long; the slightest distractions are +precious, and one is very glad to have always at one's beck and call a +species of buffoon endowed with imperturbable good humor. As to the +chevalier, he hid under a laughing and careless mask, a sad +preoccupation; the end of his journey drew near; the words of Father +Griffen had been too sensible, too sincere, too just not to strongly +impress our adventurer, who had counted upon passing a joyous life at +the expense of the colonists. The coldness with which many of the +passengers, returning to Martinique, treated him, completed the ruin of +his hopes. In spite of the talents which he developed and which amused +them, none of these colonists made the slightest advance to the +chevalier, although he repeatedly declared he would be delighted to make +a long exploration into the interior of the island. + +The end of the voyage came; the last illusions of Croustillac were +destroyed; he saw himself reduced to the deplorable alternative of +forever traversing the ocean with Captain Daniel, or of returning to +France to encounter the rigors of the law. Chance suddenly offered to +the chevalier the most dazzling mirage, and awakened in him the maddest +hopes. + +The Unicorn was not more than two hundred leagues from Martinique when +they met a French trading vessel coming from that island and sailing +for France. This vessel lay to and sent a boat to the Unicorn for news +from Europe. In the colonies all was well for some weeks past; not a +single English man-of-war had been seen. After exchanging other news, +the two vessels separated. + +"For a vessel of such value (the passengers had estimated her worth at +about four hundred thousand francs) she is not very well armed," said +the chevalier, "and would be a good prize for the English." + +"Bah!" returned a passenger with an envious air, "Blue Beard can afford +to lose such a vessel as that." + +"Yes, truly; there would still remain enough money to buy and arm +others." + +"Twenty such, if she desired," said the captain. + +"Oh, twenty, that is a good many," said another. + +"Faith, without counting her magnificent plantation at Anse aux Sables, +and her mysterious house at Devil's Cliff," returned a third, "do they +not say she has five or six millions of gold and precious stones hidden +somewhere?" + +"Ah, there it is! hidden no one knows where!" exclaimed Captain Daniel; +"but one thing sure, she _has_ them, for I have it from old father +'Wide-awake,' who had once seen Blue Beard's first husband at Devil's +Cliff (which husband, they say, was young and handsome as an angel). I +have it from Wide-awake that Blue Beard on this day amused herself by +measuring in a bowl, diamonds, pearls and emeralds; now, all these +riches are still in her possession, without counting that her third and +last husband, as they say, was very rich, and that all his fortune was +in gold dust." + +"People say she is so avaricious that she expends for herself and +household only ten thousand francs a year," continued a passenger. + +"As to that, it is not certain," said Captain Daniel; "no one knows how +she lives, because she is a stranger in the colony, and not four persons +have ever put their feet inside Devil's Cliff." + +"Truly; and lucky it is so; I am not the one who would have the +curiosity to go there," said another; "Devil's Cliff does not enjoy a +very good reputation; they do say that strange things take place there." + +"It is certain that it has been struck by lightning three times." + +"That does not surprise me; and strange cries, they say, are heard round +the house." + +"It is said that it is built like a fortress, inaccessible, among the +rocks of the Cabesterre." + +"That is natural if Blue Beard has so great a treasure to guard." + +Croustillac heard this conversation with great curiosity. These +treasures, these diamonds, were pictured in his imagination. + +"Of whom do you speak, gentlemen?" he said. + +"We are speaking of Blue Beard." + +"Who is this Blue Beard?" + +"Blue Beard? Well, it is--Blue Beard." + +"But is this a man or a woman?" said the chevalier. + +"Blue Beard?" + +"Yes, yes," said Croustillac impatiently. + +"'Tis a woman." + +"How, a woman? and why, then, call her Blue Beard?" + +"Because she gets rid of her husbands as easily as Blue Beard of the old +story got rid of his wives." + +"And she is a widow? She is a widow! Oh," cried the chevalier, clapping +his hands while his heart beat rapidly, "a widow! rich beyond belief; +rich enough to make one dizzy only to try to estimate her wealth--a +widow!" + +"A widow; so much of a widow that she is such for a third time in three +years," said the captain. + +"And is she as rich as they say?" + +"Yes, that is conceded; all the world knows it," replied the captain. + +"Worth millions; rich enough to fit out vessels worth four hundred +thousand livres; rich enough to have sacks of diamonds and emeralds and +fine pearls!" cried the Gascon, whose eyes sparkled and nostrils +dilated, while his hands clinched. + +"But I tell you that she is rich enough to buy Martinique and +Guadeloupe if she were so pleased," said the captain. + +"And old? very old?" asked the Gascon, uneasily. + +His informer looked at the other passengers with a questioning air. +"What age should you say Blue Beard was?" + +"Faith, I do not know," said one. + +"All I know," said another, "is that when I came to the colony two years +ago she had already had her second husband, and had a third in view, who +only lived a year." + +"As to her third husband, it is said that he is not dead, but has +disappeared," said a third. + +"He is certainly dead, however, because Blue Beard has been seen wearing +a widow's garb," said a passenger. + +"No doubt, no doubt," continued another; "the proof that he is dead is +that the parish priest of Macouba was instructed, in the absence of +Father Griffen, to say the mass for the dead, for him." + +"And it would not be surprising if he had been assassinated," said +another. + +"Assassinated? by his wife, no doubt?" said still another voice with an +emphasis that spoke little in favor of Blue Beard. + +"Not by his wife!" + +"Ah, ah, that is something new!" + +"Not by his wife? and by whom, then?" + +"By his enemies in the Barbadoes." + +"By the English colonists?" + +"Yes, by the English, because he was himself English." + +"Is it so, then, sir; the third husband is dead, really dead?" asked the +chevalier anxiously. + +"Oh, as to being dead--he is that," exclaimed several in chorus. + +Croustillac drew a long breath; a moment's thought, and his hopes +resumed their audacious flight. + +"But the age of Blue Beard?" he persisted. + +"Her age--as to that I can satisfy you; she must be anywhere from +twenty, yes, that is about it, from twenty to sixty years," said Captain +Daniel. + +"Then you have not seen her?" said the Gascon, impatient under this +raillery. + +"Seen her? I? And why the devil should you suppose I had seen Blue +Beard?" asked the captain. "Are you mad?" + +"Why?" + +"Listen, my friends," said the captain to his passengers; "he asks me if +I have seen Blue Beard." + +The passengers shrugged their shoulders. + +"But," continued Croustillac, "what is there astonishing in my +question?" + +"What is there astonishing?" said the captain. + +"Yes." + +"Hold; you come from Paris, do you not? and is Paris not much smaller +than Martinique?" + +"Without doubt." + +"Very well; have you seen the executioner at Paris?" + +"The executioner? No, but why such a question?" + +"Very well; once for all, understand that no one is any more curious to +see Blue Beard than to see the executioner, sir. Beside, the house in +which she lives is situated in the midst of the wilds of Devil's Cliff, +where one does not care to venture. Then an assassin is not an agreeable +companion, and Blue Beard has too bad associates." + +"Bad associates?" said the chevalier. + +"Yes, friends; friends of the heart; not to go into the matter any +further, it is a saying that it is not well to encounter them by night +on the plain; by night in the woods; or after sunset under the lee of +the island," said the captain. + +"'Whirlwind'--the filibuster first," said one of the passengers with an +affrighted air. + +"Or 'Rend the Soul'--the buccaneer of Marie-Galande," said another. + +"Or 'Youmaeale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," +continued a third. + +"What?" cried the chevalier, "does Blue Beard coquette at the same time +with a filibusterer, a buccaneer, and a cannibal? Bah! what a woman!" + +"So they say, sir." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ARRIVAL. + + +These singular revelations concerning the morals of Blue Beard made a +great impression upon the chevalier. After some moments of silence he +asked the captain, "Who is this man, this filibuster whom they term the +Whirlwind?" + +"A mulatto from San Domingo, they say," replied Captain Daniel, "one of +the most determined filibusters of the Antilles; he has dwelt in +Martinique for the past two years, in a solitary house, where he lives +now like an alderman." + +"And you think that this bully is favored by Blue Beard?" + +"They say that all the time that he does not pass at his own house, he +is at Devil's Cliff." + +"This proves at least that Blue Beard has never loved sentimental +swains!" said the chevalier. "Well, but the buccaneer?" + +"Faith," cried one of the passengers, "I do not know if I would not +rather have the Whirlwind for an enemy than the buccaneer +'Rend-your-soul!'" + +"Zounds! there is at least a name which holds possibilities," said +Croustillac. + +"And which fulfills them," said the passenger, "for him I have seen." + +"And is he so terrible?" + +"He is certainly as ferocious as the wild boars or the bulls which he +hunts. I will tell you about him. It is now about a year since I was +going to his ranch in the Great Tari, in the northern part of +Martinique, to purchase of him some skins of wild cattle. He was alone +with his pack of twenty hounds who looked as wicked and savage as +himself. When I arrived he was anointing his face with palm oil, for +there was not a portion of it that was not blue, yellow, violet or +purple." + +"I have had these irridescent shades from a blow on the eye, but----" + +"Exactly, sir. I asked him what had caused this, and this is what he +told me: 'My hounds, led by my assistant, had flung themselves upon a +two-year-old bull; he had passed me, and I had sent a ball into his +shoulder; he bounded into a thicket; the dogs followed. While I was +reloading, my assistant came up, fired, and missed the bull. My boy, +seeing himself disarmed, sought to cut at the bull's legs, but it gored +him and stamped him underfoot. Placed as I was, I could not fire at the +animal for fear of finishing my man. I took my large buccaneer's knife +and threw myself between them. I received a blow of its horn which +ripped up my thigh, a second broke this arm (showing me his left arm, +which was suspended in a sling); the bull continued to attack me; as +there remained but the right hand that was of any use, I watched my +opportunity, and at the instant when the animal lowered his head to rip +me up, I seized him by the horns and drew him within reach, and seized +his lip with my teeth, and would no more let go than an English bulldog, +while my dogs worried his sides.'" + +"But this man is a blockhead," said Croustillac, contemptuously. "If he +has no other means of pleasing--faith, I pity his mistress." + +"I have told you that he was a species of savage animal," replied the +narrator, "but to continue my story. 'Once wounded on the lips,' said +the buccaneer, 'a bull falls. At the end of five minutes, blinded by the +loss of blood (for my bullets had done their work), the bull fell on his +knees and rolled over; my dogs sprang upon him, seized him by the +throat, and finished him. The struggle had weakened me; I had lost a +great deal of blood; for the first time in my life I fainted just like a +girl. And what do you suppose my dogs had been at during my swoon? They +had amused themselves by devouring my servant! They were so sharp and +well-trained.' 'How,' said I to Rend-your-soul, terrified, 'because +your dogs have devoured your servant, does that prove that they are +well-trained?' I declare, sir," continued the passenger who had related +this story of the buccaneer to the Gascon, "I looked with considerable +alarm upon these ferocious animals who walked round and round me and +smelt at me in a manner far from reassuring." + +"The fact is, such customs as these are brutal," said Croustillac, "and +it would be a mistake to address such a man of the woods in the +beautiful language of gallantry. But what the devil can he indulge in in +the way of conversation with Blue Beard?" + +"God forbid I should act as eavesdropper," exclaimed the passenger. + +"When Rend-your-Soul has said to Blue Beard, 'I have seized a bull on +the lips, and my dogs have devoured my servants,'" replied the Gascon, +"the conversation would languish; and zounds! one cannot always be +feeding a man to the dogs in order to furnish entertainment." + +"In faith, one cannot tell," said a listener; "these men are capable of +anything." + +"But," said Croustillac, "such an animal can know nothing about small +courtesies; flowery language always takes the ladies." + +"No, certainly," replied the narrator, whom we suspect of a slight +exaggeration of the facts, "for he swears enough to sink the island; and +he has a voice like the bellowing of a bull." + +"That is easily accounted for; from frequenting their society he has +acquired their accent," said the chevalier; "but let us hear the end of +your story, I beg." + +"Here it is. I demanded then of the buccaneer how he dared assert that +dogs who would devour a man were well trained. 'Doubtless,' replied he, +'my dogs are trained never to insert a tooth in a bull when he is down, +for I sell the skins, and they must be intact. Once the bull is dead +these poor brutes, hungry though they be, have the sense to respect it, +and to await its being skinned. Now this morning their hunger was +infernal; my servant was half dead and covered with blood. He was very +inhuman toward them; they began, no doubt, by licking his wounds; then, +as it is said the appetite increases with what it is fed on, this made +the mouths of the poor brutes water. Finally, they did not leave a bone +of my servant. Had it not been for the bite of a serpent which nipped +sharply but which was not venomous, I might have remained in my swoon. I +recovered consciousness; I wrenched the snake from my right leg, round +which it had coiled itself, I took it by the tail, I whirled it like a +sling and I crushed its head on the trunk of a guava tree. I examined +myself; I had a thigh ripped open and an arm broken; I bound the wound +in my thigh with fresh leaves and secured them by a vine. As to my left +arm, it was broken between the elbow and the wrist. I cut three little +sticks and a long creeper and I tied it up like a roll of tobacco. Once +my wounds dressed, I sought for my servant, for I could not see him. I +called him, there was no answer. My dogs were crouched at my feet; they +appeared so innocent, the cunning creatures! and looked at me as they +wagged their tails as if nothing was wrong. Finally I arose, and what +should I see at twenty paces distance but the remains of my servant. I +recognized his powder-horn and the sheath of his knife. That was all +that remained of him, I tell you this to prove to you that my dogs are +very snappish and well-trained; for they will not injure a hair on the +bull's skin.'" + +"There, there! the buccaneer exceeds the filibuster," said Croustillac. +"I can only say that Blue Beard is greatly to be pitied for not having +had, up to this time, but an alternative of two such brutes." And the +Gascon continued compassionately, "It is very easy to understand, this +poor woman has not an idea of what constitutes a gentleman; when one has +all one's life fed on lard and beans, one cannot conceive of anything as +fine, as delicate as a pheasant or an ortolan. Zounds! I see it has been +reserved to me to enlighten Blue Beard on a variety of things, and to +discover to her a new world. As to the Caribbean, is he worthy of +figuring at the side of his ferocious rivals?" + +"Oh, as to the Caribbean," said one of the passengers, "I can speak from +knowledge. I made this winter in his canoe the journey from Anse aux +Sable to Marie-Galande. I was pressed to reach this latter place. The +Riviere des Saints had overflowed, and I was compelled to make a great +circuit in order to find a place which could be forded. At the moment +when I embarked, I saw at the prow of the boat of Youmaeale a kind of +brown figure. I drew near; what did I see? My God! the head and arms +dried to that of a mummy, forming the figurehead as an ornament for his +canoe! We started on our voyage, the Caribbean silent, like the savage +that he was, paddled without uttering a word. Arriving off the Caribbean +Island, where a Spanish brigantine had stranded some months previous, I +asked him, 'Is it not here that the Spanish vessel was wrecked?' The +Caribbean nodded an assent. It would be as well to say here that on +board this vessel was the reverend Father Simon of Foreign Missions. His +reputation for sanctity was such that it had reached even the +Caribbeans; the brigantine had been wrecked, passengers and cargo--at +least such was believed to be the case. I said then to the Caribbean, +'Is it there that Father Simon perished--you have heard of it?' He made +me another affirmative sign with his head, for these people never speak +an unnecessary word. 'He was an excellent man,' I continued. 'I have +eaten him,' replied this wretched idolater, with a kind of ferocious and +satisfied pride. + +"That was one method of enjoying a person," said Croustillac, "and of +sharing his qualities." + +"For a moment," replied the passenger, "I did not understand what this +horrible cannibal was saying, but when I had compelled him to explain +himself, I learned that in accordance with I know not what savage +ceremony, the missionary and two sailors who had escaped to a desert +island had been surprised by the cannibals and eaten at once! When I +reproached Youmaeale for this barbarous atrocity, saying that it was +frightful to have sacrificed these three unhappy Frenchmen to their +ferocity, he replied, sententiously, and in a tone of approbation, as if +he would prove to me that he understood the force of my arguments in +classing, if not to their value, at least according to the flavor of +three different nationalities. 'You are right: a Spaniard never, a +Frenchman often, an Englishman always!'" + +"This would prove that an Englishman is incomparably more delicate than +a Frenchman, and that a Spaniard is as tough as the devil," said +Croustillac; "but this gourmand will finish some day by devouring Blue +Beard when caressing her. If all this be true----" + +"It is true, sir." + +"It follows then positively that this young or old widow is not +insensible to the ferocious attractions of Rend-your-soul and of the +cannibal?" + +"Public opinion accuses her thus." + +"Are they often with her?" + +"All the time Whirlwind is not engaged in privateering, that +Rend-your-soul is not hunting, and Youmaeale is not in the woods, they +pass with Blue Beard." + +"Without becoming jealous of each other?" + +"It is said that Blue Beard is as despotic as the Sultan of Turkey, and +she forbids their being jealous." + +"Faith! what a seraglio she has! But listen, gentlemen: you know that I +am a Gascon; that they accuse us of exaggerating and you would +ridicule----" + +But Captain Daniel interposed, with a serious air, which could not be +feigned, "When we arrive at Martinique ask the first creole whom you +meet as to this Blue Beard; and may St. John, my patron saint, curse me +if you will not hear concerning Blue Beard and her three friends the +same thing." + +"And as to her immense wealth, will they also speak to me of that?" +asked the chevalier. + +"They will tell you that the plantation where Devil's Cliff is situated +is one of the most beautiful in the island, and that Blue Beard +possesses a counting house at Fort St. Pierre, and that this counting +house, managed by a man in her employ, sends out each year five or six +vessels like the one we have just passed." + +"I see how it is, then," said the chevalier in raillery. "Blue Beard is +a woman who is weary of riches and the pleasures of this world; in order +to distract her thoughts, she is capable of entertaining a buccaneer, a +filibuster, and even a cannibal, if her heart so dictates." + +"That it pleases her is evident in that she is never bored," replied the +captain. + +At this moment Father Griffen mounted to the deck. Croustillac said to +him, "Father, I have told these gentlemen that we are accused, we +Gascons, of telling fibs, but is what they say of Blue Beard the truth?" + +The face of Father Griffen, ordinarily placid and joyful, took on a +darker hue at once, and he replied gravely to the adventurer, "My son, +never breathe the name of this woman." + +"But, Father, is it true? She replaces her deceased husbands by a +filibuster, a buccaneer and a cannibal?" + +"Enough, enough, my son," returned the priest, "I pray you do not speak +of Devil's Cliff and what goes on there." + +"But, Father, is this woman as rich as they say?" pursued the Gascon, +whose eyes were snapping with covetousness; "has she such immense +treasures? Is she beautiful? Is she young?" + +"May heaven defend me from ascertaining!" + +"Is it true that her three husbands have been murdered by her, father? +If this be true, how is it that the law has not punished such crimes?" + +"There are crimes that may escape the justice of men, my son, but they +never escape the justice of God. I do not know, however, if this woman +is as culpable as they say, but still I say, do not speak of her, my +son, I implore you," said Father Griffen, whom this interview seemed to +affect most painfully. + +Suddenly the chevalier assumed a resolute attitude, pulled his hat down +over his forehead, caressed his mustache, balanced himself on his toes +like a barnyard fowl preparing for combat, and cried with an audacity of +which a Gascon alone is capable, "Gentlemen, tell me the day of the +month." + +"The 13th of July," replied the captain. + +"Well, gentlemen," continued our adventurer, "may I lose the name of De +Croustillac, may my coat of arms be forever smirched with disgrace, if +in one month from this very day, in spite of all the buccaneers, +filibusters or cannibals in Martinique or in the world, Blue Beard is +not the wife of Polypheme de Croustillac!" + +That evening when they went down to the saloon the adventurer was taken +aside by Father Griffen; he sought by every possible means to ascertain +if the Gascon knew more than he appeared to, concerning the surroundings +of Blue Beard. The extraordinary persistence with which Croustillac +occupied himself with her and the men about her had aroused the +suspicions of the good priest. After speaking at some length on the +subject with the chevalier, the priest was almost certain that +Croustillac had not spoken other than by presumption and vanity. + +"It matters not," said Father Griffen, "I'll not lose sight of this +adventurer; he has the appearance of an empty-headed fool, but traitors +know how to assume all guises. Alas!" continued he sadly, "this last +voyage imposes upon me great obligations toward those who dwell at +Devil's Cliff. Meantime, their secret is, so to speak, mine, but I have +done what I could; my conscience approves. May they long enjoy the +happiness they deserve, of escaping from the snares set for them. Ah! +what dangerous enemies kings are, and one often pays dearly for the +doubtful honor of being born on the steps of a throne. Alas!" went on +the priest with a profound sigh, "poor angelic woman, it rends my heart +to hear her thus spoken of, but it would be impolitic to defend her. +These rumors are the preservation of the noble creatures in whom I am so +deeply interested." + +After considering awhile Father Griffen said to himself, "I at first +took this adventurer to be a secret emissary from England, but I am +doubtless deceived. Nevertheless, I will watch this man. In fact, I will +offer him the hospitality of my house; thus his movements will not +escape me. In any case, I will warn my friends at Devil's Cliff to +redouble their prudence, for, I know not why, the presence of this +Gascon disturbs me." + +We will here hasten to inform the reader that the suspicions of Father +Griffen, so far as Croustillac was concerned, were without foundation. +The chevalier was nothing more than the poor devil of an adventurer +which we have shown him to be. The excellent opinion he held of himself +was the sole cause of his impertinent wager of espousing Blue Beard +before the end of the month. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE PRIEST'S HOUSE. + + +The Unicorn had anchored at Martinique three days. Father Griffen, +having some matters requiring his attention before his return to his +parish of Macouba, had not as yet quitted Fort St. Pierre. + +The Chevalier de Croustillac found himself landed in the colonies with +but very little money in his pocket. The captain and passengers had +considered the adventurer's declaration that before a month had passed +he would be the husband of Blue Beard, as an idle boast. Far from having +given up the idea, the chevalier persisted in it more and more since his +arrival in Martinique; he had carefully informed himself as to the +riches of Blue Beard, and was convinced that, if the life of this +strange woman was surrounded with the profoundest mystery, and she the +subject of the wildest exaggeration, it was at least true that she was +enormously wealthy. + +As to her face, age and origin, as no one had on this point as much +knowledge as Father Griffen, nothing could be affirmed. She was a +stranger in the colony. Her man of business had come in advance to the +island in order to purchase a magnificent estate and to build the +mansion at Devil's Cliff, situated in the northern and most inaccessible +and wildest portion of Martinique. At the end of several months it +became known that the new proprietor and his wife had arrived. One or +two of the colonists, impelled by their curiosity, had penetrated into +the solitude of Devil's Cliff; they were received with a royal +hospitality, but they did not see the owners of the place. Six months +after this visit, news was received of the death of the first husband, +which occurred during a short visit taken by the couple to Terre-Ferme. + +At the end of one year of absence and widowhood, Blue Beard returned to +Martinique with a second husband. It was said that this latter was +killed, accidentally, while taking a walk with his wife; his foot +slipped and he fell into one of those bottomless abysses which are so +common in the volcanic soil of the Antilles. Such was, at least, the +explanation that his wife gave concerning his mysterious death. + +No one knew anything positive concerning the third husband of Blue Beard +and his death. + +These three deaths, so close together, so mysterious, caused strange +stories to be circulated regarding this woman, and reached the ears of +the Governor of Martinique, who was then Chevalier de Crussol; he +started with an escort for Devil's Cliff; arriving at the foot of the +thickly-wooded ascent, on the summit of which towered the mansion, he +found a mulatto who gave him a letter. After reading this letter, the +governor showed great surprise, and ordering his escort to await his +return, he followed the slave, alone. + +At the expiration of four hours the governor returned with his guide, +and immediately retraced his steps to St. Pierre. Some of those who +formed his escort remarked that he was very pale and very much agitated. +From that moment until the day of his death, which occurred thirteen +months to the very day after his visit to Devil's Cliff, no one ever +heard him pronounce the name of Blue Beard. The governor made a long +confession to Father Griffen, who came to him from Macouba. It was +observed that in leaving the penitent, Father Griffen appeared to have +received a great shock. + +From that time the kind of fatal and mysterious reputation which had +attached itself to the name of Blue Beard increased day by day. +Superstition mingled with the terror which she inspired, until her name +was never mentioned without terror; it was firmly believed that she had +assassinated her three husbands, and that she had escaped punishment by +law only through the power of her wealth, thus purchasing the support of +the different governors who succeeded each other in turn. No one, then, +was tempted to trouble Blue Beard with visits to the wild and solitary +place in which she dwelt, above all since the cannibal, the buccaneer +and the privateer had come, as they said, to be companions or consolers +to the widow. + +Whether or not these men had ever legally rendered themselves liable for +any crime, it was asserted that they pursued with an implacable hatred +and vengeance all who attempted to come near Blue Beard. By reason of +being repeated and exaggerated, these threats bore their fruit. The +islanders care little to go, perhaps at the peril of their lives, to +penetrate into the mysteries of Devil's Cliff. It required the desperate +audacity of a Gascon in extremity, to attempt to surprise the secret of +Blue Beard and undertake to espouse her. Such was possibly the fixed +design of the Chevalier de Croustillac; he was not a man to renounce so +easily the hope, insane as it was, of marrying a woman worth millions; +beautiful or plain, young or old, it mattered little to him. + +As a means to success, he counted upon his good carriage, his spirit, +his amiability, and his manner, at the same time gallant and proud--for +the chevalier had an excellent opinion of himself--but he counted still +more on his wit, his cunning, and his courage. In fine, a man alert and +determined, who had nothing to lose and feared nothing, who believed +implicitly in himself and his star; who could say to himself as did +Croustillac, "In risking death during a moment--for death can be but a +moment's agony--I _may_ live in luxury and opulence"--such a man can +perform miracles above all when he undertakes a project with such a +grand object and as stimulating as that proposed by Croustillac. + +According to his resolve, Father Griffen, after he had brought to a +close the affairs which detained him at St. Pierre, invited the +chevalier to accompany him to Macouba, to remain there until the Unicorn +should sail again for France. Macouba being distant not more than four +or five leagues from Devil's Cliff, the chevalier, who had spent his +three crowns and who found himself without resources, accepted the offer +of the worthy priest, without further enlightening him as to his resolve +concerning Blue Beard; this he would not reveal until the moment arrived +to put it into execution. + +After taking leave of Captain Daniel, the chevalier and the priest +embarked in a small boat. Favored by a good wind from the south, they +set sail for Macouba. Croustillac appeared indifferent to the +magnificent and novel scenes which were afforded by the coast of +Martinique, seen from the water; the tropical vegetation whose verdure, +of a tone almost metallic, outlined on a glowing sky, affected him very +little. + +The adventurer, with his eyes fixed on the scintillating wake which the +boat left behind her, seemed to see flashing the living rays of Blue +Beard's diamonds; the little green herbs, standing in relief from the +submerged meadows which edged the winding shores, pictured to the Gascon +the emeralds of the widow; while some drops of water sparkled in the sun +in the fall of the oars made him dream of the sacks of pearls which the +terrible resident at Devil's Cliff possessed. + +Father Griffen was also deeply absorbed; after thinking of his friends +at Devil's Cliff, he turned his thoughts, with a mixture of disquietude +and joy, to his little flock at home, his garden, his poor and +unpretentious church, his house, his favorite horse, his dog, and his +two slaves who had always given him the most devoted service. And +then--shall we say it?--he thought of certain preserves which he had +made some days before his departure, and as to the condition of which he +was ignorant. + +In three hours our travelers arrived at Macouba. Father Griffen had not +long to wait; the canoe was moored in a little bay, not far from the +river which watered this section, one of the most fertile of Martinique. + +Father Griffen leaned upon the chevalier's arm. After having for a time +followed the shore where the high and powerful waves of the Caribbean +Sea rolled on, they reached the village of Macouba, composed of some +hundred houses built of wood and covered with roses and palms. + +The village was built on a semicircular plan which followed the outline +of the Bay of Macouba, a little port where many canoes and fishing boats +were built. The church was a long wooden edifice from the center of +which four beams arose, surmounted by a little belfry in which was hung +a bell; the church overlooked the village, and was in turn overshadowed +by immense cliffs, covered by rich vegetation, which made an +amphitheatre of living green. + +The sun was rapidly setting. The priest trod the only street that +crossed Macouba, and which led to the church. Some small negroes, +absolutely nude, were rolling in the dust; uttering loud cries; they +fled at the approach of the priest. A number of creole women, white or +of mixed blood, dressed in long robes of Indian and madras cloth, in +striking colors, ran to the doors; recognizing Father Griffen, they +testified to their surprise and joy; young and old hastened to +respectfully kiss his hand, and to say in creole, "Blessed is your +return, good Father; you have been missed in Macouba." Numbers of men +came out at once and surrounded Father Griffen, with the same tokens of +attachment and respect. + +While the priest talked with the villagers of the events which had taken +place at Macouba during his absence, and in turn gave them news of +France, the housewives, fearing that the good father would not find +sufficient provision at the parsonage, had retired to select, one a fine +fish, another a beautiful pullet; this one the quarter of a fine fat +buck, that one some fruits or vegetables, and a number of little negroes +were ordered to carry to the parsonage these voluntary tithes. + +The priest reached his house, situated on one side, at some distance +from the village, overlooking the sea. Nothing could be more simple than +this modest wooden house, covered with roses, and of one story. Curtains +of clear linen dressed the windows and took the place of blinds, which +were a great luxury in the colonies. + +A large room, comprising at the same time parlor and dining room, +communicated with the kitchen built at the rear; at the left of this +principal room were the bedroom of Father Griffen, and two other small +rooms opening into the garden and set apart for strangers or the other +priests of Martinique who might, at times, ask the hospitality of their +brother priest. + +A henhouse, a stable for the horse, lodgings for two negroes, and +several sheds, completed this establishment, furnished with a rustic +simplicity. The garden had been carefully laid out. Four broad paths +were divided by many beds bordered by thyme, lavender, wild thyme, +hyssop and other fragrant plants. The four principal beds were +subdivided into numerous little ones set apart for vegetables or fruits, +but surrounded by wide borders of fragrant flowers. Between two little +walls of verdure, covered with Arabian jasmine and odorous creepers, +could be seen, in the horizon, the sea and the hills of the other +islands. + +No fresher or more charming spot than this garden, in which the most +beautiful flowers mingled with fruits and magnificent vegetables, could +be found. Here a bed of melons, of an amber color, was bordered by dwarf +pomegranates, shaped like a small box and covered at the same time with +purple blossoms and fruit so heavy and so abundant that it touched the +earth. A little further on, a branch of Angola wood with its long, green +husks, and its blue flowers, was surrounded by a line of white and pink +almonds, sweet with perfume; the carrot plant, sorrel, gimgambo and +leek, were hidden in a fourfold rank of tuberoses of the richest tints; +finally, came a square of pineapples which perfumed the air, having a +row of magnificent cacti for a border, with yellow calix and long silver +pistils. Behind the house extended an orchard composed of cocoanuts, +bananas, guava, tamarind, and orange trees, whose branches were weighted +down to the earth with flowers and fruit. + +Father Griffen followed the paths of his garden with unspeakable +happiness, observing each flower, plant and tree. His two slaves +attended him; one was called Monsieur, the other Jean. These two good +creatures, weeping with joy at the sight of their master, could not +reply to his questions, so much affected were they, and could only say +one to the other, with hands raised to heaven, "God be praised--he is +here! he is here!" + +The chevalier, indifferent to the joy of the natives, followed the +priest mechanically; he was consumed with the desire to inquire of his +host if, through the woods which rose in an amphitheatre, one could see +the road to Devil's Cliff. + +After examining his garden, the good priest went out to inspect his +horse which he had named Grenadille, and his large English mastiff +called Snog; as soon as he opened the stable door Snog threw himself +upon his master and bounded around him. He not only jumped upon him but +barked with joy, with such evidence of affection that the negro, +Monsieur, was obliged to take the dog by his collar and could with +difficulty restrain him, while the priest caressed Grenadille, whose +glossy coat and well-covered ribs bore testimony to the good care of +Monsieur, who had charge of the stable. + +After this thorough visit through his little domain, Father Griffen +conducted the chevalier into the bedroom which he had intended for him. +A bed draped with a mosquito-netting under a linen canopy, a large +bureau of mahogany wood, and a table, was the furnishing of this room, +which opened upon the garden. Its only ornament was a crucifix suspended +from the center of the slightly roughened wainscot. + +"You will find here a poor and modest hospitality," said Father Griffen +to the chevalier, "but it is offered you with a good heart." + +"And I accept it with gratitude, Father," said Croustillac. + +At this moment Monsieur came to announce that supper was ready, and +Father Griffen led the way to the dining room. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +A large glass wherein burned a candle of yellow wax, lighted the table; +the dishes were placed on a table cloth of coarse but very white linen. +There was no silver; the steel knives, and spoons of maple wood, were of +great neatness. A bottle of blue glass contained about a pint of canary; +in a large pewter pot bubbled the _oagou_, a fermented beverage made +from the grain of sugar cane; a sealed earthen vessel held water, as +fresh as if it were iced. + +A fine dorado grilled in its scales (a Caribbean dish), a roasted +paroquet of the size of a pheasant, two dishes of sea crabs cooked in +the shell and served with sauce of the citron juice, and a salad of +green peas, had been symmetrically placed on the table by the negro +Jean, around a centerpiece composed of a large basket containing a +pyramid of fruit, which had at its base a European melon, a watermelon, +and at its summit a pineapple; there was a side dish of sliced +palm-cabbage dressed with vinegar, and little whitefish preserved in +spiced pickle, which would tempt the appetite of the guests or excite +their thirst. + +"You are treating me with royal magnificence, Father," said the +chevalier to the priest. "This island is the 'promised land,' surely." + +"With the exception of the canary wine, which was a gift, my son, all +this is the product of the garden which I cultivate, or the fishing and +hunting of my two slaves, for the offerings of my parish are +superfluous, thanks to the foresight of Monsieur and Jean, who were +advised of my arrival by a sailor at Fort St. Pierre. Help yourself to +this paroquet, my son," said the priest to the chevalier, who appeared +to find the fish very much to his taste. + +Croustillac hesitated a moment and looked at the priest in an uncertain +manner. "I do not know why, but it seems strange to eat a paroquet," +said the chevalier. + +"Try it, try it," responded the priest, and he placed a wing on his +plate. "Is a pheasant's flesh more plump or more golden? It is cooked to +a marvel; and then, did you ever smell anything more appetizing?" + +"I should say four spices are employed," said the chevalier, inhaling +the odor. + +"It is claimed that these birds are very fond of the berry of the Indian +trees which they find in the forest; these trees have at once the taste +of cinnamon, clove and pepper, and the flesh of the game partakes of the +scent of this aromatic tree. How this juice is flavored. Add a little of +the orange sugar, and then tell me if the Lord has not blessed his +creatures in bestowing such gifts upon them?" + +"In all my life I have never eaten anything more tender, more delicate +or more savory than this," replied the chevalier, with full mouth, and +half shutting his eyes in sensual enjoyment. + +"Is it not good?" said the good priest, who, knife and fork in hand, +looked at his guest with satisfied pride. + +The repast ended, Monsieur placed a pot of tobacco and pipes at the side +of the bottle of canary, and Father Griffen and Croustillac were then +left alone. + +After filling a glass of wine and passing it to the chevalier, the +priest said to him, "Your health, my son." + +"Thanks, father," said the chevalier, lifting his glass. "Drink also to +the health of my future bride; it will be a good omen for me." + +"How? your future bride?" replied the priest; "what do you mean?" + +"I allude to Blue Beard, father." + +"Ah--always jesting! Frankly, I believe the men of your province are +most inventive, my son," said Father Griffen, smiling mischievously, and +emptying his glass in small doses. + +"I never spoke more seriously, father. You heard the vow which I made on +board the Unicorn?" + +"Impossibility nullifies a vow, my son; because you should swear to +measure the ocean, would you engage to fulfill this oath?" + +"How, Father--is the heart of Blue Beard as bottomless as the ocean?" +gayly exclaimed the chevalier. + +"An English poet has said of woman, 'Perfidious as the waves,' my son." + +"However perfidious women may be, my worthy host," said the chevalier +with a self-sufficient air, "we men know how to disarm them, and I shall +exercise afresh that power in dealing with Blue Beard." + +"You will not attempt anything of the kind, my son; I am easy on that +point." + +"Allow me to say, father, that you deceive yourself. To-morrow, at +daybreak, I shall ask of you a guide to conduct me to Devil's Cliff, and +I shall confide the course of this adventure to my Star." + +The chevalier spoke with so serious an air that Father Griffen hastily +placed upon the table the glass which he was raising to his lips, and +regarded the chevalier with as much astonishment as distrust. Until then +he had really believed the matter to be only a pleasantry or idle boast. +"Are you sincere in this resolve? This is absolute madness, but----" + +"Excuse me, Father, for interrupting you," said the chevalier, "but you +see before you the younger son of my family, who has tempted every +fortune, wasted all his resources, and with whom nothing has succeeded. +Blue Beard is rich, very rich. I have everything to gain, nothing to +lose." + +"Nothing to lose?" + +"Life, perhaps, you will say. I make a good bargain; and then, barbarous +though this country may be, helpless as justice may prove, I do not +think that Blue Beard will dare treat me, on my arrival, as she treated +her three husbands; if so, you will know that I have fallen a victim; +you will demand an account of my death. I risk nothing more than seeing +my homage rejected. Ah! well, if such be the case, if she repulses me, I +shall continue to delight Captain Daniel during his trips by swallowing +lighted candles and balancing bottles on the end of my nose. Certainly +such an occupation is honorable and amusing, but I prefer another life. +So, then, no matter what you say, Father, I am resolved to attempt the +adventure and to go to Devil's Cliff. I cannot tell you what secret +presentiment tells me I shall succeed, that I am upon the eve of seeing +my destiny fulfill itself in a most wonderful manner. The future seems +tinted with rose and gold; I dream only of magnificent palaces, wealth, +and beauty; it seems to me (excuse the pagan comparison) that Love and +Fortune have come and taken me by the hands and are saying to me, +'Polypheme de Croustillac, happiness awaits thee.' You will say, +perhaps, Father," continued the chevalier, throwing a mocking glance at +his faded coat, "that I am poorly dressed to present myself in this +beautiful and brave company of fortune and happiness; but Blue Beard, +who must be intelligent, will comprehend at once that under this +outside, the heart of an Amadis, the spirit of a Gascon, and the courage +of a Caesar dwells." + +After a moment's silence the priest, instead of smiling at the +pleasantries of the chevalier, said to him in a tone that was most +solemn, "Is your resolve finally taken?" + +"Unwaveringly and absolutely taken, Father." + +"Hear me then; I heard the confessions of the Chevalier de Crussol, the +former governor of this island; he who, when the third husband of this +woman disappeared, went to Devil's Cliff." + +"Well, father?" + +"While I must respect the secrets of the confessional, I can, I must, +tell you that if you persist in your insane project, you expose yourself +to great and unavoidable peril. Without doubt, if you lose your life, +your death will not remain unpunished; but there will be no means of +preventing the fatal end upon which you would rush. Who obliges you to +go to Devil's Cliff? The resident of that place wishes to live in +solitude; the barriers of that abode are such that you cannot break them +down without violence; for in every country, and above all in this one, +he who trespasses upon the property of another exposes himself to grave +danger--danger the greater that all idea of a union with this widow is +impossible, even if you were of a princely house." + +These words hurt immeasurably the self-esteem of the Gascon, who +exclaimed, "Father, this woman is but a woman, and _I_ am Croustillac." + +"What do you say, my son?" + +"That this woman is free; that she has not seen me; that but one look, +one only, will change entirely her resolve." + +"I do not think it." + +"Reverend Father, I have the greatest, the blindest confidence in your +word; I know all its authority; but this concerns the fair sex, and you +cannot understand the heart of woman as _I_ understand it, you do not +know what inexplicable caprices they are capable of; you do not know +that what pleases them to-day displeases them to-morrow; and that they +wish for to-day, that which they disdained yesterday. With women, my +reverend sir, one must dare in order to succeed. If it were not for your +cloth, I would tell you some curious adventures and audacious +undertakings by which I have been recompensed amorously!" + +"My son!" + +"I understand your sensitiveness, Father, and to return to Blue Beard: +once in her presence, I shall treat her not only with effrontery, with +haughtiness, but as a victor--I dare say it, as a lion who comes proudly +to carry off his prey." + +These remarks of the chevalier were interrupted by an unforeseen +accident. It was very warm; the door of the dining room which looked on +the garden was half open. The chevalier, with back turned to this door, +was seated in an arm chair with a wooden back which was not very high. A +sharp hissing sound was heard and a quick blow vibrated in the middle of +the chevalier's chair. + +At this sound Father Griffen bounded from his chair, rushed and took his +gun down from a rack placed in his bedroom, and precipitated himself out +of doors, crying, "Jean! Monsieur! Take your guns! Follow me, my +children! follow me! The Caribbeans are upon us!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE WARNING. + + +All this took place so rapidly that the chevalier was dumfounded. "Get +up! get up!" cried the priest. "The Caribbeans! Look at the back of your +chair--get out of the light!" + +The chevalier rose quickly, and saw an arrow three feet in length fixed +in the back of his chair. Two inches higher and the chevalier would have +been pierced through the shoulders. Croustillac seized his sword, which +he had left on a chair, and hurried after the priest. + +Father Griffen, at the head of his two negroes, armed with their guns, +and preceded by his mastiff, sought for the enemy; unfortunately, the +door of the dining room opened upon a trellised orchard; the night was +dark; doubtless the person who had sped the arrow was already far away, +or well hidden in the top of some thick tree. + +Snog bounded hither and thither in the eagerness of his search. Father +Griffen recalled his two slaves who were too venturesome and would have +penetrated into the orchard. + +"Well, father, where are they?" said the chevalier, brandishing his +sword: "shall we charge upon them? A lantern--give me a lantern; we will +visit the orchard and the neighborhood of the house." + +"No, no, not a lantern, my son, it would serve to point us out to the +assailants if there are a number, and you would be too much exposed; you +would receive an arrow in you. Come, come," said the priest, lowering +his gun after some moments of attentive scrutiny; "it is but an alarm; +let us return and thank the Lord for the clumsiness of this cannibal, +for if he had not blundered, you would not be here, my son. What +astonishes me, and for which I thank God, is that you have escaped; a +native so bold as to make such an attempt should have a true eye and a +sure hand." + +"But what harm have you ever done these savages, Father?" + +"None! I have often been in their settlement at the Isle des Saintes, +and have always been properly received; thus I cannot understand the +object of this attack. But let us look at this arrow--I shall know from +the feather if it is a native arrow." + +"We must keep a good watch, to-night, Father, and to this end confide in +me," said the Gascon. "You see that it is not only in a love affair that +I have firmness." + +"I do not doubt you, my son, and I accept your offer. I will fasten the +windows securely against the assassins, and bar the door strongly. Snog +will act as picket. It will not be the first time this house has stood a +siege; a dozen English pirates attacked it two years ago, but with my +slaves and the aid of an official from Cabesterre, who was accidentally +at my house, we punished the heretics severely." + +So saying, Father Griffen entered the dining room, withdrawing with some +effort the iron-barbed arrow which stuck in the back of the chair, he +exclaimed with surprise, "There is a paper attached to the feather of +this arrow!" Then, unfolding it, he read these words, written in a large +and bold hand: "Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"To the Rev. Father Griffen, respect and affection." + +The priest looked at the chevalier without saying a word. He, in turn, +took the bit of paper and read it. + +"What does this mean?" he exclaimed. + +"It means that I have not been deceived in speaking of the sure aim of +the Caribbeans. The person who shot the arrow could have killed you had +he so willed. See! this arrow tip is poisoned, doubtless; it entered an +inch into the back of this chair of hard wood; if it had struck you, you +would be dead. What skill was displayed in thus guiding this arrow!" + +"Zounds, Father! I find it rather more marvelous that I am not touched," +said the Gascon. "But what the devil have I done to this savage?" + +Father Griffen struck his forehead with his hand. "When I have read you +this?" he exclaimed. + +"Read what, Father?" + +"Warning number one, to the Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Well?" + +"Well! this warning comes from Devil's Cliff." + +"You believe it to be so?" + +"I am sure of it. They have learned of your project and they desire to +force you to give it up." + +"How can they have learned it?" + +"You did not hide it on board the Unicorn. Some of the passengers, +disembarking three days ago at St. Pierre, have spoken of it; this rumor +has reached the counting house of Blue Beard and her business manager +has informed his employer." + +"I am forced to confess," replied the chevalier, after a moment's +reflection, "that Blue Beard has singular means of corresponding with +one. This is a queer little mail." + +"Ah, well, my son, I hope the lesson will profit you," said the priest. +Then he continued, addressing the two slaves who were carrying in the +blinds and were about to raise them into place, "It is unnecessary, my +children, I see there is nothing to fear." + +The slaves, accustomed to a blind obedience, took away the impromptu +defenses. + +The chevalier looked at the priest with astonishment. + +"Without doubt," said the good father, "the word of the dwellers at +Devil's Cliff is sacred; I have nothing at present to fear from them, +nor you either, my son, because you are warned, and you will necessarily +give up your mad plan." + +"I, Father?" + +"How----" + +"May I become blacker this moment than your two negroes if I renounce +it." + +"What do you say--after such a warning?" + +"Well, who is to tell me that this warning comes from Blue Beard? It may +come from a rival--from the buccaneer, the filibuster, or the cannibal. +For I have quite a selection among the gallant admirers of the beauty +of Devil's Cliff." + +"Ah, well, what does it signify----" + +"How? What does it signify, Father? But I intend to show these would-be +wits what the blood of a De Croustillac is! Ah! they think to intimidate +me! They do not know this sword which, look you, would move in its +scabbard! whose steel would blush with indignation if I were to renounce +my undertaking!" + +"My son, this is madness, sheer madness----" + +"And what a coward, what a sheep, would the Chevalier de Croustillac +appear in the eyes of Blue Beard if he were so pusillanimous as to be +daunted by so little!" + +"By so little! but two inches higher and you would have been killed!" + +"But as it was two inches lower, and I was _not_ killed, I will +consecrate my life to taming the willful heart of Blue Beard and to +vanquishing my rivals, be they ten, twenty, thirty, one hundred or ten +thousand," replied the Gascon, with growing enthusiasm. + +"But if this act was the order of the mistress of Devil's Cliff?" + +"If it was done by her order, she shall see, the cruel one, that I will +brave the death to which she would send me, in order to reach her heart. +She is a woman; she will appreciate such valor. I do not know if she is +a Venus but I know that without wronging the god Mars I Polypheme Amador +de Croustillac am terribly martial; and from beauty to courage there is +but a step." + +One must imagine the exaggeration and Gascon accent of the chevalier to +have an idea of this scene. + +Father Griffen hardly knew whether to laugh or to be appalled at the +opinionated resolve of the chevalier. The secret of the confessional +forbade his speaking, from entering into any details concerning Devil's +Cliff; he knew not how to induce the chevalier to renounce his fatal +intention. He had endeavored to do so, but in vain. + +"If nothing can withhold you, my son, it cannot be said that I have +been, even indirectly, an accomplice in your mad enterprise. You are +ignorant of the position of Devil's Cliff; neither myself, nor my +slaves, nor, I assure you, any of my parishioners will be your guide. I +have instructed them to refuse. Beside the reputation of Blue Beard is +such that no one would care to infringe my orders." + +This declaration of the priest's seemed to make the chevalier reflect. +He bent his head in silence then he began again resolutely: "I know that +Devil's Cliff is some four leagues from this spot; it is situated in the +northern part of the island. My heart will serve as a compass to guide +me to the lady of my thoughts, with the assistance of the sun and the +moon." + +"But, madman," cried the priest, "there is no path through the forests +which you would traverse; the trees are so thick that they would hide +from you the position of the sun--you would be lost." + +"I shall go right ahead; I shall arrive somewhere. Your island is not so +large (be it said without disparaging Martinique), Father; then I shall +retrace my steps, and I shall seek until I find Devil's Cliff." + +"But the soil of the forest is often impassable; it is infested with +serpents of the most dangerous species; I say to you that in what you +propose, you are courting a thousand deaths." + +"Ah, well, Father, 'nothing venture, nothing have.' If there are +serpents I will get upon stilts after the manner of the natives of my +country." + +"Going to walk on stilts in the midst of creepers, brambles, rocks, +trees overturned by storms? I tell you, you do not know our forests." + +"If one always considered the perils of an undertaking one would never +accomplish any good. Did you think of the deadly fevers when you tended +those of your parishioners who were attacked with it?" + +"But my object was a pious one; I risked death in the observance of my +duty; while you rush upon yours out of vanity." + +"Vanity, Father! A companion who has sacks filled with diamonds and fine +pearls, and probably five or six millions more in gold! Zounds! what a +'vanity!'" + +Having seen the futility of overcoming such unparalleled +opinionativeness, the good priest said no more. + +He conducted his guest to the room assigned to him, fully resolved to +put every difficulty possible in the way of the chevalier the next day. + +Inflexible in his resolve, Croustillac slept profoundly. A lively +curiosity had come to the aid of a natural obstinacy and an +imperturbable confidence in his destiny; the more this confidence had +been, till then, disappointed, the more our adventurer believed that the +promised hour was about to come to him. The following morning, at break +of day, he arose and went on tiptoe to the door of Father Griffen's +room. The priest still slept, not thinking for a moment that the +chevalier would dream of starting off on a journey through an unknown +country without a guide. He deceived himself. + +Croustillac, in order to escape the solicitation and reproaches of his +host, started at once. He girded on his formidable sword, a weapon very +inconvenient to travel with through a forest; he jammed his hat well +down on his head, took a staff in his hand with which to frighten the +serpents, and with firm tread and nose in the air, though with a heart +beating rather rapidly, he quitted the hospitable house of the priest of +Macouba, and directed his steps toward the north, for some time +following the extremely thick vegetation of the forest. He shortly +afterward made a circuit of this dense vegetation, which formed an angle +toward the east, and stretched indefinitely in that direction. + +From the moment that the chevalier entered the forest, he did not +hesitate in the slightest degree. He recalled the wise counsels of +Father Griffen; he thought of the dangers which he was going to +encounter; but he also invoked the thought of Blue Beard's treasures; he +was dazzled by the heaps of gold, pearls, rubies and diamonds which he +believed he saw sparkling and quivering before his eyes. He pictured to +himself the owner of Devil's Cliff, a being of perfect beauty. Led on by +this vision, he entered resolutely the forest, and pushed aside the +heavy screen of creepers which were suspended from the limbs of the +trees which they draped. + +The chevalier did not forget to beat the bushes with his staff, crying +out in a loud voice, "Out, ye serpents, out!" + +With the exception of the voice of the Gascon, there was not a sound. + +The sun rose; the air, freshened by the plenteous dew of the night, and +by the sea breeze, was impregnated with the aromatic odors of the +forest, and its tropical flowers. The rest was still plunged in the +shadow when the chevalier entered it. + +For some time the profound silence reigning in this imposing solitude +was only broken by the blows of the chevalier's staff on the bushes, and +by his repeated cries, "Out, ye serpents, out!" + +Little by little these sounds grew fainter and then ceased all at once. + +The gloomy and profound silence which reigned was suddenly broken in +upon by a kind of savage howl which had in it nothing human. This sound, +and the first rays of the sun trembling on the horizon, like a sheaf of +light, appeared to rouse the inhabitants of the great forest. They +responded one after another until the uproar became infernal. The +chattering of monkeys; the cry of wildcats; the hissing of serpents; the +grunts of wild boars; the bellowing of cattle, broke from every +direction with a frightful chorus; the echoes of the forest and the +cliffs repeated these discordant sounds; one would have supposed a band +of demons was responding to a superior demon's call. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CAVERN. + + +While the chevalier sought a road to Devil's Cliff by which to traverse +the forest, we will conduct our readers toward the most southern portion +of the coast of Martinique. + +The sea rolled with slow majesty at the foot of large rocks near a peak +which formed a natural defense to this part of the island, and which +rose in a perpendicular wall some two hundred feet in height. The +continued beating of the waves rendered this coast so dangerous that a +vessel could not touch at this place without being, inevitably, broken +to pieces. + +The site of which we speak had a wild and grand simplicity; a wall of +barren rocks, of a dull red, was outlined on a sky of sapphire blue; +their base was swallowed up in a whirl of snowy foam, hidden by the +incessant shock of enormous mountains of water which broke upon these +reefs in tones of thunder. The sun with all its strength threw a +brilliant, torrid light on this mass of granite; there was not a cloud +in the brazen heavens. On the horizon there appeared through a burning +vapor the high land of the other Antilles. + +At some distance from the coast, where the waves broke, the sea was of a +somber blue, and as calm as a mirror. An object scarcely perceptible, +because it offered little surface above the water, approached rapidly +the portion of this island called Cabesterre. + +Little by little, a long, light canoe was to be distinguished, whose +stern and bow cut the sea evenly; this vessel, without sails, was +impelled forward by the strength of the waves. On each seat was clearly +seen a man vigorously rowing. Whether or not the coast was as +unapproachable at three leagues as at this place, it was evident that +the canoe was directed toward these rocks. + +The object of those who were approaching seemed to be hard to +understand. Presently the canoe was caught in the midst of the surf +beating upon these reefs. Had it not been for the marvelous ability of +its pilot, who avoided these masses of water following the frail bark +and incessantly menacing it, she would very soon have been swallowed up. + +At two gunshots from the rocks, the canoe reversed and rested, and took +advantage of an interval in the succession of waves, at a moment of +calm, which occurred periodically after seven or eight waves had broken +into foam. + +The two men, who by their clothing were easily seen to be European +sailors, pressing their caps more securely on their heads, sprang +overboard and boldly struck out for the shore while their companions +turned at the edge of this calm, regained the open, and disappeared +after having braved anew the fury of the mountainous waves with +wonderful skill. + +During this time the two intrepid swimmers, by turn submerged or cast up +from the midst of the enormous waves which they adroitly traversed, +arrived at the foot of the rocks in the center of a sea of foam. They +appeared to be rushing upon certain death, and it looked as if they +would be dashed to pieces upon the reefs. Nothing of the sort occurred, +however. These two men seemed to perfectly understand the coast; they +directed their course toward a place where the violence of the waves had +hollowed out a natural grotto. + +The waves, engulphing themselves under this roof with a horrible din +fell back from it in a cataract into a smaller basin, hollow and deep. +After some heavy undulations, the waves grew feebler; in the center of a +gigantic cavern formed a little subterranean lake which, when full, +returned to the sea by some hidden channel. + +It required great temerity to so abandon themselves to the impulse of +these furious waves which precipitated them into the abyss; but this +momentary submersion was more frightful than dangerous; the mouth of +the cave was so large that there was no danger of being bruised by the +rocks, and the cloud of foam threw them into the midst of a peaceful +pond, surrounded by a fine, sandy beach. + +Sifting through the fall of water which bubbled at the entrance of this +enormous roof, the light was feeble, soft, and bluish like that of the +moon. + +The two swimmers, breathless, deafened and wounded by the shook of the +waves, emerged from the little lake and stretched themselves on the +sand, where they rested for some time. + +The larger of these two men, though he was dressed like a common sailor, +was Colonel Rutler, a stanch partisan of the new King of England, +William of Orange, under whose orders he had served when the son-in-law +of the unfortunate James II. was only a stadtholder of Holland. Colonel +Rutler was robust and tall; his face wore an expression of audacity, +bordering on cruelty; his hair, lying in close, damp meshes, was of a +deep red; his mustache of the same color hid a large mouth overshadowed +by a hooked nose, resembling the beak of a bird of prey. + +Rutler, a faithful and resolute man, served his master with blind +devotion. William of Orange had testified his confidence in him by +intrusting to him a mission as difficult as it was dangerous, the nature +of which we shall know later on. The sailor who accompanied the colonel +was slight but vigorous, active and determined. + +The colonel said to him in English, after a moment's silence, "Are you +sure, John, that there is a passage leading from here?" + +"The passage exists, colonel, be easy on that score." + +"But I do not perceive any----" + +"By and by, colonel, when your view shall have become accustomed to this +half light, like that of the moon, you will lay yourself down flat on +your stomach, and there, at the right, at the end of a long natural +passage in which one cannot advance except by crawling, you will +perceive the light of day which penetrates through a crevasse in the +rock." + +"If the road is sure, it certainly is not easy." + +"So far from easy, colonel, that I defy the captain of the brigantine +who brought you to the Barbadoes, with his great stomach, to enter the +passage which remains for us to travel. It is as much as I could do +heretofore to glide through; it is the size of the tunnel of a chimney." + +"And it leads?" + +"To the bottom of a precipice which forms a defense for Devil's Cliff; +three sides of this precipice are a peak, and it is as impossible to +descend as to ascend it; but as to the fourth side, it is not +inaccessible, and with the help of the jutting rocks one can reach by +this road the limits of the park of Blue Beard." + +"I understand--this subterranean passage will conduct us to the bottom +of the abyss above which towers Devil's Cliff?" + +"Exactly, colonel; it is as if we were at the bottom of a moat, one of +whose sides is perpendicular and the other sloping. When I say sloping, +that is simply a figure of speech, for in order to reach the summit of +the peak, one must more than once hang suspended by some vine between +heaven and earth. But when there, we find ourselves at the edge of the +park of Devil's Cliff--once there, we can hide ourselves in some place +and wait our opportunity----" + +"And this opportunity is not far distant; come, come, you, who know so +much, must, at one time, have been in the service of Blue Beard!" + +"I told you, colonel, I came from the coast with her and her first +husband; at the end of three months, they sent me back; then I left for +San Domingo. I have heard no further word of them." + +"And she--would you know her well?" + +"Yes, as to her height and general air, but not her face; for we reached +the coast at night, and once on shore she was carried in a litter to +Devil's Cliff. When by chance she walked in the daytime, she wore a +mask. Some say she is as beautiful as an angel; others, that she is ugly +as a monster. I cannot say which are in the right, for neither I nor my +mates ever put foot in the interior of the mansion. Those who perform +the special attendance and service are mulattresses as mute as fish." + +"And he?" + +"He is handsome, tall and slender, about thirty-six years old, brown, +with black hair and mustache, and has an aquiline nose." + +"It is certainly he," said the colonel, when John had thus described +him. "It is thus that he was always described; and it is not positively +known that he is dead?" + +"It is said he died on the voyage, but no one has ever really known." + +"And no one doubts that he died?" + +"Faith! no, colonel, because Blue Beard has been married twice since +then." + +"And have you seen these two husbands?" + +"No, colonel, for when I arrived from San Domingo, only eight days +since, you engaged me for this expedition, knowing that I could serve +you. You have promised me fifty guineas if I will introduce you into +this island, in spite of the French cruisers, which, since the war, do +not allow any vessels to approach the coast, which is accessible, be it +understood. Our canoe, however, was not interfered with, for, thanks to +the sharp rocks of Cabesterre, no one could conceive that we could land +on this coast of the island, and they have not watched that." + +"And then, beside, no one would suspect our presence on the island, +though, according to what you tell me, Blue Beard has a kind of police +who keep her informed of the arrival of all strangers." + +"At least, colonel, they say that the men who are so employed, at St. +Pierre and Fort Royal, were on the watch and that a stranger who landed +at Martinique did not escape their vigilance." + +"All that is for the best; you shall have your fifty guineas. But, once +more, you are very sure about this subterranean passage?" + +"Be easy as to that, colonel; I have passed through it, I tell you, with +a negro who was a pearl-fisher, and he it was who first took me through +it." + +"But you were obliged to climb the precipice in order to reach the park +of Devil's Cliff?" + +"Doubtless, colonel; since it was from curiosity to see this park, in +which no one was permitted to enter, that I accepted the pearl-fisher's +offer; being of the household, I knew Blue Beard and her husband were +absent; I was then sure that I could pass through the garden after +climbing the precipice; that was what we did, not without the risk of +breaking our necks, however, a thousand times, but what would you have? +I was dying with curiosity to see the interior of this place, which had +been forbidden. It was a perfect paradise. What was most amusing was the +surprise of the mulattress who guarded the entrance; when she saw us, +myself and the negro, she could not conceive how we had been able to +enter. We told her we had escaped her notice. She believed us; she put +us out as quickly as possible, and she committed suicide rather than be +punished by her employers." + +After a few minutes' silence the colonel said abruptly, "This is not +all; now there is no retreat, I must tell you everything." + +"What then, colonel?" + +"Once introduced into Devil's Cliff, we have a man to surprise and +overcome; whatever he does to defend himself, a hair of his head must +not be harmed, at least, unless he absolutely forces us to protect our +lives; then," continued the colonel, with a sinister smile, "then two +hundred guineas for you, whether we succeed or not." + +"A thousand devils! you have waited rather long to say this to me, +colonel. But, as the wine is drawn, it must be quaffed." + +"Come, I did not deceive myself, you are a brave man." + +"Ah, as to that, is the man whom you seek also strong and brave?" + +"Well," said Rutler, after some minutes of reflection, "consider a +little the first husband of the widow--a man tall and slender." + +"The devil! he was slender, 'tis true; a rod of steel is, also, slender, +but that does not prevent its being furiously strong. See here, colonel, +that man was made of iron. He was so strong that I have seen him take an +insolent negro by the middle and throw him ten feet from him, as if he +were an infant, though the black was larger and more robust than you. +So, colonel, if the man you seek resembles that one, we would be unwise +to bait him--as you say----" + +"Less than you believe. I will explain to you----" + +"And then," continued John, "if by chance the filibuster, the buccanneer +or the cannibal who they say frequently visit the widow, should also be +there, it would become somewhat embarrassing." + +"Hear me; after what you have told me is there at the end of the park a +tree where one could hide?" + +"Yes, colonel." + +"With the exception of the buccaneer, the filibuster or the cannibal no +one enters the private habitation of Blue Beard?" + +"No one colonel except the mulattresses who wait upon her." + +"And except also the man whom I seek, be it remembered; I have my +reasons for believing we shall find him there." + +"Well, colonel?" + +"Then nothing is simpler; we will hide ourselves in the thickest tree +until our man comes to our side." + +"That cannot fail to occur colonel because the park is not large and +when one walks in it he is forced to pass near a marble basin not very +far from the place where we shall be hidden." + +"If our man does not take a walk after night comes, we will wait until +he has gone to bed, and we will surprise him there." + +"This will be easy, colonel, unless he calls one of Blue Beard's +comforters to his succor." + +"Be easy about that; for with your assistance I can place my hand on him +and then though he were surrounded by a hundred men armed to the teeth +he is mine; I have a sure means of obliging him to obey me; this +concerns me. All that I require of you is to conduct me into the ambush +from which I can spring upon him suddenly." + +"This shall be done, colonel." + +"Then let us be going," said Rutler, rising from the ground. + +"At your orders, colonel; but instead of walking, we must creep. But let +us see," continued John, bending down, "if we can perceive the daylight. +Yes, it is there--but how distant it seems. Speaking of that, colonel, +if, since I came by this road, it should have been stopped up by a +landslide, we should cut, in such a case, a sorry figure! condemned to +remain here, and to die of hunger or to eat each other! Impossible to +get out by the gulf, seeing that one cannot remount a sheet of water as +a trout ascends a cascade." + +"That is true," said Rutler, "you appal me; happily, there is no +likelihood of this. You have the sack?" + +"Yes, colonel; the straps are strong and the skin impervious. We shall +find our knives, our pistols and our cartridges in it as dry as though +they came from an armory." + +"Then, John, let us be starting; go ahead," said the colonel. "We must +have time to dry our clothes." + +"That will not take long, colonel; once at the foot of the precipice we +shall be as in an oven; the sun shines full upon it." + +John lay down on his face and commenced to glide into the passage, so +small that he could scarcely enter. The darkness was profound; in the +distance only, one could distinguish a faint light. The colonel +followed, dragging himself over a damp and dirty soil. + +For some time the two Englishmen advanced in this manner, crawling on +their knees, on their hands, and on their stomachs, in total darkness. +All at once John paused suddenly and cried in a frightened voice, +"Colonel!" + +"What is it?" + +"Do you not notice a strong odor?" + +"Yes, a fetid odor." + +"Do not move; it is the serpent--'Fer de lance'--we are lost." + +"A serpent!" exclaimed the colonel, with horror. + +"We are dead. I dare not advance; the odor is growing stronger and +stronger," murmured John. + +"Be quiet--listen." + +In mortal terror the two men held their breath. All at once at some +little distance they heard a continuous, rapid sound, as if something +was beating the earth with a flail. The nauseating and penetrating odor +which exhales from these large serpents became stronger and stronger. +"The serpent is furious; it is his tail which is beating the earth +thus," said John in a feeble voice. "Colonel, let us commend our souls +to God!" + +"Let us cry out and terrify the serpent," said Rutler. + +"No, no, it would but precipitate itself at once upon us," replied John. + +The two men remained for some moments a prey to the most horrible +suspense. They could neither retreat nor change their position. Their +chests rested upon the earth; their backs touched the rocks. They dared +not make a movement of recoil for fear of drawing the reptile in pursuit +of them. The air, more and more impregnated by the infectious odor of +the serpent, became suffocating. + +"Can you not find a stone at hand in order to throw at it," said the +colonel in a low tone. + +Hardly had he said these words when John uttered the most piercing cries +and struggled violently, exclaiming, "Help! help! I die!" + +Paralyzed with terror, Rutler strove to turn about, but he struck +himself violently on the head against the side of the passage. Then, +retreating as rapidly as he could with the assistance of his knees and +hands, he sought flight by backing out, while John, in extremity with +the serpent, made the most terrible and pitiful cries of terror and +suffering. All at once these cries became fainter and inarticulate, as +if the sailor was strangling. In fact, the enraged serpent, after +having, in the obscurity, stung John in the hand, the throat and face, +attempted to introduce its flat and lance-like head into the open mouth +of the unfortunate man, and stung his lips and tongue; but this last +assault finished the sailor. + +The serpent, having satisfied his rage, withdrew his horrible fangs and +took to flight. The colonel felt a damp, icy body touch his cheek; he +remained motionless. The serpent glided rapidly along the side of the +subterranean passage and escaped. + +The danger past, the colonel remained some moments petrified with +terror; he heard the last struggle of John; his agony was short. Rutler +heard him make several convulsive shudders and that was all. His +companion was dead. Then Rutler advanced and seized the sailor's leg. +The leg was already cold and stiff; for the venom of the serpent works +rapidly. + +A new cause for fear assailed the colonel. The serpent, not finding an +egress in the cavern, might return the same way it had gone. Rutler +seemed already to hear a slight noise behind him. He could not proceed +in advance, because the body of the sailor completely blocked the +passage; flight by the rear was only to expose himself to an encounter +with the serpent. In his terror the colonel seized the corpse by the two +legs, to the end that he might drag it to the entrance of the +subterranean passage and thus clear the only outlet to the cavern. His +efforts were in vain. Whether his strength was paralyzed, he being in +such a cramped position, or whether the poison had already distended the +body, Rutler could not extricate it. + +Not wishing to think that this only and last chance for salvation was +taken from him, he found a means of detaching his belt and of fastening +it to the feet of the dead man; he took it between his teeth, and, +aiding himself by his two hands, pulled with all the energy of despair. +He could scarcely cause even the slightest movement of the corpse. His +terror increased; he sought his knife, in the mad idea of cutting up the +body of the sailor. He saw soon the uselessness of this attempt. + +The pistols and ammunition of the colonel were in the sack of skin swung +over the shoulders of the dead man. He set himself to work to remove the +sack from his companion; he did so after great difficulty. He then set +himself anew to retreat to the entrance of the passage. + +Once again in the cavern he felt faint, but the air revived him; he +plunged his head into the cold water and seated himself on the sand. He +had almost forgotten the serpent. A long hiss caused him to raise his +head; he saw the reptile balancing itself a few paces above him, half +coiled up on the rooks which formed the roof of the cavern. + +The colonel recovered his coolness at the sight of this danger; +remaining almost immovable, and using his hands only, he unfastened his +pouch and drew from it a pistol and cocked it. Happily the charge and +priming were intact. + +At the moment that the serpent, irritated by the movement of Rutler, +precipitated itself upon him, the latter aimed and fired. The serpent +fell at his feet with his head crushed. It was of a blue-black, spotted +with yellow, and some eight or nine feet in length. + +Delivered from this enemy, and encouraged by his success the colonel +made a final effort to clear out the only path by which he could pass. +He glided anew into the passage, but, in spite of his strength, his +efforts were in vain--he could not move the corpse of the sailor. + +Returning to the cave, he examined it in every direction but could find +no outlet. He could not hope for help outside; his shouts could not be +heard. At this terrible thought his eyes fell upon the serpent. Here was +a momentary resource; he knew that sometimes the famished negroes ate +this flesh, which, though repulsive, was not poisonous. + +Night came, and he found himself in profound darkness. The waves +murmured and broke at the entrance of the cave; the waterspout +precipitated itself with a crash into the lower basin. + +A new fear took possession of Rutler. He knew that the serpents went in +pairs and often rejoined each other at night; drawn by the tracks, the +male or female of the reptile which he had killed would come in search +of its mate. + +The colonel's vigil became frightful. The slightest sound made him +tremble, in spite of his courageous nature; he asked himself whether, in +case he came through this horrible situation by a miracle, he should +continue the enterprise he had commenced. At first he believed that he +saw, in this adventure, a warning from heaven; then he accused himself +of cowardice, and attributed his mad fears to the feeble condition in +which he found himself. + +Leaving the colonel in this difficult strait, we will transport our +reader to Devil's Cliff. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEVIL'S CLIFF. + + +The moon, brilliant and pure, shed a light almost as strong as the +European sun, and enabled one to distinguish perfectly the top of a very +high rock, and surrounded by woods on all sides of a dwelling built of +brick, and of peculiar architecture. + +One could reach it only by a narrow path, forming a spiral around this +species of cone. The path was bounded on one side by a mass of +perpendicular granite; on the other by a precipice of which in the broad +daylight one could not discover the bottom. + +This dangerous road terminated in a platform crossed by a brick wall, of +great thickness and edged with spikes. + +Back of this species of glacis arose the walls surrounding the dwelling, +into which one entered by a very low oak door. This door communicated +with a large, square court, occupied by the outbuildings and other +buildings. This court passed, one discovered a vaulted passageway +leading to the sanctuary; that is to say, to the pavilion occupied by +Blue Beard. None of the blacks or mulattoes who formed the large force +of servants of the house had ever passed the limits of this passageway. +The serving of Blue Beard was done through the intermediary of a number +of mulattresses, who alone communicated with their mistress. + +The house was built on a slope opposite the one by which access was had +from the cliff. This slope, much less steep, and laid out in a number of +natural terraces, was composed of five or six immense steps which, on +all sides, commanded the precipice. + +By a phenomenon frequent in these volcanic islands, a pond of about two +acres' circumference covered almost all the length of one of the upper +terraces. Its waters were limpid and pure. Blue Beard's residence was +separated from this small lake by a narrow path of smooth sand, shining +like silver. This house was of one story. At the first glance it seems +to be constructed entirely of trees from which the bark had been +removed. Its bamboo roof was steeply inclined and overlapped by some +five or six feet the outer wall, which rested upon the trunks of palm +trees driven into the ground, and formed a kind of gallery around the +house. + +A little above the level of the lake, in gentle declivity, was a lawn of +turf as fresh and green as that of the most beautiful English fields; +this was a rare thing at the Antilles, and was due to underground +irrigation which flowed from the lake and gave to this park a delightful +freshness. From this lawn, ornamented by baskets of tropical flowers, +opened a garden composed of large variegated shrubs, the slope of the +ground being such that one did not see their trunks, but only their +enameled tops of the freshest color; then, beyond these trees, on a +terrace lower still, was a large orange and citron grove covered with +fruit and flowers. In the daytime, seen thus from above, one would have +said it was a carpet of perfumed snow strewn with golden balls. At the +extreme horizon the slender stems of the banana and cocoanut trees, +formed a splendid retreat and overlooked the precipice at the bottom of +which was the subterranean passage of which we have spoken, and in which +Colonel Rutler was then imprisoned. + +Meantime, let us enter one of the most remote portions of this mansion. +There we will find a young woman of from twenty to twenty-three years; +but her features are so infantile, her figure is so tiny, her freshness +so youthful, she would easily pass for sixteen. Robed in a muslin gown +with flowing sleeves, she is reclining on a sofa covered with Indian +silk, brown in color, embroidered with golden flowers; she leans her +white forehead on one hand, half-hidden by a wilderness of loose curls +of reddish blond tint, for the young woman's hair is dressed _a la +Titus_, a profusion of silky curls falls on her neck, her snowy +shoulders, and frames her charming little face, rounded, firm and rosy +as that of a child. + +A large book, bound in red morocco, lies at the side of the divan on +which she is stretched, and is open before her. The young woman reads +attentively, by the light of three perfumed candles, which rest in a +little silver gilt candelabra, enriched by exquisite chasing. + +The eyelashes of the pretty reader are so long that they threw a slight +shadow on her cheeks, where are to be seen two charming dimples. Her +nose is of a rare delicacy; her mouth curved and crimson, and her +beautiful blue eyes large and expressive; her whole face presents a +ravishing expression of innocence and candor. From the edge of her +muslin gown appear two feet like Cinderella's, shod in white silk hose +and Moorish slippers of cherry satin embroidered with silver, which one +could hold in the palm of one's hand. The attitude of this young woman +leaves to the imagination an exquisite whole, in spite of her slight +figure. Thanks to the width of her sleeve, which has fallen back, one +can admire the ravishing outline of a rounded arm, polished like ivory, +and having at the elbow a charming dimple. Her hand which turns the +leaves of her book is worthy of such an arm; the nails, very long and of +the transparency of agate. The tips of the fingers shade to a deep rose +color, such as is imparted by the henna of the Orientals. + +The figure of this charming creature recalls the ideal Psyche, the +lovely realization of a beauty so fleeting that it passes with the first +flower of youth. Certain organizations retains their first youth a long +time, and as we have said, in spite of her twenty-three years, Blue +Beard is of the number of these privileged persons. + +For this is Blue Beard. We will no longer hide the name of the inmate of +Devil's Cliff from our readers, but will say she is called Angela. +Unfortunately, this celestial name, this candid face, contrasts +singularly with the diabolical reputation which this widow of three +husbands possesses; and who it is said has as many consolers as she has +had husbands. The course of this story will enable us to condemn or +vindicate Blue Beard. + +At a slight sound which she hears in the adjoining room, Angela lifts +her head suddenly, like a gazelle on the alert, and seats herself on the +edge of the sofa, throwing back her locks by a graceful movement. + +At the moment she rises, exclaiming, "It it he!" a man raises the +_portiere_ of the room. Not sooner does the iron fly to the magnet than +does Angela to the newcomer. She throws herself into his arms, and +twining them about him in a kind of tender fury, covered him with +caresses and passionate kisses, and joyfully cries, "My tender +friend--my dear James!" + +This first ebullition over, the newcomer takes Angela into his arms as +if she were a child, and carries his precious burden over to the sofa. +Then Angela, seated on his knee, takes one of his hands in hers, passes +her beautiful arm about his neck, draws his head to her, and looked at +him with eager delight. + +Alas! were the scandal-mongers right in suspecting Blue Beard's +morality? + +The man whom she receives with such familiar ardor is of the copper +color of a mulatto; he is tall and supple, active and robust; his noble +and fine features show nothing of the negro type; a profusion of jet +black curls frame his forehead; his eyes are large and of velvety +blackness; under his thin lips, red and moist, shine the most +beautifully enameled teeth. This beauty, at once charming and manly, +this appearance of strength and elegance, resembles the noble +proportions of an Indian Bacchus or of an Antinous. + +The mulatto's costume is such as certain filibusters then generally +adopt when on shore. He wears a waistcoat of rich maroon velvet, with +buttons of filigree gold; large Flemish boots of like material and +ornamented with the same style of button, which extend the length of the +thigh, being met by a belt of orange silk, in which is stuck a poignard +richly chased; and, finally, long leggings of white kid embroidered in +many colored silks after the Mexican style, show a leg of the finest +outline. + +Nothing could be more striking or pretty than the contrast between James +and Angela thus grouped. On the one hand, blond tresses, alabaster +tints, rosy cheeks, infantile grace and elegance; on the other, the +bronze tint, ebony locks, and manner at once assured and manly. + +Angela's white dress is outlined on the somber colors of James' +vestments; and thus the fine and supple figure of Blue Beard is +accentuated. + +Fixing her great blue eyes on the black eyes of the mulatto, the young +woman amuses herself by turning back the embroidered collar of James' +shirt, in order to admire the better his sunburned neck, which in color +and shape rivals the most beautiful Florentine bronze. + +After prolonging this unconventional performance, Angela gives the +mulatto a noisy kiss under his ear, takes his head between her two +hands, mischievously rumples up his black locks, gives him a little blow +on the cheek, and says, "That is how I love you, Monsieur Hurricane." + +A slight sound is heard behind the tapestry forming the _portiere_, and +Angela calls, "Is it you, Mirette? what do you wish?" + +"Madame, I am coming with the flowers and will arrange them in the +stand." + +"She hears us!" said Angela, making a mysterious signal to the mulatto; +then she amuses herself laughing madly at and rumpling her lover's hair. +He takes her little caprices with complaisance, and contemplates her +with love. Then he says, smilingly, + +"Child! because you look only sixteen, you think everything is permitted +you." Then he adds in a tone of gentle raillery, "and who would think, +seeing this little rosy, ingenuous face that I hold on my knees the most +notable scamp of the Antilles?" + +"And who would think that this man, who speaks in so sweet a voice, is +the ferocious Captain Hurricane, the terror of England and Spain?" cried +Angela, breaking into a laugh. The mulatto and the widow express +themselves in the purest French, and without the slightest foreign +accent. + +"What matters it," she cries, smilingly, "it is not _I_ whom they call +Blue Beard." + +At these words which appear to call up sad memories, the little widow, +with a coquettish pout, gave a hardly perceptible tap to the end of +Captain Hurricane's nose, indicating by a movement of her hand that in +the neighboring room one can hear him, and says with a mischievous air, +"That will teach you to speak of trespassing." + +"Fie! the monster!" says the captain, breaking into a laugh; "and what +of remorse, then, madame?" + +"Give me a kiss of remorse, then, and I shall----" + +"May Lucifer assist me! It takes a woman to be chief of criminals! Ah, +my dear, you are well named; you make me tremble! Suppose we have +supper." + +Angela touches a bell. The young mulattress who had overheard the above +conversation enters. She wears a dress of white linen with bright +stripes, and has silver rings on arms and ankles. + +"Mirette, have you arranged the flowers," said Blue Beard. + +"Yes, madame." + +"You have been listening?" + +"No, madame." + +"However, it does not matter; when I speak it is that I may be heard. +Make ready the supper, Mirette." + +Then, addressing herself to the captain, "What wine do you prefer?" + +"Sherry, but let it be iced; this is a notion of mine." + +Mirette goes out for a moment, and shortly reappears and begins to +prepare the table. + +"By the way, I forgot to tell you of a great event," says Blue Beard's +companion. + +"What then? has one of my deceased husbands returned to life?" + +"Faith, almost." + +"Now? Ah, Master James, Master James, no more of your wicked +pleasantries," cries Angela, with a frightened air. + +"No, it is not a dead man, a ghost, but a very living pretender who +demands your hand in marriage." + +"He wishes to marry me?" + +"He wishes to marry you." + +"Oh, the unhappy wretch! is he then weary of life?" cried Angela, +laughing. + +Mirette, at these words, makes the sign of the cross while +superintending the spreading of the board by two other mulattresses who +are carrying bottles of Bohemian glass, engraved with golden arabesques, +and plates of the most magnificent Japanese porcelain. + +Blue Beard continues, "This lover of mine is not a countryman, then?" + +"By no means! for in spite of your wealth, my dear, I defy you to find a +_fourth_ husband, thanks to your diabolical reputation." + +"Where does he come from, this would-be husband, my dear James?" + +"From France." + +"France! he comes from France to espouse me, the deuce!" + +"Angela, you know that I do not like to hear you swear," says the +mulatto, with pretended seriousness. + +"Pardon, Captain Hurricane," replies the young woman, dropping her eyes +with a hypocritical air. "I only meant to signify that I find your news +very astonishing. It appears that my reputation has reached Europe." + +"Do not be so vain, my dear. It was on board the Unicorn that this +worthy paladin heard you spoken of, and by the mere mention of your +riches he has become enamored, yes, madly enamored of you. This, I +trust, will take down your pride." + +"The impertinent fellow! and who is this man, James?" + +"The Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Who?" + +"The Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"This is the name of the pretender to my hand?" And Angela breaks into a +merry peal of laughter which nothing can arrest, and the mulatto finally +joins in her merriment. + +The two have scarcely subsided when Mirette enters preceded by two other +mulattresses who carry a table sumptuously set out in gilded dishes. The +two slaves place the table near the divan; the captain arises to take a +chair, while Angela, kneeling on the edge of the sofa, uncovers the +dishes one after another, and examines the table with the air of an +epicurean kitten. + +"Are you hungry, James? As for me, I am famished," says Angela. And as +if to prove without doubt this assertion, she opens her coral lips and +shows two rows of ravishing little pearly teeth which she clinches +twice. + +"Angela, my dear, you were certainly badly brought up," said the +captain, helping her to a portion of dorado, served with ham and an +appetizing sauce. + +"Captain Hurricane, if I receive you at my table, it is not that you may +scold," said Angela, making an almost imperceptible grimace to the +mulattress. Then she continues, attacking her fish bravely, and pecking +at her bread like a bird, "If he scolds me, Mirette, I will not receive +him again?" + +"No, mistress," said Mirette. + +"And I will give his place to Rend-your-soul, the buccaneer?" + +"Yes, mistress." + +"Or to Youmaeale, the cannibal?" + +"Yes, mistress." + +"You hear that, sir?" said Angela. + +"Never mind, my dear, I am not jealous, you know that; beauty is as the +sun, it shines for all the world." + +"Because you are not jealous, then, I will pardon you. Help yourself to +what is before you. What is that, Mirette?" + +"Madame, the roe of fish fried in pigeon's fat." + +"Which is not equal to the fat of quail," says the captain, "but it must +have the juice of a lemon while it is warm." + +"See what a glutton! Ah! but my future spouse, I had forgotten him. Pour +me some wine, Mirette." + +The filibuster, corsair as he is, forestalls the mulattress and pours +out some iced sherry for Angela. + +"It must be that I love you, to drink this, I who prefer the wines of +France." And Blue Beard drinks resolutely three drops of the sherry, +which puts fresh life into her lips and blue eyes and tinged her cheeks +a carmine hue. + +"But to return to my future spouse. How is he? Is he agreeable? Is he +worthy to join the others?" + +Mirette, in spite of her passive submission, cannot prevent a tremor in +hearing her mistress speak thus, although the poor slave must be +accustomed to these atrocious pleasantries, and doubtless many greater +enormities. + +"What ails you, Mirette?" + +"Nothing, mistress." + +"If you are unwell----" + +"No, mistress." + +"You would be sorry to see me marry again? I shall not do so for a long +time. Go, child." Then, addressing Captain Hurricane, "And the Chevalier +de--de--what did you say was his name?" + +"Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"Have you seen him?" + +"No; but knowing his plans and that he intends, at all hazards, and in +spite of the efforts of the good Father Griffen, to come here, I begged +Youmaeale, the cannibal," says the captain, looking at Angela in a +singular way, "to address a little warning in order to induce him to +renounce his projects." + +"And you did this without letting me know, sir? What if I do not wish to +rebuff him, this pretender; for, after all, this Croustillac is a +Gascon, and I never married a Gascon." + +"Oh, he is the most famous Gascon that has ever gasconaded on the earth; +with that, a figure indescribable and assurance unbounded; and as to the +rest, sufficient courage." + +"And Youmaeale's warning?" + +"Has accomplished nothing. It glided off the undaunted soul of this man +as a ball from the scales of a crocodile; he started out this morning +bravely, at break of day, to traverse the forest, with his pink silk +hose, his rapier at his side, and a staff to frighten the serpents. He +is still there, without doubt, at this hour, for the road to Devil's +Cliff is not known to all the world." + +"James, I have an idea!" cries the widow joyfully; "let him come here +and amuse us; that we may torment him. So, he is in love with my riches +and not myself! So, he would espouse me, this fine knight errant. We +will see as to that! Well? You do not laugh at my idea, James. What ails +you? But moreover, you know, sir, that I will not be thwarted; I will +make a feast for this Gascon. If he is not devoured by the wildcats or +killed by the serpents I will have him here to-morrow. You go to sea +to-morrow; tell the cannibal and Rend-your-soul to bring him to me." + +The captain, instead of joining in the gayety of Blue Beard, according +to his custom, is serious, pensive, and seems to reflect deeply. + +"James! James! do you not hear me?" cries Angela, impatiently, tapping +her foot. "I want this Gascon. I want him." + +The mulatto makes no reply; he draws with the forefinger of his right +hand a circle about his throat, and looks significantly at the young +woman. She understands this mysterious sign; her face all at once +expresses both sorrow and distress; she rises suddenly, runs to the +mulatto, falls on her knees before him and cries in a touching voice, +"You are right. My God! you are right! I am insane to entertain such a +thought. I understand you." + +"Rise, Angela, calm yourself," says the mulatto. "I do not know if this +man is to be feared, but he is a stranger, he may come from England or +France, and----" + +"I tell you I was mad! that I was jesting, my dear James! I forgot that +which I never ought to forget--it is frightful." + +The beautiful eyes of the young woman fill with tears; she bends her +head, and takes the hand of the mulatto, over which she weeps silently +for some minutes. + +Hurricane kisses tenderly the forehead and tresses of Angela, and says +gently, "I never wish to recall these cruel memories. I should have said +nothing to you, assured myself that there is no danger in bringing this +imbecile to you as a plaything, and then----" + +"James, my friend," cries Angela sadly, interrupting the mulatto, "my +love, what do you think then? for a childish caprice that I would expose +you, you whom I love most dearly in the world?" + +"There! there! be calm," replies the mulatto, lifting her up and seating +her near him; "do not be frightened; Father Griffen has informed himself +as to the Gascon, he is only ridiculous. In order to be more certain, I +will go to-morrow and speak with him at Macouba, and then I will tell +Rend-your-soul, who is fortunately hunting on the coast, to discover +this poor devil in the forest, where he has, no doubt, lost himself. If +he is dangerous," says the mulatto, making a sign to Angela (for the +slaves were still present awaiting the conclusion of supper), "the +buccaneer will relieve us of him and cure him of the desire to know you; +if not, as you never have any amusement here, he shall bring him to +you." + +"No, no, I do not wish it," says Angela. "All the thoughts which come to +me, now are of mortal sadness--my disquietude returns." + +Angela, seeing that the mulatto would not eat any more, arose; the +filibuster imitated her, and says, "Reassure yourself, my Angela, there +is nothing to fear. Come into the garden, the night is fine, the moon +magnificent. Tell Mirette to bring my lute; in order to make you forget +these painful thoughts I will sing you the Scotch ballads you love so." + +So saying, the mulatto passes one arm around the figure of Angela, and +clasping her thus, he descends the few steps leading to the garden. On +leaving the apartment Blue Beard says to her slave, "Mirette, bring the +lute into the garden, light the alabaster lamp in my bed-chamber. You +can go, I shall not need you again to-night. Do not forget to say to +Cora and to the other mulattresses that to-morrow begins their service." +Then she disappears, leaning on the arm of the mulatto. This last order +of Angela was occasioned by a habit she has had, since her last +widowhood, of alternating every three days the service of her women. + +Mirette carries a very beautiful ebony lute incrusted with gold and +mother of pearl, into the garden. After an interval of some moments, the +filibuster's voice is heard singing with infinite grace and pathos the +Scotch ballads which the chief of royalist clans always sang in +preference during the protectorate of Cromwell. The voice of the mulatto +is at once sweet, vibrant and melancholy. + +Mirette and the two slaves listen with delight during some moments. At +the last lines, the voice of the filibuster becomes moved, tears seem to +mingle in it--then the songs cease. + +Mirette enters Blue Beard's chamber in order to light the alabaster +lamp, which throws a soft and veiled light on the surrounding objects. +This room is splendidly furnished in Indian stuff with white ground +embroidered with flowers; a mosquito net of muslin, fine as a spider's +web, envelopes an immense bed of gilded wood with a headboard of +plate-glass, which appears thus in a slight mist. + +After executing the orders of her mistress, Mirette withdraws +discreetly, and says to the two slaves with a malicious smile, "Mirette +lights the lamp for the captain, Cora for the buccanneer, and Noun for +the Caribbean." + +The two slaves nod their heads with an intelligent air, and the three go +out, after carefully closing and locking the door which leads to the +outbuilding of this special domain of Blue Beard. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NIGHT. + + +We had left the chevalier when he had penetrated into the forest, which +was alive with the cries of all the animals which peopled it. For a +moment stunned by the tumult, the Gascon bravely pursued his course, +turning his steps ever toward the north, at least toward what he +believed to be so, thanks to his astronomical knowledge. As the priest +had foretold, he could not find any path through the forest; decayed +vegetation, tall shrubs, vines, trunks of trees, an inextricable +undergrowth, covered the ground; the trees were so thick that the air, +light and sun, penetrated with difficulty through this veil of foliage, +among which exhaled a warm moisture almost suffocating produced by the +fermentation of vegetable matter which to a great extent thickly covered +the earth. + +The heavy perfume of tropical flowers so saturated this suffocating +atmosphere that the chevalier experienced a kind of intoxication, of +faintness. He walked with a slower step, he felt his head become heavy, +exterior objects became indifferent to him. He no longer admired the +leafy colonades stretching out as far as the eye could see, into the +shadows of the forest. He cast a careless glance at the sparkling and +varied plumage of the parrots, birds of paradise and other birds +joyfully crying out and pursuing the golden-winged insects or snapping +in their beaks the aromatic woods of the Indies. The gambols of the +monkeys, balancing themselves on the garlands of passion vines, or +springing from tree to tree, did not even bring a smile to his lips. +Completely absorbed, he had strength only to contemplate the end of his +perilous journey. He thought only of Blue Beard and her treasures. + +After some hours' walk, he began to observe that his silk stockings were +inconvenient for traversing a forest. A large branch of thorny wood had +made a great hole in his coat; his breeches were not irreproachable by +any means; and more than once, feeling his long sword embarrass him by +catching in some plants which obstructed his path, he involuntarily +turned to chastise the importunate object which took the liberty of +interfering with his progress. + +Either by chance, or thanks to the frequent use of his staff, with which +he beat the bushes continually, the chevalier had the good fortune not +to encounter any serpents. Toward noon, worried and fatigued, he paused +in order to pick some bananas, and climbed a tree in order to breakfast +at his ease. To his joy and surprise he found that the leaves of this +tree, rolled into cornucopias, held clear water, fresh and delicious to +the taste; the chevalier drank several of those, put his remaining +bananas into his pocket, and continued his journey. + +According to his calculation, he must have traveled nearly four leagues, +and could not be very far from Devil's Cliff. Unhappily the chevalier's +calculation was not exact, at least, as to the direction in which he +believed himself to have gone; for he had estimated the distance +traversed correctly enough, but he was, at midday, a little further from +Devil's Cliff than he had been when he entered the forest. In order not +to lose sight of the sun (which he could with difficulty discern through +the treetops), he had necessarily been obliged to lift his eyes +frequently to the heavens. Now, the road was almost impenetrable, and he +was also obliged to be on the watch for serpents; thus, divided between +the sky and the earth, the attention of the chevalier went somewhat +astray. However, as it was impossible to believe that he could a second +time be deceived in his calculations, he took fresh courage, certain of +reaching the end of his journey. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon he commenced to suspect that +Devil's Cliff receded in proportion to his approach. Croustillac became +harassed; but the fear of passing the night in the forest spurred him +on; by means of walking forward steadily he finally reached a kind of +indentation between two large rocks. The chevalier drew his breath, +expanding his lungs. + +"Faith!" cried he, removing his hat and fanning himself with it, "I am +then at Devil's Cliff. I seem to recognize it, though I have never seen +it. I cannot, however, lose myself. I have love for a compass; one can +follow this in the antipodes without deviating a hair's breadth. It is +very simple; my heart turns toward wealth and beauty, as the needle to +the pole! for if Blue Beard is rich, she must be beautiful; and, +further, a woman who can rid herself so quickly of three husbands must +love change. I shall prove a new fruit to her--and what a fruit! After +all, the three men who are dead got what they deserved, because they +were in my path. What assures me of the physique of Blue Beard is that +only a very pretty woman could permit herself such irregularities, such +methods--a little offhand to be sure--of breaking the conjugal chain. +Zounds! I shall see her, please her, seduce her. Poor woman! She does +not dream that her conqueror is at hand! If--if--I wager that her little +heart beats strongly this very moment. She feels my approach, she +divines it, her presentiment does not deceive her. She will be +overcome--happiness will arrive on the wings of love!" + +Thus saying, the chevalier threw a glance on his toilet. It did not +escape his notice that it was slightly disordered; his stockings, +originally purple, then pale pink, had become striped, zebra-fashion, +with a number of green rays, since his journey in the forest; his coat +was ornamented with various holes fancifully arranged, but the Gascon +made this reflection aloud, if not very modest, at least very consoling: +"Faith! Venus arose from the sea without any covering; Truth had no more +on when she emerged from the well; and if beauty and truth appeared +without a veil, I see not why--love--Beside, Blue Beard must be a woman +who will understand me!" + +Completely reassured, the chevalier hastened his steps, climbed the face +of the rocks, and found himself in an inclosure of the forest, even more +somber and impenetrable than that which he had quitted. Others would +have lost courage. Croustillac said to himself, on the contrary "Zounds! +this is very clever. Hiding her habitation in the most dense forest is a +woman's idea. I am sure the more I push on into these thickets the +nearer I approach the house. I consider I have already arrived. Blue +Beard, Blue Beard, finally I behold thee." + +The chevalier cherished this precious illusion while the daylight +lasted, which was not long; there is little twilight in the tropics. +Soon the chevalier saw, with astonishment, the summits of the trees +little by little obscure themselves, and assume a fantastic appearance +in the great mass of the forest. For some moments there remained a +half-shade, here and there lighted by the bright reflection of the sun, +which seemed as red as the fire of a furnace, for he was "making his +couch in the wind," as they say in the Antilles. + +For a moment the vegetation, so brilliantly green, took on a purple +tint; the chevalier believed that nature was painted a living red, what +was perceived being a mingling with the tints of the heavens. "Zounds!" +exclaimed the chevalier, "I did not deceive myself; I am near this +infernal place, this illumination proves it. Lucifer is without doubt +making a visit to Blue Beard, who, in order to receive him, is lighting +the furnaces of her kitchen." + +Little by little these warm tints disappeared, they became pale red, +then violet, and were swallowed up in the amethyst of the evening skies. +As soon as the shadows wrapped the forest in their arms, the plaintive +cries of the jackals, the sinister hooting of the owls, proclaimed the +return of night. The sea breeze, which always rises after the setting of +the sun, passed like a great sigh over the tops of the trees; the leaves +shivered. The thousand nameless, vague and distant cries which one hears +only at night, began to resound from all quarters. + +"Of a truth," said the chevalier, "this is a pretty figure to cut! To +think I am not a hundred steps, perhaps, from Devil's Cliff, and that I +am compelled to sleep under the stars!" + +Croustillac, fearing the serpents, directed himself toward an enormous +mahogany tree which he had observed; by the aid of the vines which +enveloped this tree on all sides, he succeeded in reaching a kind of +fork, formed by two large branches; here he installed himself, +comfortably, placed his sword between his knees, and commenced a supper +of the bananas, which fortunately, he had kept in his pockets. He did +not experience any of the fears which would have assailed many men, even +the bravest, placed in such a critical situation. Beside, in extreme +cases the chevalier had all kinds of reasoning for his use; he said: +"Fate is implacable against me, it chooses well--it cannot +mistake--instead of addressing itself to some rascal; to some wretch, +what does it do? It bethinks itself of the Chevalier de Croustillac +thus: 'Here is my man--he is worthy of struggling with me.'" + +In the situation in which he found himself the chevalier saw another +providential circumstance no less flattering to him. "My good fortune is +assured," he said: "the treasures of Blue Beard are mine; this is the +final trial to which the aforesaid Fate subjects me; it would be bad +grace in me to revolt. A brave man does not complain. I could not merit +the inestimable recompense which awaits me." + +By means of these reflections the chevalier combated sleep with success; +he feared if he yielded to it he would fall from the tree; he ended by +being enchanted by the obstacles which he had surmounted in his course +to Blue Beard. She would know how to value his courage, he thought, and +be alive to his devotion. In this excess of chivalrous feeling, the +chevalier regretted even that he has not had a serious enemy to combat +and not to have had to struggle alone against pitfalls, thorns and the +trunks of trees. At this moment a strange cry drew the adventurer's +attention; he listened, and said, "What is that? One would think that +the cats were holding their Sabbath. I know, now, because of these cats, +that the house cannot be far distant." But Croustillac deceived himself. +These were not domestic cats but wildcats, and never were tigers +fiercer; they continued to make an infernal uproar. In order to quiet +them, the chevalier took his staff and struck on the tree. The wildcats, +instead of flying, approached him with furious and redoubled cries. For +a long time these woods had been infested by these animals, who were not +inferior to jaguars in size, strength and ferocity; they attacked and +devoured young kids, goats, and even young mules. + +In order to explain the hostile assault of these carnivorous beasts +which surrounded the chevalier, who had been discovered by their +powerful sense of scent, we must return to the cavern in which Colonel +Rutler was immured. We know that the corpse of the sailor John, dead +from the sting of the serpent, completely obstructed the subterranean +passage by which Rutler could alone leave the cavern. The wildcats had +descended the precipice, scented the corpse of John, approached it first +timidly, then, emboldened, had devoured it. The colonel heard and knew +not what to think of these ferocious cries. At daybreak, thanks to the +gluttony of these animals, the obstacle which prevented Rutler from +leaving the cavern had entirely disappeared. There remained in the +subterranean passage only the bones of the sailor, and these the colonel +could easily remove. + +After this horrible feast, the wildcats, fed but not appeased by this +new repast to them, felt a taste for human flesh; they abandoned the +foot of the precipice, regained the wood, scented the chevalier, and +their carnivorous ferocity was increased. + +For some time fear withheld them, but, encouraged by the immobility of +Croustillac, one of the boldest and most famished slowly climbed the +tree, and the Gascon saw, all at once, near him two large, brilliant, +green eyes, which shone out of the midst of the obscurity. At the same +instant he felt a vigorous bite at the calf of his leg. He drew back his +leg abruptly, but the wildcat held on and fastened its claws in his +flesh, and gave a deep, furious growl which was the signal of attack. +The assailants climbed up from all sides and the chevalier saw about him +flaming eyes and felt himself bitten in many places at once. + +This attack was so unexpected, the assailants were of such a singular +kind, that Croustillac, in spite of his courage, remained for a moment +stupefied; but the bites of the wildcats and, above all, his deep +indignation at having to combat with such ignoble enemies, aroused his +fury. He seized the most venturesome by the skin of his back, and in +spite of several blows from his claws, threw him heavily against the +trunk of the tree and broke his back. The cat gave some frightful cries. +The chevalier treated in like manner another of these creatures which +had leaped upon his back, and had undertaken to devour his cheek. + +The band hesitated. Croustillac seized his sword, and using it as a +poignard, pierced several others, and thus put an end to this attack in +a novel manner, saying, "Zounds! to think Blue Beard does not know that +the brave Croustillac has been nearly devoured by wildcats, even as if +he were but a chicken hanging on a hook of a larder!" + +The remainder of the night passed peacefully, the chevalier sleeping but +little. At daybreak he descended from his tree, and saw extended at his +feet five of his adversaries of the night. He hastened to quit the scene +of his exploits, at which he blushed, and, convinced that Devil's Cliff +could not be far off, he resumed his journey. + +After having walked thus vainly, after his vigil, the gnawing of his +stomach, occasioned by a famished feeling, warned him that it was in the +neighborhood of noon. His delight may be imagined when the breeze bore +to him the delicious odor of roasted meat, so fine, so penetrating, and +so appetizing that the chevalier could not prevent himself from passing +his tongue across his lips. He redoubled his speed, not doubting, this +time, that he had arrived at the end of his troubles. However, he saw no +sign of habitation, and knew not how to reconcile this apparent solitude +with the exquisite odor which grew more and more tantalizing. + +Unobserved himself, and without being heard, and walking rapidly, he +arrived at a kind of clearing, where he stopped a moment. The sight +which greeted his eyes was worthy his notice. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A BUCCANEER. + + +In the midst of a close thicket appeared a cleared space forming a long +square; at one of its extremities was an ajoupa, a kind of hut made of +branches attached to the trunk of a palm tree, covered with long +polished leaves of balisier and of cachibou. Under this shelter, which +guaranteed protection from the rays of the sun to whoever might retire +therein, a man was stretched upon a bed of leaves; at his feet some +twenty dogs lay sleeping. These dogs would have been white and orange if +their original color had not disappeared, owing to the blood which +covered them. Their heads and breasts were completely stained by reason +of copious eating. + +The chevalier could but indistinctly see the face of the man, half +hidden in his bed of fresh leaves. Not far from the hut was a covered +fire where, cooking slowly, after the fashion of buccaneers, was a +year-old boar. The stove or gridiron was formed by four forks driven +into the earth, on which were hung cross-pieces, and on these were laid +small poles, all of green wood. + +The boar, still with its hide on, was stretched on its back, the belly +open and empty; strings attached to its four feet held it in this +position, which the heat would otherwise have disturbed. + +This gridiron was raised above a hole four feet in length, three wide, +and of great depth, filled with broken charcoal; the boar cooked by the +equal heat of this steady and concentrated brazier. The cavity of the +animal was half filled with lemon juice and cut spices, which, combined +with the fat, which the heat caused to slowly ooze out, formed a kind of +interior sauce which smelled very appetizing. + +This immense roast was nearly cooked; its skin began to frizzle and +crack; what was visible of the flesh through the gravy was red and +tempting. Finally, a dozen large yams, of yellow and savory pulp, were +cooking in the ashes, and exhaled a fine odor. + +The chevalier could restrain himself no longer; carried away by his +appetite, he entered the inclosure, and in so doing broke down some +branches. One or two of the dogs awoke and ran at him with a menacing +air. The man, who was dozing, arose abruptly, looked about him with an +amazed air, while the entire pack of hounds manifested the most hostile +objection to the entrance of the chevalier, bristling and showing their +formidable teeth. Croustillac recalled the history of the assistant of +Rend-your-Soul being devoured by his dogs, but he was not intimidated; +he raised his staff with a menacing air, and said, "To heel, varlets; to +heel, varlets!" + +This term, imported from the kennels of Europe, made no impression on +the dogs; they assumed an attitude so menacing that the chevalier struck +some blows at them with his staff. Their eyes burned with ferocity; they +would have precipitated themselves upon Croustillac had not the +buccaneer, coming out of the hut with a gun in his hand, cried in a +species of dialect, part negro, part French, "Who touches my dogs? Who +are you that come hither?" + +The chavalier bravely put his hand on his sword and replied, "Your dogs +would devour me, my good fellow, and I foil them. They would employ +their teeth upon me as I would mine if I had before me a morsel of that +appetizing boar, for I am lost in the forest since yesterday morning and +have a most infernal hunger." + +The buccaneer, instead of replying to the chevalier, remained stupefied +at the odd appearance of this man, who, staff in hand, had traversed a +forest in pink stockings and coat of taffeta and embroidered vest. On +his side, Croustillac, in spite of his hunger, contemplated the +buccaneer with no less curiosity. This hunter was of middle height, but +agile and vigorous; his only clothing, short drawers and a shirt which +was loose like a blouse. His clothing was so much stained with the +blood of bulls or boars which the buccaneers skin in order to sell the +hide and smoke the flesh (the principal branch of their traffic) that +the linen appeared tarred, it was so black and stiff. A belt of bull's +hide embellished with its hair confined the shirt about the buccaneer; +from this belt hung, on one side, a sheath of compartments, revealing +five or six knives of various lengths and divers shapes; from the other, +a pouch. The hunter's legs were bare to the knees; his shoes were +without fastening, and of a single piece, according to a custom there, +and in use among buccaneers. + +After skinning a bull or some large boar, they carefully loosen the skin +of one of the front extremities, from the breast to the knee, and turn +it back like a stocking which one pulls off; after having completely +detached it from the bones, they then put their feet into this supple +and fresh skin, placing the large toe a little more toward the place +which covered the knee of the animal. Once shod in this manner they tie +up with a sinew that portion which extends beyond the end of the foot, +and cut off the surplus. Then they raise and pull up the remainder of +the skin halfway up their legs, where they fasten it with a leather +strap. In drying, this species of boot assumes the shape of the foot, +remaining perfectly soft, supple, and wearing a long time, it being +impervious, and proof against the sting of serpents. + +The buccaneer looked curiously at Croustillac, leaning on his gun, a +kind especially used by buccaneers; these guns were made at Dieppe and +St. Malo. The figure of the hunter was rough and common; he wore a cap +of boar's skin; his beard was long and bristling; his look ferocious. + +Croustillac said resolutely, "Ah, comrade, would you refuse a morsel of +this roast to a gentleman who is famished?" + +"The roast is not mine," said the buccaneer. + +"How? to whom, then, does it belong?" + +"To Master Rend-your-Soul, who has his depot of skins and buccaneer +supplies at Caiman's Point." + +"This roast belongs to Master Rend-your-Soul," cried the chevalier, +surprised at the chance which had brought him in contact with one of +the happy lovers of Blue Beard, if these slanderous stories were true. +"This roast belongs to Rend-your-Soul," repeated Croustillac. + +"It belongs to him," said the man with the long gun, laconically. + +At this moment was heard a shot which echoed through the forest. "That +is the master," said the man. + +The dogs recognized, doubtless, the approach of the hunter; for they +began to bark joyfully, and dashed off through the undergrowth in order +to reach the buccaneer. + +Warned of the return of the master, the man, whom we will call Peter, +took out one of his largest knives, approached the wild boar, and in +order the better to moisten the venison, stabbed the flesh several +times, without injuring the skin, for the plentiful mixture of lemon +juice, spice and fat which filled the belly of the boar was running out. +Each of these incisions caused such appetizing odors to rise that the +chevalier, inhaling this exquisite odor, almost forgot the approach of +Rend-your-Soul. However, the latter appeared, followed by his dogs, +jumping and pressing about him. + +Master Rend-your-Soul was large and robust. His skin, naturally white, +was browned by the sun and by the wild life which he led; his thick +black beard fell on his breast; his features were regular, but severe +and hard. Although not so poor as that of his servant, his clothing was +of much the same fashion. Like him, he wore at his waist a case filled +with a number of knives; his legs, however, in place of being half +naked, were incased, as far as the knee, by bands of boar-skins tied +with sinews, and he wore large shoes of untanned leather. His large +Spanish hat was ornamented with two or three red feathers; and the +mountings of his buccaneer gun were of silver. Such was the difference +between the costume and arms of Master Rend-your-Soul and that of his +servant. + +When he entered the clearing, he held his gun under his arm and plucked +carelessly a wood-pigeon which he had killed; three others were hung at +his belt by a snare; he threw them to Peter, who immediately began to +pluck and clean them with wonderful dexterity. These wood-pigeons, of +the size of a partridge, were plump, fine and round as quails. As fast +as Peter had one ready, he cut off its head and feet and put it to cook +in the thick and abundant sauce which filled the boar's belly. When +Master Rend-your-Soul had finished plucking his, he threw it in also. + +Peter said, "Master, shall I close the roast?" + +"Close it," replied the master. + +Then Peter cut the strings which held the boar; the cavity of the belly +almost closed and the pigeons began to boil in this novel fashion. + +During all these culinary preparations the buccaneer had not appeared to +perceive the chevalier, who, with foot advanced, nose in the air, and +hand on the hilt of his sword, was prepared to answer proudly any +interrogatories which might be made, and even to question in return +Master Rend-your-Soul. The latter, having cut off the head and feet of +the pigeon which he was plucking, wiped his knife quietly and replaced +it in his case. + +To explain the indifference of the buccaneer, we must say to the reader +that nothing was more common than that people should visit the +buccaneers out of curiosity. The buccaneers were, in their customs, very +like the Caribbeans. Like them they were proud to accord hospitality; +like them they allowed any one to come who was hungry and thirsty and +partake of their repasts; but, like the Caribbeans also, they regarded +an invitation as a superfluous formality. The feast ready, let eat it +who would. + +After disembarrassing himself of his belt and gun, Rend-your-Soul +extended himself on the ground, drew a gourd hidden under the fresh +leaves, and drank some brandy as a preparation for dinner. + +Croustillac was still in the same attitude, nose in the air, foot +advanced, hand on his sword; the color rose to his forehead; nothing +could have insulted him more than the absolute indifference of +Rend-your-Soul to his presence. + +Had Blue Beard, by the intermediation of the filibustering captain, +instructed the buccaneer to act in this manner if he should encounter +the chevalier? Was this hunter's carelessness genuine or feigned? This +is what we cannot yet tell the reader. The situation of Croustillac was +none the less delicate and difficult; in spite of his audacity he did +not know how to begin the conversation. Finally recovering himself, he +said to the buccaneer, advancing toward him, "Are you blind, comrade?" + +"Answer, Peter, some one speaks to you," said Rend-your-Soul, +carelessly. + +"No, it is to you I speak," said the Gascon impatiently. + +"No," said the buccaneer. + +"How so?" replied the chevalier. + +"You said 'comrade;' I am not your comrade; my servant is, perhaps." + +"Zounds!" + +"I am a master buccaneer; you are not; it is only my brother-hunters who +are my comrades," said Rend-your-Soul, interrupting Croustillac. + +"And how is one to address you in order to have the honor of a reply?" +said the chevalier, angrily. + +"If you come to purchase skins or buccaneer supplies, address me as you +will; if you come to see the station, look about you; if you are hungry, +when the boar is cooked, eat." + +"They are regular brutes, true savages," thought the chevalier; "it +would be folly in me to resent their stupidities; I am dying with +hunger, I am lost; the animal can give me a dinner, and if I carry +myself wisely will point out to me the road to Devil's Cliff. Let us +eat." Then, looking at the man, half barbarian that he was, with his +garments stained with blood, Croustillac said to himself, shrugging his +shoulders, "And it is to such a boor that they give the beautiful, the +adorable Blue Beard. Zounds! she must be like him herself." + +Peter, finding the boar cooked to a turn, busied himself in removing the +cover; he placed on the earth, under the trees, a number of large +leaves, fresh and green, to serve as a tablecloth. He then picked a +large leaf, made four holes at its edge, and passed a creeper through +them, and thus formed a species of cup in which he squeezed the juice +of a number of lemons which he had picked, and with which he mixed salt +and spices crushed between two stones. The sauce was called pimentade, +was extremely strong, and was used generally by buccaneers and +filibusters. Opposite this sauce and in another leaf, he put yams cooked +in the ashes; their skins, a little burned, had split open and showed a +pulp yellow as amber. + +The chevalier was disturbed as to how he was to drink, for he had a +burning thirst, but he quickly saw the servant returning with a large +gourd filled with a pink and limpid liquor. It was the sugar of the +maple tree, which flowed in abundance from the tree when it was pierced +deeply. This was a fresh and healthy beverage and tasted like Bordeaux +wine mixed with sugar and water. + +Finally, after placing this gourd on the leaves which served as a +tablecloth, the servant broke off a large branch of apricots, covered +with flowers and fruit, and stuck it into the earth in the midst of the +leaves. These natives are not so stupid as they appear, thought the +chevalier. Here is a repast which Dame Nature pays for and which would +satisfy, I am sure, the greatest gourmand. Croustillac waited +impatiently for the moment to begin. Finally the servant, having +examined the boar with a critical eye, said to the buccaneer, "Master, +it is cooked." + +"Let us eat," said the master. + +By means of a fork cut out of oak, the servant took one of the pigeons, +put it on a fresh leaf, and offered it to the buccaneer; then, helping +himself in turn, he left the fork in the venison. The chevalier, seeing +that no one occupied himself with him, took a pigeon, a yam, seated +himself near the master and servant buccaneers, and, like them, began to +eat with the best of appetites. + +The pigeon was cooked so deliciously, the yams were perfect, and like +the most delicious potatoes. The pigeons disposed of, Peter cut long and +thick slices of the venison for his master. The chevalier followed his +example and found the flesh exquisite, fat and succulent, of fine flavor +enhanced the more by the pimentade. + +Croustillac frequently quenched his thirst, as did his companions, from +the gourd of maple sugar, and he finished his repast by eating half a +dozen apricots of wonderful fragrance and very superior to the European +species. + +Peter brought, then, a gourd of brandy; the master drank and then passed +it to his servant, who did likewise, then closed it carefully, to the +great disappointment of the chevalier who had extended his hand for it. +This was not stupidity on the part of the buccaneers; there is among the +Caribbeans a great distinction between the natural gifts which cost +nothing, belonging, so to speak, to everyone, and the articles purchased +with money, which belong exclusively to those who possess them--brandy, +powder, bullets, arms, skins, venison prepared after the fashion of the +buccaneers for sale, being of this number; fruits, game, fish, were +held, on the contrary, in common. + +Nevertheless, the chevalier frowned, rather from pride than gluttony. He +was on the point of complaining of this lack of respect to the servant, +but reflecting that, after all, he owed his excellent repast to +Rend-your-Soul, and that the latter could alone put him on the road to +Devil's Cliff, he restrained his ill humor, and said to the buccaneer +with a jovial air, "Faith! sir, do you know you give great and good +cheer?" + +"One eats what he finds; boars and bulls are not wanting in this island, +and the sale of their skins is good," said the buccaneer, filling his +pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MASTER REND-YOUR-SOUL. + + +The more closely the chevalier studied Master Rend-your-Soul, the less +he was able to believe that this half barbarian was in the good graces +of Blue Beard. The buccaneer, having lighted his pipe, lay down on his +back, put his two hands under his head, and smoked, with his eyes fixed +on the hut, with an appearance of profound beatitude, and said to the +chevalier, "You have come here in a litter, with your pink stockings?" + +"No, my good friend, I have come on foot, and I would have come on my +head in order to see the most famous buccaneer in all the Antilles, +whose fame has even reached Europe." + +"If you are in need of skins," said the buccaneer in answer, "I have a +dozen bulls' skins so fine and beautiful that you would suppose them to +be buffalo. I have also a string of boar's hams such as are not cured in +any station." + +"No, no, my brave friend, I tell you admiration, nothing but admiration +has guided me. I arrived from France five days since in the Unicorn, and +my first visit is to you, whose merit I am well aware of." + +"Truly?" + +"As true as I call myself the Chevalier de Croustillac, for you will not +be displeased, perhaps, to know with whom you talk. My name is +Croustillac." + +"All names are a matter of indifference to me, except that of +_purchaser_." + +"And admirer, my brave friend, admirer, is that nothing? I, who have +come from Europe expressly to see you?" + +"You knew, then, that you would find me here?" + +"Not exactly; but Providence has arranged it; and, thanks to +Providence, I have met the famous Rend-your-Soul." + +"Decidedly he is stupid," thought the chevalier. "I have nothing to +contend with in such a rival; if the others are no more dangerous, it +will be very easy for me to make Blue Beard adore me; but I must find +the road to Devil's Cliff. It will be truly racy to be conducted thither +by this bear." He spoke: "But, my brave hunter, alas! all glory is +bought; I wished to see you, I have seen you." + +"Very well, go your way, then," said the buccaneer, expelling a cloud of +tobacco smoke. + +"I like your brusque frankness, worthy Nimrod; but in order to go, I +must learn a road thence, and I know none." + +"From whence came you?" + +"From Macouba, where I lodged at the house of the Reverend Father +Griffen." + +"You are only two leagues from Macouba; my servant will guide you +there." + +"How! only two leagues!" cried the chevalier. "It is impossible! I have +walked since daybreak yesterday, until night, and since early morn until +noon, and have I gone but two leagues?" + +"One sometimes sees boars and above all young bulls deceived thus, and +make many steps almost without changing the inclosure," said the +buccaneer. + +"Your comparison smacks of the art of hunting, and, noble following as +it is, cannot shock a gentleman; then, admit that I have dodged about, +even like a young bull, as you say; it does not follow that I wish to +return to Macouba; and I depend upon you to show me the road I should +follow." + +"Where do you wish to go?" + +For a moment the chevalier hesitated, and knew not what reply to make. +Should he avow frankly his intention of going to Devil's Cliff? +Croustillac sought refuge in a subterfuge--"I wish to go by the road to +Devil's Cliff." + +"The road to Devil's Cliff only leads to Devil's Cliff, and----" + +The buccaneer did not finish his sentence, but his face became menacing. + +"And--where does the road to Devil's Cliff lead?" + +"It leads sinners to hell, and saints to paradise." + +"So, a stranger, a traveler, who has a whim to visit Devil's Cliff----" + +"Would never return from thence." + +"At least, in that case, one does not risk getting lost on the return," +said the chevalier coolly. "'Tis well, my good friend, then show me the +way." + +"We have eaten under the same roof, we have drunk from the same cup; I +would not willingly cause your death." + +"So, in conducting me to Devil's Cliff, you kill me?" + +"It will come to the same thing." + +"Although your dinner was perfect, and your company very agreeable, my +brave Nimrod, you almost make me regret it, as this prevents you from +satisfying my wish. But what danger threatens me, then?" + +"All the dangers of death that a man can brave." + +"All these dangers--make but one, seeing that one can but die once," +said the Gascon carelessly. + +The buccaneer scanned the chevalier closely, and appeared impressed by +his courage as much as by the air of frankness and good humor which +showed through all his extravagance. + +The chevalier continued: "The Chevalier de Croustillac never knows fear +while he has his sister at his side." + +"What sister?" + +"This, which, by heavens, is not virgin," cried the Gascon, drawing his +sword and brandishing it. "The kisses she gives are sharp, and the +bravest have regretted making her acquaintance." + +"Miaow! miaow!" said the servant, who was a witness of this scene. This +cry made the Gascon start, and recalled to him the exploits of the +preceding night. He colored with rage, advanced upon the servant with +the sword's point, in order to chastise him with the flat of his steel; +but Peter withdrew dexterously and got out of reach, while the buccaneer +burst into laughter. + +This hilarity exasperated the chevalier, who said to Rend-your-Soul, +"Zounds! if you dare attack a man as you would a bull, beware." + +"Look at your sword; the steel is stained with blood and covered with +the hair of wildcats; it is that which made Peter cry out 'Miaow!'" + +"Defend yourself," repeated the chevalier furiously. + +"When I have four feet, claws and a tail, I will fight with you," said +the buccaneer quietly. + +"I will mark your face, then," said the chevalier, advancing toward +Rend-your-Soul. + +"Softly, velvet claws, pussy velvet claws," said the buccaneer, +laughing, and parrying with the muzzle of his gun the furious thrusts +which the exasperated chevalier bestowed upon him. + +The servant would have come to the rescue of his master, but the latter +forbade. + +"Do not stir; I will answer for this redoubtable fellow. 'The burned cat +dreads cold water,' as they say. I am going to give him a good lesson." + +These sarcasms increased the chevalier's rage; he forgot his adversary +was defending himself with a gun, and he showered some desperate blows +upon him, while the buccaneer, showing a marvelous address and a rare +vigor, used his heavy gun like a stick. + +During this unequal combat, the buccaneer added to his insolence by +imitating the cry which cats make when they are angry, when they +disagree. This last outrage capped the climax; but against his attack he +found, in the buccaneer, a gladiator of the greatest strength in +fencing; and he had shortly the chagrin of seeing himself disarmed; his +sword was struck off some ten paces. The buccaneer threw himself upon +the Gascon; raised his gun like a club; he seized the chevalier by the +collar and cried, "Your life is mine; I am going to break your head like +an eggshell." + +Croustillac, looking at him without flinching, said, coldly, "And you +are trebly right, for I am a triple traitor." The buccaneer recoiled a +step. "I was hungry--you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me +drink; you were unarmed and I attacked you. Break my head--Zounds! break +it, you are right. Croustillac is dishonored." + +This was not the language of an assassin or a spy; then, holding out his +hand to the chevalier, the buccaneer said, with a rough voice, "Come, +clasp hands; we have been seated under the same roof, we have fought +together--we are brothers." + +The chevalier was about to put his hand in that of the buccaneer, but he +paused and said gravely, "Frankness for frankness; before giving you my +hand I must tell you one thing." + +"What?" + +"I am your rival." + +"Rival! how is that?" + +"I love Blue Beard, and I am resolved at all hazards to go to her and to +please her." + +"Clasp hands, brother." + +"A moment--I must say to you that when Polypheme Croustillac wishes to +please, he pleases; when he pleases, one loves him; and when one loves +him, one loves him madly and unto death." + +"Clasp hands, brother." + +"I will not touch your hand until you tell me if you will accept me +openly for your rival?" + +"And if not?" + +"If not, break my head; you will be right in so doing. We are alone; +your servant will not betray you; but I will never renounce the hope, +the certainty, of pleasing Blue Beard." + +"Ah, this is another matter." + +"A last question," continued the chevalier; "You go often to Devil's +Cliff?" + +"I go often to Devil's Cliff." + +"You see Blue Beard?" + +"I see her." + +"You love her?" + +"I love her." + +"She loves you?" + +"She loves me." + +"You?" + +"Me." + +"She loves you?" + +"To madness----" + +"She has told you so?" + +"And--Blue Beard----" + +"Is my mistress." + +"On the word of a buccaneer?" + +"On the word of a buccaneer." + +"Then," said the chevalier to himself, "there is no more discretion +among barbarians than among civilized people. Who would say at the sight +of such a stupid fellow, that he was a coxcomb?" Then he said aloud, +"Ah, well, then, I repeat to you, break my head, for if you spare my +life I shall reach Devil's Cliff; I shall do all I can to please Blue +Beard, and I _shall_ please her, I warn you. So, then, once more, break +my head, or resign yourself to seeing in me a rival, shortly a happy +rival!" + +"I say to you, clasp hands, brother." + +"How? in spite of what I say?" + +"Yes." + +"It does not alarm you?" + +"No." + +"It is all the same to you if I go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"I will conduct you there, myself." + +"Yourself?" + +"To-day." + +"And I shall see Blue Beard?" + +"You shall see her as often as you wish." + +The chevalier, moved by the confidence in him which the buccaneer +testified, did not wish to abuse it; he said in a solemn tone, "Listen, +buccaneer, you are as generous as a savage; this is not by way of +offense; but, my worthy friend, my loyal enemy, you are as ignorant as a +savage. Reared in the midst of the forest, you have no idea what a man +is who has passed his life in pleasing, seducing; you do not know the +marvelous resources which such a man finds in his natural attractions; +you do not know the irresistible influence of a word, a gesture, a +smile, a look! This poor Blue Beard does not know either; to judge from +what they say of her three husbands. They were three worthless fellows, +three vagabonds; she rid herself of them, rightly. Why has she rid +herself of them? Because she sought an ideal, an unknown being, the +dream of her dreams. Now, my brave friend, always be it said without +offense, you cannot deceive yourself to such a degree as to think that +you realize this dream of Blue Beard; you cannot really take yourself +for a Celadon--for an Adonis----" + +The buccaneer looked at Croustillac with a stupid air and did not appear +to understand him; he said, pointing to the sun, "The sun is setting; we +have four leagues to make before we arrive at Devil's Cliff; let us +start." + +"This unhappy man," thought the chevalier, "has not the slightest idea +of the danger he runs; it is a pity to disabuse his blindness; it is +like striking a child; it is snaring a sitting pheasant; it is killing a +sleeping man; on the honor of De Croustillac, it gives me scruples." +Then aloud, "You do not understand, then, my brave friend, that this man +as seductive as irresistible of whom I speak is none other than myself?" + +"Ah, bah! it is impossible." + +"Your surprise is not flattering, brave hunter, but if I speak thus to +you of myself, it is that honor compels me to tell the truth, the whole +truth, and nothing but the truth. You do not understand that, once +having seen me, Blue Beard will love me; and she will not love you any +more, my poor Rend-your-Soul. Understand, then, that it would be +cowardly and treasonable on my part not to warn you in advance as to the +position you hold with Blue Beard. I repeat, from the moment when I put +foot in Devil's Cliff, from the moment she sees me, when she hears me, +her love for you is at an end. Meantime, I have warned you, loyally +warned you; consider if you are willing to risk it." + +"Clasp hands, brother," said the buccaneer, seemingly insensible to the +danger that the chevalier pointed out to him. "Let us be going. We will +arrive at night at Devil's Cliff; a fall from the precipice would not be +pleasant at this hour." + +"Come on--you are mad--so be it, but I have warned you; it will be open +war," said the chevalier. + +The buccaneer, without making any reply to the chevalier, said to his +servant, "Shut up the dogs in the house, and have ready two dozen bulls' +skins, which will be needed to-morrow at Basse-Terre; I shall not +return to-night." + +"It falls aright," said the servant to himself, and with a shrewd air; +"he sleeps away from the hut one night in every three." + +While the buccaneer attached his belt, the chevalier said to himself, +looking at the hunter with a feeling of pity, "Faith! but he puts the +rope gayly about his own throat; since he will not heed my warning, let +him look out for himself. It appears that lovers are, in such cases, no +wiser than husbands. But as regards Blue Beard--if she is pretty--it +must be that she is--can she receive such a savage? Poor little thing. +It is very simple. She does not know the compensation that is reserved +for her. Hail to the gods. Croustillac, thy star has arisen!" continued +the chevalier, after some minutes of reflection. + +"Come, brother, let us start," said the buccaneer; "but before doing so, +Peter shall envelop your legs in a piece of skin which he has, for we +are going to traverse a bad quarter for serpents." + +The chevalier thanked the buccaneer, not without shrugging his shoulders +in pity for him, and said, "Unhappy man! he is shoeing me, but I shall +put a cap on him!" + +This stupid joke was to be fatally punished in Croustillac, who followed +his guide with renewed ardor, for was he not going to see Blue Beard? + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE MARRIAGE. + + +After four hours' walk the chevalier and the buccaneer arrived close to +Devil's Cliff. The road was so difficult and so much incumbered that the +two companions could scarcely converse. Croustillac became more +thoughtful the nearer his approach to the dwelling of Blue Beard; in +spite of the good opinion he had of himself, in spite of his consoling +reflections regarding the allegorical nudity of Venus and Truth, he +regretted that his natural advantages were not set off by costly +garments. He ventured, then, after some hesitation, to tell a falsehood +to the buccaneer. "I assure you, my true and worthy rival, that my +servants and trunks are at St. Pierre and I find myself, as you see, +hardly clothed in a proper fashion to present myself before the queen of +my thoughts." + +"What do you mean?" said the buccaneer. + +"What I would say, brave Nimrod, is that I have the appearance of a +beggar, in that my coat and shoes, which yesterday were almost new, are +to-day abominably tattered and appear at least six months old." + +"Six months? Oh! they are devilishly older than that to all appearances, +my brother." + +"All which proves how torrid your devilish sun is; in one day it has +faded my clothing which yesterday was the freshest sea-green, the most +tender and coquettish of colors, until now----" + +"They are almost mould-green," said the buccaneer. "It is like your +shoulder-strap--our devouring sun eats gold until he leave but a red +thread." + +"What signifies the shoulder-strap if the sword is free and strong from +the scabbard?" said Croustillac proudly. Then softening his tones, he +continued, "It is just because I am momentarily in an outfit unworthy my +rank, that I would inquire if I can find garments more suitable at +Devil's Cliff?" + +"Ah, do you think that Blue Beard keeps a second-hand clothing +establishment?" said the buccaneer. + +"Heaven forbid that I should accuse her of such an ignoble traffic! But, +in fine, it would not be surprising if, as I say, by chance, there had +been overlooked in some corner of a clothes-press some garments +belonging to one of the deceased husbands of our charming friend?" + +"Ah!" said the buccaneer. + +"Well?" replied the chevalier imperturbably, "although it would cost me +an effort to appear in what did not belong to me, and above all, in what +could not fit me very well, I would reconcile myself to so doing, in +default of my fine clothing now at St. Pierre, even at the risk of being +abominably disfigured, perhaps, by the chance garments," continued he +disdainfully. + +The buccaneer broke into peals of laughter at the singular notion of his +companion. Croustillac colored with annoyance and said, "Zounds! you are +very facetious, my friend." + +"I laugh because I see I am not alone in the traffic of skins," said +Rend-your-Soul. "Truly we are brothers! If I despoil the bulls of their +skins, you are not too proud to despoil one of the husbands of the +widow. But we are now at the foot of the cliff. Take care, friend, one +must have a sure foot and a true eye to climb this ascent unharmed! If +you find it too rough, you need go no further; I will send you a guide +to conduct you back to Macouba." + +"Remain here! at my journey's end, almost! after a thousand +difficulties! at the moment when I shall see and captivate this +enchantress, Blue Beard," cried the chevalier. "You have lost your wits. +Come on, comrade, what you do, I will do," said the chevalier. + +Truth to say, thanks to his long legs, his natural agility and his +coolness, Croustillac followed the buccaneer over the perilous road +that led to the mansion, across the terrible precipice of Devil's Cliff. +A signal from the buccaneer and the wall of the platform was scaled, +and, with his companion, he entered the outer buildings. + +Reaching the covered passage which led to the widow's especial suite, +the buccaneer whispered a word in the ear of the mulattress. She took +the chevalier's hand and led him to a stairway in the passage. +Croustillac hesitated a moment to follow the slave. The buccaneer said, +"Go on, brother, you do not wish to present yourself thus before the +widow; I have said a word to old Jennette, and she is going to provide +you with the means to shine like the sun. As for me, I go to announce +your arrival to Blue Beard." + +So saying, the buccaneer disappeared in the covered passage. +Croustillac, guided by the mulattress, came to a room very elegantly and +comfortably furnished. + +"Zounds!" cried the adventurer, rubbing his hands and taking long +strides, "this begins well. Provided I can appear to advantage, provided +that the deceased husbands of the widow had decent figures and that +their clothes will not disfigure me too much, I shall please--I shall +captivate the widow; and this animal of a buccaneer, ousted by me from +the heart of Blue Beard, will return to-morrow--perhaps even to-night, +to his forest." + +Croustillac soon saw a number of negroes enter the room. One of them +staggered under an enormous parcel; the other carried on a chased silver +tray a silver gilt dish, wherein smoked a soup of the most appetizing +odor; two glass carafes, one filled with old Bordeaux, the color of +rubies, the other with Madeira wine, color of topaz, flanked the dish +and completed this light refreshment sent to the chevalier by the widow. +While one of the slaves placed before him a little table of ebony inlaid +with ivory, the negro bearing the parcel laid upon the bed a costume of +black velvet ornamented by rich flowers embroidered in gold. What was +singular about the coat was that the left sleeve was of cherry-colored +satin; this sleeve closed above the wrist with a broad facing of buffalo +skin. + +For the rest, with the exception of this peculiarity, the coat was +elegantly cut; stockings of very fine silk, a rhinegrave, or cravat, of +magnificent lace, a large felt hat adorned with beautiful white plumes +and a heavy gold cord were to complete the transformation of the +adventurer. + +While the chevalier endeavored to divine why the left sleeve of this +black velvet coat was of cherry-colored silk, the two negroes prepared a +bath in a neighboring dressing-room; another slave asked Croustillac in +quite pure French if he would be shaved and have his hair dressed; +Croustillac assented. Entirely refreshed and invigorated by an aromatic +bath, wrapped in a dressing-gown of fine Holland linen which exhaled the +most exquisite odors, the adventurer lounged on a soft divan while the +slaves waved enormous fans. + +The chevalier, in spite of his blind faith in his destiny, which, +according to him, was to become as beautiful as it had heretofore been +miserable, believed himself at times in a dream. + +His wildest hopes were surpassed; in casting a complacent glance on the +rich costume with which he was clothed, and which was to render him +fatally irresistible, he was seized with a feeling akin to remorse, on +account of the buccaneer, who had so unwisely given ingress to the wolf +into this fold in which dwelt his love. The thought of this good fellow +made Croustillac smile; he was prepared to bewilder Blue Beard by +language in which he would be victorious over her barbarous adorers. + +Suddenly a horrible fear obscured the smiling prospect for the Gascon. +He began to fear for the first time that Blue Beard might be repulsively +plain; he had also the modesty to think that perhaps it would be too +much of him to require of fate that Blue Beard be of an ideal beauty. + +Croustillac possessed good qualities. He said to himself with the +conviction of a man who knew perfectly how to moderate and set bounds to +his ambition--"Providing the widow be not more than from forty to fifty +years; that she be not blind or outrageously lame; that she has some +teeth and hair--faith! her wine is so good, her service so fine, her +servants so attentive--if she is worth three or four millions, I +consent to take the risk my predecessors did, and to make the widow +happy, on the honor of De Croustillac! seeing that I prefer to take the +consequences of my role as a husband rather than return on board the +Unicorn and swallow lighted candles for the amusement of that amphibious +animal, Captain Daniel. Well, then, should Blue Beard be plain, and of +overripe age, she is still a millionaire, and I will take care of this +good lady, and will be so very agreeable to her that, far from sending +me to join the other dead husbands, she will have no desire but that of +cherishing me dearly, and embellishing my life by all kinds of delicious +cares. Come, come, Croustillac," said the adventurer, with increased +exaltation, "I say truly, your star is in the ascendent, and shall shine +more than in the past it has been overcast! Yes, it is in the +ascendent." + +So saying, the chevalier called one of the blacks who was awaiting his +orders in a neighboring room, and with his assistance put on the velvet +dress with the cherry colored sleeve. The Gascon was tall, but bony and +thin; the garment which he donned was made for a man of the same height, +but broad-chested and small in the waist; so the vest formed some large +folds about the body of Croustillac; and his cherry-colored stockings +draped themselves no less majestically about his long, thin, and nervous +legs. + +The chevalier did not concern himself about these slight imperfections +of his costume; he threw a final glance at his reflection in the +Venetian mirror which the slave held up to him, arranged his rough, +black hair, caressed his long mustache, hung his formidable sword to a +rich strap of buffalo skin which had been brought to him, proudly put on +the felt hat with golden cord and white plumes, and, strutting up and +down the room with a triumphant air, impatiently awaited the moment of +presentation to the widow. This moment arrived shortly. The aged +mulattress who had received the adventurer came to seek him, and begging +him to follow her, ushered him into the retired building which we have +already seen. + +The room in which Croustillac waited some moments was furnished with a +luxury of which he had heretofore had no idea; superb old paintings, +magnificent porcelains, curiosities in goldsmith's work, of the most +costly nature, incumbered the furniture, as valuable on account of its +material as for its workmanship; a lute and a theorbo, whose ornaments +of ivory and gold were of a finish most uncommon in carving, attracted +the attention of Croustillac, who was delighted to think that his future +wife was a musician. + +"Zounds!" cried the chevalier, "is it possible that the mistress of so +much wealth is as beautiful as the day? No, no, I should be too +fortunate; although I deserve this happiness." + +We may judge of the surprise, not to say the shock, to the Gascon when +Angela entered. The little widow was radiant in youth, grace, beauty and +dress; robed in a costume of the fashion of Louis the Fourteenth, she +wore a dress of sky blue, the long waist of which seemed to be +embroidered with diamonds, pearls and rubies, though this profusion of +gems was arranged with taste. + +Croustillac, in spite of his audacity, recoiled before such a vision. In +all his life he had never encountered a woman so ravishingly pretty, so +royally dressed; he could not believe his eyes; he looked at her with +bewilderment. We must say, to the chevalier's credit, that he had a +laudable attack of modesty, but unhappily as fleeting as sincere. He +thought that so charming a creature might perhaps hesitate to marry an +adventurer like himself; but he recalled his impertinent and +vainglorious confidences to the buccaneer; he said to himself that, +after all, one man was as good as another, and he recovered very rapidly +his imperturbable assurance. + +Croustillac made, one after another, three of the most respectful bows; +in order to resume his upright attitude and at the same time display the +nobility of his figure, advancing on one of his long legs, and drawing +the other a little behind it, he assumed a conquering air, holding his +hat in the right hand and resting his left hand upon the handle of his +sword. Doubtless he was about to make some gallant compliment to Blue +Beard, for he had already placed his hand on his heart, and opened his +large mouth, when the little widow, who could no longer repress an +irresistible desire to laugh at the absurd appearance of the chevalier, +gave free vent to her hilarity. This explosion of gayety shut +Croustillac's mouth and he endeavored to smile, hoping thus to humor +Blue Beard. + +This polite effort took the form of so grotesque a grimace that Angela +fell on the sofa, forgetting all rules of politeness, all dignity, and +abandoned herself to a mad fit of laughter; her beautiful blue eyes, +always so brilliant, were veiled in tears of amusement; her cheeks +became crimson and her charming dimples deepened to such an extent that +the widow could have hidden in their depths the entire end of her rosy +little finger. + +Croustillac, much embarrassed, remained motionless before the pretty +widow, first contracting his eyebrows with an angry air, then, on the +contrary, he endeavored to relax his thin long face into a forced smile. +While these successive expressions did not tend to put an end to Blue +Beard's mirth, the chevalier said to himself that for a murderess, the +widow did not have such a gloomy and terrible appearance after all. +Nevertheless, the vanity of our adventurer could not easily brook the +singular effect which he had produced. For want of better conclusion he +ended by saying to himself that above all things he always struck the +imagination of women keenly; it was necessary at first to astonish them, +upset them, and that, in this respect, his first interview with Blue +Beard left nothing to be desired. + +When he saw that the widow had become a little calmer, he said +resolutely, and with superbly bombastic manner, "I am sure you laugh, +madame, at all the despairing efforts that I make to prevent my poor +stolen heart from flying quickly to your feet. It is that which has +brought me here; I could not but follow, in spite of myself; yes, +madame, in spite of myself. I said to it, 'there, there, softly, softly, +my heart, it does not suffice, in order to please a divine beauty, to be +passionately loving,' but my little, or rather my great and rash, heart +replied ever by drawing me to you with all its strength; as if it had +been the steel and Devil's Cliff the magnet; my heart, I say, replied to +me, 'Reassure yourself, master; tender and valiant as you are, the love +that you feel shall cause the birth of a love which you shall share.' +But pardon me madame, the language of my heart makes me outrageously +impertinent--it is doubtless this impertinence which makes you laugh +anew." + +"No, sir, no; your appearance diverts me to this great extent because +you resemble--ha! ha! ha!--in a strange way, my second husband. You have +positively the very same nose--ha! ha! ha!--and in seeing you enter, I +believed I saw his spirit--ha! ha! ha!--coming to reproach me--ha! ha! +ha!--with his cruel end--ha! ha!" + +The laughter of Angela redoubled. The chevalier was not ignorant of the +antecedents with which Blue Beard might be reproached, but he could not +conceal his great surprise at hearing this charming little creature +acknowledge the crime of murder with such incredible audacity. +Nevertheless, the chevalier recovered his customary coolness and replied +gallantly, "I am too happy, madame, to recall to you one of your +deceased husbands; and of reviving by my presence one of your memories, +whatever it may be. But," continued Croustillac with a gallant manner, +"there are other resemblances that I would wish to have to the +deceased--whose memory diverts you so much." + +"That is to say, you desire to marry me?" said Blue Beard to him. + +The chevalier was stupefied for a moment by this abrupt question. + +Angela went on: "I expected it; Rend-your-Soul, whom I call by an +abbreviation, my little Rendsoul, has informed me of your desires; +perhaps he wishes to raise false hopes," added the widow, looking +coquettishly at the chevalier. + +Croustillac experienced surprise after surprise. "How," he cried, "the +buccaneer has told you, madame----" + +"That you have come from France for the express purpose of marrying +me--is it true? See, speak frankly--do not deceive me. Oh, I do not like +to be thwarted. I warn you, if I have taken it into my head that you +shall be my husband, you shall be." + +"Madame, I beg of you, do not take me for a fool, for a jackanapes, for +a stupid; if I am dumb, it is with emotion, surprise." And Croustillac +looked about him uneasily, as if to assure himself he was not the sport +of a dream. "May I be shot if I expected such a reception." + +"Well, there is no need to make so many words over it," replied the +widow. "I have been told you wish to marry me--is it true?" + +"As true as that you are the most dazzling beauty that I have ever met," +said the chevalier impetuously, placing his hand on his heart. + +"Truly? Truly? You have really decided to marry me?" cried the little +widow, clapping her hands joyfully. + +"I am so decided, adorable widow, that my only fear now is of not seeing +this desire realized; it is, I avow, an excessive desire, a great dream, +and----" + +"Be quiet, then," said Blue Beard, interrupting the chevalier with +childlike frankness. "What is the use of these big words? You ask my +hand--why should I not give it to you?" + +"How, madame, can I believe it! Ah, wait, beautiful Islander. I have had +many triumphs in my life; princesses have avowed their passion for me; +queens have sighed when looking at me, but never, madame, never have I +found such a one! Yes, madame, you can congratulate yourself, you can +boast of having brought to its height my surprise, my joy and my +gratitude. Repeat, then, I implore you, repeat those charming words--you +consent to take me for your husband, me, Polypheme de Croustillac?" + +"I will repeat it as much as you desire; nothing is simpler; you can +well understand that I have too much trouble in finding husbands not to +seize eagerly the offer which you make me." + +"Ah, madame," replied the chevalier courteously, "at the risk of passing +for an impertinent man, I must allow myself to contradict you. Never can +I believe that you could find it difficult to find a husband. I will say +more--I am convinced that you have had, since your widowhood only +embarrassment of choice, but you have simply not wished to select. You +have too good taste, madame," said Croustillac audaciously, "you +waited----" + +"I might deceive you and allow you to think this, chevalier, but you are +too brave and gallant a man to be abused--at present," continued Angela, +with a gracious and confidential manner, "I will tell you all. Listen to +me. The first time I married, I had but to choose, it is true. O, +heavens! suitors presented themselves in swarms, and I chose--very well, +too. Then my second marriage: it was even then not the same thing. +People had commented on the singular death of my first husband, and +suitors had already begun to reflect before declaring themselves. +However, as I am not stupid, thanks to determination, cajolery and +coquetry, I succeeded in getting a second husband. Alas! it was not +without trouble. But the third. Oh, you have no idea all the trouble I +had; truly I was in despair!" + +"Ah, madame, why was I not there!" + +"Doubtless, but, unhappily, you were not. If they talked about the death +of my first husband; you can judge what they said about that of my +second. People began to distrust me," said the widow, shaking her pretty +little head with an expression of ingenuous melancholy. "What would you +have? the world is so meddling, so slanderous; men are so strange!" + +"The world is stupid and egotistical, foolish," cried Croustillac, +filled with pity for this victim of calumny. "Men are cowards and fools +who believe all the gossip which is told them." + +"What you say is very true. You are not so, my friend?" + +"She calls me her friend," cried Croustillac, in a transport; and he +answered, "No, certainly not, and I am not so." + +"Doubtless," said the widow, "you are very different; you spoil me by +accepting my proposition so quickly." + +"Say, rather, that I am beyond bounds overjoyed at it, madame." + +"You spoil me," continued the widow, with an enchanting smile, and +throwing a tender glance at the chevalier. "I assure you you spoil me; +you are so easy, so accommodating. Ah! how shall I replace you?" + +"Replace me?" + +"Yes, after you, friend." + +"After me?" + +"Yes, certainly, after you." + +"Madame, I do not understand you. I do not wish to understand." + +"It is very simple; how can I hope to find another like you, who will +marry me so willingly? Ah, no, such men are rare!" + +"How, madame, after me?" cried Croustillac, overcome by this idea. "You +dream, then, of a successor to me?" + +"Yes, friend," replied the widow, with the most touchingly sentimental +air imaginable; "yes, for when you are no more I must renew my quest, +seek, ask, and find a fifth husband. Think, then, of the difficulties +and obstacles to overcome. Perhaps I shall not succeed. Think, then, a +widow for the fourth time. You forget that; it is a fact, however; my +friend, after you, I shall be a widow for the fourth time." + +"I do not forget it at all, madame," said Croustillac, whose ardor +became somewhat chilled, and began to ask himself if this affair was not +madness. "I shall not forget, certainly, in case I have the honor of +marrying you, that you will be for the fourth time a widow if you lose +me; but it appears you place a rather short period to my love." + +"Alas! yes, my friend," said the widow, in a tender voice, "one year, +and a year is very short. A year! it passes so quickly when one loves," +continued she, casting the glance of a perfect assassin at him. + +"A year, madame," cried the chevalier. But then, believing that the +words of Blue Beard hid perhaps a test, that she wished possibly to +judge of his courage, he added in a chivalrous tone, "Ah, well, so be +it, madame; whether my happiness last but a year, a day, an hour, a +minute--it matters not; I will brave all, if only I can say that I have +been fortunate enough to obtain your hand." + +"You are a true knight," said the widow, charmed. "I expected no less of +you. That is agreed; only I must forewarn my little Rendsoul, for form's +sake, understand, for married or not I shall always be to him what I +have been." + +"But, madame," said Croustillac, "is it permitted me, will it be +indiscreet to ask you what you are to this hunter of wild beasts, and +what are his relations with you? Or, rather, will you explain to me what +intimacy it is that you feel obliges you to speak to him of your plans?" + +"Certainly; and to whom would I make this statement if not to you, my +friend? I will confess to you that Rendsoul is one of my lovers." + +Here Croustillac made such a singular grimace and coughed two or three +times in such a manner, that Angela broke into a peal of laughter. + +Croustillac, for a moment dumfounded, came to this reflection full of +wisdom: "I am a fool! Nothing is simpler. She had a kind of fancy for +this stupid fellow. The sight of me has decided her to sacrifice him; +unlucky buccaneer that he is! But why the devil does she tell me that at +the end of a year she must find a successor to me?" + +"Wait--here comes my Rendsoul," said the widow. "We will tell him our +plans, and we will sup together like three friends." + +"It matters not to me," said Croustillac, seeing the buccaneer enter. +"Here is a little woman who wishes to show that she is an original." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SUPPER. + + +When the buccaneer entered the chevalier hardly knew him. Rend-your-Soul +had put off his hunter's costume; he wore a coat and nether garment of +guinea cloth, thickly embroidered with alternate rays of white and deep +red; his black beard fell upon a shirt of dazzling whiteness, which was +close like a doublet by a row of small coral buttons; a scarf of red +silk, hose of the same color, and shoes of doeskin with large +ribbon-bows, completed a costume most elegant for a buccaneer, and +showing to advantage his tall and robust figure; in the brilliant light +of the candles his complexion seemed less brown than in the daytime; his +black hair, curling naturally, fell carelessly on his shoulders; and +finally, his hands were beautiful, in spite of his rough following as a +hunter. + +At the sight of the buccaneer, so transformed and almost unrecognizable, +in spite of the hard character which his thick beard always gave to his +face, the chevalier said to himself, "I should prefer that this person +had at least a civilized appearance; it would be too humiliating for +Polypheme de Croustillac to triumph over a rival so plain as the one +which he at first sight appeared to be. But, while I do not doubt this +Nimrod, I must say that Blue Beard has a singular manner of acting. +Could she not have given him his dismissal in some other way than in my +presence? I hate to so cruelly use my advantage in crushing a poor +rival; for, after all, a man is a man! This poor buccaneer is going to +find himself in a pitiable position. But let me hold firm; and show Blue +Beard that I am not the dupe of her confidence concerning her deceased +husbands, and that I am not afraid to die like them." + +Croustillac ended this reflection when the pretty widow, indicating the +adventurer by a triumphant nod of the head, said ingenuously to the +buccaneer, "This gentleman asks for my hand in marriage. You see you +were wrong in persisting to me that I would not find a fourth husband. +So you can imagine I have very quickly accepted the chevalier's +proposal; it was too good an opportunity to let slip." + +The buccaneer did not reply at once. Croustillac mechanically put his +hand on the hilt of his sword, in order not to be without means of +defense in case the hunter, exasperated by jealousy, should wish to do +him an injury. What was his surprise when he heard Rend-your-Soul say, +after seating himself in a large chair, "I have always said to you, my +beautiful one, just what that comrade Hurricane said, 'Marry, a thousand +devils marry! if you desire to, for husbands are rare, for one never +knows what you will do; but one thing is certain, they never live long.' +As for me, I do not approve your little proceedings. I have more than +once seen your little white hands prepare certain beverages----" + +"Oh, fie! fie! bad man!" said Angela, shaking her finger at him. + +"Nevertheless, it is true," said the buccaneer. "What is the secret of +that gray powder of which I had only given a pinch to my servant who was +devoured by my dogs. What infernal concoction was it?" + +"Yes, madame, this gray powder--tell us its compounds," said +Croustillac. + +"Oh, you indiscreet man!" said Angela, looking at the buccaneer, with an +air of annoyance. "The chevalier will take me for a child; how shall I +appear in his eyes if he thinks I occupy myself with such trifles?" + +"Have no fears on that score, madame," said Croustillac; "I am +delighted, I assure you, to have these new evidences of your youthful +candor! Well, worthy Nimrod, this gray powder?" + +"Truly, I am very much ashamed!" said Angela, hanging her head and +lowering her eyes, and at the same time making a charming little +grimace. + +"Imagine, then," said the buccaneer, "that I gave my servant just a +little pinch of powder in a glass of brandy." + +"Well?" said Croustillac, with interest. + +"Well, for two days he was so gay that he laughed from night till +morning and morning till night." + +"I do not see anything bad in that," said Croustillac. + +"But wait!" continued the hunter. "My servant did not do this from +amusement, he suffered the torments of the damned; his eyes were +bursting from their sockets, and he said, between his paroxysms of +laughter, that such torture as he endured was beyond belief. The third +day he suffered so that he fell as if in a fit, and remained thus a long +time; all due to the pinch of madame's gray powder. It may not surprise +you to learn that madame's second husband was as gay as a lark, and that +he died very joyfully." + +"Oh! heavens, as if one could not commit a little mischief without being +reproached by you," said Angela, like a capricious child. + +"Listen, comrade! she calls that a little mischief," said the hunter. +"Just imagine! her second husband laughed so hard that the blood burst +from his nose, eyes and ears. But whatever he laughed about, he did so +as if he had seen the most amusing thing in the world. But that did not +prevent him from saying, like my servant, that he would rather have been +burned at a slow fire than suffer such gayety; he also died, laughing to +the last, and swearing like a devil." + +"There! you go too fast," said Blue Beard, shrugging her shoulders. +Then, whispering to the Gascon, "Friend, do not be afraid--I have lost +the secret of the gray powder!" + +The chevalier, in an attempt to smile, made quite a grimace. He had left +France at a time when the fearful practice in poisons was at its height, +and people talked only of the heir's powder, the powder of the aged, and +the widow's powder. The names, even, of certain poisons were cited with +fear. Now Blue Beard's laughing powder could not but give rise to the +most doleful reflections on the part of the chevalier. "So," he said to +himself, glancing defiantly at Angela, "does this creature deal in +chemistry and draughts--is this story true?" + +"What ails you, brother?" said the buccaneer, struck by Croustillac's +silence. + +"You have made him afraid of me," said the widow. + +"No, my beautiful lady, no," said Croustillac, "I was thinking that it +must be very pleasant to die thus of laughter!" + +"Faith, you are right, brother, one had better die so than as the last +husband died." And the buccaneer shuddered with horror. + +"It appears that the death of the latter must have been more terrible +than the former," said Croustillac, with affected carelessness. + +"As to that story, comrade, I will not tell you that, you would be +afraid." + +"I? afraid?" and the Gascon shrugged his shoulders. + +Blue Beard leaned over and whispered again to the Gascon, "Let him tell +it, friend; this tale, at least, is worth the trouble. I am going to +trap Rendsoul." + +Then, addressing herself to the buccaneer, "Well, go on; speak! Why do +you not speak? Do not pause in the middle of the road. You see the +chevalier is listening with all his ears--go on, speak. I do not wish +him to buy, as they say, a 'a cat in a bag.'" + +"You should say a tigress in a bag," replied, laughingly, the buccaneer. +"Ah, well, sir," addressing Croustillac, "Fancy this third husband a +man, handsome, of dark complexion, thirty-six years of age, a Spaniard +by birth. We came across him at Havana." + +"Heavens! tell it quickly," said the widow, "the chevalier is impatient +to hear." + +"It was not a gray powder that he tasted, this one," replied the +buccaneer, "but a drop, one drop only, of a pretty green liquid +contained in the smallest flask I ever saw in my life, for it was made +of a single hollow ruby." + +"That is simple enough," said Angela, "the strength of this liquid was +such that it would dissolve or break any flask which was not made of a +ruby or a diamond." + +"You can judge, after that, chevalier," said the hunter, "of the +pleasure which this liquid must have given our third husband. Certainly +I am neither over-tender nor timid, but, after all, it is difficult to +become accustomed to seeing a man who looks at you with green eyes, +luminous, and set so deep in their orbit that they have the effect of a +glowworm in the depths of a subterranean cave." + +"The fact is," said Croustillac, who could not prevent a slight shudder, +"the fact is that at first this would appear strange." + +"That is not all; listen to the rest," said the widow with an air of +perfect self-satisfaction. + +The buccaneer continued: "That was only his usual condition, poor man, +having eyes like a glowworm, but what was most frightful was when madame +gave a supper to Hurricane, myself and Youmaeale. She dipped a camel's +hair brush into the little ruby flask and compelled the unhappy Spaniard +to approach, and passed this brush over his eyelashes. Then one would +have said that from the eyelashes of this unhappy man there issued a +thousand rays; his green eyes, sunken in his head, protruded and rolled +in their orbit like two globes of fire, and threw such varied and +continual light that they sufficed to light up our feast, while the +wretched man stood immovable as a marble statue, saying in a piteous +voice, 'My head furnishes fuel for the lamps of my eyes!' It was well +that the poor man could not see the fire," said the buccaneer, bursting +into laughter at this cruel jest. "And when the supply of oil in the +lamp failed, the madame's husband went to join his predecessors, in +order to leave his place open to you." + +"What Rendsoul tells you is correct," said Blue Beard. "He is very +indiscreet, as you see, but he is truthful. And so am I. I have singular +ideas and caprices, I know; my God! I do not wish to represent myself as +better than I am. Above all, I would be frank with you and conceal +nothing. You would ask why my husbands are the only victims of my +playfulness? I have no power over others. And I always warn them what +will be their fate. It is that which makes it so difficult for me to +find a husband. It is on these conditions alone that Satan signs my +contract, and then this contract, signed by him, acquires a virtue as +wonderful as mysterious. Alas! my friend, may he soon sign ours. I have +thought of two preparations which are entirely different from the +others, and the effects of which are truly magical." + +All this time Croustillac experienced a strange sensation, which he +attributed to the fatigue of the day and the evening; it was as if a +lethargy possessed his brain and almost took from him the power of +resisting by use of his reason the impression made by these strange +tales of the widow and the buccaneer. Without believing these fabulous +inventions, he was nevertheless frightened by them as one is by a bad +dream. The chevalier hardly knew whether he was awake or asleep; he +looked at the buccaneer and the widow by turn, with a stupefied air, +almost terrified. Finally, being ashamed to show his credulity, he rose +abruptly and paced up and down a few minutes in the hope that movement +would dispel the torpor which he felt overwhelming him. + +Croustillac did not wish to be a butt for these two persons, and he +almost regretted having embarked so imprudently in this mad adventure. +He said to Blue Beard resolutely, "Come, come, you are jesting, madame; +do not trouble yourself; I comprehend the joke. I do not believe you as +ferocious or as much of a magician as you wish to appear; to-morrow, I +am sure I shall learn the secret of this comedy, which to-night, I avow, +gives me a kind of nightmare." + +These words of the chevalier, spoken from no motive but to show the +dwellers of Devil's Cliff that he did not intend to be their dupe, +produced on Blue Beard a singular effect. She cast a terrified glance at +the buccaneer, and said haughtily to Croustillac, "I do not jest, sir; +you came here with the intention of marrying me; I offer you my hand, +and I will tell you upon what conditions; if these are agreeable to you, +we will be married in eight days; there is a chapel here; the reverend +Father Griffen, of the parish of Macouba, will come hither in order to +unite us; if my conditions do not meet with your approval, you can quit +this house, where you never ought to have come." + +As Blue Beard proceeded her face lost its look of wicked cajolery; she +became sad, almost menacing. "A comedy!" she said; "if I thought you +took all that has been said as such, you should not remain a moment +longer in this house, sir," she continued, in a changed voice, betraying +her deep feeling. + +"No, the chevalier must not take it all as a jest," said the buccaneer, +looking steadily at the Gascon. + +Croustillac, naturally impatient and vivacious, experienced vexation at +not being able to discover what was true and what feigned in this +singular adventure. He cried then, "Well, zounds! madame, what do you +wish me to think? I encounter a buccaneer in the forest; I impart to him +my desire to meet you; he informs me abruptly that you will yourself +tell me that he has the good fortune to be in your good graces." + +"And then, sir?" + +"Then, madame, though I have warned him, the buccaneer has brought me to +you, by whom I have been received with the greatest hospitality, I must +acknowledge; I am introduced to you; informed of my desires, you +yourself offer me your hand, you inform your friend the bull-hunter of +my wishes." + +"Well, sir?" + +"Madame, up to that time all went well; but now the buccaneer wishes to +inform me, with your consent, that I am reserved for a fourth deceased +husband, and to succeed a man who laughed himself to death, and one +whose eyes served as lights for one of your orgies!" + +"It is the truth," said the buccaneer. + +"How, the truth?" continued Croustillac, recovering his lost vivacity. +"Are we in the land of dreams? Do you take the Chevalier de Croustillac +for a simpleton? Do you think I am one of those weak-minded creatures +who believe in the devil? I am not a goose, and I also ask twenty-four +hours in which to demolish all these ridiculous stories." + +Angela became very pale, and threw a look of agony and indescribable +fear on the buccaneer, and replied to the chevalier with ill-concealed +anger, "Ah, who told you, sir, that all that has taken place is natural? +Do you know why I, young and rich, offer you my hand the first moment I +see you? Do you know what this union will cost you? You believe yourself +to have a strong mind; who told you that certain phenomena would not go +beyond your comprehension? Do you know _who_ I am? Do you know _where_ +you are? Do you know in consequence of what strange mystery I offer you +my hand? A comedy?" repeated Blue Beard bitterly, regarding the +buccaneer with an appearance almost of fear; "can you not be made to +understand that all this is not a play, sir? It is hardly to be believed +that your good angel brought you here, at least." + +"And then, after all, who told you that you would ever go out of this +place?" said the buccaneer coldly. + +The chevalier recoiled a step, trembling, and said: + +"Zounds! no violence, at least--or if so----" + +"If so, what can you do?" said Blue Beard, with a smile which appeared +to the Gascon implacably cruel. + +Croustillac thought, too late, of the doors he had shut behind him, of +the difficult road he had had to traverse in order to reach this +diabolical house; he saw himself at the mercy of the widow, of the +buccaneer, and of their numerous slaves. He repented heartily and most +earnestly of having so blindly entered upon such an enterprise. On the +other hand, Croustillac, in contemplating the enchanting figure of Blue +Beard, could not believe her capable of such bloodthirsty perfidy. +Nevertheless, the strange avowals she had made him, the terrible reports +concerning her, the threats of the buccaneer, began to make some +impression upon the chevalier. Just then a mulattress came in to +announce supper. + +During the gloomy reflections of the adventurer, Angela had a few +minutes' conversation with the buccaneer, carried on in a low voice; she +was, as a result, apparently satisfied and reassured, for, little by +little, her brow cleared, and the smile again came to her lips. "Come, +brave knight," said she gayly to the chevalier, "do not be afraid of me +any more; do not take me for the devil; and do honor to the modest +supper that a poor widow is only too happy to offer you." + +So saying, she graciously offered her hand to Croustillac. The supper +was served with a sumptuousness, a refinement, which left no doubt in +the chevalier's mind as to the enormous fortune of the widow. Only, we +would say to the reader that the silver-gilt service was not engraved +with the royal arms of England, as were the objects which were placed +only before Blue Beard. + +In spite of the sprightliness and ideal grace of the widow, in spite of +the witty sallies of the buccaneer, the supper was a gloomy one for +Croustillac. His habitual assurance had given place to a kind of vague +inquietude. The more charming Angela seemed to him, the more she +exercised her fascinations, the greater the luxury which surrounded her, +the more the adventurer found his distrust increased. In spite of their +absurdity, the strange tales of the buccaneer kept returning to the +remembrance of the chevalier--both the tale of the gray powder which +caused one to die of laughter, and the liquid in the ruby flask which +changed the eyes into brilliant lamps. While these recitals might not be +more real than a bad dream past--the Gascon, from dread of some infernal +dish, could not prevent himself from distrust of the viands and wines +with which he was served. He observed the widow and the buccaneer +closely; their manners were perfectly correct. Rendsoul bore himself +toward Blue Beard with the proper degree of familiarity which a husband +displays toward his wife before a stranger. "But then," the chevalier +asked himself, "how does this reserve accord with the cynicism of the +widow, who declared so cavalierly that the Caribbean and the filibuster +shared her good graces with the buccaneer, without the latter being +jealous in the slightest degree?" The Gascon asked himself still further +what could be the object of Blue Beard in offering her hand to him, and +what price she would put upon this union. He was too clear-sighted not +to have noticed the lively emotion, sincere on the part of the widow, +when she showed such indignation that the adventurer should believe her +capable of playing a comedy in offering her hand. On this point +Croustillac had not deceived himself. Blue Beard had been deeply moved; +she had been in despair on seeing that the Gascon took for a jest or a +comedy all that had passed at Devil's Cliff. She had been reassured on +seeing the vague disquietude which the face of the chevalier showed in +spite of himself. He was lost in vain conjectures. Never had he found +himself in a situation so strange that the idea of a supernatural +influence or power should present itself to his mind. In spite of +himself, he asked himself if there was nothing unnatural in what he had +seen and heard. The fact that he felt the first heavy agony of a +superstitious terror struck him most disagreeably. He did not dare to +acknowledge to himself that more determined men, wiser and more learned +men than he, had, within the century, and even the latter part of it, +testified a belief in the existence of a veritable devil. And then, +finally, the adventurer had been until then much too indifferent in the +matter of religion not to believe in the devil, sooner or later. + +This fear passed rapidly through the mind of the chevalier, but it would +leave, for the future, an indelible mark; however, he reassured himself, +little by little, at seeing the pretty widow do honor to the supper; she +showed herself too fond of the pleasures of the table to be a spirit of +darkness. + +The supper at an end, the three entered the drawing room, and Blue Beard +said to the chevalier in a solemn voice, "To-morrow I will inform you on +what conditions I will give you my hand; if you refuse them, you must +leave Devil's Cliff. In order to give you a proof of my confidence in +you I consent that you shall pass this night in the interior of this +house, although I never accord this favor to strangers. Rendsoul will +show you the rooms reserved for you." Saying this, the widow entered her +own apartment. Croustillac remained absorbed in thought. + +"Ah, well, brother, how do you feel?" said the buccaneer. + +"What is your motive in addressing such a question to me? Is it +sarcasm?" said the chevalier. + +"My motive is simply to know how you like our hostess." + +"Hum, hum--without wishing to detract from her, you must confess that +she is a woman very difficult to estimate, at first sight," said +Croustillac, with some bitterness. "You cannot be surprised if I +consider the subject before I answer your question. To-morrow I will +tell you my opinion, if I am able to answer, myself." + +"In your place I should not consider the subject," said the buccaneer. +"I would accept, with eyes closed, all that she offered me, and I would +wed her; for, by my faith, one cannot tell who will live or who die; +tastes change with years. The days which succeed each other are +dissimilar." + +"Ah, well, have done with your proverbs and parables," said the Gascon, +exasperated. "Why do you not marry her yourself?" + +"I?" + +"Yes, you!" + +"Because I do not wish to die of laughter or have my eyes converted into +lamps." + +"And do you think that I wish to do so?" + +"You?" + +"Yes; why should I more than you wish to see the devil sign my contract, +as this woman playfully says?" + +"Then do not marry her; you are your own master; that is your lookout." + +"Certainly, it is my affair, and I will marry her if I choose! _Peste!_" +exclaimed the chevalier, who began to fear that he was losing his wits +by reason of this chaos of strange ideas. + +"Come, brother, be calm!" said the buccaneer; "do not worry yourself. Do +you doubt I will keep my word? I have brought you to Devil's Cliff; the +prettiest woman in the world offers you her hand, her heart and her +treasures; what more would you have?" + +"I would understand all that has taken place, everything that has +happened to me for the past two days, all that I have seen and heard +to-night!" cried Croustillac, exasperated beyond bounds. "I would know +if I am awake or dreaming." + +"You must not be too exacting, brother. Perhaps this night will bring +you a dream which will explain and enlighten you upon these subjects. +Come--it is late, the day has been hard; follow me." And, saying these +words, the buccaneer took up a candle and made a sign to the chevalier +to follow him. + +They passed through a number of sumptuously furnished rooms, and a +little gallery, at the end of which they reached a very elegant +bed-chamber, whose windows opened on the beautiful garden of which we +have already spoken. + +"You have been a soldier or a sportsman, brother," said the buccaneer, +"you will know, then, how to get along without a servant. No man, except +myself, Hurricane, and the Caribbean has ever passed the first door of +this place; our beautiful hostess has made an exception in your favor, +but this exception must be the only one. Knowing this, brother, may God +or the devil keep you in his care." The buccaneer went out, shutting +Croustillac in by means of a double lock. + +The chevalier, much disturbed, opened a window which looked out on the +little park. It was guarded by a trellis of steel netting which it was +impossible to break, but which did not hide a view of the beautiful +garden which the moon illumined with its soft light. + +Croustillac, ill at ease, examined the wainscoting and floor of his +chamber, in order to assure himself that they did not cover any trap; he +looked under his bed, sounded the ceiling with his sword, but failed to +discover anything suspicious. Nevertheless, by way of further prudence +and to make sure, the chevalier laid down in his clothing, after having +placed his faithful sword at his side, within reach. In spite of his +resolve not to go to sleep, the fatigue and emotions of his journey +plunged him quickly into a profound slumber. + + * * * * * + +Angela, seated in the room of which we have spoken before, said to the +buccaneer: "Unfortunately, this man is not so stupid and credulous as we +had thought. Heaven grant he may not be dangerous!" + +"No, no; reassure yourself," said the buccaneer. "He has shown good +stuff, but our two narratives have struck him; he will remember this +night for a long time, and, what is better, he will talk about it. +Believe me, all the exaggerations which he will use to embellish his +recitals will only add to the strange stories afloat concerning Devil's +Cliff." + +"Ah!" cried the widow, still alarmed at the remembrance of the +adventurer saying that all was a comedy and that he would investigate +it, "in spite of myself I am terrified." + +"There is nothing to be afraid of, I tell you, Madame Blue Beard," said +the buccaneer gayly, kneeling before Angela, and looking at her +tenderly. "Your diabolical reputation is too well established to suffer +the slightest diminution; but acknowledge that I have an imagination, +and that my gray powder and my green liquid accomplished wonders." + +"And my devil who witnesses my contract," said Angela, laughing merrily. + +"That is well; I love thus to see you laughing and merry," said the +buccaneer. "When I see you sad and dreamy I am always afraid our retreat +bores you." + +"Will you please hold your tongue, Monsieur Rendsoul? Have I the +appearance of wearying near you? Are you jealous of your rivals? Ask +them if I love them better than I do you. Have you not procured me this +distraction and the sight of this Gascon, to whom I owe the most +delightful amusement? I was unreasonable. Except for my stupid fears, +this evening was charming, because you were here, your eyes on mine, my +lover. Ah! the moonlight is superb, let us go for a walk in it +outdoors." + +"Beyond the house?" + +"Yes; we will walk on the great cliff, you know, where one sees in the +distance the ocean. On such a beautiful night it will be delicious." + +"Come, then, capricious child, take your mantle," said the buccaneer, +rising. + +"Come, Sir Black Beard, take your Spanish sombrero and be ready to carry +me in your arms, out of reach of stumbling, for I am lazy." + +"Come, Madame Blue Beard; but you do not wish to visit our guest?" + +"I am sure the poor devil has some horrible dream. Ah, well, to-morrow +we will give him a guide and send him away." + +"No, keep him here another day. I will tell you what Father Griffen +thinks of it; amusements are rare, he will amuse you." + +"Heavens! what a beautiful night," said Angela, opening the blinds of +the window. "It will make me so happy to take a walk." + +Opening the outer doors of Devil's Cliff, the buccaneer and the widow +left the house. + + * * * * * + +Contrary to his expectation, Croustillac passed an excellent night. When +he awoke the following morning the sun was already high in the heavens; +the blinds which were on his chamber windows had been lowered, +fortunately, which softened the light. The chevalier had lain down with +all his clothing on. He arose and went over to the window, and opened +the blinds partially. What was his astonishment to see, at the end of a +long walk bordered with tamarinds, that formed a screen almost +impenetrable to the light, Blue Beard walking, negligently, leaning on +the arm of a Caribbean of vigorous stature. This Caribbean was entirely +dyed, according to custom, that is to say, painted with a kind of +luminous composition of a reddish brown; his hair, black and glossy, +parted in the center, fell on either side of his cheeks; his beard +seemed carefully trimmed; his perfectly regular features partook of the +character of calm severity peculiar to the savage; on his neck shone +large crescents of carracolis (a kind of metal of which the West Indians +alone knew the secret, and composed of gold, brass and silver). + +These ornaments, of a brilliant red, were curiously chased and incrusted +with green stones, the color of malachite, and to these the Indians +attribute all kinds of marvelous virtues. The Caribbean was clad in a +loose white garment having a border of blue fringe; the large and +sweeping folds of this costume would have served as a model for the +drapery of a statue. With the exception of the neck, right arm naked to +the shoulder, and the left leg, this cotton garment enveloped the +Caribbean completely; on his wrist he had bracelets of carracolis also +incrusted with green stones; his leg was half hidden by a kind of sandal +made of bands of cotton stuff of a vivid color and very picturesque. + +Angela and Youmaeale, for this was he, were walking slowly, and came +directly toward the window from the shadow of which the Gascon watched +them. A pink girdle about the beautiful figure of the widow confined a +long robe of white muslin; her blond curls fell around her fresh and +youthful face, which the adventurer had not seen before by day. He could +not refrain from admiring her white and clear complexion, her rosy and +transparent cheeks, her eyes so limpid and blue. + +The evening before, Angela had appeared to Croustillac in brilliant +apparel, and disturbed by the strange confidences of Blue Beard and the +buccaneer, the admiration of the chevalier was mixed with distrust, +impatience and fear, and he had been more alarmed than touched by the +beauty of Angela; but when he saw her in the morning so simply pretty, +he experienced a profound emotion; he was moved; he forgot Devil's Cliff +and the cannibal, and thought only of the beautiful creature before him. +Love, yes, true love took possession suddenly of the chevalier's heart +just before so little in love. Though the growth of this sudden passion +was so rapid and instantaneous, it was none the less sincere. + +Doubtless the evening before, Croustillac had suffered from too much +agitation, too sudden astonishment, too strange preoccupations, to +really appreciate Blue Beard; refreshed by a night's sleep, the past +seemed like a dream and Angela appeared as if for the first time to him; +admiring the supple figure outlined by the perfect fit of her white +muslin robe, he forgot the brocaded dress studded with precious stones +with which he was so impressed the preceding evening. He sought vainly +to discover, in the ingenuous and charming features which he now beheld +the diabolical smiles of the singular woman who had made such sinister +pleasantries concerning her three deceased husbands. In fact, poor +Croustillac was in love. Perhaps it was he and not Blue Beard who had +changed; but with his new love came all kinds of cruel jealousy. + +Seeing Angela and Youmaeale walking together so familiarly, the +adventurer experienced agony and new disquietude increased by an intense +curiosity. Alas! what a sight for him. At times, Angela dropped the +Caribbean's arm in order to pursue, with the ardent enjoyment of a +child, the beautiful gold and blue insects, or to pick some lovely +fragrant flower; then she would suddenly return to Youmaeale, always +calm, almost solemn, who seemed to have a feeling of grave and tender +protection for the young woman. + +At times the Caribbean gave his hand to the widow to kiss. Angela, happy +and proud at this favor, carried the hand to her lips with an air at +once respectful and passionate; she seemed a Caribbean woman accustomed +to live a submissive and devoted slave to her master. Youmaeale held a +magnificent flower which the widow had given him. He let it fall to the +earth. Angela bent quickly, and picking it up, handed it to him, while +the savage made no gesture to prevent her, or to thank her for this +attention. + +"Stupid and gross animal!" cried Croustillac indignantly; "would one not +think he was a sultan? How can that adorable creature bring herself to +kiss the hand of a cannibal, who had no other way of sounding the +praises of the good priest Simon than that he had eaten him! Yesterday a +buccaneer, to-day a cannibal, to-morrow, without doubt, a filibuster. +But she is a veritable Messalina!" continued Croustillac, at once +despairing and feeling within himself a victim to a real passion. + +The widow and the Caribbean approached nearer and nearer the window +where Croustillac stood watching them, and he could hear their +conversation. Youmaeale spoke French with the slight guttural accent +natural to his race; his words were few and brief. Croustillac overheard +these words of the conversation: + +"Youmaeale," said the little widow, leaning on the arm of the Caribbean +and looking tenderly at him, "Youmaeale, you are my master, I will obey +you; is it not my duty, my sweet duty, to obey you?" + +"It is thy duty," said the Caribbean, who used that form, but which +Angela did not. His dignity as the man demanded this. + +"Youmaeale, my life is your life, my thoughts are yours," returned +Angela; "if you should tell me to put to my lips the deadly juice of +this poisonous apple, I should do it, to show you that I belong to you, +as your bow, your cabin, your canoe, belong to you." + +Saying these words Angela showed the silent Caribbean a yellow fruit +which she held in her hand, and which contained the most deadly and +subtle poison. Youmaeale, after subjecting Angela to the most piercing +scrutiny, made an imperative gesture holding up the forefinger of his +right hand. At this sign, the widow quickly raised the deadly fruit to +her lips, and, had it not been for a movement still more rapid on the +part of the Caribbean she would perhaps have given this fatal proof of +passive obedience to the slightest caprice of her master. A movement of +affright as fugitive as lightning, contracted the impassive features of +the Caribbean as the widow lifted the apple to her lips; but he quickly +recovered his coolness, lowering the hand of Angela, kissing the young +woman gravely on the forehead, and saying to her in a sweet and sonorous +tone, "It is well." + +At this moment the two pedestrians were so close to the window of +Croustillac that the latter, fearing to be discovered eavesdropping, +withdrew suddenly into his chamber, and said "How she frightened me with +her poison. And this savage animal, who looks like a lobster, as much +from the color of his skin as from his movements, says to her, 'It is +well,' when this adorable woman, at a sign from him, would have poisoned +herself; for once in love, women are capable of anything." Then, after +some moments of cruel reflection, the Gascon exclaimed, "It is +inexplicable that a woman should be in love with a man such as this one +appears to be; with two, for this is evident; although it is an +enormity! But it is impossible that she should love three at the same +time; this descends to monstrosity--it is worthy of the lower regions. +How! Blue Beard, linked to a buccaneer, and a filibuster, also has a +frightful fancy for this cannibal who eats missionaries, without taking +into account in addition that she proposes to me to marry her! Zounds! +this is enough to make one lose his head. Decidedly I will not remain +here; no, no, a thousand times, no! What I have seen has made me ill. I +will not become so stupid as to take this woman; I should lose all my +advantages. Real love makes one as stupid as a goose; during this last +hour I have already lost more resolution than since my arrival here. My +heart has melted; I feel myself inclined to do the most ridiculous +things. Fly, fly; this is madness, a dream. I was born poor; I have +always been poor; I will die poor. I will leave this house, I will seek +out the worthy captain of the Unicorn. After all," said Croustillac, +with a discouragement singular in a man of his character, "there are +worse things than swallowing lighted candles to amuse Captain Daniel." + +These sad reflections were interrupted by the entrance of the old +mulattress, who knocked at his door and informed him that the negro who +had waited upon him in the capacity of valet the previous day was +waiting for him in the outer building. + +Croustillac followed the slave, was dressed, shaved and thus went to +wait upon Blue Beard in the same room where he had waited the preceding +night. + +The widow shortly appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TRUE LOVE. + + +At sight of Blue Beard, in spite of himself, Croustillac blushed like a +schoolboy. + +"I was very disagreeable yesterday, was I not?" said Angela to the +chevalier, with an enchanting smile. "I gave you a bad opinion of me +when I permitted Rendsoul to tell all kinds of tricks; but do not let us +speak of them any more. By the way, Youmaeale, the Caribbean, is here." + +"I saw you from my window, madame," said the chevalier bitterly, while +he thought, "She has not the slightest shame. What a pity, with such an +adorable face. There, Croustillac, be firm!" + +"Is Youmaeale not very handsome?" asked the widow with a triumphant air. + +"Humph! he is handsome for a savage," returned the chevalier, +unwillingly; "but, now that we are alone, madame, explain to me how you +can in one day (do not be shocked by this question which circumstances +compel me to ask you), how you can in one day change your lover?" + +"Oh, it is simple enough; one comes, the other goes; it is very simple." + +"One comes, the other goes--it is very simple from this standpoint, but, +madame, nature and morality have laws!" + +"All three love me truly, why should I not love all three?" + +This answer was made with such perfect candor that the chevalier said to +himself, "It seems as if this unhappy woman must have been raised in +some desert or cavern. She has not the slightest idea of good and evil; +one would have to absolutely educate her." He said aloud, with some +embarrassment, "At the risk of being taken for an indiscreet and +wearisome person, madame, I would say that this morning, during your +walk with the Caribbean, I both saw and heard you. How is it that at a +sign from him you would dare, at the risk of poisoning yourself, lift to +your lips the deadly fruit of the poisonous apple?" + +"If Youmaeale should say to me 'die' I should die," replied the widow. + +"But the buccaneer, the filibuster--what would they say if you should +die for the Caribbean?" + +"They would say I had done right." + +"And if they demanded that you should die for them?" + +"I would die for them." + +"As you would for Youmaeale?" + +"As for Youmaeale." + +"Then you love the three equally?" + +"Yes, because all three love me equally." + +"She has a rooted idea and no one can dislodge it," thought the Gascon; +"I lose my trouble. Her accent is too frank to be assumed. It may be +that evil tongues have slandered a fraternal affection that this young +woman bears for these three bandits. Though the buccaneer gave me to +understand--after all, perhaps I misunderstood him and, as I am going to +leave her, I would much rather believe her more innocent than culpable; +although she does appear very hard to me to acquit." He went on: "A last +question, madame. What was the object of the atrocious tales that you +and the buccaneer related last night concerning two of your deceased +husbands--that one had died of laughter and the other been used as a +lamp, thanks to the intervention of Satan who always, according to the +same story, signs your marriage contract? You must feel, madame, that, +however polite I may be, it is extremely difficult for me to appear to +believe such follies as these." + +"They are not follies." + +"How--you wish me to believe----" + +"Oh, you must believe them, and many other things, after you have +evidence of them," said the widow, with a peculiar tone. + +"And when will you explain this mystery to me, madame?" + +"When I tell you the price I place upon my hand." + +"Ah, she is beginning to jest again," thought the Gascon. "I will appear +to be duped, in order to see what she will do; I wish she was far +away--that my stupid fancy were completely extinguished." Then aloud, +"Was it not to-day that you were to say what price you place upon your +hand, madame?" + +"Yes." + +"At what hour?" + +"This evening, when the moon rises." + +"Why not now, madame?" + +"That is a secret you will know like others." + +"And if I marry you, you will give me but one year to live?" + +"Alas! only a year." + +"Let me appear duped," said the Gascon to himself; and aloud, "Is it +your desire that my days should be so few?" + +"No, no!" cried the widow. + +"Then, personally, you do not dislike me?" said Croustillac. + +At this question the face of Blue Beard changed entirely and her +expression became grave and thoughtful; she raised her head proudly, and +the chevalier was struck with the air of nobility and goodness which +overspread her face. "Listen to me," she said, with an affectionate and +protecting voice. "Because certain circumstances in my life oblige me to +a conduct often strange; because I perhaps abuse my liberty you must not +think I have a contempt for men of heart." + +Croustillac looked at the widow with surprise. She was not the same +woman. She appeared like a woman of the world. He was so taken aback +that he could not speak. + +Blue Beard continued: "You ask me if I hate you; we have not yet reached +the point where such sentiments, good or bad, can attain such extremity; +but I am far from hating you; you are certainly very vain, very +boastful, very arrogant----" + +"Madame!" + +"But you are good, brave, and you would be capable, I am sure, of a +generous devotion; you are poor, of obscure birth----" + +"Madame, the name of Croustillac is as good as any other," cried the +chevalier, unable to vanquish the demon of pride. + +The widow continued as if she had not heard the chevalier. "If you had +been born rich and powerful, you would have made a noble use of your +power and your wealth. Want has counseled you to more evil than she has +made you perform, for you have suffered and endured many privations----" + +"But, madame----" + +"Poverty finds you careless and resigned; fortune would have found you +prodigal and generous; in a word, what is of rare occurrence, you have +not been more hurt by poverty than you would have been by prosperity. If +the amount of your good qualities has not brought you much more than the +heedlessness of youth, this house would not have been open to you, be +certain of that, sir. If the proposition that I shall make you to-night +is not agreeable to you, I am sure, at least, that you will not carry +away a disagreeable remembrance of Blue Beard. Will you await me here?" +she said, smiling, "I am going to take a look at Youmaeale's breakfast, +for it is customary with the Caribbeans that the women alone take care +of this, and I wish, in that respect at least, that Youmaeale should feel +as if in his own cabin." + +So saying, the widow left. This interview was, so to speak, a finishing +touch to the unhappy chevalier. Although the widow had shrewdly summed +up the character of Croustillac, she had expressed it in a manner full +of kindness, grace and dignity. She had, in fact, shown herself in a new +light, which overthrew all the Gascon's suppositions. The simple and +affectionate words of Angela, the sweet and noble look which accompanied +them, rendered Croustillac prouder and happier than he would have been +at the most extravagant compliments. He felt, with a mixture of joy and +fear, so completely and hopelessly in love with the widow that had she +been poor and friendless he would have been truly and generously devoted +to her--the most unmistakable symptom of true love. + +The astounding presumption of the chevalier deserted him. He understood +how ridiculous the part he had played must appear; and, as the property +of true sentiment is always to make us better, more intelligent and more +sensible, in spite of the chaos of contradictions which surrounded +Angela's conduct, the chevalier discerned that these appearances must +hide a grave mystery; he also said to himself that the intimacy of Blue +Beard with her lovers, as she called them, covered, without doubt, +another secret, and that this young woman was, as a consequence, +slandered in a most unjust manner. He said, further, that the apparent +ease with which Angela assumed a frightful cynicism before a stranger +was not without some very pressing reason. In consequence of this +rehabilitation of Blue Beard in the mind of Croustillac, she became in +his eyes, completely innocent of the murder of her three husbands. +Finally, the adventurer began to believe, so much had love metamorphosed +him, that the solitary inmate of Devil's Cliff wished to mock him; and +he proposed to clear up his suspicions that same night, when the widow +should tell him the price she placed upon her hand. + +One thing embarrassed Croustillac--how could the widow have informed +herself of his life so completely? But he remembered, with some +exceptions, that he had not made any mystery of the greater part of the +antecedents of his life on board the Unicorn, and that the business +manager of Blue Beard's affairs at St. Pierre might have discussed the +passengers with Captain Daniel. Finally, with a wisdom and good sense +which did credit to the new feeling which animated him, Croustillac put +these two cases to himself: Either Blue Beard wished to amuse herself, +and that night would say to him frankly, "Sir, you have been an +impertinent meddler; blinded by vanity, urged on by cupidity, you have +made a wager that you would become my husband in a month's time; I have +wished to torment you a little, and to play the ferocious part +accredited to me; the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the Caribbean are +my three servants in whom I have entire confidence; and as I live alone +in a very isolated locality, each of them comes by turn to watch at +night. Knowing the absurd stories afloat, I wished to amuse myself at +the expense of your credulity; this morning, even, I saw from the end of +the walk that you were spying upon me, and the comedy of the poisonous +apple was arranged with Youmaeale; as for the kiss he placed upon my +forehead"--here the chevalier was embarrassed for a moment as to how to +excuse this part of the role which he supposed played by the widow; but +he solved the question by saying to himself that, according to Caribbean +customs, this familiarity was, doubtless, not considered strange. + +The chevalier felt that he must be satisfied with this explanation; and +to do him justice (a little late, in truth) he would renounce his mad +hopes, beg the widow to forget the conduct of which he had been guilty, +kiss her hand and ask her to furnish him with a guide, resume his poor +old garments, of faded green, and pink stockings, and return to a +happier fate which awaited him in the cabin of the Unicorn's worthy +captain. + +If, on the contrary, the widow had serious views in regard to the +chevalier (which he found some difficulty in admitting to himself, +although he was not blind to his own merit), he would repay her with the +happiness of his life; he would charge himself personally with +protecting his wife, and banish the buccaneer to his trading-station, +the Caribbean to his hut, and the filibuster to his occupation; at +least, if the widow did not prefer to return with him to France to live +there. + +We must say to the honor of poor Croustillac that he hardly dwelt upon +this last hope; he considered his first interpretation of the conduct of +the widow as much more probable. Finally, by a natural reaction, of mind +over matter, the triumphant boasting of the chevalier ceased at the same +time with his conceit. His face was no longer distorted by grotesque +vanity; for it expressed the better qualities of the +chevalier--resolution, courage--we would add loyalty, for it was +impossible to add more frankness to his conceit than was to be found in +the Gascon. + +While the Chevalier de Croustillac waited with impatience the night of +this day which promised to be so fertile in developments, because Blue +Beard intended to signify her final intention, let us conduct the reader +to Fort Royal, at Martinique, the principal port of the island, where +the governor resided the greater portion of the time. There had +transpired a new incident which demands our immediate notice. + +The shipyard at St. Pierre, where the Unicorn had touched, was intended +for the anchorage of merchant vessels, just as the shipyard at Fort +Royal was for ships-of-war. + +About the same time that Youmaeale was walking with Blue Beard, the +lookout above the governor's house (at Fort Royal) signaled a French +frigate; the watch sent his assistant to inform the officer of artillery +commanding the battery at the fort, in order that he might fire a salute +(as was the custom) to the king's flag, (the custom being to fire a +salute of ten guns from all the ships-of-war when they came to anchor). +To the great surprise of the lookout who repented then of having +dispatched his assistant to the sergeant, he saw the frigate heave to, +outside the roadstead, and lower a boat; this boat was propelled through +the waves to the entrance of the port, while the frigate rode at anchor +and waited for it. + +This proceeding was so strange that the lookout reported to the captain +of the Governor's Guards, and related to him what had occurred, to the +end that he could countermand the salute from the fort. This order +given, the captain went at once to inform the governor of this singular +evolution on the frigate's part. + +An hour later, the boat belonging to the French ship arrived at Fort +Royal, and landed a person dressed like a man of some rank, who was +accompanied by the lieutenant of the frigate. They went at once to the +house of the governor, Baron de Rupinelle. + +The officer gave a letter from the captain commanding the Fulminante to +the baron. His vessel was under orders to wait the result of the mission +with which Monsieur de Chemerant was charged, and to depart at once. +They had hastily taken on some fresh victuals and fresh water for the +men on board. The lieutenant went out to attend to matters pertaining to +reprovisioning the frigate, and Monsieur de Chemerant and the governor +were alone. + +Monsieur de Chemerant was a man of from forty-five to fifty years, of a +dark olive complexion which gave to his sea-green eyes an added charm; +he wore a black peruke and a brown coat trimmed with gold braid. His +features were intellectual, his words few, his eye piercing; his mouth, +or rather his lips, were altogether too thin and compressed to ever +smile; if he occasionally gave vent to sarcasm upon what had happened, +his face became still more serious than usual. He had also very polished +manners and showed his familiarity with the best society. His courage, +discretion and coolness were such that Monsieur de Louvois had already +frequently employed him in missions of the greatest difficulty and +danger. + +Monsieur de Chemerant afforded a striking contrast to the governor, +Baron de Rupinelle, a large and indolent man, having but one care, that +of keeping cool; his face was gross, purple and full; his eyes, +unusually round, gave him a look of perpetual surprise. The baron, +honest and brave, but a perfect nonentity, owed his position to the +powerful influence of the Colbert family to which he was related through +his mother. + +In order to receive the lieutenant of the frigate, and Monsieur de +Chemerant with proper courtesy, the baron had removed, much to his +regret, a white cotton coat and a hat of Caribbean straw to put on an +enormous blond wig, squeeze into a coat of a kind of blue uniform +embroidered with gold braid, and buckled on a heavy shoulder-belt and +sword. The heat was intense, and the governor anathematized the +etiquette of which he was the victim. + +"Sir," said De Chemerant, who seemed perfectly indifferent to this +tropical temperature, "can we speak without fear of being overheard?" + +"There is no danger on that score, sir; this door opens into my study +where there is no one, and that one into the gallery which is also +unoccupied." + +Monsieur de Chemerant arose, looked into the two places, and carefully +shut both doors. + +"Pardon, sir," said the governor, "if we remain here with only two +windows open----" + +"You are right, baron," said De Chemerant, interrupting the governor and +shutting the windows with equal care, "that is more prudent; we might be +heard from the outside." + +"But, sir, if we remain without a current of air we shall suffocate +here. It will become a perfect oven." + +"That which I have the honor to say to you, sir, will not take long; but +it concerns a state secret of the greatest importance, and the slightest +indiscretion may jeopardize the success of the mission which has been +confided to me by the king's command. You must accord me, then, the +privilege of shutting ourselves in here until the close of our +interview." + +"If it is the king's orders, I must submit, sir," said De Rupinelle, +with a heavy sigh and wiping his forehead. "I am entirely at your +service." + +"Be so good as to cast your eye upon my credentials from his majesty," +said De Chemerant; and he took a paper from a little box which he bore +with great care and never intrusted to any one. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE ENVOY FROM FRANCE. + + +While the governor read his dispatch De Chemerant looked with a +satisfied air at an object within his box and said to himself, "If I +have occasion to use it, this will be perfect; my idea is excellent." + +"This order, sir, is regular; I must execute all the commands you give +me," said the governor, looking at his visitor with profound +astonishment. Then he continued, "It is so very warm, sir, that I must +ask your permission to remove my wig, in spite of proprieties." + +"Make yourself comfortable, sir, make yourself comfortable, I beg of +you." + +The governor threw his wig on the table and seemed to breathe more +easily. + +"And now, baron, be so good as to reply to a number of questions which I +have the honor to put to you." And De Chemerant took from his little box +some notes wherein was stated, doubtless, what he wished to ask the +governor. + +"There is, not far from the parish of Macouba, in the midst of woods and +rocks, a kind of fortified mansion called Devil's Cliff?" + +"Yes, sir, and this same house does not bear a very good name. Chevalier +de Crussol, my predecessor, made a visit to the place to learn what +foundation there was for these rumors, but I have searched in vain for +papers bearing upon this subject among his correspondence." + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "This house is occupied by a woman--a +widow, baron?" + +"So thoroughly a widow, sir, that she has been surnamed in the country +Blue Beard, because of the rapidity with which she has successively made +way with the three husbands she has had. Might I venture to say that +this cravat in stifling me, sir?" added the unhappy governor; "we do +not usually wear them here, and if you will permit me----" + +"Take it off, sir, the service of the king will not suffer thereby. +Chevalier de Crussol, your predecessor, you say, began an investigation +on the subject of the disappearance of the three husbands of this Blue +Beard?" + +"So they told me, sir, but I have never found any trace of this +investigation." + +"Commander de Saint-Simon, who fulfilled the duties of governor after +the death of De Crussol, and before your arrival here, did not deliver +to you, baron, a confidential letter written by De Crussol?" + +"Yes--yes, sir," said the governor, looking at De Chemerant with +profound astonishment. + +"This letter was written by De Crussol a short time previous to his +death?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"This letter relates to the inhabitant of Devil's Cliff; is this not +true, baron?" + +"Yes, sir," said the governor, more and more surprised to find De +Chemerant so well informed. + +"Monsieur de Crussol assured you in this letter, upon his honor, that +this woman called Blue Beard was innocent of the crimes imputed to her?" + +"Yes, sir, but how can you know?" + +Monsieur de Chemerant interrupted the governor and said, "Allow me to +say, sir, that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you, and not +replies. I have the honor to ask of you if, in this letter, the +deceased, De Crussol, did not vouch for the entire innocence of the +widow surnamed Blue Beard?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"He affirmed to you, on the faith of a Christian, and at the moment when +he was about to appear before his God, also on his word as a gentleman, +that you could, without prejudice to the service of the king, leave this +woman at liberty and in peace?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And that, finally, the Reverend Father Griffen, a man of well-known +piety and the most honorable character, would be further surety for +this woman, if you demanded it of him?" + +"Yes, sir, and, in truth, in a confidential interview, very special and +very secret----" + +"Which you had with Father Griffen, baron, this religious man confirmed +to you what De Crussol had stated in his last letter, and you made him, +in form, a promise not to disturb the aforesaid widow?" + +The governor, unable to fathom his being so well informed, gazed at De +Chemerant in bewilderment. The kind of emotion which this examination, +joined to the oppressiveness of the air, occasioned, was choking the +baron. After a short pause he said resolutely to De Chemerant, "Faith, +sir, one must accommodate oneself to one's situation. I must ask +permission to take off my coat. This trimming of gold and silver weighs +a hundred pounds, I believe." + +"Take it off, take it off, baron; the coat does not make the governor," +he said gravely, with a bow; then he continued: "Thanks to the advice of +De Crussol and the Reverend Father Griffen, the dweller at Devil's Cliff +has not been disturbed, baron? You have not visited the place, in spite +of the strange stories about it?" + +"No, sir, I assure you, the recommendation of the persons so respectable +as Father Griffen and the deceased De Crussol were sufficient. And then +the road to Devil's Cliff is impassable; the rocks bare and rent; it +takes two or three hours to climb them; and faith, I assure you, sir, to +make such a journey under the sun of the tropics," said the baron, +wiping his forehead, which was perspiring at the mere thought of such a +climb, "appears to me entirely inadvisable, because, morally, I am +convinced that the aforesaid stories have no foundation, and I think in +that I am not wrong." + +"Allow me, baron, to ask you some further questions." + +"At your service, sir." + +"The woman called Blue Beard has a counting house at St. Pierre?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Her business man is empowered to send out her vessels which are always +destined for France?" + +"That, sir, is very easily verified in the clearing books of the +captains. + +"And these registers?" + +"Are there in that case." + +"Will you take the trouble to look them over, baron, and to select from +them some dates which I was going to ask of you?" + +The governor arose, mounted painfully on a chair, and took down a large +volume bound in green leather, placing it on his desk; then, as if this +exertion had redoubled the heat he was suffering from and exhausted his +strength, he said to De Chemerant: "Sir, you have been, doubtless, a +soldier; you can understand that we live a little carelessly; for, +without further parley and asking pardon for the great liberty, I will +remove my vest, if you please; it is embroidered in cloth and as heavy +as a cuirass." + +"Take it off--take off everything that you wish to," replied De +Chemerant with impervious gravity; "there is so little left for me to +say to you that I trust you will not need to remove more of your +apparel. Can you feel assured, other than from these facts, that the +vessels loaded with cargoes by our widow have always been sent to +France?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the governor, opening his register; then, following +with the end of his finger the tables, he read, "'For Rochelle, for +Rochelle, for Bordeaux, for Bordeaux, for Rochelle, for Rochelle, for +Havre de Grace.' You see, sir, the vessels have always sailed for +France." + +"That is well, baron. According to the direction, frequent enough, of +vessels of commerce, which leave the counting-house wharves, it follows +that Blue Beard (we will adopt the popular surname) can put a vessel to +sea very quickly." + +"Doubtless, sir." + +"Has she not a brigantine always ready to put to sea, and which can in +two hours be at the Creek of Caymans, not far from Devil's Cliff, where +there is a little harbor," said De Chemerant, consulting his notes once +more. + +"Yes, sir; this brigantine is called the Chameleon; Blue Beard recently +placed it, very generously, at my service (through the mediation of +Monsieur Morris, her man of business), to give chase to a Spanish +pirate, and there is an old filibuster of a captain called Hurricane, +who commands the vessel----" + +"We will speak of this filibuster later, sir, but this pirate----" + +"Was sunk in the Riviere des Saints." + +"To return to this filibuster, baron; he frequents the house of Blue +Beard?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"As much so as another bad fellow, a buccaneer by trade?" + +"Yes, sir," said the baron in a dry tone, resolved to confine himself to +the secondary role which De Chemerant imposed upon him. + +"A Caribbean also is often there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"The presence of these men in the island is of how recent date?" + +"That I do not know, sir; they were established here at my arrival in +Martinique. They say that the filibuster formerly pursued his calling on +the north of the Antilles and the seas of the south. Like many captains +who have made something by filibustering, he has bought here a little +dwelling at the point of the island, where he lives alone." + +"And the buccaneer, baron?" + +"This kind of person is here to-day, gone to-morrow, according to +whether the hunt is more or less abundant; sometimes he remains away a +month, and it is the same with the Caribbean." + +"This information accords perfectly with that which was given me; +beside, I do not speak of men of this sort other than by hearsay. They +are far too unimportant, and too foreign to the mission which I am in +charge of, to merit their occupying my attention for any length of time. +They are, at most, passive instruments," continued De Chemerant to +himself, "and they are probably very indirectly connected with this +grave matter." Then, after a few minutes' reflection, he said aloud, +"Now, baron, one more question: have not your secret police notified you +that the English have tried to introduce themselves into this island +since the war?" + +"Twice, lately, sir, our cruisers have given chase to a suspicious +vessel coming from the Barbadoes seeking to approach from the windward, +the only places where one can land in the island; elsewhere the coast is +too rugged to permit landing." + +"Very good," said De Chemerant. After a moment's silence he said, "Tell +me, baron, how long would it take to go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"About eleven hours; the roads are difficult, one could not reach there +before nightfall." + +"Well, then, baron," said De Chemerant, taking out his watch, "in two +hours from now, that is to say, at one o'clock in the afternoon, you +will have the goodness to order thirty of your most reliable guards to +arm themselves, to provide themselves with scaling ladders, one or two +bombs, and to hold themselves in readiness to follow and obey me as they +would yourself." + +"But, sir, if you wish to go to Devil's Cliff, you must start at once in +order to arrive by daylight." + +"Doubtless baron; but as I desire to arrive in the middle of the night, +you will see the wisdom of my not starting for two hours." + +"That is another thing, sir." + +"Can you procure for me a covered litter?" + +"Yes, sir, there is mine." + +"And can this go to Devil's Cliff?" + +"To the foot of the mountain only, not a step further, for they say it +is impossible for a horse to climb the heaped-up and yawning rocks." + +"Very good; will you, then, be so good, baron, as to have this litter +prepared, as well as a mount for me; I will leave it at the foot of the +cliff." + +"Yes, sir." + +"I warn you, baron, that it is of the greatest importance that the +object of this enterprise be perfectly concealed; all will be lost if +they are warned of my visit to Devil's Cliff; we shall not inform the +escort of our destination until outside Fort Royal, and we shall make, I +hope, as much haste as the roads will permit. In a word, baron," +continued the envoy, with a confidential air, which he had not assumed +until then, "mystery is so much the more indispensable that it concerns +a state secret and the future of two great nations." + +"Because of Blue Beard?" said the governor, questioning with a curious +glance the cold and grave face of De Chemerant. + +"Because of Blue Beard." + +"How?" replied the baron. "Blue Beard, then, counts for something in a +state secret, in the peace of two great nations?" + +Monsieur de Chemerant, who did not like repetition, made an affirmative +sign and continued, "I also beg of you, baron, that you will see that +the frigate's boat does not leave the wharf, so that I may return on +board and put to sea without remaining here a second, if, as I hope, my +mission be successful. Ah! I forgot; the litter must be such that it can +be entirely closed." + +"But, sir, is it, then, a prisoner that you are in search of?" + +"Sir," said De Chemerant, rising, "a thousand pardons for repeating to +you that the king ordered me to make inquiries of you instead of----" + +"Good, very good, sir," said the governor. "Then I may open the +windows?" asked the baron, who was suffocated in this apartment. + +"I see nothing to prevent, baron." + +The governor arose. + +"So, baron," said De Chemerant, "it is understood that you do not inform +the guide who is to conduct me of my destination, until the moment of +our departure?" + +"But in the meantime, sir, if I send for him, what shall I say to him?" + +The visitor seemed astonished at the simplicity of the governor, and +said to him, "Who is this guide, sir?" + +"One of my blacks, who works at the king's house, a good league from +here. He is an oddity who has run away himself so often that he is more +familiar with the inaccessible spots of the island than with the open +roads." + +"Is this slave reliable, sir?" + +"Entirely, sir; he would have no object in leading you astray; beside, I +will warn him that if he does, I will have his nose and ears out off." + +"It is impossible that he should resist such a consideration, baron. But +to reply to your objection--how will this negro occupy himself until the +moment of our departure?" + +"An idea!" cried the baron triumphantly; "he can be flogged; that will +mislead him; he believes that no one summons him here other than for +that reason." + +"That would be, certainly, an excellent means, baron, of working a +diversion in his ideas, but it will suffice, I think, to keep him shut +up until the moment of our departure. Ah! I had forgotten another thing, +baron; I beg you will see that, during my absence, everything that can +be found in the way of delicacies in fruit, vegetables, game, fine +wines, confections, etc., etc., be sent on board ship. You need not +consider expense, I will meet that." + +"I understand you, sir; I must collect, in the way of refreshments, all +that it is possible to keep on board during the first days of the +voyage, as much so as if it were for the entertainment of a person of +the greatest distinction," said the governor curiously. + +"You understand me marvelously well, baron. But I fancy this black, our +guide, has viewed, at least from the outside, the habitation at Devil's +Cliff." + +"Yes, sir; and he tells very strange stories about that house and the +solitudes where it is builded." + +"Ah, well, baron; here is a task for this slave; give orders that he be +brought to me pending the time of our departure, and I will question him +concerning what I wish to discover." + +"I will send in search of him at once," said the governor, going out. + +"May God or the devil convey this affair into safe harbor," said De +Chemerant, when he was alone. "Fortunately, I have no need of the aid of +this stupid governor; the greatest difficulty is still to be surmounted; +but no matter, I have faith in my star. The affair of Fabrio-Chigi was a +much more difficult matter, and then the hope, if not of a crown, at +least almost of a throne, the ambition to direct the course of a great +nation, the desire of recovering the good graces of the king, his +relative, would not there be reasons sufficient to determine the most +rebellious will? and, moreover, if these reasons were not enough," said +De Chemerant, after some moments of silence, striking his little box, +"here is another argument which will be, perhaps, more effectual." + + * * * * * + +Two hours later De Chemerant started for Devil's Cliff at the head of +thirty of the Governor's Guards, armed to the teeth. A litter, drawn by +two mules, followed this little detachment, preceded by the guide. This +slave had had a long interview with De Chemerant, and, as a consequence, +he had taken two scaling ladders and petards carried on a pack horse, a +bundle of stout ropes with grapples of iron, and two axes. Moreover, De +Chemerant had given orders to the lieutenant of the frigate to send him +two good sailors chosen from among the fifteen sailors forming the crew +of the boat which awaited, at the landing at Fort Royal, the result of +the expedition. + +This little company set out, preceded by the guide, who, flanked by the +two sailors, marched a little in advance of De Chemerant. After having +followed the coast for a long time, the troop climbed a very high hill, +and pressed on into the interior of the island. + +We will leave De Chemerant advancing slowly toward Devil's Cliff, and +will rejoin Father Griffen at Macouba, and Colonel Rutler at the bottom +of the precipice, where he had arrived by way of the subterranean +passage, after the wildcats, by devouring the corpse of John, had +removed the obstacle which before had held the English envoy in the +cavern of the Caraibe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE STORM. + + +Monsieur De Chemerant had scarcely left Fort Royal at the head of his +escort when a young mulatto of about fifteen, after having followed for +some time, hiding in the ravines or the swamps, on seeing the troop take +the road to Devil's Cliff, started with all haste for Macouba. + +Thanks to his perfect knowledge of the country and of certain roads not +open, this slave reached Father Griffen's parish very soon. It was about +four o'clock in the afternoon; the good priest was taking his afternoon +nap, comfortably extended in one of the hammocks so ingeniously made of +rushes by the Caribbeans. The young mulatto had the greatest difficulty +in persuading one of the priest's two slaves to awaken his master; +finally Monsieur concluded, after long hesitation, because of the deep +and peaceful sleep of the priest, to do so. + +"What do you want?" said the priest. + +"Master, a young mulatto has come in haste from Fort Royal and wishes to +speak to you at once." + +"A mulatto from Fort Royal," said Father Griffen, springing from his +hammock. "Let him come in quickly. What do you want, my child?" +continued he, addressing the young slave; "have you come by direction of +Monsieur Morris?" + +"Yes, Father. Here is a letter from him. He told me to follow an escort +of troops leaving Fort Royal this morning, and directed me, if they took +the road to Devil's Cliff, to come and tell you, Father. His letter will +explain the rest." + +"Very well, my child, the troop----" + +"Plunged into the Goyaviers valley, and took the road to the Black +Rocks; that leads only to Devil's Cliff." + +Father Griffen, much disturbed, broke the seal of the letter and seemed +overcome at its contents. He re-read it with evidence of the greatest +surprise, and then said to the mulatto, "Go quickly and find Monsieur." + +The mulatto went at once. + +"An envoy from France has arrived; he had a long interview with the +governor, and I fear he has started with armed men for Devil's Cliff, as +Monsieur Morris believes," said the priest, walking up and down +agitatedly. "Monsieur Morris does not know, cannot know more. But +I--I--I tremble to think of the consequences of this visit. Doubtless +the mystery has been unveiled. And how, how? Who can have put them on +the scent? Did not the secret die with De Crussol? His letter is my +guarantee. Did they not quiet the governor and cause him to give up all +pursuit of this unhappy woman?" Then, referring to Monsieur Morris' +letter, the priest continued: "'A French frigate which remains at anchor +outside the roadstead, an envoy who confers for two hours with the +governor, and who, after this interview, leaves for Devil's Cliff with +an escort'--there is more than suspicion, there is certainty? They have +come to carry her off. My God! can it be true? But, the secret--who but +myself knew it? for I only knew it, oh, yes, I alone, at least unless a +frightful sacrilege--but no, no!" said the priest, clasping his hands +with terror. "Such a thought on my part is a crime. No, it is +impossible. I would rather believe it was indiscretion on the part of +the only person who has an interest for life or death in the mystery, +than that it should be the most impious treachery. No, a thousand times +no; it is impossible! but I must start at once for Devil's Cliff. +Perhaps I can get the advance of this man who has left Fort Royal with +an escort. Yes, by hurrying, I may do it. I will find that unlucky +Gascon; they have nothing to fear there. His extraordinary appearance on +board made me believe the poor devil, for a time, to be an emissary from +London or Saint-Germain; but I have, as they say, turned him inside out, +in every way. I mentioned before him abruptly certain names which, had +he been in the secret, he would have found it impossible not to betray +it, however guarded he might be, and he remained impassible. I +understand men too well to have been deceived by him; the chevalier is +nothing but a crazy adventurer, a spoiled child, in whom, after all, +good qualities triumph over the bad ones." + +At this moment Monsieur appeared. + +"Saddle Grenadille at once." + +"Yes, master." + +"Unchain Colas." + +"Yes, master." + +"Do not forget to put my large traveling cloak behind my saddle." + +"Yes, master." + +The black went out, then returned almost immediately, saying, "Master, +shall I arm Colas?" + +"Certainly, we go through the forest." + +While his mare was being saddled, the priest continued to pace up and +down restlessly. All at once he cried, with fright, as if struck by a +sudden thought, "But if I have been deceived; if this adventurer, under +a guise of frivolity, concealed some plan coolly resolved upon--some +sinister design? But no! no! cunning and dissimulation could not attain +to such an odious perfection. But what if his errand coincides with that +of this man who has started out with an escort? And I, I who have +answered for this adventurer, I who in my letter of yesterday have +almost approved their decision concerning him, thinking, as they did, +that this Gascon by repeating the mysterious stories connected with +Devil's Cliff, would only advance the ends of those who live there. But +what if I have been deceived? if I have helped introduce a dangerous +enemy there? But no! he would have taken action before this if he had +known the secret. And still--no! no! perhaps he waited the arrival of +this frigate and this emissary before acting? Perhaps he is working with +him? Oh! I am in terrible uncertainty." + +So saying, Father Griffen went out quickly to hasten the preparations +for his departure. Monsieur was saddling Grenadille and Jean was arming +Colas. + +Some explanation is necessary in order to instruct the reader in regard +to a new actor of which we have thus far had no occasion to speak. Colas +was a boar, possessed of marvelous intelligence; this boar always +accompanied him and went ahead on these excursions. Thanks to their +long, rough hair, and to their thick coat of fat, which impedes and +congeals, so to speak, the sting of serpents, boars and even +domesticated pigs carry on in the colonies a desperate war with these +reptiles; Colas was one of their most intrepid enemies. His armor +consisted of a kind of muzzle of iron pierced with little holes, and +ending in a kind of very sharp crescent. This protected the end of the +boar's head, its only vulnerable part, and furnished him with a +formidable weapon against serpents. Colas always preceded Grenadille +some steps, clearing the road and putting to flight the serpents which +would have stung the mare. + +Father Griffen, if he had known of the abrupt departure of Croustillac +(the adventurer had, as we know, left the parsonage without any farewell +to his host), would have offered Colas to the chevalier, when he became +assured that Croustillac was absolutely determined to penetrate the +forest. The priest thought that the boar would protect Croustillac from +some of the dangers to which he would be exposed; but the early flight +of the latter rendered the thoughtfulness of Father Griffen futile. + +After placing the house in charge of the two blacks, on whose +faithfulness he knew he could count, the priest spurred Grenadille, +whistled to Colas, who responded with a joyful grunt, and like another +St. Antony, the good father took the road which would lead him to +Devil's Cliff, fearful of arriving too late, and also of encountering on +the way De Chemerant, whom he could with difficulty hope to head off. + + * * * * * + +The reader will remember that, thanks to the voracity of the wildcats +which had devoured the corpse of the sailor John, Colonel Rutler had +been enabled to emerge from the pearl-fisher's cave by way of the +underground passage. In order to understand the extreme importance and +difficulty of the expedition which Colonel Rutler had undertaken, we +must recall to the reader that the park contiguous to Blue Beard's +mansion ran from north to south, like a kind of isthmus surrounded by +abysms. On the east and west these abysms were almost without bottom, +for on these sides the furthermost trees of the garden overhung a peak +of tremendous height, whose granite face was washed by the deep and +rapid waters of two torrents. But on the north, the park jutted on a +steep incline, accessible, though dangerous in the extreme. +Nevertheless, this side of the garden was sheltered from attack, for in +order to climb these rocks, less perpendicular than those on the east +and west, it was necessary to first descend to the bottom of the abyss +by the opposite side, an undertaking physically impossible to attempt, +even with the aid of a rope of sufficient length, the face of the rock +sometimes jutting out and sometimes broken by the angles of the rocks +projecting or receding. + +Colonel Rutler, on the contrary, having passed through the underground +passage, had at once reached the foot of the precipice; there remained +for him only to essay the perilous ascent in order that he might gain +entrance into Devil's Cliff. It would take about an hour to climb these +rocks; he did not wish to enter the park surrounding the mansion until +night had fallen; he waited before starting on his road, until the sun +should be setting. The colonel had thrust the skeleton of John out of +the passage. It was thus, near these human remains, in a profound and +wild solitude, in the midst of a veritable chaos of enormous masses of +granite thrown up by the convulsions of nature, that the emissary of +William of Orange passed some hours, reclining in a cleft in the rocks +in order to escape the heat of a tropical sun. + +The oppressive silence of this solitary place was now and then +interrupted by the roar of the sea as it fell upon the beach. Soon the +golden light of the sun became more rosy; great angles of light outlined +the face of the rocks where one could discern the further trees of Blue +Beard's park, becoming fainter, little by little; and dull mists began +to envelop the bottom of the abyss where Rutler waited. The colonel +judged it time to depart. + +Notwithstanding his rare energy, this man of iron felt himself seized, +in spite of himself, with a kind of superstitious fear; the horrible +death of his companion had affected him keenly, the enforced fast to +which he had been subjected since the preceding evening (he could not +bring himself to eat the serpent), mounted to his head, causing singular +and sinister ideas; but, surmounting this weakness, he commenced the +ascent. + +At first Rutler found the points of support allowed him to rapidly climb +a third of the face of the cliff. Then serious obstacles began to +present themselves; but with dogged courage he surmounted them. At the +moment when the sun disappeared suddenly below the horizon, the colonel +reached the summit of the cliff; broken by fatigue and pain, he fell +half-fainting at the foot of the further trees of the park at Devil's +Cliff; happily among these were several cocoanut trees; a large quantity +of ripe nuts lay on the ground. Rutler opened one with the point of his +dagger; the fresh liquid inclosed within appeased his thirst, and its +nourishing pulp his hunger. This unexpected refreshment renewed his +strength, and the colonel penetrated resolutely into the park; he walked +with extreme caution, guiding himself by the instructions John had given +him, in order that he might reach the white marble fountain not far from +which he wished to conceal himself. After walking some time in this +obscurity, under a tall forest of orange trees, Rutler heard in the +distance a slight sound as of a stream of water falling into a basin; +soon after he reached the border of the orange grove, and by the faint +light of the stars--for the moon would not rise until later--he saw a +large vase of white marble, situated in the midst of a circular space, +on all sides surrounded with trees. The colonel, pushing aside some +thick shrubs of Indian plants, enormous reeds which grow abundantly in +that humid soil, hid himself some steps away from the fountain and +quietly awaited events. + + * * * * * + +In order to sum up the chances of the safety or danger to which the +mysterious dwellers at Devil's Cliff were exposed, we must remind the +reader that De Chemerant had started from Fort Royal in the afternoon, +and was advancing with all haste; that Father Griffen had hastily left +Macouba in order to head off the French envoy; and that Colonel Rutler +had secreted himself in the center of the garden. + +We must now relate all that since the morning had passed over the heads +of Youmaeale, Blue Beard and the Chevalier de Croustillac. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +We left the adventurer under the unexpected attack of a passion as +sudden as it was sincere, and waiting impatiently the explanation, +possibly the hope, which Blue Beard was about to give him. + +After partaking of a repast respectfully served him by Angela, to the +despair of the chevalier, the Caribbean gravely withdrew and seated +himself on the border of a small lake, under the shadow of a mangrove +tree which grew on its bank; then resting his elbows on his knees and +his chin in the palms of his hands Youmaeale gazed into space, and +motionless maintained for a long time the contemplative idleness so dear +to savage races. + +Angela had re-entered the house. The chevalier walked up and down in the +park, throwing, at intervals, a jealous and angry glance at the +Caribbean. Impatient at the silence and immobility of his rival, and +hoping, perhaps, to draw from him some information, Croustillac placed +himself near Youmaeale, who, however, did not appear to notice him. +Croustillac moved and coughed; no change on the part of the Caribbean. +Finally the chevalier, with whom patience was not a favorite virtue, +touched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "What the devil have you +been looking at for the past two hours? The sun is nearly setting, and +you have not moved." + +The Caribbean turned his head slowly toward the chevalier, looked +fixedly at him, still resting his chin on his palms, and then resumed +his former attitude, without replying. + +The adventurer colored angrily, and said, "Zounds! when I speak, I wish +to be answered." + +The Caribbean maintained silence. + +"These grand airs do not impress me," cried Croustillac. "I am not one +of those to be eaten alive!" + +No answer. + +"Zounds!" continued the chevalier; "do you not know, stupid cannibal +that you are, I can make you take an involuntary bath in the lake as a +means to teach you manners, and in order to civilize you, you savage?" + +Youmaeale arose gravely, threw a disdainful glance at the chevalier, then +pointed at an enormous trunk of a mahogany tree with gnarled roots which +formed the rustic bench upon which he had been sitting. + +"Well, what of it?" said the chevalier. "I see that trunk, but I do not +understand your gesture, unless it signifies that you are as deaf and +dumb and as stupid as that tree." + +Without responding to this, the Caribbean stooped, took the trunk of the +tree in his muscular arms, and threw it into the lake with a significant +gesture, which seemed to say, "That is how I could treat you." Then he +slowly withdrew, without having revealed in his features the slightest +emotion. + +The chevalier was stupefied by this proof of extraordinary strength; for +the block of mahogany tree appeared to him, and in fact was, so heavy +that two men could with difficulty have accomplished what the Caribbean +unaided had done. His surprise having passed, the chevalier hastened +after the savage, exclaiming, "Do you mean to say that you would have +thrown me into the lake as you threw that trunk?" + +The Caribbean, without pausing in his passage, bent his head +affirmatively. + +"After all," thought Croustillac, halting, "this eater of missionaries +is not lacking in good sense; I threatened him first with throwing him +into the water, and after what I have seen I am obliged to confess that +I should have found it hard to do so, and then it would have been rather +a dishonorable way in which to dispose of a rival! Ah, the evening is +slow in coming. Thank God! the sun is setting, the night will soon fall; +the moon will rise and I shall know my fate; the widow will tell me +everything, I shall unravel all the profound mystery which is hidden +from me now. Let me think over the sonnet which I have reserved for a +grand effect--it is intended to describe the beauty of her eyes. Perhaps +she has never heard a sonnet--possibly she will be sensible of its +beauty and spirit; but no, I cannot hope for that happiness." + +Pacing the path with long strides, Croustillac began to declaim his +verses: + + "They are not eyes, they are two gods, + Which are robed in power complete. + Gods? nay, they are the heavens----" + +The adventurer was not to finish his verse, for Mirette came to inform +him that her mistress was awaiting him at supper. The Caribbean never +partook of this meal, and Croustillac was to be alone with the widow. +She seemed dreamy and said little; she started involuntarily and +frequently. + +"What troubles you, madame?" said Croustillac, also preoccupied. + +"I do not know; strange presentiments, but I am foolish. It is your +gloomy face that gives me the blues," she added, with a forced smile. +"Come, amuse me a little, chevalier. Youmaeale is doubtless at this +moment worshiping certain stars, and I am surprised at not seeing him; +but it rests with you to make me forget his absence." + +"Here is an excellent opportunity to produce my sonnet," said the Gascon +to himself. "If I dared, madame, I would recite some little verses which +might, perhaps, interest you." + +"Verses--how? are you a poet, chevalier?" + +"All lovers are, madame." + +"That is an admission--you are in love, in order to be entitled to be a +poet?" + +"No, madame," said Croustillac sadly. "I am in love by right of +suffering." + +"And to chant your sad martyrdom--let us hear the verses." + +"The verses, madame, do all in their power to picture two blue eyes, +blue and beautiful, like yours; it is a sonnet." + +"Let us have this sonnet." + +And Croustillac recited the following lines in a languorous and +impassioned tone: + + "They are not eyes, rather gods are they, + They are above kings in power true. + Gods, no! they are the heavens of tender blue, + And their radiant glance makes kings obey." + +"One must choose, chevalier," said Blue Beard; "are they eyes, or gods, +or the heavens?" + +Croustillac's reply was a happy one: + + "The heavens, no! each a radiant sun + Whose burning rays but blind the view. + Suns? not so, but light so strong, so true, + They predict the love but just begun!" + +"Really, chevalier, I am curious to know where you will stop. Suns, I +own, please me; gods also." + +Croustillac continued with a languorous softness: + + "Ah! if gods, would they work me ill? + If the heavens, would add more sorrow still? + Two suns? 'tis false--that orb is one----" + +"Ah, heavens, chevalier, you delight me; among all these charming +comparisons there remains nothing more for me but lightening----" + +Croustillac bowed his head: + + "Stars! no, the stars are too many, too clear, + Always my meaning shineth still, + Eyes, gods, suns, and stars appear." + +"How charming; at least, chevalier," said Angela, laughing, "you have +given me a choice of comparisons, and I have but to select; therefore I +shall keep them all--gods, heavens, suns and stars." + +The adventurer looked at Blue Beard a moment in silence; then he said, +in a tone the sadness of which was so sincere that the little widow was +struck by it, "You are right, madame; this sonnet is absurd; you do well +to mock at it, but what would you have? I am unhappy, I am justly +punished for my mad presumption, my stupidity." + +"Ah, chevalier, chevalier, you forget my request; I told you to divert +me, to amuse me----" + +"And if, in so doing, I suffer? if, in spite of my absurd situation, I +experience a cruel mortification; how can I play the buffoon?" + +The adventurer uttered these words quietly but in a penetrating tone, +and with considerable emotion. Angela looked at him in astonishment, and +was almost touched by the expression of the chevalier's face. She +reproached herself for having played with this man's feelings; after +all, he lacked neither heart, courage nor goodness; these reflections +plunged the young woman into the midst of melancholy thoughts. In spite +of the passing effort which she had made to be gay and to laugh at the +sonnet of the Gascon, she was a prey to inexplicable forebodings, +oppressed by vague fears, as if she felt instinctively the dangers that +were gathering about her. + +Croustillac had fallen into a sad reverie. Angela's eyes fell upon him +and she felt sorry for him; she would no longer prolong the mystery of +which he was a victim. She rose abruptly from the table and said to him, +with a serious air, "Come, we will walk in the garden and rejoin +Youmaeale. His absence worries me. I do not know why, but I am oppressed +as if a violent tempest were about to break upon this house." + +The widow left the room, the chevalier offered her his arm, and they +descended into the garden, where they sauntered through the different +paths. The adventurer was so impressed by the anxious frame of mind in +which he saw Angela that he retained little hope, and hardly dared to +recall to her the promise which she had made him. Finally he said with +some embarrassment, "You promised me, madame, to explain the mystery +of----" + +Blue Beard interrupted the chevalier by saying, "Listen to me, sir; +whether it is owing to timidity or to premonition, I grow more and more +agitated--it seems to me that misfortune menaces us; on no account would +I at this time, and in the condition of my spirits, prolong any further +a jest which has already lasted too long." + +"A jest, madame?" + +"Yes, sir; but I beg of you, let us descend to the lower terrace. Do you +see Youmaeale there?" + +"No, madame; the night is very clear, but I see no one. You say, then, a +jest only----" + +"Yes, sir; I learned through our friend, Father Griffen, that you +intended to offer yourself to me; I sent the buccaneer to meet you, +charging him to bring you here. I received you with the intention, I +confess, and I beg your pardon, of amusing myself a little at your +expense." + +"But, madame, this evening, even, you intended to explain to me the +mystery of your triple widowhood--the death of your husbands and the +presence successively, of the filibuster, the----" + +Angela interrupted the Gascon by saying, "Do you not hear a footfall? Is +it Youmaeale?" + +"I hear nothing," said Croustillac, overwhelmed in the view of his +ruined hopes, though he held himself in readiness for anything, now that +a true love had extinguished his stupid and foolish vanity. + +"Let us go further," said Blue Beard; "the Caribbean is among the orange +trees by the fountain, perhaps." + +"But, madame, this mystery?" + +"The mystery," replied Angela, "if it is one, cannot, must not be solved +by you. My promise to reveal this secret to you to-night was a jest of +which I am now heartily ashamed, I tell you; and if I kept this foolish +promise it would be to make you the object of another mystery more +culpable still." + +"Ah, madame," said the chevalier quickly, "this is very cruel." + +"What more would you ask, sir? I accuse myself and beg your pardon," +said Angela, in a sweet and sad voice. "Forget the folly of what I have +said; think no longer of my hand, which can belong to no one; but +sometimes remember the recluse of Devil's Cliff, who is, perhaps, at +once very culpable and very innocent. And then," she continued +hesitatingly, "as a remembrance of Blue Beard, you will permit me, will +you not, to offer you some of the diamonds of which you were so enamored +before you had seen me." + +The chevalier blushed with shame and anger; the pure feeling which he +felt for Angela made him feel as derogatory an offer which at one time +would, doubtless, have been accepted without the slightest scruple. +"Madame," said he, with as much pride as bitterness, "you have accorded +me hospitality for two days; to-morrow I shall leave; the only request I +make of you is to give me a guide. As to your offer, it wounds me +doubly----" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, that you should believe me low enough to accept payment +for the humiliating circumstances----" + +"Sir, such was not my idea." + +"Madame, I am poor, I am ridiculous and vain; I am what is termed a man +of expediencies; but even I have my point of honor." + +"But, sir----" + +"But, madame, that I should barter my pride and will as an exchange for +the hospitality offered me, would be a bargain like another, worse than +another, perhaps; so be it; when one places oneself in dependence upon +another more fortunate than oneself, one must be content with anything. +I entertained the captain of the Unicorn in exchange for my passage, +which he gave me on board his vessel. We are quits. I have cut a +contemptible figure, madame; I know it more fully than any one else, for +I have known misfortune more fully." + +"Poor man!" said the widow, touched by his avowal. + +"I do not say this to be pitied, madame," said Croustillac proudly. "I +only desire to make you understand that if, from necessity, I have been +compelled to accept the part of a complacent guest, I have never +received money as a compensation for an insult." Then he continued, in a +tone of profound emotion, "Can you, madame, be ignorant of the wrong +which has been done me by this proposition, not so much because it is +humiliating, as because it was made by you? My God! you wished to amuse +yourself with me: that I would have endured without complaint; but to +offer me money to compensate for your raillery--ah! madame, you have +made me acquainted with a misery of which I was heretofore ignorant." +After a moment's silence he continued, with added bitterness, "After +all, why should you have treated me otherwise? Who am I? Under what +auspices did I come here? Even the clothes I wear are not my own! Why +concern yourself with me?" + +These last words of the poor man had an accent of such sincere grief and +mortification that the young woman, touched by them, regretted deeply +the indiscreet proffer she had made him. With bent head she walked +beside Croustillac. They arrived, thus, near the fountain of white +marble of which they had spoken. + +The young widow still leaned on the adventurer's arm. After a few +minutes of reflection she said, "You are right; I was wrong. I judged +you wrongly. The compensation I offered you was almost an insult; but do +not for a moment think that I wished to humiliate you. Recall what I +said to you this morning of your courage and the generosity of your +heart. Well, all this I still think. You say you love me; if this love +is sincere it cannot offend me; it would be wrong in me to receive so +flattering a feeling with contempt. So," she continued, with a charming +air, "is peace declared? Are you still angry with me? Say no, that I may +ask you to remain here some days as a friend, without fear of your +refusal." + +"Ah, madame," cried Croustillac, with transport "order, dispose of me--I +am your servant, your slave, your dog. These kind words which you have +spoken will make me forget all! Your friend! you have called me your +friend! Ah, madame, why am I only the poor younger son of a Gascon? I +should be so happy to have it in my power to prove my devotion." + +"Who knows but that I have a reparation to make you? Await me here; I +must go and look for Youmaeale and find something, a present, yes, +chevalier, a present which I defy you to refuse this time." + +"But, madame----" + +"You refuse? Ah, heavens! when I think that you desired to be my +husband! Wait here, I will return." And so saying, Angela, who had +reached the marble fountain, turned quickly into the path in the park on +the side of the house. + +"What does she wish to say--to do?" asked Croustillac of himself, +looking mechanically into the fountain. Then he exclaimed, with fervor, +"It is all the same, I am hers for life and death; she has called me her +friend. I shall perhaps never see her again, but all the same, I worship +her; that cannot hurt any one; and I do not know but that it will make +me a better man. Two days ago I would have accepted the diamonds; to-day +I would be ashamed to do so. It is wonderful how love changes one." + +Croustillac was suddenly interrupted in the midst of his philosophical +reflections. Colonel Rutler, by the uncertain light of the moon, had +seen the adventurer walking arm in arm with Blue Beard; he had heard her +last words--"my husband; wait for me here." Rutler had no doubt that the +Gascon was the man for whom he was looking; he sprang suddenly from his +hiding-place, hurled himself upon the chevalier threw a cloak over his +face, and, profiting by Croustillac's surprise, felled him to the +ground. Then he passed a rope around his hands and had quickly mastered +his captive's resistance, thanks to great strength. The chevalier was +thus overpowered, garroted and captured in less time than it has taken +to write these words. + +This accomplished, the colonel held a dagger at Croustillac's throat, +and said, "My lord duke, you are dead if you make a movement, or if you +call Madame the Duchess to your aid. In the name of William of Orange, +King of England, I arrest you for high treason, and you will follow +me." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +MY LORD DUKE. + + +Suddenly attacked by an adversary of extraordinary strength, Croustillac +did not even attempt to resist. The cloak which enveloped his head +almost deprived him of breath. He could hardly utter a few inarticulate +cries. Rutler leaned over him and said in English, with a strong Dutch +accent, "My lord duke, I can remove this cloak, but beware, if you call +for aid you are a dead man; can you feel the point of my dagger?" + +The unfortunate Croustillac did not understand English, but he +understood the dagger's point, and exclaimed, "Speak French!" + +"I can understand that your grace, having been brought up in France, +should prefer that language," replied Rutler, who believed that his +Dutch accent made his words a little obscure, and he continued, "You +must pardon me, my lord, if I do not express myself very well in French. +I have the honor to inform your grace that at the slightest sound from +you I shall be compelled to kill you. It depends upon you, my lord, to +preserve your life or not, by preventing madame the duchess, your wife, +from calling for aid if she returns." + +"It is evident that he takes me for some one else," thought the +chevalier. "In what devil of a network am I entangled? What is this new +mystery? and who is this brutal Dutchman with his eternal dagger and his +'my lord duke?' After all, it is gratifying not to be taken for an +insignificant man. And Blue Beard is a duchess and passes for my wife!" + +"Listen, my lord," said Rutler after some moments of silence, "for your +grace's greater convenience, I can free you from the cloak which enwraps +you; but, I repeat, at the slightest cry from madame the duchess, the +slightest indication of a rescue by your slaves, I shall be compelled to +kill you. I have promised the king, my master, to bring you to him, dead +or alive." + +"I stifle! take off the cloak at once, I will not make any outcry," +murmured Croustillac, believing that the colonel would discover his +error. + +Rutler removed the cloak which enveloped the face of the adventurer, who +saw a man kneeling beside him and threatening him with a dagger. The +night was clear; the chevalier could distinguish perfectly the features +of the colonel; they were absolutely unknown to him. + +"My lord! remember your promise," said Rutler, who did not evince the +slightest surprise when the face of the adventurer was seen. + +"How! he does not perceive his mistake," thought the astonished +chevalier. + +"Meanwhile, my lord," replied the colonel, assisting Croustillac to seat +himself as comfortably as he could near the fountain, "meanwhile, my +lord, pardon the rudeness of my attack, but I was forced to this." + +Croustillac made no reply. Divided between fear and curiosity, he was +burning to know to whom these words were addressed: 'My lord duke.' +Naturally of an adventurous turn, he could not but be the gainer, +doubtless by being taken for another, above all, for the husband of Blue +Beard; and the chevalier resolved to play, as far as he could, the role +which he had involuntarily assumed, hoping, possibly, to thus learn the +secret of the dwellers of Devil's Cliff. He answered, however, "Are you +sure, sir, that it is I whom you are seeking?" + +"Your grace need not attempt to deceive me," said Rutler. "It is true +that I have not had the honor of seeing you before to-day, my lord; but +I heard your conversation with madame the duchess. Who but you, my lord, +would be walking with her at this hour? Who but you would be dressed in +this coat with the red sleeve, as shown by James Syllon, who painted you +in this costume?" + +"And I thought this costume so fantastic," reflected Croustillac. + +"It is not for me to express surprise at finding you wearing these +garments which must often recall memories so cruel," continued Rutler, +with a gloomy air. + +"Cruel memories!" repeated Croustillac. + +"My lord," said the colonel, "two years before the fatal day of +Bridgewater, dressed in this coat, did you not render homage to your +royal father, when hunting at Lancaster?" + +"To my royal father? a falcon?" said the chevalier, astounded. + +"I understand your grace's embarrassment, and that you do not wish to +recall these sad disputes for which you have been so severely and, +permit me to say it, my lord, so justly punished." + +"I will permit you to say anything to me, sir, in fact, I earnestly +insist upon it without delay," replied the Gascon; and, aside, "perhaps +I shall learn something in this way." + +"Time is precious," said Rutler. "I must hasten to inform your grace +that I only await your submission to the commands of my master, William +of Orange, King of England." + +"Speak, sir, and do not hesitate to enter into the most minute details." + +"In order to make you understand, your grace, what remains for me to +exact from you, it is very necessary to establish clearly your position, +my lord, however painful the duty may be." + +"Establish it, sir, speak frankly; hold back nothing. We are men and +soldiers; we should know how to hear all things." + +"You acknowledge, then, that from this moment you cannot escape." + +"That is true." + +"That your life is in my hands." + +"That is also true." + +"But that, which must be a very great consideration, my lord, is that, +in attempting to escape, or in refusing to obey the orders which I bear, +you put me to the hard necessity of killing you." + +"A hard necessity for both of us, sir." + +"Then your grace will give strict attention to what I have to say," said +the colonel, emphasizing the following words: "I can with the more +impunity kill you, my lord, because _you are already dead_--and +therefore it would not be necessary to render an account for shedding +your blood." + +The chevalier looked at Rutler with a stupefied air, thinking he must +have heard him wrong. "You say, sir, that you could with the more +impunity kill me?" + +"Since your grace is already dead," said Rutler, with a sinister smile. + +Croustillac looked at him more closely, believing he was dealing with a +madman; then he said, after a moment's silence, "If I understand you +aright, sir, you wish to make me believe that you could kill me with +impunity, under the pretext, specious enough, that I am already dead!" + +"Exactly, my lord; that is very simple." + +"You think that very simple, sir?" + +"I do not think you wish to deny, my lord, what is known to all the +world," said Rutler impatiently. + +"It seems to me that, without wishing to pass for a man who has lost his +head, and who is dominated with a desire to contradict the whole world, +I must still to a certain extent deny that I am dead." + +"I would not have believed, my lord, that you could jest at such a +moment, you who always carry with you such frightful memories," said the +colonel, with gloomy surprise. + +"Certainly, sir, at such a moment one cannot forget himself. That which +is more difficult is to retain memory," said Croustillac, smiling. + +The colonel could not prevent a gesture of indignation, and cried, "You +smile! when it is at the price of the noblest blood that you are here! +Ah, such then will always be the gratitude of princes!" + +"I must say to you, sir," impatiently replied Croustillac, "that it is +not of gratitude or ingratitude that we speak in this matter, and +that--but," he continued, fearing to make some blunder, "but it seems to +me that we wander strangely from the question at issue. I prefer to +speak of something else." + +"I can imagine that such a subject would be disagreeable to your grace." + +"It is not a lively one, sir, certainly; but return to the motive which +has brought you hither--what do you wish of me?" + +"I am ordered, my lord, to conduct you to the Barbadoes; from there you +will be transported and incarcerated in the Tower of London, of which +your grace has retained remembrance." + +"Zounds! to prison!" said the Gascon to himself, to whom this prospect +was not inviting; "to prison--in the Tower of London! I must inform this +Dutch animal of his mistake; this mistaken identity no longer pleases +me. The devil! to the Tower of London! this is paying for 'your grace' +and 'my lord' rather too dearly!" + +"It is unnecessary for me to say to you, my lord, that you will be +treated with the respect due to your misfortunes and your rank. Except +for liberty, which can never be accorded you, you will be surrounded by +care and consideration." + +"After all," thought Croustillac, "why should I hasten to dissuade this +northern bear? I have no hope, alas, of interesting Blue Beard in my +martyrdom. It seems to me that I perceive vaguely that the mistake of +this Dutchman in my person may serve this adorable little creature. If +that is so, I shall be delighted. Once having reached England, the +mistake will be discovered and I set free; and, as it is best, after +all, that I return to Europe, I should like better if it were possible, +to return in the character of a great prince, a lord, than as a free +passenger of Captain Daniel's. I shall not at least be compelled to +balance forks on the end of my nose nor be reduced to swallowing lighted +candles." + +The colonel, taking the Gascon's silence for despair, said to him, in a +gentler tone, "I suppose your grace perceives with pain the future +before you. There is enough occasion for it, it seems to me." + +"To be a prisoner always in the Tower of London?" + +"Yes, my lord; but you cannot enjoy much liberty here; perhaps this life +of agony and continual unrest is not so much to be regretted?" + +"You wish to gild the pill, as they say, sir; your motive is +praiseworthy; but you appear very certain of carrying me to Barbadoes, +and from there to the Tower of London?" + +"To accomplish this, my lord, I had brought with me a most determined +man. He is dead, however--a most frightful death." And Rutler trembled +in spite of himself at the remembrance of John's death. + +"And so, sir, you were reduced to accomplish this expedition yourself?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"And you flatter yourself that you can carry me off, unaided?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"You are sure of that?" + +"Perfectly sure." + +"And by means of what miracle?" + +"There is no need of a miracle; the thing is very simple, my lord." + +"May I know it?" + +"You must be informed of it, my lord, because I count principally upon +your assistance." + +"To enable you to carry me off?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"The fact is, that, without vanity, I can, under these circumstances, if +I mix myself in the matter, be of some help to you?" + +After a moment's reflection, Rutler said, "Your firmness has not been +exaggerated, your grace; it would be impossible to show a more resolute +spirit or more coolness under ill fortune." + +"I assure you, sir, that it would be difficult for me to bear it +otherwise." + +"If I have spoken thus my lord, it is because you, being a man of +coolness and resolution, can understand better than any one what must be +accepted with coolness and resolution, for I have no choice but to carry +you away from here." + +"Listen, sir; if the expedient is good, I will be the first to +acknowledge it. One moment, however; you seem to forget that I am not +here alone." + +"I know that, my lord; madame the duchess has but just quitted you, she +may return any moment." + +"And not alone, I warn you of that." + +"Were she accompanied by a hundred armed men I should not fear." + +"Truly?" + +"No, my lord, I will go further; I rather count upon the return of the +duchess to decide you to follow me in case you still hesitate." + +"Sir you speak in riddles." + +"I will tell you the word very soon my lord, but first I must inform you +that almost all is known concerning you since your flight from London." + +"In denying this to him I shall force him to speak; and I shall perhaps +learn something more," said the chevalier to himself. "As to that, sir +I, cannot believe it; it is not possible." + +"Listen to me, my lord; it is now four years since you espoused in +France the mistress of this house. Whether the marriage be legal or not, +having been contracted after your execution, and consequently during the +widowhood of your first wife, does not concern me--that is a matter for +your conscience and the church." + +"Decidedly my friend the duke has placed himself in an exceptional +position," said Croustillac to himself, "he can be murdered because he +is dead; and he can remarry because his wife is his widow! I begin to +have my ideas singularly mixed, for since yesterday very strange things +have come to my knowledge." + +"You see, my lord, that my information is exact." + +"Exact--exact--to a certain point. You believe me capable of having +remarried after my execution; that is rather risky. The devil! sir, one +must be very sure of his facts, at least, to attribute to men such +original proceedings." + +"Hold, my lord, you doubtless do not believe in my authority, and you +jest; but your gayety does not surprise me; your grace has kept his +freedom of spirit in circumstances more serious than this." + +"What would you wish, sir? gayety is the wealth of the poor." + +"My lord," cried the colonel, in a severe tone, "the king, my master, +does not merit this reproach." + +"What reproach?" said the Gascon, stupefied. + +"Your grace said that gayety is the wealth of the poor." + +"Well, sir, I do not see what there is to insult your master, the king, +in that." + +"Is it not equivalent to saying, my lord, that because you see yourself +in the power of my master that you look upon yourself as despoiled of +everything?" + +"You are sensitive, sir. Be assured this reflection was purely +philosophical and did not have reference to my particular position." + +"That is different, my lord; but I am astonished to hear you speak of +your poverty." + +"Zounds! that has often made me bitterly lament," said Croustillac, +laughing. + +"Few fortunes equal yours, sir. The enormous sum you received from the +sale of a portion of your precious stones will be secured to you and +yours. William of Orange, my master, is not one of those who enrich +themselves by confiscating the goods of their political enemies." + +"I did not know thou wast so rich, poor Croustillac," said the Gascon to +himself. "If I had known this, how little would I have swallowed candles +for the amusement of that brute of a sea captain." Then he continued, +aloud, "I am aware of the generosity of your master, sir; also of my +goods and treasures." And the Gascon said to himself, "It does me good +to say this for once in my life--my goods, my treasures." + +"The king, my master, my lord, has directed me to say to you that you +can charter a vessel to carry your wealth to England." + +"Oh, my old pink hose, my old green coat, my felt hat and my old sword!" +said Croustillac to himself; "those are my real possessions, my real and +personal estate! It would not take a merchant ship to transport them." +Then he continued aloud, "But let us return to the motive, sir, which +brought you here, and to the discoveries which you have made as to my +past life." + +"For the past three years, my lord, you have lived on this island, +remaining hidden to every one, and causing to be spread by a filibuster +and others in your pay the strangest stories concerning your house, in +order to keep the curious away." + +"I do not understand this at all," thought Croustillac. "Blue Beard--no, +the widow, that is to say--no, the duchess or rather the wife of the man +who is dead, who is a widower--in fact, the wife of no matter whom, is +not, then, behind the best of them with her three oddities. For I have +seen with my own eyes her strange familiarity with them. I have +heard--come, come, if this lasts but a little longer I shall become mad; +I am beginning to feel stupid and to see an endless succession of Roman +candles in my head!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE SURPRISE. + + +Rutler continued: "The maneuvers of your emissaries were crowned with +perfect success, my lord, and it was due to the merest chance that your +existence was revealed to my master, some two months since, and in order +to inform him that without your knowledge, or without your full consent, +they would make, my lord, a dangerous instrument of you." + +"Of me? an instrument of me? and what kind of an instrument, sir?" + +"Your grace knows that as well as I do; the policy of the cabinet at +Versailles and of the papal court at Saint-Germain recoils before no +means; it matters little to them that civil war shall lay waste an +unhappy country provided their plans succeed. I have no need to say +more, my lord." + +"Yes, sir, yes. I desire that you tell me everything; I would see to +what point your credulity has been abused. Explain, sir." + +"The proof that my credulity has not been abused, my lord, is that my +mission has for its end the ruin of the projects of an emissary from +France, who, with or without the co-operation of your grace, may arrive +at any moment at this island." + +"I give you my word of honor, sir, that I am ignorant of the arrival of +this French emissary." + +"I must believe you, my lord. However, certain rumors have caused the +king to think that your grace, forgetting his old resentment against +James Stuart, your uncle, had written to this dethroned king to offer +him his services." + +"James Stuart, being dethroned," said Croustillac, with an accent full +of dignity, "changes entirely the face of things, and I should have been +able to condescend in regard to my uncle to proceedings which my pride +would never have permitted me before." + +"Then, my lord, from your point of view, your resolve would not have +lacked generosity." + +"Doubtless I could perfectly well, without compromitting myself, have +been reconciled to a dethroned king," replied Croustillac courageously; +"but I have not done so; I swear it on the honor of a gentleman." + +"I believe you, your grace." + +"Well, then, your mission has no further object." + +"You understand, my lord, that, in spite of this guarantee, +circumstances may change, and your resolve change with circumstances. +The hope of ascending the throne of England causes one to forget many +promises and to evade many agreements. Far be it from me to wish to +reproach you for the past, but your grace knows what must be sacrificed +when one lays audacious hands upon the crown of three kingdoms." + +"Zounds!" said Croustillac to himself; "it seems that my hand is not +dead, and that I am, clearly, a courageous fellow to be well caged. If I +only knew how all this would end I should be very much amused." + +"The king can never forget, my lord, that you have your own aspirations +to the throne." + +"Ah, well, that is true," cried Croustillac, with an expression of +frankness--"it is true, I do not deny. But what would you have? +ambition, glory, the vigor of youth! But believe me, sir," continued he +with a sigh and speaking in a melancholy tone, "age robs us of all that +and makes us wise; with added years, ambition is extinguished and one +becomes content with very little in one's retreat. Once safely in port, +we can cast a philosophical glance on the storms of passion and +cultivate the paternal lands, if one has such, or at least look upon the +tide of life placidly when about to be swallowed up in the ocean of +eternity. In a word, you understand, sir, that if in our first youth we +have let ourselves go at an audacious pace it does not follow that in +our ripe age we should not realize that all is vanity. I live obscurely +and peacefully in the bosom of my retreat, with a young and lovely +wife; loved by those about me and doing some good. Ah, sir, this is the +only life that I desire; I do not hesitate, then, in confirmation of +these words, to swear to you that I will never raise the slightest +pretension to the throne of England; on the word of a gentleman, I have +not the slightest desire to." + +"Unhappily, my lord, I am not at liberty to take your oath; the king, +alone, could receive it, and accept it if it seemed well to him, as a +sufficient guarantee against fresh troubles. As for me, I have been +ordered to conduct your grace to London, and I must fulfill my orders." + +"You are very persistent, sir. When you have an idea, you keep to it." + +"At whatever cost, my lord, I must carry out the orders given me. You +can see by the perfectly calm interview between us that I do not doubt +the success of my undertaking; your grace fully understands the motives +that influence me; and I do not doubt that you will follow me without +the slightest resistance." + +Croustillac had prolonged this interview as far as he could; he had +decided either to follow the colonel or to tell him the whole truth. He +then said to Rutler, "And suppose, sir, that I consent to follow you +willingly, what will be the order of our march, as they say?" + +"Your grace, though your hands are tied, permit me to offer you my left +arm; I shall hold my dagger in my right hand, ready at any moment to +plunge it into you, in case of a surprise, and we will proceed to your +house." + +"And then, sir?" + +"Once having reached your house, my lord, you will order one of your +slaves at once to direct your negro fishermen to get their boat in +readiness; it will suffice to transport us to Barbadoes. In that place +we will find a man-of-war which awaits us, and on board which, my lord, +you will be transported to London, and placed in the custody of the +governor of the Tower." + +"And you seriously believe, sir, that I will myself give the order to +prepare for my own abduction?" + +"Yes, my lord, and for a very simple reason; your grace will feel the +point of this dagger." + +"Yes, doubtless; you always go back to that, you repeat it often, sir." + +"We Dutchmen have little imagination; what would you have? There is +nothing more churlish than our manner of acting; but to resume, what is +more to the point, this blade of steel will suffice, for if you refuse +to obey my slightest injunction, my lord, I have already said by way of +warning that I shall kill you without mercy." + +"I have also said to you, sir, that your manner of proceeding does not +lack originality; but I have slaves--friends, sir--and you see that, in +spite of your bravery----" + +"My God! your grace, if I kill you it is evident that I shall be killed +in turn, either by your slaves or your familiars, the filibuster or the +buccaneer, or by the French authorities, who would do perfectly right in +shooting me because I come from England, and I have come to this island, +which is considered as a stronghold in time of war." + +"You perceive, then, sir, that my death will not go unpunished?" + +"In accepting this charge I made, in advance, the offering of my life. +All that I desire, my lord, is that you shall no longer be the source of +fear to my master, a source of trouble for England. King William does +not love bloodshed, but he hates civil war. Your perpetual imprisonment +or your death alone can reassure him; choose, then, my lord, between the +dagger or prison; it must be one; you must become my prisoner or my +victim. Moreover, if you were not absolutely in my power I would not say +to you, at the price of my life, what I will now say." + +"Speak, sir." + +"This confidence, while showing you the evil which you can do to +England, my lord, also will show you what interest King William has that +an enemy like yourself should be rendered powerless to act; the +companions of your rebellion, who saw you beheaded before their own +eyes, cherish still for you the dearest memories." + +"Truly? This does not surprise me in them, and it is the more +disinterested in that they all believe that I can never thank them for +it." Then Croustillac said to himself, "It must be that this Dutchman, +who otherwise is reasonable enough, has a craze on this point--a fixed +idea concerning my execution." + +The colonel continued, "Ah, my lord, you pay dearly for your influence." + +"Very dearly, too dearly, sir, if this be so." + +"Why do you wish to deny it, when your enemies remember? when it is +known that your followers cherish portions of your clothing, stained +with your blood, as if holy relics, and each day lament your death? What +would be the result if you should suddenly appear before their eyes? +What enthusiasm would you not arouse? I repeat to you, my lord, it is +because your influence might be fatal in these troublous times, that it +must be neutralized at any cost." + +"To stab a man or imprison him for life is what you call _neutralizing +his influence_," said Croustillac. "Ah, well, this is probably a +political view of it. After all, I understand the distrust that I +inspire you with, for I am an incorrigible conspirator. They cut off my +head before my partisans, believing that thus I will be reformed. Not at +all! instead of taking warning by this paternal admonition, I conspire +still further. It is evident that this ends by making your master +impatient. Ah, well, sir, he is unnecessarily moved; for the last time, +I solemnly declare, before heaven, that I shall conspire no more; he can +rest in peace on his throne, and his crown does not excite in me the +slightest covetousness. Is this plain enough, sir?" + +"Very plain, and well put, my lord; but I must carry out the commands of +the king. When we shall have arrived at your house, I shall have the +honor to transmit to you an autograph letter of His Majesty King +William, which will leave you in no doubt as to the purpose and +authority of the mission with which I am intrusted. Come, my lord, +resign yourself; it is the fortune of war. Beside, if you hesitate, I +can count upon a powerful ally." + +"And that is----" + +"Informed by me of the fate which menaces you, you proceed under the +touch of my dagger." + +"Always his eternal dagger! he is insufferable with his dagger," thought +Croustillac. "He has but one word on his tongue." + +"The duchess," continued Rutler, "would far rather see you a prisoner +than killed; it is well known how she loves you, how devoted she is to +you. She would give her life for you. She will aid, then, I am sure, in +making you face your position wisely. Meanwhile, my lord, choose; either +summon some of your people, if they can hear you, or show me to your +house yourself, for your departure must be hastened." + +It must be said to Croustillac's credit, that, learning that Blue Beard +was the wife of an invisible lord whom she loved passionately, and that +he had been taken for this grand lord, he generously resolved to be of +some use to this young wife by prolonging as far as possible the +mistaken identity of which he was the victim, and to allow himself to be +carried off in place of the unknown duke. Happy at the thought that +Angela would be under a great obligation, the Gascon resigned himself +courageously to submit to all the consequences of the position which he +had accepted, only he did not know in what manner he could leave Devil's +Cliff without the discovery of his stratagem. + +"My lord, I am at your service; it is absolutely imperative that we +depart at once," said the colonel impatiently. + +"It is I who am at your service," replied the chevalier, who viewed with +some disquiet the approach of the critical moment of this interview. + +A brilliant idea struck Croustillac; he saw a means of escaping from +this danger and of saving the mysterious husband of Blue Beard. "Listen, +sir," said the adventurer, assuming an impressive manner. "I give you my +word as a gentleman that I will follow you willingly wherever you lead +me, but I desire that my wife, the duchess, shall not be informed of my +arrest until I have gone." + +"How, my lord, you are willing to thus abandon your wife without telling +her of your sad situation?" + +"Yes, because of reasons known to me alone, and then I would spare +myself farewells, which must always be distressing." + +"My orders concern you alone, my lord," said the colonel; "you are free +to act as seems best to yourself, as far as the duchess is concerned. +Nothing could be easier, it seems to me, than to do what you propose. If +your wife is astonished at your departure, you can plead the imperative +necessity of a journey of some days' duration to St. Pierre. As to my +presence here, you can easily explain that. We will go, and your boat +will take us to the Barbadoes." + +"Doubtless, doubtless," said the embarrassed Gascon, for he saw a number +of dangers in the proposition which the colonel made. "Doubtless my +departure might be easily explained so, but to give my orders to the +negroes, to cause a commotion in the house, would attract my wife's +attention. She is extremely timid and is alarmed at everything. Your +presence here would arouse her suspicions, and they would necessarily +lead up to the painful scene which I would avoid at all cost." + +"But, then, my lord, what shall we do?" + +"There is a sure way, sir; however dangerous may have been the road by +which you have arrived, let us follow it; we will leave the island by +the same method by which you reached it. Once at the Barbadoes I will +inform my wife of my abduction--the cruel abduction which separates me +forever from her; and you will swear to me that she shall not be +disturbed after my departure." + +"Unfortunately, my lord, what you propose is impossible." + +"How is that?" + +"I came by way of the pearl diver's cavern, my lord." + +"Well, can we not leave by the pearl diver's cavern?" + +"Is it possible that you are ignorant, my lord, of the secret +communication which exists between this cavern and the abyss which +surrounds your park?" + +"I am entirely ignorant as to it, but if this communication exists, can +we not use it to leave by?" + +"That is impossible, my lord; no one can enter the cavern except by +allowing the waves to precipitate him to the bottom of a subterranean +lake, after having descended a cataract." + +"And in order to get out of this cavern?" + +"You must ascend a waterfall twenty feet in height." + +"That is too much for me. So, the vessel that brought you to the outside +of this cavern----" + +"Has already left for the Barbadoes, my lord. It could approach this +island in spite of the French cruisers only because this coast is +inaccessible." + +"I thought that this road was impenetrable," said the chevalier, +overcome. + +"If you will believe me, my lord, you will limit yourself to announcing +to madame the duchess that you will be absent for several days only. I +have faith in your word as a gentleman that you will make no attempt to +escape from my hands." + +"I have given you my word, sir." + +"I believe you, my lord, and my dagger answers to me for its +fulfillment." + +"I should have been very much astonished if the dagger had not +reappeared," thought Croustillac. "He trusts implicitly in my word; that +does not prevent his trusting as much to his dagger. Zounds! what +distrust! But that is not what concerns me. What shall I do? The duchess +is not prepared; the slaves will not obey me if I give them orders. It +is no use; behold me at the end of my falsehoods." + +Croustillac had forced himself to become resigned to his assumption. He +regretted sincerely that he was not to be permitted to devote himself +more efficaciously to the service of Blue Beard; for he did not doubt +that his ruse would be discovered the moment he put foot in the house. +He had shortly another apprehension. The Caribbean, seeing Croustillac +return accompanied by a stranger armed to the teeth, would attack the +colonel. Now, the latter had assured the adventurer that at the first +attack he would be compelled to kill him without mercy. + +The chevalier began to find his role less diverting and to curse the +stupid curiosity, the imprudent heedlessness which had thrown him into a +position as complicated as it was dangerous. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +The spirit of Croustillac was too mercurial and too adventurous to +remain long under the weight of fear or sadness. He reasoned as follows: +To-day, as heretofore, I have little or nothing to lose; if I decide to +go out from this house, I continue to pass for the duke, and I am +treated like a prince until some one discovers the imposition; then I +shall become big John as heretofore, and I shall have rendered a great +service to this pretty little Blue Beard, who has mocked at me, but who +enchants me, for she interests me more than I wish, more than she merits +perhaps, for, in spite of her love for this invisible husband, she +appears to me madly tender with the buccaneer and that other brute, the +cannibal. Well, what does it matter if it is my caprice to devote myself +to this little woman? I am surely my own master; yes! but if, on the +other hand, I do not leave this place? Suppose the Caribbean mixes +himself in the affair, this would spoil all; it is clear that I shall be +killed like a dog by this thick-headed Belgian. How, then, can I escape +such a catastrophe? Say at once to the man with the dagger that I am not +the duke? This might save me, perhaps, but no! this would be cowardice, +and useless cowardice; for, to prevent my alarming the house, this +beer-drinker would dispatch me at once. Yes, yes, in spite of my word as +a gentleman not to seek to escape, he presses near me. Zounds! this man +with his dagger is absurd! Bah! his dagger! he can only kill me once, +after all. Come, then, courage! courage! Croustillac! and above all do +not deliberate--this brings you sorrow; you never commit greater +stupidities or more tremendous mistakes than when you deliberate. +Commend yourself to your lucky star, shut your eyes, as usual, and go +ahead. + +Reassured by this excellent logic, the chevalier said aloud, "Well, sir, +as we must absolutely pass the house in order to get out of this, let us +go on." + +"Sir," said the colonel, after a moment's reflection, "you have given me +your word as a gentleman not to escape." + +"Yes, sir." + +"But your people will wish to free you?" + +"My life is in your hands, sir; you have my word; I can do no more." + +"That is true, my lord; but then, in your interest, warn your slaves +that the slightest act against me, on their part, will cost your life, +for I have sworn, also, that I will carry you away, dead or living." + +"It will not be my fault, sir, if you do not keep your word; come on." +And the chevalier and the colonel advanced toward the house. + +Rutler held the arm of Croustillac under his left arm, and had his hand +constantly on his dagger; not that he doubted the word of his prisoner, +but the slaves at Devil's Cliff might wish to rescue their master. + +Croustillac and Rutler were not more than a few steps from the house +when from an obscure path a woman advanced dressed in white. The colonel +stopped, pressed firmly the arm of his prisoner, and said aloud, "Who is +this? My lord, warn this woman not to cry out." + +"It is Blue Beard! I am lost; she will scream like a peacock, and all +will be discovered," thought Croustillac. To his great astonishment the +woman paused and did not speak. The Gascon said, "Who is it, then?" + +"Is it so dark that my lord cannot recognize Mirette?" said the +well-known voice of Blue Beard. + +Croustillac was speechless with astonishment. Blue Beard also called him +my lord, and assumed the name of Mirette! "Zounds!" he said to himself, +"I understand nothing, nothing at all; all becomes more and more +obscure; all the same, hold steady and play out the game." + +"Who is this woman?" said the colonel, in a low tone. + +"She is the confidential maid of my wife," responded the chevalier. + +Angela spoke: "My lord, I come to say to your grace that my lady retired +not feeling very well; but she is asleep now." + +"All is in our favor, sir," said the colonel, in a low voice to +Croustillac. "Madame the duchess is asleep; you can depart without her +knowing anything about it." + +Angela, who had approached, said with a frightened manner, and +retreating a few steps, "Heavens! your grace is not alone, then?" + +"My lord," said the colonel, "if she gives a cry it is all over with +you." + +"Do not be afraid, Mirette," said the chevalier; "while you were with my +wife this gentleman arrived; he came from Fort Royal on pressing +business; it is necessary that I should accompany him back." + +"So late, my lord, but you must not think of it! I will go and inform +madame." + +"No! no! I forbid it; but I shall have need at once of the negro +fishermen and their canoe; go and notify them." + +"But, my lord----" + +"Obey." + +"That is not hard; to-morrow morning they fish in the open sea; the +negroes must be nearly ready to go; in order to be before dawn at the +Creek of Caymans, where their boat is moored." + +"My lord, all favors us; you see it; let us go," said the colonel in a +low voice. + +"It is astonishing how Blue Beard anticipates my demands; and how she +facilitates my departure," said Croustillac to himself; "there is +something very strange under this. I was not, perhaps, altogether wrong +in accusing her of magic or necromancy." Then he continued aloud, "You +will go and open the outer gates, Mirette, and tell the blacks to +prepare themselves at once. Well," said Croustillac, seeing the woman +remain motionless, "did you not hear me?" + +"Certainly, my lord, but then your grace is determined----" + +"'My lord! your grace!' you have repeatedly called me this before a +stranger," said the Gascon with a threatening manner, thinking thus to +make a master stroke. "What would happen if this gentleman were not in +the secret?" + +"Oh, I know well that if this stranger is here at this time, it follows +that one may speak before him as before your grace and before madame. +But is it possible, my lord, that you intend to go away?" + +"The little fox wishes to have the air of detaining me in order to +better play her part," thought Croustillac. "But who has informed her? +who has designed this role for her so well? Decidedly, there must be +jugglery going on here." + +"But, my lord," continued Mirette, "what shall I say to madame?" + +"You may say to her," said poor Croustillac, with a tenderness which the +colonel attributed to most natural regrets, "you may say to this dear +and good woman not to be afraid, do you hear, Mirette? not to be afraid; +assure her that the short journey I am going to take is absolutely in +her interest; tell her to think sometimes of me." + +"Sometimes, my lord! why madame thinks of you and will think of you +always," replied she, in an agitated voice, for she understood the +hidden sense of Croustillac's words. "Be easy, my lord, madame knows how +you love her, and she never forgets. But you will be here to-morrow, +before she awakens, will you not?" + +"Yes," said Croustillac, "certainly, to-morrow morning. Come, Mirette, +hurry and warn the negro fishermen and open the gates; it is necessary +to leave without delay." + +"Yes, my lord, and at the same time I will bring your sword and your +mantle in the _salon_, because the night is cold in the mountains. Ah! I +had forgotten; here is your _bonboniere_ which you carry always with +you, and which you left in madame's room." So saying, Angela gave Gascon +the box, warmly pressed his hand and left. + +"Heaven be praised, my lord duke, that things are turning out better +than I hoped," said the colonel. "Is the house very far off?" + +"No; after we have climbed this last terrace we shall arrive there." + +At the end of several minutes, Rutler and his captive entered the +drawing room; the chevalier found Angela, who had put on a large veil +and a long cloak which hid her figure; the young woman offered the +chevalier a cloak which she had placed on a sofa. + +"Here are your cloak and sword, my lord," she said to Croustillac, +giving him a magnificent sword. "Now I will go and see if the slaves are +ready." So saying she left the room. + +The sword of which we have spoken was as rich in workmanship as curious +in shape; the hilt was of massive gold; the scabbard enameled with the +coat of arms of England; the hilt bore on it a rampant lion whose head, +surmounted by a royal crown, served as a handle; the belt of great +richness, although worn by frequent use, was of red velvet embroidered +with fine pearls, in the midst of which the letters "C. S." were +reproduced repeatedly. + +Before putting on his sword Croustillac said to the colonel, "I am your +prisoner, sir; may I retain my sword? I repeat my word not to make any +use of it against you." + +Doubtless this historic weapon was known to the colonel, for he replied, +"I knew that this royal sword was in the hands of your grace; I have +been ordered to respect it in case you followed me willingly." + +"I understand," said Croustillac to himself. "Blue Beard continues to +act with consummate cunning. She has decorated me with a part of the +outfit of this mysterious duke, in order to clinch the error of this +Flemish bear. My only regret is not knowing my name. I know, it is true, +that my head was cut off; that is something; but that is not sufficient +to prove my identity, as the lawyers say. Finally this will last as long +as God pleases; once I have turned my back, Blue Beard will, doubtless, +put her husband in some safe place. That is the principal thing. +Meanwhile, let me put on his cloak and my disguise will be complete." + +The mantle was of peculiar cut and was of blue with a kind of cape of +red cloth trimmed with gold lace; it was easy to see that it had been in +use a long time. + +The colonel said to the chevalier, "You are faithful to the memory of +the day at Bridgewater, my lord!" + +"Hum, hum--faithful--here or there; that depends on the disposition in +which I find myself." + +"Nevertheless, my lord," returned the colonel, "I recognize the mantle +of the red troops who fought so gallantly under your orders on that +fatal day." + +"That is what I tell you; whether I am cold or warm, I wear this mantle, +but it is always in commemoration of that battle, when the red troops, +as you say, fought so valiantly under me." The chevalier had placed the +snuff box on the table. He took it up and looked at it mechanically; on +the cover he recognized a very characteristic face which he had several +times seen reproduced in engravings or paintings. After having searched +his memory he remembered that the features were those of Charles II. of +England. + +Rutler said, "My lord, may your grace pardon me for recalling you from +thoughts it is easy to divine on seeing the portrait on that box--but +time is precious." + +Angela entered at this moment and said to Croustillac: "My lord, the +negroes are waiting with torches to light the way." + +"Let us go, sir," said the chevalier, taking his hat from the hands of +the young woman, who said to him in a low voice, "Next to my husband, it +is you whom I love most in the world, for you have saved him." + +The massive doors of Devil's Cliff closed on the chevalier and the +colonel, and they at once started on their road, preceded by four blacks +carrying torches to light the way. + + * * * * * + +While the adventurer left Devil's Cliff as Colonel Rutler's prisoner, we +will introduce the reader into a secret apartment belonging to Blue +Beard. + +This was a large room very simply furnished; here and there, hung on the +walls, were costly arms. Above a couch was a beautiful portrait of King +Charles II. of England; beyond this was a miniature representing a woman +of most enchanting beauty. In an ebony frame were many studies in +crayon, well designed, and representing always the same people. It was +easy to see that they were drawn as portraits from memory. The frame was +supported by a kind of stand in chased silver, representing funeral +symbols, in the midst of which one might read the date, "July 15, 1685." + +This apartment was occupied by a young man in the prime of +manhood--large, supple and robust. His noble proportions recalled +vividly the height and figure of Captain Whirlwind, of the buccaneer +Rend-your-Soul, or of the Caribbean Youmaeale. By coloring the fine +features of the man of whom we speak to the copper-colored tint of the +mulatto, the ruddy color of the Caribbean, or by half-concealing them +under the thick black beard of the buccaneer, one could almost see the +three individuals in the same person. + +We will here say to the reader, who has doubtless penetrated this +mystery, that the disguises of the buccaneer, the filibuster, and the +Caribbean, had been successively assumed by the same man, who was none +other than the natural son of Charles II., James, Duke of Monmouth, +_executed_ at London, July 15, 1685, as guilty of high treason. All +historians agree in saying that this prince was very brave, very +affable, and of a very generous nature and a face beautiful and noble. +"Such was the end of a prince," says Hume, in (speaking of Monmouth) +"whose great qualities would have made him an ornament to the court, and +who was capable of serving well his country. The tenderness which his +father, the king, bore for him; the praises of a large faction and the +blind devotion of the populace, drew him into an enterprise beyond his +strength. The love of the people followed him in all the vicissitudes of +fortune; even after his execution, his followers cherished the belief +that they would some day see him at their head." + +We will explain later the cause of this singular hope of the prince's +adherents, and how Monmouth had, in effect, survived his execution. + +Having removed his disguise as the Caribbean, and the dye which stained +his features, Monmouth wore an ample gown of light blue covered with +orange flowers, and read attentively a large number of papers spread +before him. + +In order to explain the mistake of which the chevalier was the voluntary +victim, we must explain that Croustillac, without really resembling +Monmouth, was of the same age, the same height, brown as the other, as +slender, and that the duke had, in common with the Gascon, a nose +decidedly prominent, and a strong chin. Others beside Rutler, a Dutch +officer arrived from the United Provinces in the suite of William of +Orange, would have fallen into the same error, above all, seeing in the +hands of Croustillac certain priceless objects known to have belonged to +the son of Charles II. + +As to the choice of Rutler, one must understand that in order to fulfill +such a mission with all its consequences, it needed a man careful, +fearless, blindly devoted, and capable of pushing that devotion even to +assassination. The choice of William of Orange was necessarily +circumscribed by such exigencies; it would have been probably impossible +for him to have found a man who knew Monmouth personally who would not +have recoiled before such terrible extremities as were entailed in this +perilous and cruel undertaking. + +Monmouth was deeply absorbed in reading several English journals. All at +once the door of his room opened violently, and Angela threw herself on +his neck, crying, "Saved! saved!" + +Then, bursting into tears, laughing and sobbing by turn, kissing his +hands, his forehead, his eyes, she repeated, in a stifled voice, "Saved! +my beloved James! Saved! there is no longer any danger for thee, my +lover, my husband. God be praised, the danger is past! But what terror +has been mine! Alas! I tremble still!" + +Startled by the transports of Angela, Monmouth said to her with infinite +tenderness, "What is the matter, child? What do you say?" + +Without replying to him, Angela cried, "But this is not all; we must +fly, do you understand? King William of England is on our track; +to-morrow we must quit this island. All will be ready; I have given the +order to one of our negro fishermen to go and say to Captain Ralph to +have the Chameleon ready to set sail; it is anchored at Cayman's Creek; +and in two hours we shall have left Martinique." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE BETRAYAL. + + +The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in +agony. "What do you say?" cried he. "King William knows that I am on +this island?" + +"He knows it. One of his emissaries has obtained entrance here this +night. But be calm; he has gone; there is no danger," cried Angela, +seeing Monmouth run to arm himself. + +"But this man--this man?" + +"He has gone, I tell you; the danger is past. Should I be here if not +so? No; you have nothing to fear, at present, at least. But do you know +who has aided me in overcoming this threatening cloud?" + +"No; for mercy's sake explain." + +"It was the poor adventurer whom we have made our butt." + +"Croustillac?" + +"Yes, his presence of mind saved us; God be praised, the danger is +past." + +"Truly, Angela, I believe I am dreaming." + +"Listen to me, then. It was an hour ago, when you left me to read the +papers arrived from England. I went into the garden with the chevalier. +I had a presentiment of our danger and I was sad and thoughtful. I +wished to get rid of our guest as soon as possible, not caring to amuse +myself with him longer. I said to him that I could not explain the +mystery of my three widowhoods; that my hand could belong to no one, and +that he must leave the house at break of day. Our object was thus +accomplished. The Gascon, by his exaggerated tales of what he had seen, +will give more credence still to the stories which have been circulated +during the past three years on the island, absurd stories but useful, +and which until now alas! have been our safeguards by so confusing +events that it has been impossible to separate the true from the false." + +"Doubtless, but through what fatality this mystery? Tell me!" + +"Having informed the chevalier that he could no longer remain here, I +told him that we wished, nevertheless, to give him a valuable token of +his sojourn at Devil's Cliff. To my great surprise he refused with a +manner so painfully humiliated that I pitied him. Knowing how poor he +was, and wishing, for the very reason that he showed some delicacy, to +oblige him to accept a present, I came here to seek a medallion +surrounded by diamonds on which was my monogram, hoping that the +chevalier would not refuse that. I returned carrying this token, when in +approaching the inclosure where I had left him, at the end of the park, +near the fountain--Ah! my love, I tremble still!" And the young woman +threw her two arms around James' neck, as if she would protect him +against this past danger. + +"Angela, I beg of you, calm yourself," said Monmouth tenderly. "Finish +your story." + +"Ah, well," she continued, "when I approached the fountain I heard +voices; frightened, I listened." + +"It was this emissary, I presume?" + +"Yes, my beloved." + +"But how had he effected an entrance? How did he leave? How did he +confide his designs to the Gascon?" + +"He mistook the chevalier for you!" + +"He mistook the chevalier for me?" cried Monmouth. + +"Yes, James. Doubtless he was deceived by the resemblance in figure, and +by the suit that the Gascon wore, and which you had had made, in order +to satisfy one of my caprices in dressing yourself like the portrait of +which you have told me." + +"Oh," said Monmouth, passing his hand across his forehead, "Oh! you do +not realize the terrible memories that all this awakens in me." + +Then, after having heaved a deep sigh and looking sadly at the ebony +frame encrusted with silver containing the drawing of a portrait, the +duke resumed: "But what was the result of this strange encounter? What +did the chevalier say? What did _you_ do? Truly, if your presence and +your words did not assure me, I should go myself----" + +Angela interrupted the duke. "Again, my beloved James, should I be so +calm if there was anything to fear at this hour?" + +"Very well. I hear you, but you can understand my impatience." + +"You shall not be in doubt long. From the few words I overheard I +divined that the chevalier, leaving our enemy in error, did not know how +to get him out of the place, fearing he would not be obeyed by our +servants. Counting, with reason, on the Gascon's intelligence, I +presented myself to him at the moment when he approached the house, +taking care to warn him, indirectly, that he must take me for Mirette. +Having seen that the emissary of King William, believing he was +addressing you, called him 'my lord duke' or 'my lord,' I called him so +also; I caused the doors to be opened, and, in order to complete the +illusion, I gave the Gascon your sword, your enameled snuff box, and the +old cloak to which you are so attached." + +"Ah! What have you done, Angela?" cried the duke, "my father's sword, +the snuff box my mother gave me, and the cloak which belonged to the +most saintly, the most admirable martyr who ever sacrificed himself to +friendship." + +"James, my love, pardon. I thought I was doing for the best," cried +Angela, overcome by the expression of bitterness and chagrin which she +read in the features of James. + +"Poor beloved angel," replied Monmouth, taking her hands in his, "I do +not reproach you, but I have so great a respect for these holy relics +that it grieves me to see them profaned by a falsehood, even of a few +moments' duration. I repeat, you do not know the terrible memories which +are attached to the cloak. Alas! I have not told you all!" + +"You have not told me all?" said Angela in surprise. "When you came to +seek me in France in the name of my second father, my benefactor, dead +on the field of battle," and Angela sighed sorrowfully, "did you not +offer to share your life with me, poor orphan that I was, did you not +say that you loved me? what matters the rest? If it did not concern your +well-being, your life, should I ever have dreamed of speaking to you of +your condition, of your birth? I married you proscribed, flying from the +furious hate of your enemies. We have escaped many dangers, evaded many +suspicions, thanks to my pretended marriages, and your various +disguises. Then, what can you have hidden from me? If it is some new +danger, James, my beloved husband, my lover, I will never forgive you, +for I must partake all with you, good or bad fortune. Your life is my +life; your enemies my enemies. Although this attempt happily failed, now +that they know your retreat, they will continue to seek you with +increased malignity. You must fly. In two hours the Chameleon will be +ready to set sail." + +Deeply occupied with his thoughts, Monmouth had not heard Angela. He +walked up and down with long strides, repeating to himself, "There is no +doubt, they know I am living; but how has William of Orange penetrated +this secret which was known only to Father Griffen and myself, because +the holy martyr who carried this secret to the tomb, and De Crussol, +last governor of this island, are dead. When I think that for greater +safety I have concealed my real name from my devoted and adored wife, +who then can have betrayed me? Father Griffen is incapable of such +sacrilege; for it is under the seal of the confessional that the +governor made the revelation to him." + +After some minutes of silent thought the duke said, "And what means did +the chevalier employ to discover the designs of the emissary of William +of Orange?" + +"His designs, my love, were not concealed; I heard them; he wished to +carry you away, dead or alive, to the Tower of London." + +"Without doubt. Since the Revolution of 1688 they fear that I may become +reconciled to the dethroned king; the public prints even announce that +my old partisans are moving," said Monmouth, speaking to himself. "I +recognize there the policy of my old friend William of Orange. But by +what right does he suspect me capable of ambitious designs? Again, who +has aroused in William these unjust suspicions, these ill-founded +fears?" + +After another silence he said to Angela, "God be praised, my child, the +storm is past; thanks to thee; thanks to this brave adventurer! +Nevertheless I am not sure if, in spite of the devotion which he has +shown on this occasion, I can confide to him a part of the truth; +perhaps it would be wiser to have him in ignorance and to persuade him +that the emissary had been misled by false information. What do you +think, Angela? Dare I appear to the chevalier under any other form than +that of Youmaeale, or shall I charge you to-night to see and thank this +brave man? As to recompense, we will find a way to do that without +wounding his delicacy." + +Angela looked at her husband with growing astonishment. Monmouth had not +understood her; he thought that the Gascon had succeeded in removing +this emissary of William of Orange from Devil's Cliff; he did not know +he had accompanied him as a prisoner. + +"I do not know when the chevalier will return. He will doubtless make +this mistake last as long as possible in order to give us time to +escape." + +"The chevalier is no longer here, then?" cried the duke. + +"No, he has gone as a prisoner, under your name, with this man. Our +negro fishermen accompany them to the Cayman's Creek, where the emissary +will embark for the Barbadoes in one of our boats with the chevalier." + +The duke could hardly believe what he heard. "Gone under my name!" cried +he. "But this emissary, discovering his mistake, will be capable of +killing the chevalier. By heavens! I cannot allow that! Too much blood, +oh my God! has already been spilled for me." + +"Blood! oh, do not fear that; the chevalier will run no danger. In spite +of my desire to avert the danger that threatened from ourselves, I would +never have exposed this generous man to certain destruction." + +"But, unhappy woman," cried the duke, "you do not know the terrible +importance of the secret of state which the chevalier is now possessed +of?" + +"My God! what do you mean?" + +"They are capable of killing him." + +"Oh, what have I done? Where are you going?" cried the young wife, +seeing the duke preparing to leave the room. + +"I am going to join them and save this unfortunate man. I will take some +blacks with me. The Gascon has hardly an hour's advance of me." + +"James, I implore you, do not expose yourself." + +"What! cowardly abandon this man who has devoted himself to me? I give +him up to the resentment of William's emissary? never! Ah, you do not +know, unhappy child, that certain sacrifices impose on one gratitude as +dolorous as remorse. Go, I pray you, tell Mirette to order some slaves +to be in readiness to follow me at once. Thanks to the tide, the +chevalier cannot put to sea before daybreak, I can then overtake him." + +"But this emissary is capable of anything! if he sees you come to the +aid of the chevalier, he will understand, perhaps, and then----" + +"That it is not James of Monmouth, but the mulatto filibuster, who is on +his track. Beside, I have faced other dangers than these, I believe." + +So saying, the duke entered a small room connected with his apartments. +There he found all that was necessary for his disguise. Left alone, +Angela gave herself up to the most cruel regrets. She had not supposed +that the consequences of the mistake into which the Gascon had led +Rutler could be so fatal. She feared also that Monmouth would be +recognized in spite of his disguise. In the midst of her distress she +heard a sudden violent knock at the outer door of the apartment where +she was, apparently rigorously closed to all the servants in the house. + +Angela ran to this door and saw Mirette. The mulattress, with a +frightened air, said to Angela that Father Griffen sent an imperative +request to enter, having the most important matters to confide to her. + +The order was given to admit him at once into the reception hall on the +ground floor. At the same moment Monmouth came out of his room +completely disguised as the mulatto filibuster. + +"My love," said Angela, when the maid had gone, "Father Griffen has just +arrived, he has things of the utmost importance to say to us. In the +name of heaven, wait and speak to him." + +"Father Griffen!" exclaimed the duke. + +"You know he never comes here unless circumstances of the gravest +importance brings him. I beg you see him," said Angela. + +"I must; but each minute of delay may risk the life of this unhappy +chevalier," said the duke. + +He descended with Angela. Father Griffen, pale, agitated, broken with +fatigue, was in the hall. + +"In fifteen minutes they will be here," he cried. + +"Who, then, Father," said Monmouth. + +"That miserable Gascon," said the priest. + +"Oh, James! everything is discovered; you are lost!" said Angela, +uttering a cry of despair; and she threw herself into the arms of +Monmouth. "Fly; there is still time." + +"Fly, and where? there is but one road to Devil's Cliff, and from it. I +tell you that they follow me," said the priest; "but be calm, nothing is +hopeless." + +"Explain yourself, Father, what is it? In mercy speak, speak!" said +Angela. + +"Father, you alone knew my secret; I would rather believe the impossible +than doubt your sacred word," said the duke gravely. + +"And you are right not to doubt it, my son. There is some unaccountable +mystery, which will come to light some day, believe me; but the minutes +are too precious to seek now for the cause of the misfortune which +menaces you. I hurried to you, then I have not betrayed you. Let us +think of what is most pressing. Under this disguise it is impossible +that you should be recognized," said the priest. "But that is not all; +your situation has become almost inextricable." + +"What do you say?" + +"This Gascon is a traitor; a scoundrel. May God pardon me for having +been so deceived in him and having made you partake of my error. Cursed +be the hypocrite." + +"On the contrary," said Angela, "he is the most generous of men; he has +voluntarily devoted himself for my husband." + +"Yes, he has assumed your name," said the priest to the prince, "but do +you know for what vile purpose?" + +"Tell me, oh, tell me! I am dying of fear," cried Angela. + +"Listen, then," said the priest, "for the moments fly and the danger +approaches. This morning I received at Macouba a letter from Captain +Morris, of Fort Royal, in compliance with the order he had received from +you to warn me of all arrivals of vessels and of those whose appearance +seemed unusual. He sent me a special message to inform me that a French +frigate had dropped anchor in sight of the harbor, after having sent an +unknown passenger ashore. This person, after a long conference with the +governor, started at the head of an escort in the direction of Devil's +Cliff. In fact, he comes here." + +"An agent of France," said Monmouth; "what have I to fear at present, +even if my secret was known at Versailles? Is not France at war with +England?" + +"My God! my God! have pity on us!" cried Angela. + +"Listen! I started with all haste," continued the priest, "in order to +warn you, hoping to arrive before this man and his escort, in case he +was really coming here, and, unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, +joined him at the foot of the cliff. He recognized my robe; he said to +me that he was sent by the King of France; that he came to fulfill a +mission of state, and he begged me to be his guide and to introduce him, +because I knew the dwellers in this house. I could not refuse to do this +without arousing suspicions. I remained near him. He told me his name +was De Chemerant. He began to ask me some very embarrassing questions as +to you and your wife, my lord, when all at once, at some distance, we +heard a loud voice cry, 'Who goes there?' 'An agent of France,' replied +De Chemerant. 'Treason!' continued the voice, and a dull groan reached +us with these words, 'I am killed!' 'To arms!' cried De Chemerant, +taking his sword in hand, and running after two of our sailors who +served as guides. I followed him. We found the Gascon stretched on the +side of the road, four blacks kneeling, petrified with fear, while our +two sailors had thrown on the ground, and held there with difficulty, a +strong man clothed like a mariner." + +"And the chevalier?" exclaimed Monmouth, "was he wounded?" + +"No, sir; and although this is a very wicked man, we must return thanks +to heaven for the wonderful chance which saved him. The man dressed as a +mariner, hearing the noise of our escort, and the words of De Chemerant, +who had responded 'Agent of the King of France,' believed himself +betrayed, and led into ambush; he had then given the Gascon such a +furious blow with his dagger that the unhappy adventurer would have been +killed if the blade had not broken on his shoulder-belt. Nevertheless, +thrown down by the violence of the shock, he fell to the ground, +exclaiming, 'I am killed,' and remained motionless. It was at this +moment we reached the group. Seeing us the assassin of the Gascon cried +with a ferocious laugh as he kicked the body of what he supposed his +victim, 'Mr. Agent of France, your designs have been unmasked, they are +frustrated. You have come to seek James, Duke of Monmouth, in order to +raise a standard for sedition; the standard is broken; take up the +corpse, sir. It is I, Rutler, colonel in the service of King William, +whom God preserve, who has committed this murder.'" + +"'Unhappy man,' exclaimed De Chemerant. + +"'I glory in this murder,' replied the colonel. 'Thus have I foiled the +odious projects of the enemies of my master, the king; thanks to me, the +sword of Charles II., which James of Monmouth carried at his side, will +no more be drawn against England.' + +"'Colonel, you will be shot in twenty-four hours,' said De Chemerant. 'I +know my fate,' replied the colonel; 'a traitor is dead. Long live the +King of England.'" + +"But the chevalier?" asked the duke. + +"When he heard these words of Rutler's he made a slight movement, and +heaved a sigh; and while some of the escort held the colonel, who yelled +with rage at seeing that his victim was not dead, De Chemerant hurried +to reach the Gascon, to whom he said, 'My lord, are you dangerously +wounded?' I understood at once, without knowing why, that the chevalier +was playing a role and had assumed your name; this error would serve +you--I held my tongue. 'The blow had struck the belt of my father's +sword,' said the rascal, in a faint voice as they raised him. 'My lord +duke, lean on me,' replied De Chemerant, 'I come to you in the name of +the King of France, my master. Mystery is now unnecessary. In two words +I will tell you, sir, the object of my mission, and you can then judge +whether or not you will return as quickly as possible to Fort Royal to +embark with us.' 'I hear you, sir,' said the chevalier, feigning a +slight English accent, doubtless to better play his part. Then at the +end of several moments of thought, the Gascon said in a loud voice, 'If +this be so, sir, I cannot be separated from my wife, and I desire to go +and seek her at Devil's Cliff. She will accompany me; such is the +destiny which is reserved for me.'" + +"The wretch!" exclaimed Angela. + +"Then he continued," said the priest, "'I feel giddy from my fall; I +will rest here a moment.' 'That shall be as you wish, my lord,' said De +Chemerant. Then, turning to me, 'Will you be so good, Father, as to go +and announce to Madame the Duchess of Monmouth that the duke will come +to seek her to take her away; and request that she make hasty +preparations, for we must be at Fort Royal at daybreak and set sail the +same morning.' Now," said the priest to Monmouth, "do you understand the +plan of this traitor? He abuses the name that he has taken in order to +carry off your wife, and you will be compelled either to declare who you +are, or to consent to the departure of madame the duchess." + +"Rather a thousand times death!" cried Angela. + +"Cursed be the Gascon!" said the priest; "I believed him but a sot and +an adventurer, and he is a monster of hypocrisy." + +"Do not let us despair," said Angela suddenly. "Father, will you return +to the outer buildings and order Mirette to open the door to the Gascon +and the French agent when they come. I will take care of the rest." + + + + +PART THIRD. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE VICEROY OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. + + +While the Duke of Monmouth and his wife, informed by Father Griffen of +the infamous treachery of Croustillac, were seeking to escape this new +danger, we will return to the adventurer, who, carelessly leaning on the +arm of De Chemerant, climbed the steep ascent of Devil's Cliff. + +Colonel Rutler, furious at having been thwarted in his attempt, was led +away by a guard of two soldiers. + +Chemerant did not know Croustillac; not having the slightest doubt as to +the identity of the Gascon with the Duke of Monmouth, the action and +words of Rutler confirmed his error. In the colonel's possession was +found an order from William of Orange for the capture of James, Duke of +Monmouth. What doubt could he then have when the emissary of King +William recognized Croustillac as the duke, so fully that he was ready +to pay with his life for his attempt to assassinate this pretended +prince. + +Seeing the new aspect this adventure was taking, Croustillac felt the +necessity of being more guarded, so as to complete the illusion which he +desired in order to accomplish his own ends. + +He at least knew, now, the name of the person whom he represented and to +what country he belonged. These points, however, were not very useful to +the adventurer as yet, for he was absolutely ignorant as to +contemporaneous history; but at any rate, the knowledge that the man he +personated was English led him to endeavor to modify his Gascon +pronunciation, and he gave it an English accent so strange that De +Chemerant was far from suspecting that he spoke with a Frenchman. + +Croustillac, in order not to compromise the part he was playing, deemed +it wisest to maintain an extreme reserve; De Chemerant was not +surprised; he knew the reserved character of the English. + +Some words which were exchanged by the two persons who walked at the +head of the escort will give an idea of the new and embarrassing +position of the chevalier. + +"When we arrive at your house, sir," said De Chemerant, "I shall +communicate to you the full powers which his majesty has charged me to +place before the eyes of your highness." + +"Highness--the devil!" thought Croustillac: "this man pleases me better +than the other; beside subjecting me to the inconvenience of his +everlasting dagger, he called me only my lord or your grace, while this +one calls me highness. This is progressive. I go on. I touch the +throne." + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I shall also have the honor to hand to +you, sir, a number of letters from England which will prove to you that +the moment was never more favorable for an insurrection." + +"I know it," said the Gascon, with effrontery, remembering that this was +what Rutler had said to him; "I know it, sir; my partisans are acting, +and bestirring themselves greatly." + +"Your highness is better informed of affairs in Europe than I had +thought." + +"I have never lost sight of them, sir, never." + +"Your highness fills me with joy in speaking thus. It depends on you to +assure to yourself the brilliant position which is your due, and which +you will acquire if you obtain a decisive advantage." + +"And how, sir?" + +"By putting yourself at the head of the partisans of your royal uncle, +James Stuart; forgetting the dissensions which have heretofore separated +you, for the king no longer desires to see in you other than his worthy +nephew." + +"And, between us, he is right; it is always necessary to turn to one's +family. My God, if each one puts in a little of his own, it will end by +arranging itself." + +"Thus, your highness, King James gives you a mark of the highest +confidence in intrusting to you the defense of his rights and those of +his young son."[A] + + {[A] The Pretender, born in 1688.} + +"My uncle is dethroned; he is unhappy; this makes me overlook much," +said Croustillac gravely. "I will not betray his hopes. I will devote +myself to the defense of his rights and those of his young son, if the +circumstances permit." + +"Your highness need not have the slightest doubt as to the opportunity +to do so when you will have heard, in this respect, the large number of +your old companions at arms; of your most enthusiastic followers." + +"In fact, they, better than any one, will be able to give certain +information, but alas! before I can see them, these brave men, these +loyal and faithful men, much time must, unhappily, elapse." + +"I am going to give your highness a very delightful surprise." + +"A surprise?" + +"Yes, your highness. Several of your partisans, having learned by what +happy occurrence the life of your highness has been preserved, have +asked permission of the king to accompany me here." + +"To accompany you?" cried the chevalier. "And where are they, then?" + +"They are here, aboard the frigate which brought me, your highness." + +"Aboard your frigate!" exclaimed Croustillac, with an expression of +surprise that De Chemerant interpreted in a very favorable manner to +affectionate memories of the chevalier. + +"Yes, your highness. I understand your astonishment, your happiness, +your joy in the prospect of shortly seeing your old companions-in-arms." + +"You have not the slightest idea of the impatience with which I await +the moment when I shall again see them, sir," said Croustillac. + +"And their conduct justifies your eagerness, your highness; they will +bring you the loyalty of all your English friends; and they will very +soon put you in touch with the affairs of that country. Who can better +inform you on these subjects than Dudley and Rothsay?" + +"Ah! that dear Rothsay, has he also come?" said the Gascon with an easy +manner. + +"Yes, your highness, but he is suffering so from his old wounds that he +can hardly walk, still he said, 'It is no matter if I die--if I die at +the feet of our duke,' for it is thus they speak of you in the +familiarity of their devotion." + +"The poor Rothsay, always the same!" said Croustillac, passing his hand +across his eyes, with a touching air. "The dear friends." + +"And Lord Mortimer, then, your highness; he is as if mad. If it were not +for the king's orders, which were of the strictest, it would have been +impossible to have prevented his coming on shore with me." + +"Mortimer also--brave Mortimer!" + +"And Lord Dudley, your highness." + +"Lord Dudley is as wild as the others, I wager?" + +"He threatened to swim ashore as the captain had refused to give him a +boat." + +"Such a friend is a true spaniel for fidelity and love of the water!" +thought Croustillac, very much embarrassed. + +"Ah, your highness, and to-morrow?" + +"Well, what of to-morrow?" + +"What a great day it will be for your highness." + +"Yes, superb." + +"Ah, your highness, what a touching scene! what a moment for you and for +those who are so devoted to you. Happy indeed are the princes who find +such friends in adversity." + +"Yes it will be a very touching interview," said Croustillac aloud; then +he continued, inaudibly, "To the devil with this animal of a Mortimer +and his companions! _Peste!_ these are very stupid friends; what fly is +stinging them? They will recognize me, and I shall be lost, now that I +know De Chemerant's state secret." + +"The presence of those valiant nobles," replied De Chemerant, "has yet +another object. Your highness ought not to be ignorant of it?" + +"Speak, sir; they seem to me to have excellent ideas, these dear +friends." + +"Knowing your courage, your resolution, sir, the king, my master, and +the king, your uncle, have ordered me to make you an overture which you +cannot fail to accept." + +"What is it, sir? this begins excellently." + +"Not only are your most courageous partisans on board the frigate, which +is at anchor, sir, but the ship is filled with arms and ammunition. +Sentinels have been stationed on the coast of Cornwall; the whole +country awaits only a signal to rise in your favor. It but remains for +your highness to disembark at the head of your partisans, and give the +people the necessary arms. The movement will spread even to London, the +usurper will be driven from the throne, and you will restore the crown +to the king, your uncle." + +"I will do it, by the gods! I am capable of that. Of a surety here is a +magnificent project, but there must be contrary chances, and above all, +I must be careful, very careful of the lives of my partisans and of the +safety of my uncle's subjects." + +"I recognize the habitual generosity of the character of your highness; +but there are hardly any contrary chances to fear; all is ready, loyalty +prevails. You will be received with enthusiasm. The remembrance of you +is so lasting, they say, so ever present to the people of London, that +they have never believed in your execution, sir, not even those who were +present. Live, then, for this noble country which has so deeply mourned +you, and which awaits your coming as they await the day of their +deliverance." + +"Come! he also," thought Croustillac; "he thinks that I have been +executed; but this man is more reasonable than the other, who wished to +kill me in the name of the regrets that my death had caused; at least, +this one desires me to live in the name of these same regrets, and I +prefer this." + +"In a word, sir, set sail from Martinique for the coast of Cornwall, and +if, as all believe, the English people rise at the sound of your name, +my master, the king, will support this insurrection with his strong +forces, and make the movement a success." + +"Ah! ah! I see, my good fellow, I see. Although I am not a political +end," said the Gascon to himself, "in my humble opinion I understand +that the king, your master and mine, wishes to make use of me as a +forlorn hope. If I succeed, he will support me; if I do not, he will +leave me to be captured. All the same this tempts me; my ambition +awakens. To the devil with the Mortimers, the Rothsays, and my other mad +friends! Without these rogues I shall be curious to see Polypheme de +Croustillac revolutionizing Cornwall, driving William of Orange from the +throne of England, and generously restoring this same throne to King +James. Without being tempted to seat myself upon it--hum, perhaps I +shall seat myself a little, to see--there, there, Polypheme, no more of +that! give the throne to the old man, Polypheme, restore him his throne. +So be it, I will give it to him, but decidedly, for some time, very +strange things have happened to me, and the Unicorn which brought me +here must be an enchanted vessel." The chevalier then spoke, with a +thoughtful air: "This is a very serious thing, at least, sir; there is +much to be said for, and also much against it. I am far from wishing to +temporize too long, but it would be, I think, wisdom to consider more +fully before giving the signal for this uprising." + +"Your highness, permit me to say to you that the conditions are +pressing; action necessary; the secret projects of the king, my master, +have been betrayed. William of Orange has deputed Colonel Rutler to +carry you off, living or dead, so much does he fear to see you the +leader of an insurrection. Sir, we must strike a quick, decisive blow, +such as a sudden disembarkment on the coasts of Cornwall. I repeat, this +expedition made in the name of King James will be received with +enthusiasm and the all-powerful influence of Louis XIV., will +consolidate the revolution you will have so gloriously begun; and, +thanks to you, the rightful King of Great Britain will once more ascend +his throne." + +"This seems to me assured, if my side has the advantage." + +"It will have, sir, it will have!" + +"Yes, unless it is defeated, and then if I am killed, this time it will +be without pardon. It is not through unworthy egotism that I make this +reflection, sir; you can understand that, after the antecedents which +they attribute to me, I must be thoroughly accustomed to being dead, but +I would not leave my party orphaned; and then, consider, sir!--to plunge +this country once more into the horrors of civil war! Ah!" and +Croustillac heaved a sigh. + +"Doubtless, sir, this is a sad thought; but to these passing troubles +would succeed a most profound calm. Doubtless, war has fatal chances, +but it has, also, happy ones; and then, what a future awaits you! The +letters I bring you will show you that the viceroyship of Ireland and +Scotland is reserved for you, without counting other favors which are +likewise reserved for you and my master, and James Stuart, your uncle, +when he is once more on the throne which he will owe to you." + +"_Peste!_ Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland!" said Croustillac to himself. +"With this, husband of Blue Beard, and, in the bargain, son and nephew +of a king, ah Croustillac, Croustillac, I have well said thy star is in +the ascendent--it would be too bad that this should be for another. Come +on, while it lasts!" + +Monsieur de Chemerant, seeing the chevalier's hesitation, made use of a +more powerful means of forcing him to act conformably to the wishes of +the two kings, and said to him, "There remains, your highness, a last +communication to make you, and, painful as it is, I must obey my +master's orders." + +"Speak, sir." + +"It is almost out of the question to refuse to put yourself at the head +of the uprising, your highness; your ships are burned!" + +"My ships burned?" + +"Yes, your highness, that is, figuratively." + +"Very well, sir, I understand, the king would compel me to act as he +desires?" + +"Your habitual keensightedness does not allow you to be deceived, your +highness. In case you do not believe it your duty to follow the +pressing counsel of my master, the king, in case you thus show his +majesty King James that you are unwilling to make him forget these sad +and annoying memories, in devoting yourself to his cause, as he had +hoped----" + +"Well, sir," said the adventurer, becoming cautious, believing he was +going to see, as is said, the reverse side of the medal. + +"Well, your highness, the king, my master, for pressing reasons of +state, in such a case would see himself, with much regret, obliged to +possess himself of your person. That is why I have an escort with me." + +"Sir! violence?" + +"Unfortunately, your highness, my orders are explicit. But I am sure +your highness will not put me to the hard necessity of carrying them +out." + +This menace caused Croustillac to reflect. + +Monsieur de Chemerant continued: "I must add, sir, that prudence demands +(seeing your execution has taken place) that your features should be +henceforth concealed, and your face must be covered with a mask that +will never be removed. In fact, in compliance with the orders of his +majesty, I shall have the honor of conducting you, sir, at once to the +Saint Margaret Islands, where you will remain henceforth a prisoner. I +leave to you to imagine the regrets of your partisans, who have come so +far in the hope of seeing you once more at their head." + +After remaining for a long time in the attitude of a man who was +thinking deeply and who struggled inwardly against many conflicting +thoughts, Croustillac raised his head proudly, and said to De Chemerant, +in a dignified manner, "Upon reflection, sir, I will accept the +viceroyship of Ireland and Scotland, you have my word. However do not +think that fear of a perpetual prison forces me thus to act. No, sir, +no; but after mature reflection, I am convinced that I would be culpable +not to yield to the wishes of an oppressed people, who are stretching +out their arms to me, and not to draw my sword for their defense," said +the adventurer with a heroic air. + +"If that is so, your highness," cried De Chemerant, "long live King +James and his Royal Highness the Duke of Monmouth. Long live the +Viceroy of Scotland and Ireland." + +"I accept the augury," gravely replied the chevalier, while he said to +himself, "Devil of a man! with his sweet manner, I do not know if I do +not like the other better in spite of his eternal dagger. This is a +difficult choice. To go with the Dutchman a prisoner to London Tower, +that was not difficult; while now my role is complicated and becomes +diabolical, thanks to my mad friends who like vultures are awaiting me +on board the frigate. To-morrow, I dare say, all will be discovered. And +Blue Beard? But I who believed I had made a master stroke in coming to +seek her at Devil's Cliff? What will happen from all this? Bah! after +all, what can happen me? Taken prisoner? or hanged? Prisoner?--that +gives me a future. Hanged?--it is a trifle, the dropping of an eyelid, a +gasp. Come, come, Croustillac! no cowardice! console yourself by mocking +at these men, and amuse yourself with the strange adventures the devil +sends you! It is all the same, cursed be my partisans! except for them +all would go well. Let us see if there is not some way of sending them +to love me--elsewhere." + +"Tell me, sir," said he, aloud, "are my followers on board many?" + +"Your highness, there are eleven." + +"That must incommode you; they must be uncomfortable themselves." + +"They are soldiers, your highness, they are accustomed to the rough life +of a camp; beside, the end which they propose to attain is so important, +so glorious, that they do not dream of privations which the sight of +your highness will make them quickly forget." + +"It is all the same--is there not a means of finding a place elsewhere? +sending them to another vessel would be infinitely better, that I and my +wife may accommodate ourselves on the frigate? And then, for reasons +known to myself, I shall not discover myself to these dear and good +friends until the moment arrives to disembark in England." + +"That is impossible! to be on the same vessel with you, your friends +will sleep on deck in their clothes." + +"It is terrible to inspire such devotion," said Croustillac to himself. +"Then think no more of it," said he aloud. "I shall be very sorry to +thwart such faithful partisans. But what accommodations have you for +myself and wife?" + +"They will be very plain, sir, but your highness will deign to be +indulgent in recognizing the imperative necessity of the case. Beside, +the well-known attachment of your highness for the duchess," replied De +Chemerant, smiling, "will make you, I am sure, excuse the smallness of +the apartment, which is none other than the captain's cabin." + +The adventurer could not prevent a smile in return, and answered, "The +room, sir, will be sufficient." + +"Then, your highness, you have fully decided that you will bring madame +with you?" + +"More than ever, sir; when I was the prisoner of Colonel Rutler, when I +was destined to perish, perhaps, I left her ignorant of my peril, and +abandoned her without warning her of the fate that awaited me." + +"So the duchess is ignorant----" + +"Of everything, sir; the poor woman is ignorant of everything. Surprised +by Colonel Rutler, while she was asleep, I left word in quitting Devil's +Cliff, that my absence would extend over but a day or two. But +circumstances have suddenly changed. There are no more dangers that I am +going to run. I know my wife, sir; glory and danger, she would partake +all. In going to seek her, to carry her away with me, I am furthering +her dearest wish." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE ARREST. + + +Monsieur de Chemerant and Croustillac walked on in silence for some +little time toward Devil's Cliff. Meanwhile the guard reached the +heights of the rocks. From this spot were discerned at a distance the +platform and the wall of the park surrounding Blue Beard's home. + +At the sight of this species of fortification De Chemerant said to the +chevalier, "This retreat is well chosen, your highness, to keep at a +distance curious persons; to say nothing of the fact that the reports +that you have caused to be made by the three fellows in your service, +are not such as to encourage many visitors." + +"You allude, I presume, to the buccaneer, the filibuster and the +Caribbean?" + +"Yes, your highness, it is said that they are devoted to you, for life +and death." + +"They are singularly attached to me. Nevertheless," said Croustillac to +himself, "I do not yet know what right these three miscreants have to an +intimacy with the duchess, nor how, in fact, her husband, the Duke of +Monmouth, can permit such bandits to be so very familiar with his +wife--speaking tenderly to her and embracing her. The Caribbean, above +all, with his grave air like a donkey that one has curried--he has above +all the faculty of setting my nerves on edge. And then, how can the duke +permit these familiarities? Doubtless it is to mislead people. It saves +appearances. But, zounds! it seems to me that this misleads a little too +much. Ah, Croustillac, Croustillac! you are becoming more and more in +love, my friend; it is jealousy you feel for these bandits. Ah, well, I +shall unravel this mystery shortly. Meanwhile, I must endeavor to learn +how it was discovered that the prince was hidden at Devil's Cliff." +"Sir," continued Croustillac aloud, "I desire to ask you a very +important question." + +"I am all attention, your highness." + +"If you are permitted to answer this, tell me how it became known at +Versailles that I was hidden in Martinique?" + +After a moment's silence De Chemerant replied, "In telling you what you +wish to know, your highness, I do not in any way betray a state secret. +Neither the king nor his ministers have confided to me anything on this +point. It is entirely due to a circumstance which it would take too long +to tell you now, that I had discovered that of which they thought I was +in ignorance. I can, however, count upon your silence on this subject, +your highness." + +"You may be sure of that, sir." + +"Then, I believe, your highness, that the late Governor of Martinique, +the late Chevalier de Crussol, had known you in Holland, where he owed +his life to you. At the battle of Saint Denis, where you commanded a +Scotch regiment in the army of the stadtholder, while the Chevalier de +Crussol served in the army of the Marshal Luxembourg----" + +"This is true in every particular," said Croustillac imperturbably. +"Proceed." + +"I believe, also, your highness, that the late Chevalier de Crussol +having been, by a combination of events, chosen governor of this colony, +and, having believed it his duty to inquire into the mysterious +existence of a young widow called Blue Beard, went to Devil's Cliff, +entirely ignorant of the fact that you had found refuge there." + +"That also is true, sir; you see I am frank," said Croustillac, charmed +at penetrating, little by little, this mystery. + +"Finally, it appears certain that Chevalier de Crussol, recognizing in +you the prince who had saved his life, swore to you that he would guard +your secret----" + +"He swore it, sir, and if anything surprises me on the part of so +gallant a man, it is that he failed to keep his word," said the Gascon +severely. + +"Do not be too hasty in accusing Chevalier de Crussol, your highness." + +"I will reserve my judgment, then." + +"You know, your highness, there were few men more religiously inclined +than De Crussol?" + +"His piety was proverbial; it is that fact which so surprises me at his +failure to keep his word." + +"When dying, your highness, Chevalier de Crussol felt it a point of +conscience that he had not made known to his master, the king, a state +secret of such importance. He therefore confessed the truth to Father +Griffen." + +"I know all that, sir; go on," said Croustillac, who did not desire that +the devouring curiosity with which he listened to De Chemerant should +appear. + +"As for that, your highness, I speak of what occurred then only from +memory. I shall touch upon certain particulars unknown, I think, to your +highness. At the point of death, Chevalier de Crussol, wishing so far as +possible, to continue to you the protection which had surrounded you +during his life, and, fearing that his successor would begin a search +against the mysterious residents at Devil's Cliff, he wrote a letter to +the governor who would succeed him. In this letter he affirmed on his +guarantee and on that of Father Griffen that the conduct of Blue Beard +was in no wise to be suspected. It is believed, your highness, that the +dying governor had warned you that scruples of conscience having +compelled him to confess all to Father Griffen, under the seal of the +confessional, he did not consider he had broken the promise that he had +given you." + +"If this is so, sir, this poor man remained until the close of his life +the pious and loyal gentleman that I always knew him to be," said +Croustillac, deeply affected; "but must one then, accuse the good Father +Griffen of a sacrilege? This would be cruel. I can with difficulty +reconcile myself to that, sir." + +After a moment's silence, De Chemerant said to the adventurer: + +"Do you know, your highness, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot?" +The Gascon looked at the envoy with surprise. "Is this a pleasantry, +sir?" + +"I would not take such a liberty, your highness," said De Chemerant, +bending his head. + +"Then, sir, what connection----" + +"Permit me, your highness, to explain to you what this game is, and by +the aid of this figure, I shall perhaps be able to also explain to your +highness the fortunes of the state secret. + +"Explain this figure, sir." + +"Well, the game of the poisoned shoulder-knot consists in this: a circle +of men and women is made; one man takes one of the shoulder-knots from +his coat and seeks to slip it into his neighbor's pocket as secretly as +possible, for the person who is found in possession of it is obliged to +give a forfeit." + +"Very well, sir," said the Gascon, "the skill of the play resolves +itself into getting rid as soon as possible of the shoulder-knot, by +passing it, adroitly, on to another." + +"There you have it, your highness." + +"But I do not see what connection there is between the state secret +which concerns me and this game." + +"Pardon me, sir, to some consciences, at once scrupulous and timid, +certain confidences, or rather certain confessions, have the same effect +as the poisoned shoulder-knot in the play of that name; the aforesaid +consciences think only of getting rid of the secret to a neighboring +conscience in order to protect themselves from all responsibility." + +"Well, sir, I see the analogy; it seems that the game of the poisoned +shoulder-knot has been played with the confessor of this unhappy +Chevalier de Crussol." + +"That is just what happened, your highness. Father Griffen, seeing +himself the depository of such an important state secret, found himself +terribly embarrassed; he feared to commit a culpable action toward his +sovereign in keeping silent; he feared by speaking to violate the seal +of the confessional and to ruin you. In this quandary, and desiring to +quiet his conscience, he resolved to go to France, to confess all to the +general of his order, and to thus free himself of all responsibility." + +"I understand, now, your comparison, sir; but as this secret has been +noised abroad, it necessarily follows that, in order to carry out your +comparison, some one has cheated." + +"I can assure your highness that it is many months since Father Griffen, +after his resolution had been taken, arrived in France and confided all +to the general of the order; he, in turn, took all the responsibility +upon himself, and completely absolved Father Griffen, recommending to +him the greatest secrecy." + +"And to whom the devil did the general of the order pass the +shoulder-knot?" said the Gascon, who was much amused by this story. + +"Before answering your highness, I must say that the general of the +order concealed beneath an austere exterior a most unbridled ambition; +that few men possessed to so high a degree the genius for intrigue; or +played more audaciously with what the world reveres. Once master of the +important secret that Father Griffen had confided to him, as his +spiritual superior, in order to quiet his conscience, the general of the +order desired to use this secret for his own personal advancement. +Intimately linked with the confessor of his majesty, King James, Father +Briars, a cunning Jesuit, who understood perfectly the condition of +affairs in England, he led the conversation one day to the location of +this island, and the general of the order asked Father Briars if, in +case you had been still living, your highness, you would not have many +opportunities for rallying about you the partisans of the Stuarts, and +thus placing yourself at the head of a movement against the Prince of +Orange. Father Briars replied that if you had lived your influence would +have been immense, if you were sincerely devoted to the cause of King +James; that this prince had often regretted your death, when thinking of +the services you could have rendered to the cause of the Stuarts. You +can imagine, your highness, the joy of the general of the order. The +secret of the confessional was betrayed, your highness, and your +existence revealed. + +"But this is an abominable man, this general of the order," cried +Croustillac. + +"Doubtless, sir; but he was ambitious to wear the cardinal's hat; and as +the prime mover of the enterprise, he would be a prince of the church +if King James, your uncle, ascended the throne of England. It is +unnecessary to tell you, sir, that once Father Briars was master of this +secret, he availed himself of it with his royal penitent, and that the +remainder of the arrangements were converted between Louis XIV. and +James Stuart." + +"All is clear now," said Croustillac to himself. "I am not surprised at +the uneasiness of Father Griffen when I persisted in going to Devil's +Cliff. Knowing the secret of the place, he doubtless, believed me to be +a spy. I can now understand the questions with which he overwhelmed me +during our journey, and which seemed so absurd." + +Monsieur de Chemerant attributed to astonishment the silence of +Croustillac at this recital, and he said, "Now all should be clear to +you. Without doubt, the preparations of this enterprise have not been so +secret that William of Orange has not been kept posted by spies who +gained entrance into the cabinet at Versailles, and even into the inner +circle of the lesser court at Saint Germain. In order to baffle the +projects which rest entirely upon your highness, the usurper has given +to Colonel Rutler the mission which came so near being fatal to you, +your highness. You see, then, in all this Father Griffen has been +perfectly innocent. Some one has abused his confidence most +sacrilegiously; but, after all, sir, you must exercise forbearance, for +it is to this discovery that you will have the glory, some day, of +re-establishing James Stuart upon the throne of England." + +Although this confidence had satisfied the adventurer's curiosity, he +regretted having provoked it; if he was discovered, he would, no doubt, +be made to pay dearly for his knowledge of this state secret, which he +had involuntarily surprised; but Croustillac could not retrace his +steps; he was to become more and more involved in the dangerous way +wherein he walked. The escort arrived on the plain at the foot of the +wall of the house. It was agreed that Rutler, still bound, should remain +outside, and that six soldiers and two sailors should accompany +Chemerant and Croustillac. On reaching the foot of the wall, the Gascon +called, resolutely, "Ho, slaves!" + +After waiting some moments, the ladder was lowered. The adventurer and +De Chemerant, followed by their men, entered the house; the arched door +used exclusively by Blue Beard was opened by Mirette. Chemerant ordered +the six soldiers to remain outside the arch. + +Mirette, instructed by her mistress, as to what she should do and say in +response to questions, appeared struck with surprise at the sight of the +Gascon, and exclaimed, "Ah, my lord!" + +"You did not expect me? and Father Griffen?" + +"What, my lord is it you?" + +"Certainly it is I; but where is Father Griffen?" + +"Learning that you were going away for some days, madame had ordered me +to allow no one to enter." + +"But the reverend Father, who came here on my account--has he not seen +your mistress?" + +"No, my lord; madame told me to allow no one to enter, so the reverend +priest has been shown to a room in the outer building." + +"Then your mistress is not expecting my return?" + +"No, my lord; but----" + +"It is well; leave us." + +"But, my lord, I will go and inform Madame de----" + +"No, it is no matter; I will go myself," said the Gascon, passing before +Mirette and walking toward the drawing room. + +"Your highness, you are about to give a pleasant surprise to the +duchess, who does not expect you for some days, and will thus change her +regrets to a very tender joy, since Father Griffen has not yet been able +to see your wife," said De Chemerant. + +"She is always thus, poor dear child, she is very timid; when I am not +here," said Croustillac, tenderly, "she will not see a human face, not +even this good priest; my shortest absence causes her sadness, +desolation and tears; this is what worries me; all this is very simple; +since I have been condemned to this absolute retirement I have never +left my wife, and this absence to-day, short as she believes it to be, +is terribly hard for her, poor, dear soul." + +"But then, your highness, what a delightful surprise! If your highness +will permit me to advise, I will promise to persuade the duchess to +leave this night, for you know, our enterprise cannot succeed except it +be by a very rapid move." + +"My wish also is to carry away my wife as soon as possible." + +"This hasty journey will unfortunately cause the duchess some +inconveniences." + +"She will not think so, sir; it concerns following me," said +Croustillac, with a triumphant manner. + +Monsieur de Chemerant and the adventurer reached the little gallery +which gave entrance to the drawing room of Blue Beard. As we have said, +this room was separated from the drawing room only by _portieres_; a +thick Turkish carpet covered the floor. + +Monsieur de Chemerant and Croustillac approached the inner room +noiselessly, when they suddenly heard peals of laughter. The chevalier +recognized the voice of Angela, and, seizing the hand of De Chemerant, +he said in a low voice, "It is my wife--listen." + +"The duchess appears to me less overcome than your highness believed." + +"Perhaps, sir; there are sobs, you know, which in their violence have +something of the sound of convulsive laughter. Do not move; I wish to +surprise her in the abandon of her grief," said the Gascon, making a +sign to his companion to remain motionless and to keep silent. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE INTERVIEW. + + +In order to explain the confidence of the Gascon, we must say that, +having heard Mirette address him as master, he was fully persuaded that +Blue Beard was on her guard, and that Monmouth was securely hidden. In +spite of what the mulattress said, he was convinced, with reason, that +Father Griffen had informed Angela that her supposed husband would come +to see her. The situation was so grave that the priest, knowing all the +mysteries of Devil's Cliff, could not but have insisted on warning Blue +Beard of the fresh peril which menaced her. + +If Mirette had stated that Father Griffen had not seen Blue Beard, it +was because it was in accord with her wishes that it should appear that +he had not communicated with the inhabitants of Devil's Cliff. + +This explains at once what will seem contradictory in Croustillac's +conduct, and will answer the question "if he wished to take advantage of +the name he had assumed, to carry off Blue Beard, why had he warned +Father Griffen of his intention?" + +Croustillac, having warned De Chemerant to be silent, advanced on +tiptoe, to the half-drawn _portiere_, and looked into the room, for the +peals of laughter still continued. He had scarcely cast a glance into +the room when he quickly turned toward De Chemerant; and with a +distorted face and outraged manner said, "See and listen, sir! this is +the reward of surprises. I had a presentiment when I sent Father Griffen +here. By heavens! prudent husbands should be preceded by an escort of +cymbals to announce their return!" + +In spite of these ironical words, the features of Croustillac were +convulsed; his whole physiognomy expressed a singular mixture of sorrow, +anger and hatred. + +Rapidly glancing into the room, De Chemerant, in spite of his assurance, +lowered his eyes, colored, and for some moments remained perfectly +overwhelmed with confusion. + +Let one judge of the spectacle which caused the confusion of De +Chemerant, and the rage, not feigned but sincere, even cruel, of +Croustillac, who, as we have said, passionately loved Blue Beard, +devoted himself generously for her, and was not in the secret of the +prince's different disguises. + +Monmouth, in the disguise of the mulatto filibuster, Whirlwind, was +negligently extended on a sofa; he was smoking a long pipe, the bowl of +which rested on a low stand. + +Angela, kneeling beside the latter, quickened the flame of the pipe with +a long golden pin. + +"Good! that is all right," said Monmouth, whom we will call Whirlwind, +during this scene. "My pipe is lighted, now for something to drink." + +Angela placed on a table a large Bohemian glass and a crystal _carafe_, +and, going over to the divan, while the filibuster puffed several +mouthfuls of tobacco, poured out a brimming glass of Muscatel wine and +handed it to him with a charmingly graceful air. + +The filibuster emptied it at a single draught, after which he kissed her +roughly, saying, "Wine is good, and the woman is pretty; to the devil +with the husband!" + +Hearing these very significant words, De Chemerant wished to retire. +Croustillac took hold of him and said, in a low tone, "Remain, sir, +remain, I desire to surprise, to confound them, the miserable wretches!" + +The face of Croustillac clouded more and more. The warning which he had +given in begging Father Griffen to go and prepare Blue Beard that he was +about to seek her, concealed a very praiseworthy and generous purpose, +which we will explain later. + +The sight of the filibuster exciting the adventurer's jealousy into rage +quickly changed his good intentions. He could not understand the +audacity of this young woman. He could not be blind to the evidence of +these familiarities on the part of the mulatto whom he had not yet +seen. He remembered those, no less shocking, of the Caribbean and the +buccaneer. He believed himself to be the dupe of a frightfully depraved +creature; he believed that Monmouth, her husband, no longer existed or +no longer lived at Devil's Cliff; and if Angela had co-operated with +himself (Croustillac) in his strategy, it was in order to rid herself of +an awkward witness. + +Furious at being thus deceived and played with, deeply wounded in a true +love, Croustillac resolved to avenge himself without pity, and, this +time, to really abuse the power his assumed name and the situation which +he assumed with such honorable motives had given him. He said to De +Chemerant, in a stifled voice, but with an expression of concentrated +wrath, which entered admirably into the spirit of his role, "Not a word, +sir; I wish to hear all, because I wish to punish both without mercy." + +"But, your highness----" + +An imperious gesture from Croustillac closed De Chemerant's mouth; both +of them gave an attentive ear to the conversation of Angela, and the +filibuster, who, we must say, knew perfectly that they were overheard. + +"At last, my beautiful child," said Whirlwind, "you are free for a time +at least." + +"If not forever," said Blue Beard, smiling. + +"Forever? what do you mean, you little demon," returned the filibuster. + +Angela arose and seated herself near the mulatto. While talking to him +she passed her hand through his hair with a cajoling coquetry which put +the unhappy Croustillac beside himself. + +"Your highness, one word, and my men shall rid you of this scoundrel," +said De Chemerant, in an undertone, in pity for the Gascon. + +"I shall know well how to avenge myself," said the adventurer sullenly, +who no longer desired to prolong the scene; and so, turning to De +Chemerant, continued, "Sir, leave me alone with these two wretches." + +"But, your highness, this man appears strong and robust." + +"Be easy, I will give a good account of him." + +"If you will listen to me, your highness, we will leave at once; you +will abandon to her remorse, a woman so unhappy as to thus forget her +duty." + +"Leave her? No, my heavens! Willingly or otherwise, she shall follow +me--that will be my revenge." + +"If your highness will permit me a remark: After a disclosure so +scandalous, the sight of the duchess can only be forever odious to you. +Let us go; forget such a guilty spouse; glory shall console you." + +"Sir, I desire to speak to my wife," said Croustillac impatiently. + +"But, your highness, this miserable----" + +"Once more, am I a man without courage and without force, that such a +rascal should intimidate me? Some domestic scenes must be secret. Will +you await me in the next room? In a quarter of an hour I will be with +you." + +Croustillac said these words with an intonation so imperious, and with +such an agonized manner, that De Chemerant bowed without persisting +further. He went into a room the door of which the chevalier had opened, +and which he immediately closed upon him. + +Crossing the drawing room with quick steps, the adventurer entered +suddenly into the room where the mulatto and Blue Beard were. + +"Madame," said the Gascon with sorrowful indignation, "your conduct is +abominable." + +The mulatto, who was extended on the divan, arose quickly; he was about +to speak; Angela with a glance begged him to do nothing. As much as +Monmouth had generously desired to prevent the sacrifice of the +chevalier when he believed this sacrifice disinterested, he was as much +resolved not to make himself known when he believed the adventurer +capable of an unworthy betrayal. + +"Sir," said Angela coldly, to the Gascon, "the French emissary may still +overhear us; let us go into another room." + +She opened the door of Monmouth's own room, and entered, followed by the +filibuster and Croustillac. The door once closed, the adventurer cried: +"I repeat that you have shamefully abused my trust in you." + +"I demand an explanation of your disloyal conduct," said Angela proudly. +"Explain yourself at once." + +During this scene, Monmouth, gravely preoccupied, walked up and down the +room with his arms folded, his eyes fixed on the carpet. + +"You desire that I explain myself, madame? Oh, that will not take long! +First know that, right or wrong, I love you," cried Croustillac, in a +burst of tenderness and anger. + +"That is to say, that you have boasted to your fellow-travelers that you +would marry the rich widow of Devil's Cliff?" + +"So be it, madame; on board the Unicorn my language was impertinent, my +pretensions absurd, madame; covetous, I admit. But when I spoke thus, +when I thought thus, I had not seen you." + +"The sight of me, sir, has not inspired you with ideas much more +honorable," said Angela severely, still convinced that Croustillac +wished to cruelly abuse the position in which he found himself. + +"Hear me, madame; I love you truly; that is to say, that I was capable +of anything to prove to you my love, absurd and stupid as it appears to +you. Yes, I loved you, because my heart told me I did well to love you; +because I felt myself better for loving you. You may laugh at this love; +I was sufficiently repaid by the happiness it gave me. When you have +said, 'Sir, I mock at you, I use you for a plaything, you are a poor +devil, I have bestowed charity upon you, and you should be content +therewith---- '" + +"Sir!" + +"When you have said all this, do not think that I was humiliated. No, +that hurt me, hurt me much, but I quickly forgot this injury, when I saw +that you understood that, poor as I am, I could be touched by something +else than money. Then you said to me some kind words, you called me your +friend--your friend! After this I would have thrown myself into the fire +for you, and that for the sole pleasure of throwing myself into it, for +I had nothing more to hope for from you; the time of my folly is past; I +see too clearly into my heart not to recognize that I was a kind of +mendicant buffoon; I can never have anything in common with a woman as +beautiful and as young as you. My only ambition--and this can offend no +one--would have been to devote myself to you. But how to have such +happiness? I, a vagabond, with nothing but my old sword, my old hat, and +my pink hose! Ah! well, by a chance which I at first blessed, Colonel +Rutler to-night mistook me for him they call your husband; this mistake +might be useful to you. Judge of my joy--I could save the man whom you +so passionately loved. I should have preferred to save something else, +but I had no time to choose. I risked all, including the everlasting +dagger of the colonel. I augmented, by every means possible, his double +mistake. You came to my assistance; that is, you buried me in the mud up +to the neck, by means of the bagatelles with which you loaded me. It is +all the same--I go with all my heart; I am satisfied to do so, and I +leave this house without hope of ever seeing you again, with the gallows +or prison in prospect, not to count the everlasting dagger of the +Dutchman. Ah, well, in spite of all, I repeat, I was content: I said to +myself, I know not what awaits me, rope or dungeon; but I am sure Blue +Beard will say, 'It is fortunate, very fortunate for us at least, that +this eccentric Gascon came here. Poor devil! what has happened to him?' +There! that was my ambition. But I did not ask even a regret, a +memory--a memory," said the Gascon, moved in spite of himself. + +"Sir," said Angela, "as long as I believed you really generous, my +gratitude did not fail you." + +These words increased the Gascon's wrath; he exclaimed, "Your gratitude, +madame! Zounds! it is beautiful. But to proceed. We started from this +place with the Belgian. In descending the hill we met the French +emissary. Rutler at once believed himself betrayed, and made a furious +lunge at me with his everlasting dagger. These are the fruits of +devotion. If the blade had not broken, I should have been killed. +Nothing is simpler; when one sacrifices oneself for others, it is hardly +with the expectation of being crowned with roses, or caressed by nymphs +of the woods. Well, the dagger broke; one of the men throttled Rutler; +I found myself face to face with the French emissary. I did not lose my +head. It was a matter touching you and the unhappy exile whom you loved +passionately. I would rather it had been your father or your uncle, but +I had no choice. Beside, the idea of being useful to two young and +interesting people threw my egotism into the background. The greater the +complications the more my pride incited me to save you. I redoubled my +audacity and coolness. The great but honest falsehoods I have uttered +for you should absolve me from those which I have spoken for an unworthy +cause. The good God took up the cause; I was inspired to the greatest +falsehoods you can imagine; they were swallowed up as eagerly by the +French envoy as if it had been manna from on high. I played my role with +all my might. Monsieur De Chemerant told me in two words the object of +his mission; an insurrection favored by the King of France was on foot +in England; if the Duke of Monmouth were to put himself at the head of +the affair its success was assured." + +Monmouth made a movement and stealthily exchanged glances with Angela. + +The Gascon continued: "When I was on the way to an English prison with +the Belgian and his everlasting dagger I did not breathe a word. I was +well protected from any wish to return here. But when De Chemerant +confided to me a thing of possible advantage to the prince, I had no +right to refuse it for him. I therefore accepted in his name all manner +of viceroyalties. But, if he really desired to take part in this +uprising, how was I to let him know? Monsieur De Chemerant desired to +set sail at once. By what means could I return here with the envoy of +France without exposing the duke, who was ignorant of my last adventure +and believed me still to be the Belgian's prisoner, thinking, doubtless, +that he was secure here? An idea seized me. I said to De Chemerant, +'Things have changed their aspect; I desire to take my wife with me. +Come, let us return to Devil's Cliff.' Faith, it was the only way in +which I could manage an interview with you, madame--of warning the +prince of this proposal. If he accepted it, I would throw off the +prince; if he refused, I would refuse as before, and he would be saved." + +"How, sir!" cried Angela. "Such was your generous intention? You +would----" + +"Oh, wait, madame, wait; do not think me either more stupid or more +generous than I am," said the Gascon bitterly. "I begged Father Griffen +to come and prepare you, madame, that I desired to take you with me. +Chemerant heard me; I could say no more to the priest, but this +sufficed. One of two things would result: either you would understand +the situation or you would believe me guilty of infamous intentions; in +either case, you would be on your guard, and the prince saved; for it +was my fixed idea----" + +"So, sir," cried Angela, looking at him with mingled surprise and +gratitude, "you did not really intend to abuse----" + +The Gascon interrupted her shortly. "No, madame, no. I had then no such +wicked intentions, though certain particulars of your life appear to me +inexplicable. I believed you sincerely attached to an unhappy prince, +and at any cost I would have saved the duke." + +"Ah! sir, how I have misjudged you? You are the most generous of men," +cried Angela. + +The adventurer burst into a sardonic laugh, which stupefied the young +woman; then he continued with a somber air: + +"Thank God, my eyes have been opened. I see now that generosity would be +stupid, devotion foolish. I shall profit by this lesson. Polypheme de +Croustillac rarely revenges himself, but when he does, he revenges +himself well; above all, when the vengeance is as charming as that which +awaits him." + +"You would be revenged, sir," said Angela, "and on whom?" + +"On whom, madame? You have the audacity to ask me that?" + +"Why, certainly, what have I done; why this hatred?" + +The adventurer stamped his foot so violently that the mulatto made a +step toward him; but Croustillac curbed himself and said to Angela +shortly, and with ironical bitterness, "Listen to me, madame. It seems +to me, that without being possessed of colossal pride, I deserved +something, when for you I threw myself into the midst of the most +dangerous situations. It seems to me, madame," continued the Gascon, who +could not contain his indignation, which increased in measure as he +spoke, "It seems to me that it was not at the moment when, at the risk +of my life, I was doing all I could to save the husband whom you love so +passionately, as they say, that it was not at such a time that you +should forget all modesty----" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, forget all modesty, all shame, by throwing yourself into +the arms of this miserable mulatto, and go to the depth of lighting his +pipe. Truly, I was very stupid," continued the Gascon with an increase +of rage. "In my devotion to you I risked my skin for the husband of +madame! while madame, outrageously mocking her husband and me, abandoned +herself to orgies with a lot of scamps. I am beside myself! My mother's +son does not merit having been born in my country and having played all +manner of pranks, as they say, in the capital of the world, if he cannot +find something, in his turn, to laugh at in this adventure. In a word, +madame," he said, sullenly, "you can believe me to entertain the +wickedest intention in the world, and you will not overstep the reality, +for I am now as much your enemy as I was your friend. As for the rest, I +am well pleased; nothing is more wearying than fine sentiments. I should +have resumed my shepherd songs and my morning sonnets. I shall take good +care not to do so. I prefer the fashion in which I love you now, rather +than heretofore," said Croustillac, throwing a glittering look at +Angela. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +REVELATIONS. + + +The poor Gascon, carried away by anger and jealousy, appeared more +furious than he was in reality. Unhappily, the Duchess of Monmouth did +not know him well enough to understand the exaggeration of this +ferocious appearance. + +Angela thought the adventurer seriously regretted having shown a +generous spirit; in doubting him she naturally hesitated to calm the +Gascon's jealousy by imparting the disguise of the duke; this avowal +would ruin everything if the chevalier was not faithful. It was, then, +prudent to hold this in reserve. + +"Sir," said Angela, "you deceive yourself; there is a certain mystery in +my conduct which I cannot yet explain to you." + +These words redoubled Croustillac's irritation; for the past three days +he had been surrounded by mysteries; therefore he exclaimed, "I have had +enough mystery; I have had too many concerning yourself. I do not wish +to be your dupe any longer, madame. I do not know what may await me; I +do not know how all this will end, but I _swear_ you shall follow me!" + +"Sir!" + +"Yes, madame, I have all the inconveniences of the role of your +well-beloved husband; I will at least have its pleasures; as to this +unworthy scoundrel of a mulatto, who says nothing, but thinks evil and +would do it, I will deliver him over to De Chemerant, who will give me a +good account of him. If it was not for soiling the sword of a gentleman +by dipping it in his slave blood, I myself would take this vengeance." + +Angela exchanged glances with Monmouth, whose imperturbability +exasperated the Gascon. Both of them realized the necessity of calming +the chevalier; his anger might prove dangerous; he must be quieted at +once, without betraying the secret of the prince's disguise. + +The young woman said to the adventurer, "All will be explained, sir; my +greatest, my only wrong toward you has been in doubting the generosity +of your character, and the loyalty of your devotion. Father Griffen, +although he answered for you, has been, like myself, deceived as to the +real motive of your intentions; we have believed, and we have been wrong +in so believing, that you were capable of abusing the name which you +have taken. In order to escape a fresh danger with which you seemed to +threaten us, it became necessary to attempt a means, very uncertain, +doubtless, but which might succeed. I could not escape--that would be +only to meet you. I gave the necessary orders, then, that you should be +introduced here with De Chemerant, hoping that you would surprise me, +suddenly, and thus become a witness of the tender intimacy which linked +me with the captain----" + +"How! did you arrange this agreeable scene for me?" cried the Gascon +furiously, "and you dare say it to my face? But this is the last degree +of degradation and shame, madame. And for what purpose, if you please, +did you wish to prove to me the abominable intimacy which binds you to +this bandit?" + +"To the end that it should be impossible for you to take me with you. +Monsieur De Chemerant being a witness to my culpable intimacy with +Captain Whirlwind, you could not, you who are passing as the Duke of +Monmouth, take with you a woman, who, in the eyes of the French envoy, +is as culpable as I would appear to him--as culpable as I am." + +"You acknowledge it, then, madame?" + +"Yes, and again yes, sir! Do not be generous by halves; what does it +matter to you whom I love--a slave, as you say?" + +"How, madame? What does it matter to me? have you then sworn to drive me +mad? And what does it serve that I play the part of your husband? Does +he really exist? Is he here, and do you not avail yourself of the +mistakes of which I am a victim to get rid of me? Is he not already +safely at a distance, this husband of yours? This is enough to drive one +mad!" cried the Gascon wildly. "I believe my head is turned; am I or am +I not for the past two days the sport of an abominable nightmare? Who +are you? Where am I? Who am I? Am I Croustillac? Am I my lord? Am I the +prince, am I a viceroy, or even a king? Have I had my throat cut or not? +How is this to be explained? This thing must stop! If there _is_ a Duke +of Monmouth, where is he? Show him to me," cried the unhappy adventurer, +in a state of excitement impossible to describe, but easy to imagine. + +Angela, frightened and less ready than ever to tell the Gascon +everything, said hesitatingly, "Sir, certain mysterious +circumstances----" + +Croustillac did not give her time to go on, but cried, "Still more +mysteries! I tell you I have had enough mystery. I do not believe my +brain is weaker than any other, but one hour more of this and I shall be +a lunatic!" + +"Sir, if you could understand----" + +"Madame, I do not wish to understand," cried the chevalier, stamping his +foot in a rage. "It is just because I have wished to understand that my +head is almost turned." + +"Sir," said Angela, "I beg you to be calm and reflect----" + +"I do not wish to reflect nor to comprehend," cried Croustillac, +exasperated afresh. "Right or wrong, I have determined that you +accompany me, and you _shall_ accompany me. I do not know where your +husband is and I do not wish to know; what I do know is that you have +not been obdurate either to Caribbeans, or buccaneers, or mulattoes; +very well you shall not be obdurate to me. You see that clock--if in +five minutes you do not consent to accompany me, I will tell De +Chemerant everything, come of it what will. Decide, then; I shall speak +no more; I shall be deaf, for my head will burst like a bombshell at the +slightest word." + +Croustillac threw himself into a chair, put his hands over his ears in +order to hear nothing, and fixed his eyes on the clock. + +Monmouth had walked up and down the room incessantly; he, as well as +Angela, was in terrible perplexity. + +"James, perhaps he is an honest man," said Angela in a low tone, "but +his excitement terrifies me; see how wild his manner is." + +"We must risk confiding to his loyalty, otherwise he will speak." + +"But if he deceives us--if he tells all?" + +"Angela! between two dangers we must choose the least." + +"Yes, if he consents to pass for you, you are saved, at least this +time." + +"But in this case I cannot leave him in the power of De Chemerant." + +"Oh! it is frightful!" + +"Never will I consent to again plunge England into a civil war. I would +a thousand times prefer prison and death; but to leave you, my God!" + +"What shall we do, James? What danger does this man run?" + +"Immense! the possessor of such a state secret." + +"But then, I must lose you or follow him. Ah, what shall I do? Time +presses." + +After a moment's reflection, Monmouth said, "We must not hesitate. Tell +him everything. If he then consents to play my role for some hours, I am +safe, and will have the means to place him beyond the resentment of the +French envoy." + +"James! if this man should be a traitor? Heavens! take care." + +At this moment the adventurer, seeing the hand of the clock reach the +fifth minute, said to Angela, "Well, madame, what have you decided upon? +Yes or no? For I am incapable of listening to or understanding anything +beyond. Will you follow me or will you not? Speak." + +Monmouth approached him with a grave and imposing air. "I am going, sir, +to give you a proof of the highest esteem and of----" + +"Your esteem, scoundrel," cried Croustillac indignantly, interrupting +the duke. "Is it, indeed, to me that you dare speak thus? Your +esteem----" + +"But, sir----" + +"Not another word," continued Croustillac, turning toward Angela. +"Madame, will you follow me? Is it yes or no?" + +"But listen----" + +"Is it yes or no?" exclaimed he, walking toward the door; "answer, or I +will call De Chemerant." + +"But by St. George!" cried Monmouth. + +The chevalier was about to open the door when the young woman seized him +by the hands with such a beseeching air that he paused in spite of +himself. + +"Yes, yes, I will go with you," she said, in a frightened manner. + +"At last!" said the Gascon, "so be it. Take my arm and let us go; De +Chemerant has waited a long time." + +"But just a moment--you must know all," said the poor woman hastily. +"The Caribbean is in reality the filibuster, or rather the buccaneer and +the Caribbean are----" + +"Ah, there you go again; do you wish that I should retain my senses?" +cried the Gascon, making a desperate effort and running toward the door +in order to call De Chemerant. + +The prince flung himself upon Croustillac, and, seizing his two wrists +in one hand, placed the other over his mouth at the moment Croustillac +called "Help, De Chemerant!" then he said, "I am the Duke of Monmouth!" + +The prince thought the chevalier would understand everything the moment +he spoke, but in the exasperation which Croustillac felt, he only saw in +this statement a new artifice or a new provocation, and he redoubled his +efforts to escape. Though much less strong than the duke, the chevalier +was not without energy; he began to struggle violently, when Angela, +terrified, ran and took up a flask, and, putting on her handkerchief a +drop of the liquid, rubbed the hand of the prince, removing the stain +upon it and showing the white skin. + +"Do you understand now, sir, that the three persons are one?" said the +prince, releasing Croustillac and showing him his white hand. + +These words were a revelation to Croustillac, and he understood all. + +Unfortunately, at the moment when the prince took his hand from the +mouth of the Gascon, the latter had uttered the words, "Help! De +Chemerant!" + +The sound of the struggle had already attracted the attention of the +French envoy, and, hearing the cry of Croustillac, he rushed into the +room, sword in hand. It would be impossible to depict the stupefaction, +the fright of the three when De Chemerant appeared. The duke put his +hand upon his sword. Angela fell back into a chair and hid her face in +her hands. Croustillac looked about him with an agonized air, regretting +his imprudence, but too late. + +Nevertheless, the adventurer's presence of mind returned to him little +by little; as it needs but a ray of the sun to dispel the thick mist, so +the moment that the good chevalier had the key to the three disguises of +the prince, everything became clear to him. His mind, until then so +sadly agitated, became calm; his unworthy doubt of Blue Beard ceased; +there only remained his regret at having accused her, and the desire to +devote himself to her and the prince. + +With wonderful quickness of invention (we are familiar enough with the +Gascon now to say with a marvelous facility for lying) Croustillac +formed his plan of campaign against De Chemerant, who still, sword in +hand, stood on the threshold and said for the second time, "What is it, +your highness? what has happened? I thought I heard a cry and struggle, +and an appeal for aid." + +"You were not deceived, sir," said Croustillac gloomily. + +Monmouth and his wife experienced a terrible anxiety. They were ignorant +of the Gascon's intentions; knowing Monmouth's secret, he was now +completely master of their fate. + +If Angela and her husband had had enough presence of mind to scrutinize +Croustillac's face, they would have seen a kind of triumphant and +malignant joy, which betrayed itself in spite of him in the menacing +frown of his forehead. + +Monsieur De Chemerant asked him a third time why he had called. + +"I called you, sir," said the chevalier in a dismal voice, and with the +air of coming out of a deep study, "I called you to my aid----" + +"Was it this wretch? your highness," said the envoy, pointing to +Monmouth, who, standing with arms crossed, remained by the chair where +Angela had seated herself, ready to defend her and to sell his life +dearly, for, as we have said, he was ignorant of the adventurer's +intention. "Speak the word, your highness," continued De Chemerant, "and +I will hand him over to my guards." + +The Gascon shook his head, and answered, "I charge myself with this man; +this is my affair. It is not against such a creature as this that I +called you to my assistance, sir, it is against myself." + +"What do you say, your highness?" + +"I mean that I was afraid that I would allow myself to be softened by +the tears of his woman, as dangerously hypocritical as she is +audaciously culpable." + +"Your highness, it often takes courage--much courage--to be just." + +"You are right, sir; that is why I feared my weakness. I called you in +order that the sight of you might keep alive my indignation and rekindle +my wrath, for you have been a witness of my dishonor, sir. So, tell me +that if I pardon I would be a coward, that I should merit my fate. Is it +not so, sir?" + +"Your highness----" + +"I understand you--you are right--yes, by St. George!" Croustillac +remembered having heard the prince use this oath; "by St. George, I will +be revenged." + +Angela and the duke breathed again. They understood that the chevalier +wished to save them. + +"Your highness," said De Chemerant severely, "I do not hesitate to +repeat to your highness, before madame, what I had the honor to say to +you some short time ago, that an insurmountable barrier now separates +you from a guilty spouse," continued the envoy, with an effort, while +Angela hid her confusion by covering her face with her handkerchief. + +Croustillac raised his head, and cried in a heartbroken tone, "Deceived +by a mulatto; think of it, sir, a miserable mulatto, a mongrel, a +copper-colored animal!" + +"Your highness----" + +"In a word, sir," said Croustillac, turning toward the envoy with an +indignant and sorrowful manner, "you know why I returned, what my plans +were; what I would have placed upon the brow of madame. Ah, well, is it +not a frightful irony of fate that at this very moment a wife--a +criminal----" + +"Your highness," cried De Chemerant, interrupting the Gascon, "at +present these projects must be a secret from madame." + +"I know it; I know it! but then what a horrible surprise! I enter with a +heart beating with joy, into the home circle, into my peaceful home, and +what is it that I hear?" + +"Your highness----" + +"You have heard it as well as I. That is not all--what is it that I +see?" + +"Your highness, calm yourself." + +"You have seen, as I have, a mulatto outlaw. But this shall not stop +here, no, by St. George! Yes, I did well to call you. Now my anger +boils; the most cruel plans crowd in upon my imagination. Yes, yes, that +is it;" said Croustillac, with a meditative air. "I have it at last! I +have found a revenge fitting the offence!" + +"Your highness, the contempt----" + +"The contempt--that is very easy for you to say, sir, contempt. No, sir, +there remains another thing; I have found something better, and you +shall assist me." + +"Your highness, anything that depends upon my zeal, without prejudice to +the orders which I have received, and the success of my mission." + +"I renounce and cast off this unworthy woman. From this day, from this +moment, all is forever at an end between her and me." + +"Thank God!" cried De Chemerant, delighted with this resolve; "you could +not act more wisely." + +"To-morrow at daybreak," said the Gascon, in a curt tone, "she and her +odious accomplice will embark on board of one of my vessels." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +DEVOTION. + + +"Yes, sir!" repeated the Gascon, "to-morrow my wife and this miserable +wretch shall go aboard one of my vessels. That is all my vengeance," +continued he, dwelling on these words with savage irony. "Oh, I know +what I am doing. Yes, by heaven! She and her guilty accomplice, those +two, as if they were really husband and wife, the miserable wretches! +shall embark together. As to the destination of the vessel," said the +chevalier, with a glance of such horrible ferocity that De Chemerant was +struck by it, "as to the fate that awaits these guilty ones, I cannot +tell you, sir; that concerns no one but myself." + +Then, taking Angela roughly by the arm, Croustillac exclaimed, "Ah, you +desire a mulatto for a lover, duchess? very well, you shall have him. +And you, scoundrel, you must have a white woman, a duchess? very well +you shall have her. You shall never separate, tender lovers that you +are, never again; but you do not know at what a terrible price you will +be reunited." + +"Your highness, what do you intend to do?" + +"That is my affair; your responsibility will be at an end; the rest will +take place on neutral ground," returned the Gascon with a smile at once +mysterious and ferocious; "yes, on a desert island; and since this +tender couple love one another, love each other to death, there will be +time for them to prove it--until death." + +"I understand you, your highness; I see perfectly; but that will be +terrible," said De Chemerant, who thought that Croustillac intended to +starve his wife and the mulatto. + +"Terrible! you have said it, sir. All that I ask of you, and as a +witness of my injury you cannot refuse me, is to give me the necessary +assistance in order to conduct this guilty pair on board one of my +ships. I will, myself, place them with the captain and give him his +orders; orders which, perhaps he would not dare to obey if I did not +give them in person." + +Monsieur de Chemerant, in spite of his cunning, was duped by the seeming +rage of Croustillac; he said to him respectfully, "Your highness, +justice is severe, but should not be cruel." + +"What do you say, sir?" cried Croustillac proudly, "am I not the sole +judge of the punishment due this guilty pair? Do you refuse me your +assistance when it only requires you to take this man and his accomplice +on board a vessel belonging to me?" + +"No, sir, but I would say to your highness that it would be, perhaps, +more generous----" + +Angela, seeing that she must no longer remain inactive, threw herself at +the feet of Croustillac, crying, "Have mercy!" while Monmouth seemed to +be wrapped in a deep and sad silence; then, addressing De Chemerant, the +young woman continued, "Oh, sir, you seem to be sensible and good; +intercede for me with my dear lord, that he condemn me to less cruel +pain. I have merited it all, I will suffer all, but that my dear +lord----" + +"I forbid your calling me your 'dear lord,' madame," said Croustillac. +"I am no longer your dear lord." + +"Ah well, your highness, do not send me on board the vessel of which you +speak." + +"And why not, madame?" + +"My God! because that the brigantine is the Chameleon, commanded by +Captain Ralph; your highness, this man is cruel; he succeeded the +filibuster Whirlwind in this command." + +"And that is just why I have chosen the Chameleon, madame; it is just +because Captain Ralph is the most cruel enemy of your unworthy lover," +said Croustillac, who understood perfectly Angela's meaning. + +"But, your highness, you know very well that this vessel will be +anchored to-morrow morning very near here, almost at the foot of the +cliff in the alligators' cave." + +"Yes, madame, I know it." + +"Oh, your highness, would you compel me to embark there when nothing in +the world would make me even approach its banks? My God! have you +forgotten the frightful memories that this place is connected with in my +mind?" + +"Oh! the cunning creature," thought Croustillac; "she wishes to say, +what I did not know, that there is a vessel of hers called the +Chameleon, whose captain is devoted to her, and who will anchor +to-morrow near here. I have it! This is just her own vessel she had +prepared hastily to furnish her and the duke a means of escape, when she +saw me carried off by Colonel Rutler; one of the negro fishermen was +doubtless sent ahead to deliver her directions." + +The Gascon, after some little reflection, said aloud, "Yes, those +memories are terrible to you, I know it, madame." + +"Then, your highness, have you the heart----" + +"Yes, yes," cried the chevalier, in an explosion of rage, "yes, no pity +for the infamous creature who has so unworthily outraged me! All the +better, my vengeance commences but the sooner. I will show you that you +have no pity to look for from me; you shall see!" He struck a bell. + +"What are you going to do, your highness." + +"Your faithful Mirette will come; you shall yourself give her the order +to send to Captain Ralph to prepare everything on board the Chameleon to +set sail at daybreak." + +"Ah, your highness, it is barbarous to make me give the order, myself." + +"Obey, madame, obey." + +Mirette appeared. Angela gave the order in a broken voice. + +"I have obeyed you, and now your highness, in pity grant me a last favor +in the name of our past love." + +"Oh, yes, by St. George!" cried Croustillac, "past? oh, past, +decidedly." + +"Allow me one moment, your highness, the favor of an interview." + +"No, no, never!" + +"Do not refuse me; do not be so pitiless?" + +"Out of my sight, faithless woman!" + +"My lord!" said Angela, clasping her hands. + +"Your highness," said De Chemerant, "at the moment of quitting madame +forever, do not refuse her this last consolation." + +"You also, De Chemerant, you also? and though you have been a +witness?--Ah, well, I consent, madame, but upon one condition." + +"You have but to order." + +"That your paramour remain during our conversation." + +"Really, this is not so bad, I think," said Croustillac to himself; "I +hope the duchess will understand me and at first refuse." + +"But, my dear lord," said Angela; "the last interview that you grant me +should be between us alone." + +"Marvelous! oh, she comprehends a half word," said Croustillac to +himself; then aloud, "And why, then, should our interview be private? +Have you something you desire to hide from your best beloved--from the +lover of your choice?" + +"But if I desire to beg your forgiveness, sir?" + +"You can do so before your accomplice. The more you accuse yourself, the +more you depict your conduct as disloyal, infamous, unworthy, the more +you affirm the lowness of your choice. This will be your punishment and +this scoundrel's also." + +"But, my lord?" + +"That is my ultimatum," replied Croustillac. + +"Do you not fear the despair of this man?" said De Chemerant in a low +tone. + +"No; traitors are always cowards. Behold this one--what a gloomy, +downcast air. He does not dare as much as lift his eyes to me. In any +case, sir, send, I beg, some men of yours to the gallery outside, +instructed to enter at my first signal." Then, turning with an air of +reconsidering, and desiring to make a master stroke, Croustillac said, +"In fact, if you will be present at this interview, Monsieur De +Chemerant, the punishment of this guilty couple will be complete." + +"Oh, sir, in pity do not condemn me to such a depth of shame and +humiliation," cried Angela, in despairing tones. "And you, sir, have the +generosity not to consent to this," she said to De Chemerant. + +Monsieur De Chemerant had the delicacy to excuse himself to the Gascon; +he left the room, and left Monmouth, Angela, and the adventurer +together. + +The envoy had hardly left the room before Monmouth, after assuring +himself that he could not be overheard, held out his hand cordially to +Croustillac, and said to him, feelingly, "Sir, you are a man of spirit, +courage, and resolution; accept our thanks, and pardon us for having +suspected you even for a moment." + +"Yes, yes, pardon our unjust suspicions," said Angela, on her part +taking the Gascon's hand between her own. "We were so disturbed, and +your manner was so furious, so wild!" + +"We all had reason, madame;" said the adventurer, "you had reason to be +disturbed, because my return was not very reassuring. I had reason to be +furious, because I supposed the duke to be a bandit. As to my wild +manner, by heavens! it may be said without offense, you will acknowledge +that enough strange things have occurred during the last two days, and I +may be excused for being a little astounded. Fortunately, I recovered my +self-possession when I saw I had been a fool and had risked everything." + +"Brave and excellent man," said Monmouth. + +"Bravery is in the blood of the Croustillacs, sir; as to being +excellent, I do not know about that; if such be the case, it is not my +fault; it is your wife's work, who has aroused in me the desire to be +better that I really am. Ah, well, prince, time is precious; everything +is in train to raise a county of England in your favor; Louis the XIV. +will support this insurrection. There is offered you the viceroyship of +Ireland and Scotland, and all kinds of other favors." + +"Never will I consent to profit by these offers. Civil wars have cost me +too dear," cried Monmouth; "and"--looking at Angela, "I no longer have +ambitions." + +"Your highness! reflect well! If your heart counsels remove the bronze +color from your face, and say to De Chemerant that reasons known only to +yourself obliged you to guard your secret until now. You will prove to +him who you are; I will return your duchy to you, and ask your +permission to go and fight at your side in Cornwall, or elsewhere, in +order to serve you, as they say, as a living armor. I am sure this will +please the duchess." + +"And we have suspected him," said Angela, looking at her husband. + +"He must forgive us," said the duke. "Men like him are so rare that it +is not unnatural to doubt them when one encounters them." + +"Hold on, my lord, you embarrass me. Let us speak of other matters. Do +you, or do you not, accept the viceroyship? After that, do not think I +shall press you to speak in order to relieve me from your role; it +pleases me, it amuses me. I have become quite accustomed to it. +Nevertheless, it will be somewhat unpleasant to no longer hear myself +addressed as 'my lord duke,' to say nothing of my laughing in my sleeve +when I think of all the absurdities which I have made that good De +Chemerant, with his important air, swallow. If I persist, your highness, +in praying that you resume your rank, as it seems they are terribly in +need of you in England in order to secure the happiness of the people in +general and that of Cornwall in particular; you must know that better +than I do----" + +"Ah! I know only too well the vain pretexts that one offers to +ambition." + +"But, your highness, all appears to be perfectly prepared. The frigate +which has brought the good De Chemerant is filled with arms and +ammunition; there is in it enough to arm and revolutionize all the +Cornishmen in the world; moreover, you can count on a dozen of your +partisans." + +"Of my partisans! and where, then?" cried Monmouth. + +"On board Chemerant's frigate. These brave men are waiting for me, that +is to say, waiting for you, your highness, with great impatience. There +is above all a madman named Mortimer, whom De Chemerant had the +greatest difficulty in the world to keep on board, so much was he +possessed with the desire to embrace me--I would say embrace you, for I +confound us all the time." + +Angela, seeing the troubled manner of her husband, said to him, "My God! +what ails you?" + +"I can no longer hesitate," replied Monmouth, "I must tell De Chemerant +the whole truth." + +"Heavens, James! what are you saying?" + +"You wish to be viceroy, your highness?" interposed Croustillac. + +"No, sir, I desire to prevent your ruining yourself on my account. My +gratitude will be no less lasting for the service that you wished to do +me." + +"How, your highness? Is it not, then, to become viceroy that you would +dispossess me of my principality?" + +"My partisans are on board the frigate; if I should accept your generous +offer, sir, to-morrow you would be known--lost." + +"But, your highness----" + +"Except for this circumstance which, I repeat, would cause your +discovery in a moment, I would, perhaps, have excepted your generous +devotion, the mistake of De Chemerant might have continued for a few +days, and I could have put you beyond the reach of his resentment; but +to accept your offer, sir, knowing the presence of my friends on board +the frigate, would be to expose you to certain danger. I can never +consent to do that." + +"Your highness forgets that it means perpetual imprisonment for you if +you do not place yourself at the head of this movement?" + +"It is because it means for me the escape from a danger that I do not +choose to sacrifice you, sir. When I learned that you were taken +prisoner by Rutler I was going to rush to your assistance in order to +release you." + +"My God, James! think of the prison! of eternal confinement! but it is +not possible! and what will become of me, if I should be forbidden to +accompany you? No, no! you will not reject the sacrifice which this +generous man offers to make!" + +"Angela!" said the duke, in a tone of reproach; "Angela! and this +generous man, shall we abandon him shamefully when he is devoted to +us--to escape imprisonment, shall we condemn him to an eternal +captivity?" + +"Him?" + +"Doubtless! is he not the possessor of a state secret? Will not De +Chemerant be furious at seeing himself tricked. I tell you, he cannot +escape prison when the trick shall be discovered." + +"Confound it! my duke, attend to your own affairs!" cried Croustillac, +"and do not take the bread out of my mouth, as they say. Prisoner of +state! that disgusts you, but do you not know that that would be an +assured retreat for me, a refuge for my old days? To be frank, the life +of an adventurer palls upon me; there must be an end to it. I would have +something more sure; judge, then, if that would not suit me? Prisoner of +state! can I not secure that? I beg of you not to take from me the last +resource of my old age; do not destroy my future." + +"Listen to me, you brave and worthy man," responded Monmouth, +affectionately pressing his hand. "I am not deceived by your ingenious +pretenses." + +"Your highness, I swear----" + +"Listen, I beg of you; when you have heard me you will no longer be +surprised at my refusal. You will see that I cannot accept your generous +offer without being doubly culpable. You will understand the sad +memories, not to say remorse, that your devoted offer and the present +chain of circumstances awake in me. And you, Angela, my dearly beloved, +you shall at last learn a secret that until this present moment I have +hidden from you; it needed circumstances as grave as these in which I am +now placed to force me to make this sad revelation." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE MARTYR. + + +"James! James! what are you saying? you terrify me!" exclaimed Angela, +as she witnessed the duke's emotion. + +"You know," said the duke to Croustillac, "in consequence of what +political events I was arrested and confined to the Tower of London in +1685?" + +"You will excuse me, your highness, if I know not a word of it; I am as +ignorant as a fish of contemporaneous history, which, be it said in +passing, and without boasting, rendered my part outrageously difficult +to play; for I was always afraid I should make some ridiculous +statement, and thus compromise, not my reputation as a scholar--I am no +priest--but your fortune which I so imprudently assumed." + +"Very well then," said the duke; "after the death of my father; when the +Duke of York, my uncle, ascended the throne under the title of James +II., I entered into a conspiracy against him. I shall not seek to +justify my conduct; years of reflection have made things clear to me. I +know now that I was as culpable as I was insane; the young Duke of +Argyle was the soul in this plot. All this was carried on under the very +eyes of the Prince of Orange, then a stadtholder, now King of England. +Argyle knew my views of the Protestant action, my ambition, my +resentment against James II.; he had no trouble in associating me with +his plans. At once, owing to my name and influence, I was at the head of +the conspiracy. I had news from England which only waited my presence +there to overthrow the throne of the papist king to proclaim me king in +his place. I departed from the Texel with three vessels transporting +soldiers whom I had recruited. Argyle, having preceded me in Scotland, +had paid with his head for the audacity of his attempt. I landed in +England at the head of a number of devoted partisans. I realized then +how greatly I had been deceived. Three or four thousand men at the most +joined the handful of brave men who were pledged to my cause, and among +others were Mortimer, Rothsay and Dudley. The son of Monck, the young +Duke of Albemarle, advanced against me at the head of a royal army; and +I, desiring to bring fortune to the point, made a decisive move. I +attacked the enemy at Sedgemore, near Bridgewater; I was beaten in spite +of the prodigies of valor shown by my little army, and, above all, by my +cavalry, commanded by the brave Lord George Sidney." In pronouncing this +name, the voice of the prince failed him, and deep emotion was depicted +upon his face. + +"George Sidney! my second father! my benefactor!" cried Angela. "It was +in fighting for you he was killed! it was at that battle, then, that he +was killed? This is the secret you have hidden from me?" + +The duke bent his head, and after a few minutes' silence, said, "You +will know all, very soon, child! Our rout was complete. I wandered off +at hazard; my head had a price upon it. I was seized the day after this +fatal defeat and conducted to the Tower of London. My case was tried. +Convicted of high treason, I was condemned to death." + +"Oh," cried Angela, throwing herself into the duke's arms; "you deceived +me; I believed you to be only exiled." + +"Be calm, Angela; yet I have hidden this from you, as much that you +should not be troubled as--." Then, after a moment's hesitation, +Monmouth continued, "you shall know all; it requires much courage to +make this revelation." + +"Why? What have you to fear?" said Angela. + +"Alas! poor child, when you have heard me, perhaps you will regard me +with horror!" + +"You, James? do you believe that I can ever do that?" + +"Well," said Monmouth, "whatever the result, I must speak, at the risk, +perhaps, of separating us forever." + +"Never, never!" cried Angela despairingly. + +"Zounds! I will sooner throw De Chemerant from these cliffs at the least +pretense," cried Croustillac. "And, as for that, with your slaves, we +could furnish him a fine escort. But I think--will you try this method? +How many slaves can you arm, sir?" + +"You forget that De Chemerant's escort is considerable; the negro +fishermen have gone--there are not more than four or five men here. +Violent means are impossible. Providence doubtless wills that I shall +expiate a great crime. I will be resigned." + +"A crime, James? guilty of a great crime? I will never believe it!" +cried Angela. + +"If my crime was involuntary, it was none the less horrible. Angela, it +is now my duty to tell you what I owe to Sidney, your noble relative who +took such care of you in your infancy, poor orphan! While you were +receiving your education in France, where he had himself taken you, +Sidney, whom I had seen in Holland, attached himself to my fortunes; a +singular similarity of tastes, of principles and thoughts, had drawn us +together; but he was so proud that I was obliged to make the advances. +How happy I was at having first pressed his hand! Never was there a +living soul as beautiful as Sidney's. Never was there a nobler character +or a more generous and ardent heart! Dreaming of the happiness of the +people, deceived as I was myself as to the true end of my plans, he +believed that he was serving the holy cause of humanity, when he was in +reality only serving the fatal ambition of a man! While the conspiracy +was organizing, he was my most active emissary and my most intimate +confidant. To describe to you, my child, the profound, blind attachment +of Sidney for myself would be impossible; one affection only struggled +in his heart with that which he had vowed to me; it was his tenderness +for you--you, his distant relative of whom he had assumed the care. Oh! +how he cherished you! Through all the agitations, and the perils of his +life as a soldier and conspirator, he always found some moments in which +to visit his Angela. There were ever tears in his eyes when he spoke to +me of you. Yes, this man, of intrepid courage and indomitable energy, +wept like a child in speaking of your tender grace, the qualities of +your heart, and your sad and studious youth, poor little abandoned one, +for you had no one in the world but Sidney. On that fatal day at +Bridgewater he commanded my cavalry. After prodigies of valor, he was +left for dead on the battlefield; as for me, carried away in a rush of +flying troops, grievously wounded, it was impossible for me to find +him." + +"Was not that the day when he died?" said Angela, wiping her eyes. + +"Listen, Angela; oh, you do not know how these sad memories break my +heart!" + +"And ours also," said Croustillac. "Brave Sidney! I do not know what it +is that tells me that he did not die that day at Bridgewater, and that +we shall hear of him again." + +Monmouth trembled, remained silent a moment, and then continued: "I must +have courage. I will tell you all. Sidney was left for dead on the +battlefield; I was arrested, condemned to death, and my execution fixed +for the 15th of July, 1685. When they told me I was to be executed the +following day, I was alone in my prison. + +"In the midst of the terrible thoughts to which I was a prey during +those dreadful hours that preceded the moment of my execution, I swear +to you, Angela, before the God that hears me, if I had any sweet and +consoling thoughts to calm me, they were those I gave to Sidney, in +recalling the beautiful days of our friendship. I believed him dead and +I said, 'In a few hours I shall be united to him forever.' All at once +the door of my cell opened and Sidney appeared!" + +"Zounds! so much the better! I was sure he was not dead," exclaimed +Croustillac. + +"No, he was not dead," replied the duke with a sigh. "Would to God he +had died as a soldier on the field of battle." + +Angela and Croustillac looked at Monmouth in astonishment. He continued: +"At the sight of Sidney I believed myself the dupe of a fancy conjured +up by my extreme agitation; but I soon felt his tears on my cheek, and +myself pressed within his arms. 'Saved! you are saved!' he said, +through his tears. 'Saved?' said I, gazing at him stupidly. 'Saved, yes; +listen to me,' said he, and this was what he told me: My uncle the king +could not openly show me mercy; policy forbade; but he did not wish his +brother's son to perish on the scaffold. Informed by one of his +courtiers who was, notwithstanding, one of my friends, of the +resemblance between Sidney and myself, a resemblance which so struck you +the first time you saw me," said Monmouth to Angela, "King James had +secretly provided Sidney with means to get into my prison. This devoted +friend was to assume my clothes, and I to put on his, and go out of the +Tower by means of this strategy. The next day, learning of my escape and +the devotion of Sidney remaining prisoner in my stead, the king would +put him at liberty and give orders to seek me out; but these orders +would only be in appearance. He favored, secretly, my departure for +France. I was only to write to the king and give him my word to never +return to England." + +"Ah, well," said Angela, interested to the last degree by this recital; +"you accepted Sidney's offer, and he remained a prisoner in your stead?" + +"Alas! yes, I accepted it, for all that Sidney said to me seemed so +probable; his presence at that hour in the prison, in spite of the +severe watch to which I was subjected, made me believe that an +all-powerful will aided mysteriously in my flight." + +"It was not so, then?" cried Angela. + +"Nothing could be more naturally arranged, it seems to me," said +Croustillac. + +"In effect," said Monmouth, smiling bitterly, "nothing was more +naturally arranged; it was only too easy for Sidney to persuade me, to +turn aside my objections." + +"And what objections could you make?" said Angela. "What was there +astonishing in that King James, not wishing to shed your blood on the +scaffold, should connive at your escape?" + +"And how could Sidney succeed in getting into the prison, sir, without +the assistance of some powerful influence?" said the adventurer. + +"Oh, is it not so?" said the duke with sad satisfaction, "was it not +that all that Sidney said to me might seem probable, possible? Was I not +justified in believing him?" + +"Undoubtedly," said Angela. + +"Was it not," continued Monmouth, "was it not possible to put faith in +his words without being misled by the fear of death, without being +influenced by a cowardly, horrible egotism? And still, I swear to you, I +did not agree to what Sidney said to me. Before accepting life and +liberty which he came to offer me in the name of my uncle, I asked +myself what would happen to my friend if James did not keep his promise? +I said to myself that the greatest punishment that could befall a man +who was an accomplice in aiding another to escape, was imprisonment in +turn; thus, admitting this hypothesis, once free, although compelled to +hide myself, I had sufficient resources at my disposal not to quit +England before having, in my turn, liberated Sidney. What more can I say +to you? The instinct of life, the fear of death, doubtless obscured my +judgment, troubled my discernment. I accepted, for I believed everything +Sidney said to me. Alas! why was I so insane?" + +"Insane? Faith, you would have been insane had you not accepted!" cried +Croustillac. + +"Who, indeed, would have hesitated in your place?" added Angela. + +"No, no, I tell you that I should not have accepted; my heart, if not my +head, should have revolted at this deceptive thought. But what did I +know. A strange fatality, perhaps a frightful egotism, pushed me on. I +accepted. I pressed Sidney in my arms, I took his clothes, and I said to +him, 'To-morrow!' with the conviction that I should see him the +following day. I left my cell; the jailer escorted me to the gate; +thanks to my resemblance to Sidney, he noticed nothing wrong, and led me +in haste by a secret road as far as a door of the Tower. I was free! I +forgot to tell you that Sidney had informed me of a house in the city +where I could wait for him safely, for he would return, he said, to me +the following day, in order to plan our departure. At last I found, at +this house in the city, the precious stones I had confided to Sidney on +my departure from Holland, the value of which was enormous. Wrapped up +in his mantle, a mantle which you wear to-day, and which has remained +sacred to me, I directed my steps toward the city. I rapped at the door; +an old woman opened it, and leading me into a secluded chamber, she gave +into my hands the iron casket, the key of which Sidney had handed me. I +found there my precious stones. Broken with fatigue, for the sleepless +hours I had passed were frightful, I fell into a slumber. For the first +time since my sentence to death, I sought sleep without saying to myself +that the scaffold awaited me on my awakening. When I arose the following +day it was broad daylight; a bright sun penetrated between my curtains. +I raised them; the sky was clear; it was a radiant summer day. Oh! I +felt such rapturous joy and such inexpressible happiness. I had seen my +open tomb, and I still lived. I breathed the air in every pore. Seized +with gratitude, I threw myself upon my knees, and blessed God, the king, +and Sidney. I waited to see this dear friend from one moment to another. +I did not doubt, no, I could not doubt, the king's clemency. All at once +I heard in the distance the criers announcing important events; it +seemed to me that I heard my name. I thought it was an illusion, but, in +fact, it was my name. Oh, then, a frightful presentiment seized me; my +hair stood on end. I remained on my knees. I listened with my heart +beating violently; the voices came nearer; I still heard my name mingled +with other words. A ray of joy, as foolish as my presentiment had been +horrible, changed my terror into hope. Madman! I believed they were +crying the details of the _escape of the Duke of Monmouth_. In my +impatience, I descended to the street; I bought the account; I mounted +again with palpitating heart, holding the paper in my hands." + +Saying these words, Monmouth became frightfully pale, and could hardly +support himself. A cold perspiration bathed his forehead. + +"Well?" cried Angela and Croustillac, who experienced a piercing agony. + +"Ah," cried the duke despairingly, "it was the details of the _execution +of the Duke of Monmouth_."[B] + +"And Sidney?" cried Angela. + +"Sidney had died for me, died a martyr to friendship. His blood, his +noble blood, had been shed upon the scaffold instead of mine. Now, +Angela, you see, unhappy child, why I have always hidden this terrible +secret." + +At these words the duke fell back on the sofa, hiding his face in his +hands. Angela threw herself at his feet, sobbing bitterly. + + {[B] Hume says: "After his execution, his partisans held to the + hope of yet seeing him at their head; they flattered themselves + that the prisoner who had been beheaded was not the Duke of + Monmouth, but one of his friends, who resembled him greatly, and + who had had the courage to die in his stead." + + Sainte-Foix, in a letter on the Iron Mask (Amsterdam, 1768), says: + "It is true that the report spread through London that an officer + of Monmouth's army who greatly resembled the duke, having been + taken prisoner, and knowing death to be inevitable, received a + proposition to represent the duke with as much joy as if life had + been offered him; and hearing this, that a great lady, having + bribed those who could open his coffin, and having looked at the + form, cried, 'Ah, that is not the Duke of Monmouth.'" Furthermore, + Sainte-Foix, who sought to prove that the Iron Mask was no other + than the Duke of Monmouth, cited a passage of another English work + by Pyms, in which he says: "Count Landy sent to seek Colonel + Skelton, who was the ex-lieutenant of the Tower, and whom the + Prince of Orange had dismissed to give the place to Lord Lucas." + "Skelton," said Count Landy to him the previous evening, in dining + with Robert Johnston, "you say that the Duke of Monmouth is living + and imprisoned in an English castle?" "I cannot vouch for this, + because I do not really know," said Skelton, "but I affirm that the + night after the pretended execution of the Duke of Monmouth, the + king, accompanied by three men, came himself to the tower and + carried the duke away." + + Sainte-Foix cites still another conversation with Father + Tournemine, saying, "The Duchess of Portsmouth said to Father + Tournemine and to the confessor of King James that she always + imputed to that prince the execution of the Duke of Monmouth, + because Charles II., at the moment of his death and when about to + receive the last communion, had made King James (then Duke of York) + promise on the Host, which Huldeston, a Catholic priest, secretly + carried, that whatever revolt the Duke of Monmouth might attempt he + (James) would never punish him with death; so King James did not + put him to death," said Father Sanders. + + We will not multiply citations. We only desire to establish that + the foundation of this story is not merely a romantic fiction, and + that if it is not based upon a historic certainty, it is at least + based upon a likely supposition.} + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE DUKE RELATES THE SACRIFICE TO WHICH HE OWES HIS LIFE. + + +The chevalier, profoundly moved by the recital of Monmouth, furtively +brushed aside his tears, and said, "I understand now what that animal +Rutler, with his everlasting dagger, meant by speaking to me of my +execution." + +"Angela, Angela, my child," exclaimed the duke, lifting his noble +countenance bathed in tears, and pressing the young woman to his heart, +"how can you ever forgive me the murder of Sidney, my friend, my +brother, your only relative, your only protector." + +"Alas! have you not replaced him to me, James? I have bewailed his +death, believing him killed on the field of battle. Do you believe that +my regrets will be greater, now that I know that he sacrificed his life +for you--that he did what I would gladly do for you, James, my lover, my +husband!" + +"Angela! best beloved guardian angel of my life!" cried the duke; "your +words cannot assuage the violence of my remorse, but at least you know +what religious gratitude I have always had for Sidney, this holy martyr +to friendship. What more can I tell you? I passed two days in a state +bordering on madness; when I returned to myself I found a letter of +Sidney's. He had arranged that I should not receive it until the evening +of the day on which he died for me. He explained his pious falsehood; he +had not seen King James." + +"He had not seen him!" exclaimed Angela. + +"No; all that he had said to me was false. So you can understand that I +had reason to forever curse the culpable facility with which I had +allowed myself to be persuaded. Meanwhile he had died for me; the fable +which I had believed in now seemed monstrous folly. No, he had not seen +the king! From the depository of my precious stones, he had subtracted +wherewith to procure a sum sufficient to gain over one of the officers +of the Tower, whom he besought to allow him to see me for the last time. +Was this officer in league with Sidney as to the substitution of some +one who desired to save me? or was he deceived by the resemblance to +such an extent that he suspected nothing. I do not know. The following +day, when they went to seek Sidney, he followed the hangman, but he +refused to speak for fear his voice would be recognized. The sacrifice +was accomplished," said Monmouth, wiping his tears away, which had not +ceased to fall during his recital. "I quitted London secretly and went +to France under a false name, in order to seek you, Angela. Sidney had +given me full power to take her away from the persons to whom he had +confided her," said the duke, addressing Croustillac. "Struck by her +beauty, her candor, and her other adorable traits, I, believing myself +worthy and able to fulfill the last wishes of Sidney in making his +adopted child happy, married this angel. We started for the Spanish +colonies, where I believed we would be safe. We took the greatest +precautions not to be recognized. By chance I encountered an English +captain at Cuba whom I had seen at Amsterdam. I believed myself +discovered. We left. After a journey of some months, we established +ourselves here. In order to divert suspicion, to watch over my wife, and +not wishing to be condemned to an imprisonment which would have been +fatal to me, I assumed, by turns, the disguises which you are aware of, +and I could, with impunity, traverse the island. Thanks to my precious +stones, we were able to purchase a number of small vessels, through the +good offices of Master Morris, a man of great probity, who knew, without +being in the secret, what to think of the pretended widowhoods of my +wife. Not only our commercial vessels increased little by little our +fortune, which we shall bequeath to our children, but they afford us +always a means of flight. The Chameleon was built for this very purpose, +and I have sometimes commanded in the guise of a filibuster, and +encountered a Spanish pirate, much to the fright of Angela. We were +living here very happily, almost peacefully, when I learned that the +Chevalier de Crussol, whose life I had once saved, had become the +governor of the island. Although he was a man of honor, I feared to tell +him who I was. My first idea was to quit Martinique with my wife; but I +then learned of the declaration of war from France to England, Spain and +Holland, and that certain rumors began to circulate in England as to the +miraculous manner in which I had been saved. My partisans were +bestirring themselves, it was said. I could expect no justice from +William of Orange, and believed myself safer in this colony than +anywhere else. I remained, therefore, in spite of the presence of De +Crussol, but redoubled my precautions. The pretended widowhoods of my +wife, the frequent visits of the filibuster, the Caribbean, and the +buccaneer, furnished a collection of facts so incomprehensible that it +was impossible to distinguish the truth, which was in our favor. We +were, however, much troubled. + +"Monsieur de Crussol, curious to know the strange woman of whom such +different tales were related, came to Devil's Cliff. Fate ordained that +I should be there, also, in the disguise of the buccaneer. I could not +avoid meeting the governor, whom we were far from expecting. In spite of +the thick beard which disguised my features, De Crussol had preserved +too clear a remembrance of me not to recognize me; but, in order to +assure himself of the truth, he said to me abruptly, 'You are not what +you appear.' Fearing that all would be disclosed to Angela, who knew +that I was a fugitive, but who was ignorant of the dangers to which I +would be exposed if my existence was known, I said to De Crussol, 'In +memory of a past service, I ask silence, but I will tell you all;' and I +did not hide anything from him. He swore on his honor to keep my secret +and do everything in his power to prevent our being disturbed. He kept +his promise, but in dying----" + +"He told Father Griffen everything from scruples of conscience," said +Croustillac. + +"How do you know that?" said the duke. + +Croustillac then told Monmouth how the mystery of Devil's Cliff had been +revealed to the confessor of King James, and how Father Griffen had +unintentionally betrayed him. + +"Now, chevalier," said Monmouth, "you know at the price of what an +admirable sacrifice I owe this life which I have sworn to consecrate to +Angela. I have related to you the frightful remorse which the devotion +of Sidney causes me. You understand, I hope, that I cannot expose myself +to new and cruel regrets by causing your destruction." + +"Ah, you think, your highness, that what you have told me will take from +me any desire to devote my life to you? Zounds! you are greatly +mistaken." + +"How?" exclaimed the duke, "you persist?" + +"I persist? I persist more than ever, if you please, and for a very +simple reason. Hold, sir! why should I hide it from you? A short time +since it was more for the sake of the duchess that I wished to serve +you, than for interest in you; this is no offense to you, for I did not +know you; but now, that I see what you are; now, that I see how you +regret your friends, and how gratefully you remember them, and what they +do for you, your wife may be a real Blue Beard, she may be the devil in +person, she may be in love with all the buccaneers and the cannibals of +the Antilles, but I will do for you all that I would have done for the +duchess, sir." + +"But, chevalier----" + +"But, your highness, all I can say to you is that you have inspired me +with the desire to be a second Sidney to you; that is all. Zounds! it is +very simple; one never inspires such devotion unless one merits it." + +"I wish to believe you, chevalier, but a person is unworthy such +devotion when he accepts it willingly." + +"Zounds, sir; without offense, I must say you are as pig-headed in your +generosity as that Flemish bear was insupportable with his everlasting +dagger. Come, let us reason together. What you most desire, is it not, +is to save me from prison?" + +"Doubtless." + +"Now I do not think you are very anxious to abandon the duchess. Well, +by telling De Chemerant who you are, would you save me? I am not much of +a lawyer but it seems to me that that is the question, is it not, +madame?" + +"He is right, my love," said Angela, looking at her husband +beseechingly. + +"To proceed," said Croustillac proudly. "Now, you say to this good +Chemerant, 'Sir, I am the Duke of Monmouth, and the chevalier here is +only a scapegoat.' So be it; so far all goes well. But at this stage the +good Chemerant will reply, 'Your highness, do you or do you not consent +to head this insurrection in England?" + +"Never! never!" cried the duke. + +"Very well, your highness, now I know what insurrection has cost you. +Now I have the honor of knowing the duchess; like you I say, 'Never!' +only what will the good Chemerant say to this? The good Chemerant will +say, 'You are my prisoner,' is it not so?" + +"Unhappily it is very likely," said Monmouth. + +"Alas! it is only too true!" said Angela. + +"'As to this rascal, this schemer,' the good Chemerant will continue, +addressing himself to me," said Croustillac, "'as to this imposter, this +sharper, as he has impudently imposed upon me, so that I confided to him +a half-dozen secrets of state, each more important than the other, +particularly as to how the confessors of the great kings have played the +game of the poisoned shoulder-knot with their penitents, he shall be +treated as he deserved.' Now the said Chemerant, so much the more +furious that I had caused him to make such a fool of himself, will not +handle me very gently, and I may consider myself very lucky if he leaves +me to perish in a dungeon, instead of hanging me quickly (seeing his +full power), which would be another method of reducing me very +effectually to silence." + +"Oh! do not speak so, the idea is frightful," cried Angela. + +"You see well, then, generous madman, the imminent danger to which you +are exposed," said the duke to him tenderly. + +"Now, your highness," said the Gascon with imperturbable calm, "as I +said a short time ago, to madame, as I believed her madly in love with a +certain fellow of leathern tint, it is clear that one does not devote +oneself to people to the sole end of being crowned with roses and +caressed by sylvan nymphs. It is the danger that constitutes the +sacrifice. But that is not the question. In delivering yourself up as +prisoner to the good Chemerant, do you in any way spare me prison or +scaffold, sir?" + +"But, chevalier----" + +"But, sir, I shall pursue you constantly with this argument _ad hominum_ +(that is all my Latin), as the Belgian pursued me with his everlasting +dagger." + +"You deceive yourself, my worthy and brave chevalier, in believing that +your situation is so desperate, when I shall have delivered myself up to +Chemerant." + +"Prove it to me, your highness." + +"Without insisting too much upon my rank and my position, they are such +that one would be always obliged to account for with me. So, when I say +to De Chemerant, that it is my desire that you be not punished for a +trait which does you honor, I do not doubt that De Chemerant will be +eager to please me and put you at liberty." + +"Your highness, allow me to say that you are entirely mistaken." + +"But what more could he ask? Should I not be in his power? What would +your capture amount to to him?" + +"Your highness, you have been a statesman; you have been a conspirator; +you are a great nobleman, consequently you must know men; you reason, +pardon my bluntness, as if you did not know them at all, or rather, your +generous desires in my behalf blind you." + +"No, indeed, sir----" + +"Listen to me, your highness. You concede, do you not, that the news +that comes from England, and the part Louis XIV. has taken in this +conspiracy, prove the importance of Chemerant's mission?" + +"Without doubt." + +"You will, therefore, concede, your highness, that Chemerant relies upon +the success of this mission for his good fortune?" + +"That is true." + +"Well, your highness, by refusing to take part in this insurrection, +you leave Chemerant only the part of a jailer; your capture cannot make +a success of the enterprise in which these two kings have so lively an +interest. Then, believe me, you will cut a very sorry figure asking +clemency of Chemerant, above all, at a time when he will be furious at +seeing his hopes destroyed; above all, when he knows that the man in +whose favor you intercede has made him see numberless stars at full +noon. Believe me, then, your highness, by accepting all Chemerant's +propositions, by seconding the plans of these two kings, you could +scarcely hope to secure my pardon." + +"James! what he says is full of wisdom," said Angela. "I would not +counsel you to be cowardly or egotistical, but he is right, you cannot +deny it." + +The duke bent his head without answering. + +"I indeed believe I am right," said Croustillac. "I am wrong often +enough once, by chance, to have common sense." + +"But, for the love of heaven, at least look things in the face, if I +accept," said the duke, taking both hands of Croustillac in his own. +"You must conduct me and my wife on board the Chameleon; we will hoist +sail and will be saved." + +"All right, your highness, that is how I like to hear you speak!" + +"Yes, we shall be saved, but you, unhappy man, you will return on the +frigate with Chemerant, and when you are brought face to face with my +friends, your ruse will be discovered and you will be lost!" + +"Zounds! sir, how you go on! Without offending you, you then look upon +me as a pitiful fellow; you deprive me of all imagination, of all +ingenuity. If I am not mistaken, it is some distance to the Cayman's +Creek, at Fort Royal?" + +"About three leagues," said the duke. + +"Very well, your highness, in this country three leagues are three +hours, and in three hours a man like myself has at least six chances of +escaping. I have long legs and strong as a stag's. The companion of +Rend-your-Soul has taught me how to walk," replied the Gascon, smiling +with a malicious air. "Now I swear to you that it will make the good +Chemerant's escort take some pretty lively strides to keep up with me." + +"And you desire that I should allow you to stake your life on a chance +as doubtful as that of an escape, when thirty soldiers, used to the +country, would instantly be on your track?" said the duke. "Never!" + +"And you desire, your highness, that I place my life, my salvation on a +chance as uncertain as the clemency of the good Chemerant?" + +"At least I should not sacrifice you to a certainty, and the chances are +equal," said the duke. + +"Equal!" cried the adventurer indignantly. "Equal, your highness? Do you +dare compare yourself with me? Who am I? and what purpose do I serve +here below if not to carry an old sword at my side, and to live here and +there according to the whims of humankind? I am nothing, I do nothing, I +have nothing to care for. To whom is my life of any use? Who interests +himself about me? Who even knows if Polypheme de Croustillac exists or +not?" + +"Chevalier, you are not right, and----" + +"Zounds! your highness, you belong to the duchess, the adopted child of +Sidney. If he died for you, it is the least you can do to live for her +whom he loved as his own child! If you reduce her to despair, she may +die of grief, and you will have two victims instead of one to lament." + +"But once more, chevalier----" + +"But!" cried Croustillac, with a significant glance at Angela, and +beginning to talk loudly enough to deafen one, thus drowning the voice +of the duke, "But you are a miserable wretch! an insolent fellow! to +speak so to me! Help! help! come to my assistance!" + +Then Croustillac said rapidly, and in a low tone, to the duke, "You +force me to do this, your highness, for I have no alternative." And the +adventurer began to shout at the top of his lungs. + +The duke, paralyzed with surprise, remained motionless and looked at him +in stupefaction. + +At the cry of the Gascon, six men, forming a portion of the escort, +which De Chemerant had stationed as sentinels in the gallery by the +request of Croustillac, rushed into the room. + +"Gag this rascal! gag him instantly!" cried Croustillac, who trembled at +the fear that Chemerant might enter at this juncture. + +The soldiers obeyed the chevalier's order; they threw themselves upon +the duke, who cried, as he struggled with them, "I am the prince; I am +Monmouth." + +Happily, these dangerous words were stifled by the loud cries of the +chevalier, who, from the beginning of this scene, pretended to be a prey +to the greatest anger, and stamped his foot with rage. + +One of the soldiers, with the aid of his scarf, succeeded in gagging the +duke, who was thus prevented from speaking. + +Chemerant, attracted by the noise, entered quickly. He found Angela pale +and greatly agitated. While she understood the reason of this struggle, +she could not help being deeply moved. + +"What has he done, then? your highness," cried Chemerant. + +"That miserable wretch made such abominably insolent propositions to me +that, in spite of my contempt for him, I was obliged to have him +gagged." + +"Your highness, you were right; but I foresaw that this miserable wretch +would break his ominous silence!" + +"This scene, however," cried Croustillac, "was not without its use. I +was still hesitating, yes, I avow it, I was weak enough to. Now the die +is cast; the guilty ones shall suffer for their crime. Let us start at +once for the Cayman's Cove; I have sent my orders to Captain Ralph; I +shall not be content until I have seen them embark, under my own eyes; +then we will return to Fort Royal." + +"Do you really wish to be present at this sad scene, your highness?" + +"Do I wish to? I would not give up that precious moment for the throne +of England! I shall go to the vessel, and see these two criminals set +sail for their destination where the breath of my vengeance will take +them!" + +"It is final, then, that you insist upon this?" said De Chemerant, still +hesitating. + +"It is final," returned Croustillac, in a most imposing and threatening +voice, all in admirable accord with the part he played; "I expect to be +obeyed when my orders are just. Make all preparations for the departure, +I beg of you; if this miserable wretch does not choose to walk, he shall +be carried; but above all, see that he is securely gagged, for if he +should offer any further insolence I do not desire to hear it at any +price." + +One of the soldiers assured himself that the gag was securely tied; +taking the duke, they tied his hands behind his back, and marched him +off under guard. + +"Are you ready, De Chemerant?" said Croustillac. + +"Yes, your highness, I have only to give some orders to my men." + +"Go, then, I will await you; I also have some orders to give." + +The governor saluted and withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +Angela and the chevalier were alone. + +"Saved! saved by you!" cried Angela. + +"I would have wished to use different means, madame, but, without +reproach to the duke, he is as obstinate as I am. It was impossible to +do differently. There only remain a few moments now in which we may act. +Chemerant will return; let us think of what is most pressing. Your +diamonds--where are they? Go quickly and get them, madame. Take them +with you. Once all is discovered, beware of confiscation." + +"The stones are there, in a secret box, in the duke's apartment." + +"Go quickly and get them. I will ring for Mirette to get you some +clothing." + +"Generous friend! But you! Oh God!" + +"Be quiet; when I have no longer need to protect you, I will look out +for myself. But quick! get your diamonds. Chemerant will be here +shortly; I will ring for Mirette." The chevalier touched the bell. + +Angela disappeared through the door leading to the duke's private +apartments. + +Mirette appeared. + +"She is very pretty, this little duchess," mused Croustillac to himself, +"very pretty. Oh, this time I am struck to the heart, I know it only too +well. I shall never forget her. This is love; yes, this is true love. +Happily this danger will distract me, or these emotions would make me +dizzy. Ah! there she comes!" + +Angela entered carrying a small box. "We have always kept these stones +in reserve, in case we should be suddenly compelled to fly," said she to +Croustillac. "Our fortune is a thousand times assured. Alas! why is it +that you----" + +The young woman paused, fearing to offend the Gascon; then she continued +sadly, with tears in her eyes, "You must have thought me very ignoble, +did you not, in accepting without hesitation your noble sacrifice? But +you will be kind and indulgent. It was necessary in order to save the +one who is the dearest object in the world to me--the man for whom I +would give my own life a thousand times over. But wait, this is +frightful egotism, to speak to you thus, to you whom I owe everything, +and who are going, perhaps, to death for me. I am mad! Forgive me." + +"Not another word on this subject, madame, I beg of you. Here is the +duke's sword, it was his father's; here also is this little box which +his mother gave him. These are precious relics; put them all in this +large basket." + +"Good and generous man!" exclaimed Angela, who was deeply moved; "you +think of everything!" + +Croustillac made no reply; he turned his head away in order that the +duchess should not see the great tears rolling down his cheeks. He +extended his large, bony hands to the duchess, and said, in a stifled +voice, "Adieu, forever adieu! You will forget that I am a poor devil of +a fellow and you will remember me sometimes as----" + +"As our best friend, as our brother," said Angela, bursting into tears. + +Then she took from her pocket a small medallion containing her cipher, +and said to Croustillac, "See what I returned to the house to seek this +evening. I desired to offer you this token of our friendship; it was in +bringing it to you that I overheard your conversation with Colonel +Rutler. Accept it, it will be a double souvenir of our friendship and of +your generosity." + +"Give it to me! oh, give it to me!" cried the Gascon, and then, pressing +it to his lips, he said, "I am more than paid for what I have done for +you, for the duke----" + +"We are not ingrates. As soon as the duke is safe, we shall not leave +you in the power of Chemerant, and----" + +"Here is Mirette; let us resume our role," cried Croustillac, +interrupting the duchess. + +Mirette entered, followed by the slave, carrying in her hand +Croustillac's old sword; a soldier bore the basket containing the +clothes. + +Angela placed the box of diamonds and Monmouth's sword in the basket. + +Chemerant entered the room, saying, "Your highness, all is in +readiness." + +"Offer madame your arm, if you please," said the chevalier to Chemerant, +with a gloomy manner. + +Angela appeared struck with a sudden thought and said to the chevalier, +"Sir, I wish to say something, privately, to Father Griffen. Do you +refuse me this last petition?" + +"Just now, your highness, the good Father, hearing the noise, came to +ask if he might speak to madame." + +"He is here!" cried Angela, "God be praised!" + +"Let him enter," said the Gascon gloomily. + +Chemerant bowed and the guard withdrew. + +Father Griffen entered. He was grave and sad. + +"My Father," said Angela, "can you give me some moments' interview?" + +So saying, she entered a room near by, followed by the priest. + +"Your highness," said Chemerant, showing a paper to the Gascon, "here is +a letter which was found on the person of Colonel Rutler; it leaves no +doubts as to the plots of William of Orange against your highness. +Rutler will be shot upon our arrival at Fort Royal." + +"We will speak of that later, sir, but I lean toward clemency in the +colonel's case--not through weakness, but from policy. I will explain to +you another time my reasons for this." + +The little bay in which the Chameleon lay at anchor was not very far +from the residence of Blue Beard. When the escort arrived there the +horizon was tinged with the first rays of the rising sun. The Chameleon +was a brigantine, light and swift as a kingfisher, riding gracefully on +the waves, at her mooring. Not far from the Chameleon was seen one of +the coast guards who traversed in his rounds the only point of +Cabesterre which was accessible. + +The launch of the Chameleon, commanded by Captain Ralph's first mate, +waited at the landing; in it were four sailors seated, with oars raised, +ready to row at the first signal. + +The Gascon's heart beat as if it would burst. At the moment of attaining +the price of his sacrifice, he trembled lest an unlooked-for accident +should upset the fragile scaffolding of so many stratagems. + +The litter in which Monmouth was shut up arrived on the bank, and was +quickly followed by that containing Angela. + +The soldiers ranged themselves along the landing. The Gascon said to +Angela, in an agitated tone, "Go on board ship, madame, with your +accomplice; this package (and he put into the hands of the mate a paper) +will inform Captain Ralph of my final orders. Meanwhile," said the +chevalier all at once, "wait--I have an idea!" + +Chemerant and Angela gazed at Croustillac with surprise. + +The adventurer believed he had discovered a means of saving the duke, +and of himself escaping from Chemerant; he had no doubt of the +resolution and devotion of the five sailors in the boat; he thought of +precipitating himself with Angela and Monmouth into the boat and +ordering the sailors to make all speed over the waves in order to join +the Chameleon, and to set sail with speed. The soldiers, though thirty +in number, would be so surprised by this sudden flight that success +would be possible. A new incident upset this project of the chevalier. + +A voice which, though distant, was very powerful, cried, "In the name of +the king, stop; allow no one to embark!" + +Croustillac turned suddenly toward the direction from which the voice +came, and he saw a marine officer who was coming out of a redoubt +erected near Cayman's Cove. + +"In the name of the king, allow no one to embark," came the voice again. + +"Be easy, lieutenant," responded a subordinate, who until then had not +been perceived, for he was hidden by the piles of the wharf, "I will +not allow the tender to leave without your orders." + +"That is well, Thomas, and beside," replied the officer, firing a shot +from his gun as a signal, "the coastguard will not permit the brigantine +to sail." + +It would be impossible to paint the frightful agony of the actors in +this scene. Croustillac saw that his plan for flight was out of the +question, because the slightest signal from the coastguard would prevent +the departure of the Chameleon. + +The officer who had just appeared stopped in front of Croustillac and +Chemerant, and said to them, "In the name of the king, I order you to +tell me who you are and where you are going, gentlemen; by the +governor's orders no one can sail from here without a permit from him. + +"Sir," said Chemerant, "the soldiers who are with me are part of the +governor's guard; you see, I am acting by his consent." + +"An escort, sir! you have an escort!" said the astonished officer. + +"There, near the mole, sir," said Croustillac. + +"Oh, that is another matter, sir; the light was so feeble that I had not +noticed the soldiers. I hope you will pardon me, sir." + +This man, who seemed extremely talkative, approached the governor's +guard, examined them a moment, and said with excessive volubility, "My +orders are simply to prevent persons going toward the wharf, just now +the Chameleon, and a fine vessel she is, belonging to Blue Beard, and +which has bravely run down a Spanish pirate--came last night to the +mooring." + +"Sir, I beg you to silence this insupportable babbler," said the +chevalier to Chemerant, "you must see how painful this scene is to me." + +"You see, sir," said Chemerant to the lieutenant of marines, "the +persons who are going to embark, do so under my personal responsibility. +I am Chemerant, commissioner extraordinary to the king, and am furnished +with full powers." + +"Sir," said the lieutenant, "it is unnecessary to cite your authority; +this escort is sufficient guarantee, and----" + +"Then, sir, remove the order." + +"Nothing is easier, sir; the order being now useless, it is useless to +maintain it." "Thomas," cried this irrepressible talker to his +subordinate, "you know the order that I gave you?" + +"Which, lieutenant?" + +"How! brainless one!" + +"Sir, my time is valuable, I must return shortly to Fort Royal," said +Chemerant. + +The lieutenant continued, recklessly, "How! you have forgotten the order +I gave you?" + +"The last one? no, lieutenant." + +"No, lieutenant! well, repeat it, then; let us hear the order." Then, +addressing Chemerant, he said to him, while pointing to his soldier, "He +hasn't the memory of a gosling! I am not sorry to give him this lesson +before you, it will profit him." + +"Confound it! I am not here to assist in educating your functionaries," +said Chemerant. + +"Well, Thomas, this order?" + +"Lieutenant, it was to let no one embark on the vessel." + +"Very well, that is all right; now I remove the embargo." + +"Go on board at once, madame," said Croustillac, unable to moderate his +impatience. + +Angela cast a last look at him. + +The duke made a despairing effort to break his fetters, but he was +quickly carried off to the tender by the soldiers. + +At a sign from Blue Beard, the sailors dipped their oars into the sea +and headed for the Chameleon. + +"Are you satisfied now, your highness," said Chemerant. + +"No, no; not yet, sir. I shall not be content until I see the vessel set +sail," replied the Gascon in a changed voice. + +"The prince is implacable in his hate," thought Chemerant; "he trembles +still with rage, although his revenge is assured." + +All at once the sky was irradiated by the rays of the sun which made +more somber still the line of azure which the sea formed on the horizon; +the sun rose majestically, pouring torrents of red upon the water, the +rocks, and the bay. + +At this instant the Chameleon, which had been joined by the small boat, +flung to the breeze its white sails, and began to draw in its cable, by +which it was attached to the mooring. The brigantine, with a graceful +movement, began to tack; during a few seconds it completely hid the disk +of the sun, and appeared enveloped in a brilliant aureole. Then the +swift vessel, turning its prow toward Cayman's Cove, began to make +toward the open sea. + +Croustillac remained motionless in sorrowful reverie, with his eyes +fixed upon the vessel, which was carrying away the woman whom he so +suddenly and so madly loved. + +The adventurer, thanks to his keen sight, could perceive a white +handkerchief which was waved from the stern of the vessel. It was the +last farewell of Blue Beard. + +Shortly the breeze freshened. The little vessel, with swift movement, +bent under her sails, and went so rapidly that it was, little by little, +lost in the midst of the warm mist of the morning. Then it entered into +a zone of torrid light which the sun threw on the waves. + +For some time Croustillac could not follow the Chameleon with his eyes; +when he saw her again, the brigantine drew nearer and nearer to the +horizon, appearing but a speck in space. Then, doubling the last point +of the island, she disappeared all at once. + +When the poor chevalier could no longer see the vessel, he experienced a +profound sorrow. His heart seemed as empty and as solitary as the ocean. + +"Now, sir," said Chemerant, "let us go and find the friends who are +awaiting you so impatiently. In an hour we will be on board the +frigate." + + + + +PART IV. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +REGRETS. + + +As long as Croustillac contemplated his sacrifice; as long as he had +been exalted by its dangers and upheld by the presence of Angela and +Monmouth; he had not realized the cruel consequences of his devotion; +but when he was alone, his thoughts became very painful. Not that he +feared the danger which menaced him, but he felt keenly the absence of +Angela, for whom he had braved everything. Under the eye of Angela, he +had gayly faced the greatest peril; but he would never see her again. +This was the real reason of his gloomy dejection. + +With arms crossed upon his breast, bowed head, fixed gaze and somber +manner, the adventurer remained silent and motionless. Twice De +Chemerant addressed him: "Your highness, it is time to go." + +Croustillac did not hear him. Chemerant, realizing the uselessness of +words, touched him lightly on the arm, repeating louder, "Your highness, +there still remain more than four leagues to travel before arriving at +Fort Royal." + +"Zounds! sir; what do you want?" cried the Gascon, turning impatiently +toward De Chemerant. + +The face of the latter expressed so much surprise at hearing the man +whom he believed to be the Duke of Monmouth give vent to such a peculiar +exclamation, that the Gascon realized the imprudence of which he had +been guilty. He quickly recovered his usual coolness, looked at De +Chemerant in an abstracted manner; then, as if he had awakened from a +profound meditation, he said, in a short tone, "Very well, sir, let us +go." Again mounting his horse, the Gascon took the road to Fort Royal, +still followed by the escort and accompanied by De Chemerant. + +Croustillac was not a man, in spite of his chagrin, to entirely despair +of the present. Chemerant, recovering from his surprise, attributed the +somber taciturnity of the Gascon to the painful thoughts which the +criminal conduct of the Duchess of Monmouth must cause him; while the +adventurer, summing up the chances of escape which remained to him, +analyzed the state of his heart, reasoning as follows: "Blue Beard (I +shall always call her that--it was thus I heard her name for the first +time, when I thought of her without knowing her), Blue Beard is +gone--forever gone; I shall never see her again, never, never, it is +evident. It will be impossible to escape from the memory of her. It is +absurd, stupid, not to be imagined, but so it is--this proves it that +this little woman has completely subjugated me. I was gay, careless and +loquacious as a bird on the bough, but little scrupulous as to delicacy, +and now behold me, sad, morose, taciturn, and of a delicacy so +inordinate that I had a horrible fear lest Blue Beard should offer me, +in parting, some remuneration other than the medallion from which she +had the generosity to remove the jewels. Alas! from this time forth, +this memory will be all my happiness--sad happiness! What a change! I, +who heretofore cared so much the more for bravery of attire since I was +badly clothed; I, who would have found such happiness in wearing this +velvet coat garnished with rich gold buttons--I wish for the moment to +come when I can don my old green garments and my pink hose, proud to say +'I leave this Potosi, this Devil's Cliff, this diamond mine, as much of +a beggar as when I entered into it.' Is it not, my faith, very plain +that before knowing Blue Beard, I had never in my life had such +thoughts? Now, what remains for me to hope?" said Croustillac, adopting, +as was his wont, the interrogative form to make what he called his +"examination of conscience." + +"Now, then, be frank, Polypheme, do you care much for life? + +"Eh! eh! + +"What say you to being hanged? + +"H--m, h--m. + +"Come, now, frankly? + +"Frankly? well, the gallows, strictly speaking, might please me if Blue +Beard was there to see me hanged. And yet, no, it is an ignoble death, a +ridiculous death; one's tongue hangs out, one kicks about---- + +"Polypheme, you are afraid--of being hanged? + +"No, faith! but hanged all alone, hanged by myself, hanged like a mad +dog, hanged without two beautiful eyes looking at you, without a pretty +mouth smiling at you---- + +"Polypheme, you are a stupid oaf; do you believe that Her Grace the +Duchess of Monmouth would come to applaud your last dance? Once more, +Polypheme, you are tricking, you seek all sorts of evasions. You are +afraid of being hanged, I tell you." + +"So be it--yes, I am afraid of the gallows, I own it; let us speak no +more of it. Put aside these probabilities, do not admit into our future +this exaggerated fear. Zounds! one is not hanged for so little, while +the prison is possible, not to say probable. Let us talk, then, of the +prison. + +"Well, how does the prison seem to you, Polypheme? + +"Eh! eh! the prison is devilishly monotonous. I know well that I should +have the resource of thinking of Blue Beard, but I shall think of her so +much, I shall think of her even better in the peaceful solitude of the +woods, in the calm of the paternal valley. The paternal valley! yes, +decidedly, it is there that I would prefer to finish my days, dreaming +of Blue Beard. Only, shall I ever find it again, this paternal valley? +Alas! the mists of our Gavonne are so thick that I shall wander long, +without doubt, before I find this dear valley again. + +"Polypheme, you purposely wander from the subject; you wish to escape +the prison as well as the gallows, in spite of your philosophical +bombast. + +"Well, yes, zounds! I do want to escape both; to whom should I avow it +if not to myself? Who will comprehend me if not I, myself? + +"That admitted, Polypheme, how will you evade the fate that threatens +you? + +"Just at present this road is hardly favorable for escape, I know; rocks +on the right hand, on the left the sea, in front of and behind me the +escort. My horse is not bad; if it was better than that of the good +Chemerant, I might make a trial of swiftness with him. + +"And then, Polypheme? + +"And then I would leave good Chemerant on the road. + +"And then? + +"And then, abandoning my horse, I would conceal myself in some cavern; I +would climb the rocks; I have long legs and muscles of steel. + +"But, Polypheme, you will be sure to find the maroons. You, who are not +accustomed as they are to a nomadic life, you will be easily found by +them, at least if you are not devoured by wildcats or killed by +serpents. Such are your only two chances of escaping the efforts they +will make to catch you again. + +"Yes, but at least I have some chance of escape, while in following the +good Chemerant, as the sheep follows the butcher who leads it to the +slaughter-house, I fall full into the hands of my partisans. Mortimer +will fall on my neck, not to embrace me, but to strangle me, when he +sees who I am, or rather, whom I am not; while in attempting to escape I +may succeed, and, who knows? perhaps rejoin Blue Beard. Father Griffen +is devoted to her; through him I shall learn where she is, if he knows. + +"But, Polypheme, you are mad! You love this woman without a ray of hope. +She is passionately in love with her husband; and, although people have +complacently taken you for him, he is as handsome, as much of a 'grand +seigneur,' as interesting, as you are ugly, ridiculous, and +insignificant, although of ancient race, Polypheme. + +"Eh? Zounds! what does it matter? In again beholding Blue Beard I shall +not be happy, that is true, but I shall be content. Cannot one enjoy a +beautiful sight, an admirable picture, a magnificent poem, an enchanting +piece of music, although this sight, this picture, this poem, this +music, are not one's own? Well, such will be the kind of my content in +the presence of the divine Blue Beard. + +"A last observation, Polypheme. Your rhapsody, happy or not, will it not +awaken the suspicions of De Chemerant? Will you not thus compromise the +safety of those whom you have, I must avow, very skillfully rescued? + +"There is nothing to fear on that side. The Chameleon flies like an +albatross--she is already the devil knows where. She will put to their +wits' ends all the coastguards of the islands to know where she is. +Thus, then, I see no inconvenience in trying whether my horse goes +faster than that of the good Chemerant. The good man seems to me plunged +in meditation just now; the strand is good and straight. If I should +start---- + +"Come, then, try--start, Polypheme!" + +Scarcely had the adventurer mentally given himself this permission, +when, giving some touches of his spur to the horse, he set off suddenly +with great rapidity. + +Chemerant, surprised for a moment, gazed after the flying Croustillac; +then, not comprehending this strange action on the part of the supposed +duke, he started in pursuit. + +Chemerant had been in many wars, and was an excellent rider. His horse, +without being superior to that of Croustillac, being much better managed +and trained, immediately regained the distance the adventurer had +covered. Chemerant closely followed the track of Croustillac, crying, +"My lord, my lord, where are you going?" + +Croustillac, seeing himself so closely pursued, urged his horse forward +with all his force. + +Very soon the adventurer was obliged to stop short; the strand formed an +elbow in this place, and the Gascon found himself face to face with +enormous blocks of rock leaving only a narrow and dangerous passage. + +Chemerant rejoined his companion. "By all the furies! my lord," he +cried, "what gnat has bitten your highness? Why this sudden and furious +gallop?" + +The Gascon responded, coolly and boldly, "I am in great haste, sir, to +rejoin my partisans--this poor Mortimer especially, who awaits me with +such lively impatience. And then, in spite of me, I am besieged with +certain vexatious ideas concerning my wife, and I wish to fly from them, +these ideas, to fly from them by any means," said the Gascon, with a +dolorous sigh. + +"It appears to me, my lord, that morally and physically you fly from +them with all your might; unfortunately the road forbids your escaping +them any further." + +Chemerant called the guide. "At what distance are we from Fort Royal?" +he asked him. + +"A league at most, sir." + +Chemerant pulled out his watch and said to Croustillac, "if the wind is +good at eleven o'clock, we might be under sail and _en route_ for the +coast of Cornwall, where glory awaits you, my lord." + +"I hope so, sir, without which it would be absurd in me to go there. But +apropos of our enterprise, it seems to be a bad beginning to inaugurate +it with a murder." + +"What do you mean, your highness?" + +"I should see with pain the shooting of Colonel Rutler. I am +superstitious, sir; this death seems to me a bad omen. The crime was one +entirely personal to me; I then formally demand from you his pardon." + +"Your highness, his crime was flagrant, and----" + +"But, sir, the crime has not been committed. I insist that the colonel +shall not be shot." + +"He should, at least your highness, expiate by perpetual imprisonment +his audacious attempt." + +"In prison? so be it; one can get out of it, thank God! or at least, one +can hope so, which shortens the time infinitely. Beside, the colonel +might noise abroad my approaching descent into Cornwall, which would be +truly disastrous." + +"What you desire in this case shall be done, your highness?" + +"Another thing, sir. I am superstitious, as I have told you. I have +remarked in my life certain lucky and unlucky days. Now, for nothing in +this world would I choose to begin an enterprise so important as ours +under the influence of an hour which I believe to be fatal to me. +Beside, I am much fatigued; you ought to be able to understand that, in +thinking of the emotions of all kinds which have beset me since +yesterday." + +"What, then, are your designs, your highness?" + +"They will perhaps not agree with yours, but I will credit you with +doing what I desire, which is not to set sail before to-morrow morning +at sunrise." + +"Your highness!" + +"I know, sir, what you are going to say to me, but twenty-four hours, +more or less, are not of much consequence, and, finally, I have decided +not to put my foot on board to-day. I should bring upon you the most +direful fate; I should draw upon your frigate all the tempests of the +tropics. I will, then, pass the day with the governor, in absolute +retirement. I have need of being alone," added Croustillac, in a +melancholy tone; "alone, yes, always alone, and I ought to begin my +apprenticeship to solitude." + +"Solitude? But, my lord, you will not find it among the agitations which +await you." + +"Ah! sir," responded Croustillac philosophically, "the unfortunate finds +solitude even in the midst of the crowd, when he isolates himself in his +regrets. A wife whom I loved so much!" added he, with a profound sigh. + +"Ah! your highness," said De Chemerant, sighing in order to put himself +in sympathy with Croustillac, "it is terrible; but time heals the +deepest wounds." + +"You are right, sir, time heals the deepest wounds. I will have courage. +Well rested, well recovered from my fatigue and my cruel agitations, +to-morrow I will console myself, I will forget all in embracing my +partisans." + +"Ah! your highness, to-morrow will be a blessed day for all." + +The position of the supposed duke demanded too much consideration from +De Chemerant for him not to give in to the suggestions of his companion; +he acquiesced, then, though with regret, in the will of Croustillac. + +The Gascon, in postponing the hour in which his deception should be +discovered, hoped to find a chance to escape. He remembered that Blue +Beard had said to him, "We will not be ungrateful; once the duke is in +safety, we will not leave you in the power of De Chemerant; only seek to +gain time." + +Although Croustillac did not count much on the promise of his friends, +knowing all the difficulties which they would have to brave and to +conquer before they could succor him, he wished in any case not to +sacrifice this chance of safety, however uncertain it should be. + +Thus, as the guide had informed them, they arrived at Fort Royal at the +end of an hour's march. + +The residence of the governor was situated at the extremity of the city, +on the edge of the savannahs; it was easy to reach it without +encountering any one. + +Chemerant sent one of the guards in all haste to warn the governor of +the arrival of his two guests. + +The baron had replaced his long peruke, and resumed his heavy, +tight-fitting coat, in order to receive De Chemerant and the supposed +duke. He regarded the latter with eager curiosity, and was extremely +puzzled by the black velvet coat with the red sleeve. But, remembering +that De Chemerant had spoken to him of a state secret in which the +inhabitants of Devil's Cliff found themselves mixed up, he did not dare +to meet Croustillac without profound deference. + +The governor, profiting by a moment during which the adventurer cast a +melancholy glance at the window, striving to see whether it would serve +his purpose, said in a low tone to De Chemerant, "I expected to see a +lady, sir. This litter that you brought with you----" + +"Well, baron, you unfortunately counted without your hostess." + +"You must have been much heated by this morning sun," added the baron +with a careless air, although he was piqued by De Chemerant's answer. + +"Very much heated, sir, and your guest also. You should offer him some +refreshment." + +"I have thought of that, sir," replied the baron, "and have ordered +three covers laid." + +"I do not know, baron, whether my lord (indicating Croustillac) will +deign to admit us to his table." + +The governor, stupefied with surprise, regarded Croustillac with a new +and burning curiosity. "But, sir, is this, then, a great personage?" + +"Baron, I am again under the necessity of reminding you that it is my +mission to ask questions of you and not----" + +"Sufficient, sufficient, sir. Will you ask the guest whom I have the +honor to receive if he will do me the favor to accept this breakfast?" + +Chemerant transmitted the invitation of the baron to Croustillac, who, +pretending fatigue, asked to breakfast alone in his apartment. + +Chemerant whispered a few words in the ear of the governor, who +immediately offered his finest apartment to the supposed great +personage. + +Croustillac prayed the baron to have the pannier, of which one of the +two guards had taken charge, and which, as we know, contained only +Croustillac's old garments, brought to his room. + +Chemerant was in the room of the Gascon when the pannier was brought in. + +"Who would think, to look at this modest pannier, that it contained more +than three millions' worth of jewels?" said Croustillac negligently. + +"What imprudence! your highness!" cried De Chemerant. "These guards are +trusty, but----" + +"They are ignorant of the treasure they carry; there is, then, nothing +to fear." + +"Your highness, I ought to tell you that it is not the intention of the +king that you should use your personal resources in order to bring this +enterprise to a successful end. The purser of the frigate has a +considerable sum destined to the payment of the recruits who are +embarked, and for necessary expenses, once the debarkation is +accomplished." + +"It does not matter," said Croustillac. "Money is the sinew of war. I +had not foreseen this disposition of the 'great king,' and I wish to put +at the service of my royal uncle that which remains to me of blood, +fortune and influence." + +After this sounding peroration, De Chemerant went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +CROUSTILLAC DEPARTS. + + +Croustillac seated himself at the table which had been prepared for him, +ate but little, and then lay down, hoping that sleep would calm him and +perhaps bring to him some fortunate idea of how to escape. He had +recognized with chagrin the impossibility of escaping by the window of +the chamber he occupied; the two sentries of the governor's residence +paced constantly at the foot of the building. + +Once alone, De Chemerant began to reflect on the singular events of +which he had been the witness. Although he did not doubt that the Gascon +was the veritable Duke of Monmouth, the conduct of the duchess seemed so +strange to him, the manners and language of Croustillac, although very +skillfully adapted to his role, were sometimes so redolent of the +adventurer, that without the aid of the evident proofs which should +demonstrate to him the identity of the person of the duke, De Chemerant +would have conceived some suspicions. Nevertheless, he resolved to +profit by his sojourn at Fort Royal to question the governor anew on the +subject of Blue Beard, and Colonel Rutler on the subject of the Duke of +Monmouth. The baron did no more than to repeat certain public rumors, +viz., that the widow was on the best possible terms with the three +bandits who haunted Devil's Cliff. + +Chemerant was reduced to deploring the depravity of the young woman, and +the blindness of the unfortunate duke, a blindness which had, without +doubt, endured till that very moment. + +As for Rutler, his arrest by De Chemerant, the arrival of the envoy from +France at Devil's Cliff, far from shaking his conviction in respect to +Croustillac, had confirmed it; thus, when De Chemerant came to question +him, in announcing to him that he was not to be shot, the colonel, on +his part unwittingly, concurred in giving still more authority to the +false role of the adventurer. + +The sun was on the point of setting. Chemerant, completely reassured as +to the very satisfactory result of his mission, was thinking over the +advantages it must bring to him, while walking up and down the terrace +of the governor's residence, when the baron, out of breath with having +climbed so high, came to tear his guest away from the ambitious thoughts +with which he was delighting himself. + +"Sir," said the governor to him, "a merchant captain called Master +Daniel, and commanding the three-master the Unicorn has arrived from St. +Pierre with his ship; he asks to talk with you for a moment on very +pressing affairs." + +"May I receive him on this terrace, baron?" + +"Certainly, sir; it is much cooler here than below." Then advancing to +the staircase by which he had ascended, the baron said to one of his +guards, "Send Master Daniel up here." + +We have forgotten to say that as soon as the supposed duke had +manifested a desire to pass the night on land the frigate had received +orders to anchor at the extremity of the roads. + +After some minutes, Captain Daniel, our old acquaintance, appeared on +the terrace. The physiognomy of the captain, ordinarily so frank and +joyous, betrayed great embarrassment. + +The worthy captain of the Unicorn, so completely king on the deck of his +vessel, seemed uncomfortable and ill at ease. His cheeks, always more +than red, were slightly pale; the almost imperceptible quivering of his +upper lip agitated his thick gray mustache--a physiological sign which +indicated in Captain Daniel a grave preoccupation; he wore trousers and +tunic of blue and white striped cloth; in his girdle of red cotton was +thrust a long Flemish knife; an India handkerchief, knotted sailor +fashion, surrounded his brick-colored throat; finally, he mechanically +gave the most whimsical forms to the large and flexible straw hat which +he twisted about with both hands. + +The worthy master, with many low bows, approached De Chemerant, whose +dry, harsh face, with its piercing glance, seemed to intimidate him +greatly. + +"I am sure that this poor man is all in a perspiration," said the +governor to De Chemerant, in a pitying tone. + +In fact, great drops of perspiration covered the prominent veins on the +bald and sunburned forehead of Captain Daniel. + +"What do you wish?" said De Chemerant to him brusquely. + +"Come, speak, explain yourself, Master Daniel," added the baron, in a +gentler tone, seeing the merchant captain more and more intimidated. + +At last the captain ended by saying, in a voice strangled by emotion, +and addressing himself to De Chemerant, "Your highness----" + +"I am not 'your highness' but 'sir,'" replied Chemerant; "speak, I am +listening." + +"Well, then, my good sir, I arrived at St. Pierre with a cargo, a very +rich cargo of sugar, coffee, pepper, cloves, tafia----" + +"I do not need to know the inventory of your cargo; what do you want?" + +"Come, Master Daniel, my boy, reassure yourself, explain yourself, and +dry your forehead; you look as if you had come out of the water," said +the baron. + +"Now, your high--now, good sir, although I have a dozen small guns, and +a few swivel guns, my cargo is of such value that I come, good sir, in +fear of corsairs and pirates----" + +"Well?" + +"Go on, Master Daniel, I have never seen you thus." + +"I come, good sir, to ask your permission to set sail in company with +the frigate which has anchored just now in the roads." + +"Confound it! I can understand why you are embarrassed in making such a +request, Master Daniel," said the baron. "They are to give you his +majesty's frigates to serve as escort to your cargo!" + +Chemerant looked fixedly at the captain, shrugged his shoulders, and +responded, "It is impossible! The frigate is a fast sailer; she could +not diminish her speed to attend on your vessel--you are crazy!" + +"Oh, sir, if it is only that, fear nothing. Without decrying his +majesty's frigate, since I do not know her, I can engage to follow her, +no matter how much sail she carries, or whatever wind or sea is in her +sails or ahead." + +"I tell you you are crazy. The Thunderer is the swiftest of ships." + +"My good sir, do not refuse me," said Master Daniel, in a supplicating +tone. "If this proud frigate sails quicker than the Unicorn--well, this +man-of-war will desert the poor merchant ship, but at least I shall have +been a good part of the way under the shelter of the flag of the king, +and the prowlers of the sea are only especially to be feared in the +starting. Ah, sir, a cargo worth more than a million, by which the +enemies of our good king will profit if they succeed in getting +possession of the Unicorn----" + +"But I repeat to you that the frigate, although a man-of-war, would not +have time to defend you if you were attacked; her mission is such that +she ought not to be embarrassed with a convoy." + +"Oh, good sir," replied Captain Daniel, clasping his hands, "you will +have no embarrassment because of me; there will be no risk of my being +attacked if they see me under the protection of your guns. There is not +a corsair who would dare even to approach me, seeing me so bravely +accompanied. With all respect, sir, the wolves attack the lambs only +when the dogs are absent." + +"Poor lamb of a Master Daniel!" said the governor. + +"Ah, good sir, let it not be said that a warship of the king, our +master, refused a poor unfortunate merchant who asked only the +protection of his flag, so long as he was able to follow it." + +Chemerant found it hard to refuse this request, which in nowise +interfered with the maneuvers of the frigate, as Captain Daniel engaged +to follow the course of the Thunderer or allow himself to be abandoned. +Nevertheless, De Chemerant refused. "You know well," he said to the +captain, "that if, in spite of our escort, a corsair attacked you, a +king's ship could not leave you defenseless. Again, you will hinder the +maneuvers of the frigate. It is impossible." + +"But, sir, my rich cargo----" + +"You have guns, defend it. I will not allow you the convoy. It is +impossible." + +"Alas! my good God! I, who have come expressly from St. Pierre to ask +this favor from you!" said Daniel, in a dolorous tone. + +"Well, you will wait for another chance. I cannot cover you with my +flag." + +"However, good sir----" + +"Enough!" said Chemerant, in a harsh and peremptory tone. + +Captain Daniel made a last reverence, and, retreating slowly to the +staircase, he disappeared. + +"To see these merchants! To hear them one would think there were no +interests in the world but those of their cargoes," said De Chemerant. + +"There are, however, very few circumstances in which one refuses an +escort," said the governor, with an air of astonishment. + +"There are very few, indeed, baron, but there are some," said Chemerant +brusquely, while withdrawing. + +Croustillac had been conducted to the finest apartment in the house. +When he awoke night had fallen, and the moon shone with so brilliant a +light that it illuminated his chamber perfectly. + +Croustillac looked out of his window; the two sentinels paced peacefully +at the foot of the wall. + +"The devil!" said the adventurer. "It is decidedly impossible to make my +escape on this side; there are at least twenty feet to descend just to +fall on the backs of these sentinels, and they would find this manner of +quitting the governor's house very singular. Let us look at the other +side, then." + +Croustillac approached the door with a light step; but a bright light +thrown on the floor showed him that the neighboring room was lighted and +probably occupied. + +By the aid of a tinder-box which he found on the mantel, he lighted a +candle, and dressed himself in his old clothes, with a melancholy +satisfaction. They exhaled the strong and aromatic odor of the plants +and herbs of the surroundings through which Croustillac had so long +walked in his wanderings in the forest around Devil's Cliff. + +"Zounds! Chance is devilishly well named Chance," said the Gascon to +himself. "It has always had a particular affection for me. If it was +canonized, I would make it my patron saint. Chance--Polypheme, Sire de +Croustillac! When, on board the Unicorn, I made a bet that I would marry +Blue Beard, who could have foreseen that this foolish wager was almost +won; for, after all, in the eyes of the man with the dagger and of De +Chemerant, I passed, I still pass, as the husband of the lady of Devil's +Cliff. How all things hang together in fate! When I quitted the +parsonage of Father Griffen, nose in air, shoulders squared, my switch +in my hand to drive away the serpents, who the devil would have said +that I left to go, not directly it is true, to incite the Cornwallers to +revolt in favor of King James and Louis XIV! Zounds! One may well say +that the ways of Providence are inscrutable. Who could have penetrated +into this? Ah! now the critical moment approaches. I am sometimes +tempted to disclose all to the good man Chemerant. Yes, but I think that +each hour gained removes the duke and his wife three or four leagues +further from Martinique. I think that here, on land, my trial might be +carried out immediately and my gallows raised in the wink of an eye, +while on the open sea there would perhaps be no persons present +competent to judge me. I think, after all, that if Blue Beard has begged +(as I suppose) Father Griffen to endeavor to withdraw me from the claws +of Chemerant, that a sudden and imprudent revelation on my part would +spoil all. Much better, then, to keep silence. Yes, all well +considered," resumed Croustillac after a moment of reflection, "to let +De Chemerant's mistake last as long as possible, that is the better part +for me to take." + +During these reflections Croustillac had dressed himself. "Now," he +said, "let me see if there are any means of getting out of here +secretly." + +So saying, he softly opened the door and beheld with disappointment the +lackeys of the governor, who rose respectfully on seeing him. One went +to seek the baron; the other said to Croustillac, "Monsieur the governor +forbade us to enter the chamber of your highness until called; he will +come on the instant." + +"No matter, my boy, only show me the door to the garden. It is very +warm; I wish to take the air for awhile--but no, there are undoubtedly +trees in the garden; I prefer the open space, the field----" + +"That is very simple, your highness; in descending from the gallery you +will find yourself in the garden, from which a gate opens into the +fields." + +"Very well, then, my boy, conduct me there quickly. I long for the +fields like a bird in a cage." + +"Ah, it is not necessary, your highness; here is monsieur the baron, he +will conduct you himself," said the lackey. + +"To the devil with the baron!" thought Croustillac. The governor was not +alone; Chemerant accompanied him. + +"Faith, your highness," said the latter, "fortunately we see you risen. +We came to wake you." + +"To wake me--and why?" + +"Wind and tide wait for no one. The tide goes out at three o'clock; it +is now half-past two. It will take us a half hour to reach the mole, +where the boat awaits us. We have just time to get there, your +highness." + +"Now, then, the die is cast," said Croustillac. "Let us try only to gain +a few hours before being presented to my partisans. Sir, I am at your +orders," added the adventurer, draping himself in a brown mantle which +he had found with his clothes. + +The governor felt it his duty to accompany, as escort, De Chemerant and +the mysterious unknown to the mole; the flight of the Gascon was thus +rendered absolutely impossible. + +At the moment of quitting the governor, Chemerant said to him, "Sir, I +will render to the king a full account of the efficient aid you have +given me. I can now say it to you, the secret has been perfectly kept." + +"But, sir, may I know what were these indications?" cried the baron, so +poorly informed on what he was burning to know. + +"You may be certain, baron," said Chemerant, cordially pressing his +hand, "that the king will know all--and it will not be my fault if you +are not rewarded as you deserve." + +Thus saying, Chemerant gave the order to put off. + +"If the king is to know all he will be much ahead of me," said the +baron, slowly returning to his house. "What I have learned from the +guards of the escort has only augmented my curiosity. It was hardly +worth the trouble to toil and moil, and stay on one's feet all night, to +be so badly informed of things of the greatest importance, taking place +in my own government!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE FRIGATE. + + +The moon threw a brilliant light over the waters of Fort Royal. The long +boat which bore Croustillac and his fortunes advanced rapidly toward the +Thunderer, which was anchored at the entrance of the bay. + +The Gascon, enveloped in his mantle, occupied the place of honor in the +boat, which seemed to fly over the water. + +"Sir," said he to Chemerant, "I wish to reflect ripely on the discourse +which it is my intention to address to my partisans; you comprehend--it +is necessary that I pronounce a sort of manifesto in which I disclose my +political principles; that I tell them my hopes in order to make them +partakers in them; that, in fine, I give them, in a manner, a plan of +campaign; now all this needs long elaboration. These are the bases of +our undertaking. It is necessary to disclose all to them--the +consequences of the alliance, or rather the moral, that is to say +material support which England lends us, or rather France--In short," +said Croustillac, who began to be singularly mixed up in his politics, +"I do not wish to receive my partisans till to-morrow, in the morning. I +wish, even, that my arrival on board should be conducted as quietly as +possible." + +"It is very probable, my lord, that all these brave gentlemen are +asleep, for they did not know at what hour your highness was to arrive." + +"This mad--this brave Mortimer is capable of waiting up all night for +me," said Croustillac, with disquietude. + +"That is not to be doubted, your highness, by one who knows the ardent +impatience with which he desires your return." + +"Hold, sir," said the Gascon, "between you and me, I know my Mortimer; +he is very nervous, very impressionable. I should fear for him--a shock, +a too sudden effect of joy, should I appear abruptly before him. Thus, +in going aboard I shall take the precaution of well wrapping myself up +in order to escape his eyes--and even if he asks you if I shall soon +arrive, oblige me by answering him in an evasive manner. In this way we +can prepare him for an interview, which without these precautions might +prove fatal to this devoted friend." + +"Ah! fear nothing, your highness; excess of joy can never be fatal." + +"Indeed, you deceive yourself, sir; without taking account of a thousand +general facts with which I might corroborate my opinion, I will cite on +this subject a fact quite personal and particular to the very man of +whom we are now talking." + +"To Lord Mortimer?" + +"To him, sir. I shall never forget that once I saw him seized with +frightful convulsions under circumstances almost similar. There were +nervous starts--swoons----" + +"However, your highness, Lord Mortimer has an athletic constitution." + +"An athletic constitution? Come, then, it only remained that I should +encounter a Hercules in this run-mad Pylades," thought Croustillac. He +spoke aloud: + +"You don't know, sir, that it is these very men of great strength who +are just the ones who most keenly feel such shocks. I will even tell +you--but this is entirely between ourselves--at least----" + +"Your highness may be sure of my discretion." + +"You will understand my reserve, sir. I will tell you then that, on the +occasion of which I speak--this unfortunate Mortimer was so +stupefied--(if it were not for our intimate friendship, I should say +rendered stupid) by seeing too suddenly some one he had not met for a +long time--that his head--you comprehend----" + +"What, your highness, his reason----" + +"Alas! yes, in this instance only--. You now comprehend why I demand +secrecy of you?" + +"Yes, yes, your highness." + +"But that was not all; the shock suffered by poor Mortimer was such +that, after having remained several moments stupefied with surprise, he +no longer recognized this person; no, sir, he did not recognize him, +though he had seen him a thousand times!" + +"Is it possible, your highness?" said De Chemerant, in a tone of +respectful doubt. + +"It is, alas! only too true, sir, for you have no idea of the +excitability of this good fellow. So I, who am his friend, should watch +carefully that no trouble come to him. Think, then, if I should expose +him to the risk of not knowing me. Mortimer is now the one whom I love +most in the world, and you know, alas! sir, if the consolations of +friendship are necessary to me." + +"Still these unhappy memories, your highness?" + +"Yes, I am weak, I own it--it is stronger than I." + +"What is this ship anchored not far from the frigate?" demanded De +Chemerant of the master of the long boat, in order to change the +conversation, out of regard for the feelings of the supposed duke. + +"That, sir, is a merchantman, which arrived last night from St. Pierre," +said the sailor, respectfully removing his cap. + +"Ah! I know," said De Chemerant; "it is probably the ship of that fool +of a merchant-captain who demanded our escort. But here we are, your +highness--the lights are all out--you are not expected." + +"So much the better, so much the better; provided Mortimer is not +there." + +"It seems to me that I see him on the bridge, your highness." + +Croustillac raised his mantle almost to his eyes. + +"Ah! there is the officer of the watch on the ladder. What a pity to +arrive so late, your highness. It is to the beat of drums, the flourish +of trumpets, that your highness should have been received, with the +ship's crew presenting arms." + +"Honors to-morrow--honors to-morrow," said Croustillac; "the hour of +these frivolities always comes soon enough." + +Chemerant drew aside to allow the Gascon to mount the ladder first. The +latter breathed freely again on seeing on deck only an officer of +marines, who received him with bared head and a profoundly respectful +air. Croustillac responded with great dignity, and above all, very +briefly, enveloping himself in his mantle with the utmost care, and +casting uneasy glances around him, fearing to see the terrible Mortimer. +Fortunately he saw only the sailors talking together or reclining by the +side of the guns. + +The officer, who was speaking in a low tone to De Chemerant, saluting +Croustillac again, said to him: + +"Your highness, since you command it, I will not awaken the captain, and +I shall have the honor of conducting you to your cabin." + +Croustillac inclined his head. + +"Till to-morrow, your highness," said De Chemerant. + +"Till to-morrow," responded the adventurer. + +The officer descended by the hatchway to the gun-deck, opened the door +of a large, wide cabin perfectly lighted by a skylight, and said to the +Gascon: "Your highness, there is your cabin; there are two other small +rooms to the right and left." + +"This is admirable, sir; do me the favor, I pray you, to give the +strictest orders that no one enters my cabin to-morrow until I call. No +one, sir, you understand--absolutely no one!--this is of the last +importance." + +"Very well, my lord. Your highness does not wish that I should send one +of the people to assist you to disrobe?" + +"I am a soldier, sir," said Croustillac proudly, "and I disrobe without +assistance." + +The young officer bowed, taking this response for a lesson in stoicism; +he went out, ordering one of the orderlies to allow no one to enter the +cabin of the duke, and again ascended on deck to rejoin De Chemerant. + +"Your duke is a veritable Spartan, my dear De Chemerant," said he to +him. "Why! he has not brought even a lackey." + +"That is true," responded De Chemerant; "such strange things have taken +place on land that neither he nor I thought of it; but I will give him +one of my people. Just now the important thing is to set sail." + +"That is also the opinion of the captain. He gave me orders to wake him +if you judged it necessary to depart at once." + +"We will start on the instant, for both wind and tide are in our favor, +I think," answered De Chemerant. + +"So favorable," said the officer, "that if this wind holds, to-morrow by +sunrise we shall no longer be able to see the shores of Martinique." + +A half-hour after the arrival of the Gascon on board, the Thunderer got +under sail with an excellent breeze from the southwest. + +When De Chemerant saw the frigate leaving the roads, he could not +refrain from rubbing his hands, saying to himself, "Faith it is not that +I am vain and boastful, but I would only have given this mission in a +hundred to the most skillful of men--to unravel the projects of the +English envoy, to conquer the scruples of the duke, to aid him to +revenge himself on a guilty wife, to tear him by force of eloquence from +the overwhelming feelings this conjugal accident has roused in his soul, +to bring him back to England at the head of his partisans--by my faith, +Chemerant, my friend, that was left to you to do! Your fortune, already +on the road to success, behold it forever assured; this good success +delights me the more that the king regards this affair as important. +Once more, bravo!" + +Chemerant with a light and joyful heart slept, cradled by the most +pleasing and ambitious thoughts. + +It was half-past ten in the morning; the wind was fresh, the sea a +little rough, but very beautiful; the Thunderer left behind her a +shining wake. The land was no longer to be seen. The ship was in +mid-ocean. + +The officer of the watch, armed with a glass, examined with attention a +three-masted vessel about two cannon shots distant, which kept precisely +the same route as the frigate and sailed as quickly as she did, although +carrying a few light sails the less. + +On the extreme horizon the officer remarked also another ship which he +as yet distinguished vaguely, but which seemed to follow the same +direction as the three-master, whose maneuver we have just pointed out. +Wishing to find out if this latter ship would persist in imitating the +movements of the Thunderer, the officer ordered the man at the wheel to +bear away a little more to the north. + +The three-master bore away a little more to the north. + +The officer gave orders to bear away to the west. + +The three-master bore away to the west. + +More annoyed than startled at this persistence, because the three-master +was not capable of a struggle with a frigate, the officer, by the order +of the captain, tacked about and sailed straight down upon the +importunate vessel. + +The importunate three-master tacked about also, and continued to +scrupulously imitate the evolutions of the frigate, and sailed in +concert with her, but always beyond reach of her guns. + +The captain, irritated by this, veered about and ran straight down upon +the three-master. The three-master proved that she was, if not a better +sailer, at least as good a one as the frigate, which was never able to +shorten the distance between them. The captain, not wishing to lose +precious time in this useless chase, resumed his course. + +The vexatious three-master also resumed its course. + +This mysterious ship was no other than the peaceable Unicorn. Captain +Daniel, in spite of the refusal of De Chemerant, had judged it proper to +attach himself obstinately to the Thunderer until they reached the open +sea. + +A new personage appeared on the deck of the frigate. This was a man of +about fifty years of age, large, stout, wearing a buff coat with wide +scarlet breeches, and boots of sheepskin. His hair and mustache were +red, his eyes light blue, the eyeballs veined with little vessels which +the slightest emotion injected with blood, showing a violent and +passionate temper. + +We hasten to inform the reader that this athletic personage was the most +fanatical of all the fanatical partisans of Monmouth, and he would have +thought himself a thousand times blessed to have shared the fate of +Sidney; in a word, this man was Lord Percy Mortimer. His disquietude, +his agitation, his impatience, were inexpressible; he could not stay in +one place a moment. + +Twenty times had Lord Mortimer descended to the door of Croustillac's +cabin to know if "my lord the duke" had not asked for him. In vain had +he implored the officer to send word to the duke that Mortimer, his best +friend, his old companion in arms, wished to throw himself at his feet; +his wishes were vain, the orders of the unhappy Croustillac, who +regarded each minute gained as a precious conquest, were rigorously +carried out. + +Chemerant also went upon deck, clothed in a magnificent dress, his air +radiant and triumphant; he seemed to say to all: "If the prince is here, +that is thanks to my ability, to my courage." Seeing him, Mortimer +approached him quickly. + +"Well, sir," he said to him, "may we know at last at what hour the duke +will receive us?" + +"The duke has forbidden any one to enter his apartment without his +order." + +"I am on red-hot coals," replied Mortimer; "I shall never forgive myself +for having gone to bed this night, and not to have been the first to +press our James in my arms, to throw myself at his feet--to kiss his +royal hand." + +"Ah, Lord Mortimer, you love our brave duke well?" said De Chemerant; +"partisans such as you are rare!" + +"_If_ I love our James!" cried Mortimer, turning a deep and apoplectic +red, "_if_ I love him! Hold! I and Dick Dudley, my best friend, who +loves the duke, not as much as I (we fought once because he made this +absurd claim)--I and Dudley, I tell you, asked each other just now if we +should have the strength to again see our James without giving way--like +silly women." + +"The duke was right," thought De Chemerant. "What enthusiasm! It is not +attachment, it is frenzy." Mortimer resumed with vehemence: "This +morning on rising we embraced each other; we committed a thousand +extravagances on thinking we should see him again to-day. We could not +believe it, and even yet I doubt it. Ah! what a day! what a day! To see +again in flesh and blood a friend, a companion in arms whom we had +believed dead, whom we had wept for for five years! Ah! you do not know +how he was cherished and regretted, our James! How we recalled his +bravery, his courage, his gayety! What happiness to say, not _it was_, +but _it is_ the heart of a king, a true heart of a king, that of our +duke." + +"It must be that this is true, my lord, since with the exception of +yourself, of Lord Dudley, and this poor Lord Rothsay who, ill as he is +from his old wounds, has chosen to accompany you, the other gentlemen +who came to offer their arms, their lives and their fortunes to our +duke, knew him only by reputation." + +"And I should like well to see if, on his renown alone, and on our +guarantee, they would not love him as much as we love him. This recalls +to me that once I fought my friend Dick Dudley because he vowed he loved +me a little more than our James!" + +"The fact is, my lord," said De Chemerant, "that few princes are capable +of inspiring such enthusiasm simply by their renown." + +"Few princes, sir!" cried Lord Mortimer in a formidable voice, "few +princes! Say, then, no other prince--ask Dudley!" + +Lord Dudley appeared at this moment on the deck. The hair and mustache +of this nobleman were black and beginning to turn gray; in stature, +strength, and stoutness there was a great conformity between him and +Mortimer; true types (physically speaking) of what are called +gentlemen-farmers. + +"What's the matter, Percy?" said Lord Dudley familiarly to his friend. + +"Is it not true, Dick, that no prince can be compared with our James?" + +"Excepting our worthy friends and allies on this vessel, any dog who +dares maintain that James is not the best of men I will beat him till +the blood comes, and cut him in quarters," said this robust personage, +striking with one of his fists the gunwale of the ship. Then, addressing +De Chemerant: "But now you know him as well as we--you, the chosen you, +the happy man who saw him first! Your hand, De Chemerant, your brave and +loyal hand--more brave and more loyal, if it is possible, since it has +touched that of our duke!" + +Dudley violently shook the right hand of De Chemerant, while Mortimer +shook no less violently the left hand. + +There is nothing more contagious than enthusiasm. The partisans of +Monmouth had one by one come up on deck and grouped themselves around +the two noblemen--all wishing in their turn to press the hand which had +touched that of the prince. + +"Ah! gentlemen, I suspect that his grace puts off the honor of seeing +you. He fears the emotion inseparable from such a moment." + +"And we, then!" cried Dudley. "It is now about forty days since we left +Rochelle, is it not? Well, may I die if I have slept more than three or +four hours any night, and then the sleep, at once agitated and pleasant, +that one sleeps on the eve of a duel--when one is sure of killing one's +man. At least, that is the effect of this impatience on me. And you, +Percy?" said the robust gladiator to Mortimer. + +"On me, Dick?" responded the latter; "it has a contrary effect on me; +every moment I wake with a start. It seems to me that I should sleep +thus the eve of the day that I was going to be shot." + +"As for me," said another gentleman, "I know the duke only from his +portrait." + +"I only from his renown." + +"I, as soon as I knew that it concerned marching against the Orange +faction--I quitted all, friends, wife, child." + +"So did we----" + +"Ah, sir, it is also for James of Monmouth," said another, "that is a +name which is like the sound of a trumpet." + +"It suffices to pronounce this name in Old England," said another, "to +drive all these Holland rats into their marshes." + +"Beginning with this William----" + +"On my honor, gentlemen," said De Chemerant, "you make me almost proud +of having succeeded so well in an enterprise which, I dare to say, is a +very delicate one. I do not wish to attribute to my reasoning, to my +influence, the resolution of the prince--but believe, at least, +gentlemen, that I have known how to make good use with him of the +enthusiasm with which his memory has inspired you." + +"And so, our friend, we will never forget what you have done! You have +brought him here to us--our duke!" cried Mortimer cordially. + +"For that alone we owe you eternal gratitude," added Dudley. + +"To see him! to see him," cried Mortimer in a new access of feeling, "to +see him again whom we believed to be dead--to see him indeed face to +face--to again find before our eyes this proud and noble figure--to see +it again in the midst of the fire--the--the--ah, well--yes, I weep--I +weep," cried the brave Mortimer, no longer restraining his emotion; +"yes, I weep like a child, and a thousand thunderbolts crush those who +do not comprehend that an old soldier thus can weep." + +Emotion is as contagious as enthusiasm. + +Dick, followed the example of his friend Percy, and the others did as +Dick and his friend Percy did. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE JUDGMENT. + + +A new personage came to augment the number of the passionate admirers of +Monmouth. There was seen advancing, supported by two servants, a man +still young, but condemned to premature infirmity by numerous wounds. + +Lord Jocelyn Rothsay, in spite of his sufferings, had wished to join +himself to the partisans of the prince, and if not to fight for the +cause that Monmouth was going to defend, at least to come before the +duke and to be one of the first to felicitate him on his resurrection. + +Lord Rothsay's hair was white, although his pale face was still young +and his mustache was as black as his bold and brilliant eyes. Enveloped +in a long dressing-gown, he advanced with difficulty, supported on the +shoulders of the two servants. + +"Here is the brave Rothsay who has as many wounds as hairs in his +mustache," cried Lord Dudley. + +"By the devil, who will not carry me away before I have seen our duke, +at least," said Rothsay, "I will be, like you, one of the first to press +his hand. Have I not, in my fresh youth, risked my life to hasten by a +quarter of an hour a love tryst? Why should I not risk it in order to +see our duke a quarter of an hour sooner?" + +A man with troubled face appeared on deck shortly after Rothsay. + +"My lord," said he entreatingly, "my lord, you expose your life by this +imprudence! The least violent movement may renew the hemorrhage from +this old wound which----" + +"The devil! doctor, could my blood flow better or more nobly than at the +feet of James of Monmouth?" cried Rothsay with enthusiasm. + +"But, my lord, the danger----" + +"But, doctor, it would be to his everlasting shame if Jocelyn Rothsay +should be one of the last to embrace our duke. I made this voyage for no +other purpose. Dick will lend me one shoulder, Percy another, and it is +sustained by these two brave champions that I shall come to say to +James: Here are three of your faithful soldiers of Bridgewater." + +So saying, the young man abandoned his two servants, and supported +himself on the shoulders of the two robust noblemen. + +The roll of drums, to which was added the flourish of trumpets, the +shrill noise of the boatswain's whistle, announced that the marines and +infantry belonging to the frigate were assembling; very soon they were +drawn up on deck, with their officers at their head. + +"Why this show of arms?" asked Mortimer of Chemerant. + +"To render homage to the duke and to receive him with the honors of war +when he comes directly to review the troops." + +The captain of the frigate advanced toward the group of gentlemen: +"Gentlemen, I have just received the orders of his grace." + +"Well?" all said with one voice. + +"His highness will receive you at eleven o'clock precisely; that is to +say, in exactly five minutes." + +It is impossible to give any idea of the exclamations of profound joy +which escaped from every breast. + +"Hold! now, Dick, I feel myself growing faint," said Mortimer. + +"The devil! pay attention, Percy," said Rothsay; "do not fall; you are +one of my legs." + +"I," said Dudley, "I have a sort of vertigo----" + +"Listen, Dick; listen, Jocelyn," said Mortimer; "these worthy companions +have never seen our duke; be generous, let them go first; we shall see +him first from a distance; that will give us time to place ourselves in +his sight. Is it done?" + +"Yes, yes," said Dick and Jocelyn. + +Eleven o'clock sounded. For some moments the deck of the frigate +offered a spectacle truly grand. The soldiers and marines in arms +covered the gangways. The officers, bareheaded, preceding the gentlemen, +slowly descended the narrow stairway which led to the apartment +appropriated to the Duke of Monmouth. + +Last, behind this first group advanced Mortimer and Dudley, sustaining +between them the young Lord Rothsay, whose bowed figure and trembling +steps contrasted with the tall stature and manly bearing of his two +supports. + +While the other gentlemen incumbered the narrow stairway, the three +lords--these three noble types of chivalrous fidelity--remained on the +deck. + +"Listen, listen," said Dudley, "perhaps we shall hear the voice of +James----" + +In fact, the most profound silence reigned at first, but it was soon +interrupted by exclamations of joy with which mingled lively and tender +protestations. At last the stairway was free. + +Scarcely moderating their impatience from regard for Lord Rothsay, who +descended with difficulty, the two lords reached the gun-deck and +entered in their turn the great cabin of the frigate, where Croustillac +gave audience to his partisans. For some moments the three noblemen were +stupefied by the tableau presented to their eyes. + +At the back of the great cabin, which was lighted by five portholes, +Croustillac, clothed in his old green coat and pink stockings, stood +proudly beside De Chemerant; the latter, swelling with pride, seemed to +triumphantly present the chevalier to the English gentlemen. + +A little back of De Chemerant stood the captain of the frigate and his +staff. The partisans of Monmouth, picturesquely grouped, surrounded the +Gascon. + +The adventurer, although a little pale, retained his audacity; seeing +that he was not recognized, he resumed little by little his accustomed +assurance, and said to himself: "Mortimer must have boasted of knowing +me intimately in order to give himself airs of familiarity with a +nobleman of my degree. Come then, zounds! let that last which can!" + +The force of illusion is such that among the gentlemen who pressed +around the adventurer some discovered a very decided "family look" to +Charles II.; others, a striking resemblance to his portraits. + +"My lords and gentlemen," said Croustillac, with a gesture toward De +Chemerant, "this gentleman, in reporting to me your wishes, has decided +me to return to your midst." + +"My lord duke, with us it is to the death!" cried the most enthusiastic. + +"I count on that, my lords; as for me, my motto shall be: 'All for +England and'----" + +"This is too much impudence! blood and murder!" thundered Lord Mortimer, +interrupting the chevalier and springing toward him with blazing eyes +and clinched fists, while Dudley upheld Lord Jocelyn. + +The apostrophe of Mortimer had an astounding effect on the spectators +and the actors in this scene. The English gentlemen turned quickly +toward Mortimer. De Chemerant and the officers looked at each other with +astonishment, as yet comprehending none of his words. + +"Zounds! here we are," thought Croustillac; "only to see this tipsy +brute; I should smell the Mortimer a league off." The nobleman stepped +into the empty space that the gentlemen had left between the Gascon and +themselves, in recoiling; he planted himself before him, his arms +crossed, his eyes flashing, looking him straight in the face, exclaiming +in a voice trembling with rage: "Ah! you are James of Monmouth--you!--it +is to me--Mortimer--that you say that?" + +Croustillac was sublime in his impudence and coolness; he answered +Mortimer with an accent of melancholy reproach: "Exile and adversity +must indeed have changed me much if my best friend no longer recognizes +me!" Then, half-turning toward De Chemerant, the chevalier added in a +low tone: "You see, it is as I told you; the emotion has been too +violent; his poor head is completely upset. Alas, this unhappy man does +not know me!" + +Croustillac expressed himself so naturally and with so much assurance, +that De Chemerant still hesitated to believe himself the dupe of so +enormous an imposition; he did not long retain any doubts on this +subject. + +Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay joined Mortimer and the other gentlemen in +showering upon the unfortunate Gascon the most furious apostrophes and +insults. + +"This miserable vagabond dares to call himself James of Monmouth!" + +"The infamous impostor!" + +"The scoundrel must have murdered him in order to pass himself off for +him!" + +"He is an emissary of William!" + +"That beggar, James, our duke!" + +"What audacity!" + +"To dare to tell such a lie!" + +"He ought to have his tongue torn out!" + +"To deceive us so impudently--we who had never seen the duke!" + +"This cries for vengeance!" + +"Since he takes his name he must know where he is!" + +"Yes, he shall answer for our duke!" + +"We will throw him into the sea if he does not give our James back to +us!" + +"We will tear out his nails to make him speak!" + +"To play thus with what is most sacred!" + +"How could De Chemerant have fallen into a trap so gross!" + +"This miserable wretch has deceived me most outrageously, gentlemen!" +cried De Chemerant, striving in vain to make himself heard. + +"Come, then; explain yourself, sir." + +"He shall pay dearly for his audacity, gentlemen." + +"First, chain up this traitor." + +"He abused my confidence by the most execrable lies. Gentlemen, any one +would have been deceived as much as I was." + +"One cannot mock thus the faith of brave gentlemen who sacrifice +themselves to the good cause." + +"De Chemerant, you are as culpable as this miserable scoundrel." + +"But, my lords, the English envoy was deceived as well as I." + +"It is impossible; you are his accomplice." + +"My lords, you insult me!" + +"A man of your experience, sir, does not allow himself to be made +ridiculous in this way." + +"We must avenge ourselves!" + +"Yes, vengeance! vengeance!" + +These accusations, these reproaches bandied about so rapidly, caused +such a tumult that it was impossible for De Chemerant to make himself +heard among so many furious cries. The attitude of the English gentlemen +became so threatening toward him, their recriminations so violent, that +he placed himself alongside the officers of the frigate, and all carried +their hands to their swords. + +Croustillac, alone between the two groups, was a butt for the +invectives, the attacks, and the maledictions of both parties. Intrepid, +audacious, his arms crossed, his head high, his eye unblenching, the +adventurer heard the muttering and bursting forth of this formidable +storm with impassible phlegm, saying to himself: "This ruins all; they +may throw me overboard--that is to say, into the open sea; the leap is +perilous, though I can swim like a Triton, but I can do no more; this +was sure to happen sooner or later; and beside, as I said this morning, +one does not sacrifice oneself for people in order to be crowned with +flowers and caressed by woodland nymphs." + +Although at its height, the tumult was dominated by the voice of +Mortimer who cried: "Monsieur De Chemerant, have this wretch hanged +first; you owe us this satisfaction." + +"Yes, yes, hang him to the yardarm," said the English gentlemen; "we +will have our explanations afterward." + +"You will oblige me much by explaining yourselves beforehand!" cried +Croustillac. + +"He speaks! he dares to speak!" cried one. + +"Eh! who, then, will speak in my favor, if not myself?" replied the +Gascon. "Would it be you, by chance, my gentleman?" + +"Gentlemen," cried De Chemerant, "Lord Mortimer is right in proposing +that justice be done to this abominable impostor." + +"He is wrong; I maintain that he is wrong, a hundred thousand times +wrong!" cried Croustillac; "it is an obsolete, tame, vulgar means----" + +"Be silent, unhappy wretch!" cried the athletic Mortimer, seizing the +hands of the Gascon. + +"Do not lay your hands on a gentleman, or, Sdeath! you shall pay dear +for this outrage!" cried Croustillac angrily. + +"Your sword, scoundrel!" said De Chemerant, while twenty raised arms +threatened the adventurer. + +"In fact, the lion can do nothing against an hundred wolves," said the +Gascon majestically, giving up his rapier. + +"Now, gentlemen," resumed De Chemerant, "I continue. Yes, the honorable +Lord Mortimer is right in wishing to have this rascal hanged." + +"He is wrong! as long as I can raise my voice I will protest that he is +wrong! it is a preposterous, an unheard-of idea; it is the reasoning of +a horse. A fine argument is the gallows!" cried Croustillac, struggling +between two gentlemen who held him by the collar. + +"But before administering justice, it is necessary to oblige him to +reveal to us the abominable plot which he has concocted. It is necessary +that he should unveil to us the mysterious circumstances by the aid of +which he has shamelessly betrayed my good faith." + +"To what good? 'Dead the beast, dead the venom,'" cried Mortimer +roughly. + +"I tell you that you reason as ingeniously as a bulldog which leaps at +the throat of a bull," cried Croustillac. + +"Patience, patience; it is a cravat of good hemp which will stop your +preaching very soon," responded Mortimer. + +"Believe me, my lords," replied De Chemerant, "a council will be formed; +they will interrogate this rascal; if he does not answer, we shall have +plenty of means to force him to it; there is more than one kind of +torture." + +"Ah, so far I am of your mind," said Mortimer; "I consent that he shall +not be hanged before being put to the rack; this will be to do two +things instead of one." + +"You are generous, my lord," said the Gascon. + +In thinking of the fury which must have possessed the soul of De +Chemerant, who saw the enterprise which he thought he had so skillfully +conducted a complete failure, one understands, without excusing it, the +cruelty of his resolution in regard to Croustillac. + +Their minds were so excited, the disappointment had been so irritating, +so distressing even, for the greater part of the adherents of Monmouth, +that these gentlemen, humane enough otherwise, allowed themselves on +this occasion to be carried away by blind anger, and but little more was +needed to bring it about that the unfortunate Croustillac should not +even be cited before a species of council of war, whose meeting might at +least give an appearance of legality to the violence of which he was the +victim. + +Five noblemen and five officers assembled immediately under the +presidency of the captain of the frigate. + +De Chemerant placed himself on the right, the chevalier stood on the +left. The session commenced. + +De Chemerant said briefly, and with a voice still trembling with anger: +"I accuse the man here present with having falsely and wickedly taken +the names and titles of his grace the Duke of Monmouth, and with having +thus, by his odious imposture, ruined the designs of the king, my +master, and under such circumstances the crime of this man should be +considered as an attack upon the safety of the state. In consequence, I +demand that the accused here present be declared guilty of high treason, +and be condemned to death." + +"'Sdeath, sir, you draw your conclusions quickly and well; here is +something clear and brief," said Croustillac, whose natural courage rose +to the occasion. + +"Yes, yes, this impostor merits death; but before that, it is necessary +that he should speak, and that he should at once be put to the +question," said the English lords. + +The captain of the frigate, who presided over the council, was not, like +De Chemerant, under the influence of personal resentment; he said to the +Englishmen: "My lords, we have not yet voted a punishment; it is +necessary before interrogating him to listen to his defense, if he can +defend himself; after which we will consult as to the punishment which +should be inflicted upon him. Let us not forget that we are judges and +that he has not yet been declared guilty." + +These cool, wise words pleased the five lords less than the angry +excitement of De Chemerant; nevertheless, not being able to raise any +objection, they were silent. + +"Accused," said the captain to the chevalier, "what are your names?" + +"Polypheme, Chevalier de Croustillac." + +"A Gascon!" said De Chemerant, between his teeth; "I might have known it +from his impudence. To have been the sport of such a miserable +scoundrel!" + +"Your profession?" continued the captain. + +"For the moment, that of an accused person before a tribunal over which +you worthily preside, captain; for you do not choose, and with reason, +that men should be hanged without a hearing." + +"You are accused of having knowingly and wickedly deceived Monsieur de +Chemerant, who is charged with a mission of state for the king, our +master." + +"It is De Chemerant who deceived himself; he called me 'your highness,' +and I innocently answered to the name." + +"Innocently!" cried De Chemerant furiously; "how, scoundrel! have you +not abused my confidence by the most atrocious lies? have you not +surprised from me the most important secrets of state by your impudent +treachery?" + +"You have spoken, I have listened. I may even declare, for my +justification, that you have appeared to me singularly dull. If it is a +crime to have listened to you, you have rendered this crime +enormous----" + +The captain made a sign to De Chemerant to restrain his indignation; he +said to the Gascon: "Will you reveal what you know relative to James, +Duke of Monmouth? Will you tell us through what chain of events you came +to take his names and titles?" + +Croustillac saw that his position was becoming very dangerous; he had a +mind to reveal all; he could address himself to the devoted partisans of +the prince, assure himself of their support in announcing to them that +the duke had been saved, thanks to him. But an honorable scruple +withheld him; this secret was not his own; it did not belong to him to +betray the mysteries which had concealed and protected the existence of +the duke, and might still protect him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE CHASE. + + +When the captain intimated anew to Croustillac the order to reveal all +he knew about the duke, the adventurer responded, this time with a +firmness full of dignity: + +"I have nothing to say on this subject, captain; this secret is not +mine." + +"Thunder and blood!" cried Mortimer, "the torture shall make you speak. +Light two bunches of tow dipped in sulphur. I will myself place them +under his chin; that will loosen his tongue--and we shall know where our +James is. Ah! I had indeed a presentiment that I should never see him +again." + +"I ought to say to you," said the captain to the Gascon, "that if you +obstinately maintain a culpable silence, you will thus compromite in the +gravest manner the interests of the king and of the state, and we shall +be forced to have recourse to the harshest means in order to make you +speak." + +These quiet words, calmly pronounced by a man with a venerable +countenance, who since the beginning of the scene had endeavored to +moderate the violence of the adversaries of Croustillac, made on the +latter a lively impression; he shivered slightly, but his resolution was +not shaken; he answered with a steady voice: "Excuse me, captain, I have +nothing to say, I will say nothing." + +"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "in the name of the king, by whom I am +empowered, I formally declare that the silence of this criminal may be +the occasion of grave prejudice to the interests of his majesty and the +state. I found this man in the very domain of my lord the Duke of +Monmouth, provided even with precious objects belonging to that +nobleman, such as the sword of Charles II., a box with a portrait, etc. +All concurs, in fine, to prove that he has the most precise information +concerning the existence of his grace the Duke of Monmouth. Now this +information is of the highest importance relative to the mission with +which the king has charged me. I demand therefore that the accused +should immediately be constrained to speak by all the means possible." + +"Yes! yes! the torture," cried the noblemen. + +"Reflect well, accused," said the captain, again. "Do not expose +yourself to terrible suffering; you may hope everything from our +indulgence if you tell the truth. If not, take care!" + +"I have nothing to say," replied Croustillac; "this secret is not mine." + +"This means a cruel torture," said the captain. "Do not force us to +these extremities." + +The Gascon made a gesture of resignation and repeated: "I have nothing +to say." + +The captain could not conceal his chagrin at being obliged to employ +such measures. + +He rang a bell. + +An orderly appeared. + +"Order the provost to come here, four men to remain on the gun-deck near +the forward signal light, and tell the cannoneer to prepare bunches of +tow dipped in sulphur." + +The orderly went out. + +The orders were frightfully positive. In spite of his courage, +Croustillac felt his determination waver; the punishment with which they +threatened him was fearful. Monmouth was then undoubtedly in safety; the +adventurer thought that he had already done much for the duke and for +the duchess. He was about to yield to the fear of torture, when his +courage returned to him at this reflection, grotesque, without doubt, +but which, under the circumstances in which it presented itself to his +mind, became almost heroic, "One does not sacrifice oneself for others +with the sole aim of being crowned with flowers." + +The provost entered the council room. + +Croustillac shuddered, but his looks betrayed no emotion. + +Suddenly, three reports of a gun, in succession resounded long over the +solitude of the ocean. + +The members of the improvised council started from their seats. + +The captain ran to the portholes of the great cabin, declaring the +session suspended. Partisans and officers, forgetting the accused, +ascended in haste to the deck. + +Croustillac, no less curious than his judges, followed them. + +The frigate had received the order to lay to until the issue of the +council which was to decide the fate of the chevalier. + +We have said that the Unicorn had obstinately followed the Thunderer +since the evening before; we have also said that the officer of the +watch had discovered on the horizon a ship, at first almost +imperceptible, but which very soon approached the frigate with a +rapidity almost marvelous. + +When the Thunderer lay to, this ship, a light brigantine, was at the +most only half a league from her; in proportion as she approached, they +distinguished her extraordinarily high masts, her very large sails, her +black hull, narrow and slender, which scarcely rose out of the water; in +one word, they recognized in this small ship all the appearance of a +pirate. + +At the apparition of the brigantine the Unicorn at once proceeded to +place herself in her wake, at a signal which she made to her. + +It was in time of war; the preparations for combat began in a moment on +board the frigate. The captain, observing the singular maneuver of the +two ships, did not wish to expose himself to a hostile surprise. + +The brigantine approached, her sails half reefed, having at her prow a +flag of truce. + +"Monsieur de Sainval," said the captain to one of his officers, "order +the gunners to stand by their guns with lighted matches. If this flag of +truce conceals a ruse, this ship will be sunk." + +De Chemerant and Croustillac felt the same astonishment in recognizing +the Chameleon on board of which the mulatto and Blue Beard had embarked. + +Croustillac's heart beat as if it would burst; his friends had not +abandoned him, they were coming to succor him--but by what means? + +Very soon the Chameleon was within speaking distance of the frigate and +crossed her stern. A man of tall stature, magnificently dressed, was +standing in the stern of the brigantine. + +"James!--our duke! there he is!" cried enthusiastically the three peers, +who, leaning over the taffrail of the frigate, at once recognized the +duke. + +The brigantine then lay to; the two ships remained immovable. + +Lord Mortimer, Lord Dudley and Lord Rothsay gave vent to cries of the +wildest joy at the sight of the Duke of Monmouth. + +"James! our brave duke!--to see you--to see you again at last!" + +"Is it possible? you are the Duke of Monmouth, my lord?" cried De +Chemerant. + +"Yes, I am James of Monmouth," said the duke, "as is proved by the +joyful acclamations of my friends." + +"Yes, there is our James!" + +"It is he indeed, this time!" + +"It is indeed our duke, our veritable duke!" cried the noblemen. + +"Your highness, I have been most unworthily deceived since day before +yesterday, by a miserable wretch who has taken your name." + +"Yes, and we are going to hang him in honor of you!" cried Dudley. + +"Be careful how you do that," said Monmouth; "the one whom you call a +miserable wretch has saved me with the most generous devotion, and I +come, De Chemerant, to take his place on board your ship, if he is in +any danger for having taken mine." + +"Surely, your highness," said De Chemerant, seizing this occasion of +assuring himself of the person of the prince, "it is necessary that you +should come on board; it is the only means by which you can save this +vile impostor." + +"That is, if this 'vile impostor' does not save himself, however," said +Croustillac, springing upon the taffrail and leaping into the sea. + +The movement was so sudden that no one could oppose it. The Gascon +plunged under the waves, and reappeared at a short distance from the +brigantine, toward which he directed his course. + +There was but a short distance between the two vessels; the Chameleon +was almost level with the sea; the chevalier, aided by the Duke of +Monmouth and some of the sailors, found himself on the deck of the +little ship before the passengers on the frigate had recovered from +their surprise. + +"Here is my savior, the most generous of men!" said Monmouth, embracing +Croustillac. + +Then James said a few words in the ear of Croustillac, who disappeared +with Captain Ralph. + +The duke, advancing to the edge of the stern of the brigantine, +addressed himself to De Chemerant: "I know, sir, the projects of the +king, my uncle, James Stuart, and those of the king, your master; I know +that these brave gentlemen come to offer me their arms to aid me in +driving William of Orange from the throne of England." + +"Yes, yes, when you shall be at our head we will drive away these Dutch +rats," cried Mortimer. + +"Come, come, our duke, with you we will go to the end of the world," +said Dudley. + +"My lord, you may count on the support of the king, my master. Once on +board, I will communicate to you my full powers," cried De Chemerant, +ravished to see that his mission, which he had believed desperate, +revived with every chance of success. + +"Your highness, do you wish the long boat sent for you, or will you come +in one of your own boats?" added De Chemerant; "and since your highness +is interested in this miserable rascal, his pardon is assured." + +"Make haste, noble duke----" + +"Come as you wish, James--our James--but come at once!" + +"Yes, come," said Mortimer, "or we will do as this rascal in green +cassock and pink stockings; we will leap into the water like a band of +wild ducks, to be the sooner with you." + +"No imprudence, no imprudence, my old friends," said Monmouth, who +sought to gain time since the Gascon disappeared. + +At last Captain Ralph came to say a word in the ear of the prince; the +latter gave a new order in a low voice and with a radiant air. + +"Your highness, they are about launching the long boat," said De +Chemerant, who was burning with impatience to see the duke on board. + +"It is useless, sir," said the duke. Then, addressing himself formally +to the noblemen with an accent of profound emotion: "My old friends, my +faithful companions, farewell, and forever farewell, I have sworn by the +memory of the most admirable martyr to friendship, never to take part in +civil troubles which might deluge England with blood; I will not break +my oath. Farewell, brave Mortimer, farewell good Dudley, farewell +valiant Rothsay; it breaks my heart not to embrace you for a last time. +Forget this my appearance. Henceforth let James of Monmouth--be dead to +you as he has been to all the world for five years! Again farewell, and +forever farewell!" + +Then turning toward his captain, the duke cried quickly in a sonorous +voice: + +"Set all sails, Ralph!" + +At these words Ralph seized the helm; the sails of the brigantine, +already prepared, were hoisted and trimmed with marvelous rapidity. +Thanks to the breeze and her galley oars, the Chameleon was under way +before the passengers of the frigate had recovered from their surprise. +The brigantine, in moving off, kept in the direction of the stern of the +frigate in order not to be exposed to her guns. + +It is impossible to paint the rage of De Chemerant, the despair of the +noblemen, in seeing the light vessel rapidly increasing the distance +between them. + +"Captain," cried De Chemerant, "set all sail; we will overhaul this +brigantine; there is no better sailer than the Thunderer." + +"Yes, yes," cried the peers, "board her!" + +"Let us capture our duke!" + +"When we have him we will force him to place himself at our head!" + +"He will not refuse his old companions!" + +"My boys, two hundred louis to drink the health of James of Monmouth if +we overtake this waterfly," cried Mortimer, addressing the sailors, and +pointing to the little vessel. + +The Chameleon soon found herself beyond reach of the guns of the +frigate. She quitted the direction she had first taken, and in place of +keeping close to the wind, altered her course. + +This maneuver exposed the Unicorn, which during the conference of the +duke and De Chemerant had remained behind in the wake of the Chameleon +and absolutely in a line with her. + +It is on board the latter ship that we shall conduct the reader; he can +thus assist at the chase which the frigate is about to give to the +brigantine. + +Polypheme de Croustillac was on the deck of the Unicorn in company with +his old host, Captain Daniel, and Father Griffen, who embarked the +evening before on this vessel. + +The reader recalls the plunge that Croustillac made in leaping from the +taffrail of the frigate into the sea in order to rejoin Monmouth. While +the Gascon shook himself, rubbed his eyes, and allowed himself to be +cordially embraced by the duke, the latter had said to him: "Go quickly +and await me on board the Unicorn; Ralph will conduct you there." + +Croustillac, still dizzy from his leap, enraptured at having escaped +from De Chemerant, followed Captain Ralph. The latter made him embark in +a little yawl rowed by a single sailor. + +It was thus that the adventurer boarded the Unicorn. In order not to +lose time, Ralph had ordered the sailor to follow the chevalier and +abandon the yawl; the transfer of the Gascon was then executed very +rapidly. + +The duke had not given the order to hoist the sails of the frigate until +he knew Croustillac to be in safety, for he foresaw that De Chemerant +would inevitably abandon the shadow for the substance, the false +Monmouth for the true, the Unicorn for the Chameleon. + +Master Daniel, at sight of the Gascon, cried out: "It is written that I +never shall see you come aboard my ship but by strange means! In leaving +France you fell from the clouds; in quitting the Antilles, you come to +me from out of the sea like a marine god; like Neptune in person." + +Very much surprised at this encounter, and especially at seeing Father +Griffen, who, standing on the poop, attentively observed the maneuvers +of the two ships, the chevalier said to the captain: "But how the devil +do you find yourself here at a given point to receive me, coming out of +that nutshell down there, floating away at hazard?" + +"Faith, to tell the truth, I know almost nothing about it." + +"How is that, captain?" + +"Yesterday morning my shipowner at Rochelle asked me if my cargo was +complete. I told him it was; he then ordered me to go to Fort Royal, +where a frigate was just leaving, and earnestly demand her escort; if +she refused it, I was to _make_ myself escorted all the same, always +keeping in sight of the said frigate, whatever she might do to prevent +me. Finally, I was to conduct myself toward her almost as a mongrel cur +toward a passer-by to whom he attaches himself. The man in vain drives +the dog away; the dog always keeps just beyond reach of foot or stone; +runs when he runs, walks when he walks, gets out of the way when he +pursues him, stops when he stops, and finishes by keeping at his heels +in spite of him. That is how I have maneuvered with the frigate. That is +not all; my correspondent also said to me: 'You will follow the frigate +until you are joined by a brigantine; then you will remain just behind +her; it may be that this brigantine will send you a passenger (this +passenger I now see was yourself); then you will take him and set sail +at once for France without troubling yourself about either the +brigantine or the frigate; if not, the brigantine will send you other +orders, and you will execute them.' I know only the will of my +shipowners; I have followed the frigate from Fort Royal. This morning +the brigantine joined me, just now I fished you out of the water; now I +set sail for France." + +"The duke will not come on board, then?" asked Croustillac. + +"The duke? what duke? I know no other duke than my shipowner or his +correspondent, which is all the same as--ah! look there! there goes the +frigate, giving tremendous chase to the little ship." + +"Will you abandon the Chameleon thus?" cried Croustillac. "If the +frigate overhauls her will you not go to her aid?" + +"Not I, by the Lord, although I have a dozen little guns which can say +their word as well as others, and the twenty-four good fellows who form +my crew are a match for the marines of the king--but that is not the +point. I know only the orders of my shipowners. Ah, now the brigantine +cuts out some work for the frigate," said Daniel. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE RETURN. + + +The Thunderer pursued the Chameleon furiously. Whether from calculation, +or from an enforced slackening in her course, several times the +brigantine seemed on the point of being overtaken by the frigate; but +then, taking a turn better suited to her construction, she regained the +advantage she had lost. + +Suddenly, by a brisk evolution, the brigantine tacked about, came +straight toward the Unicorn, and in a few minutes came within reach of +the voice. + +One may judge of the joy of the adventurer when on the deck of the +Chameleon, which passed astern of the three-master, he saw Blue Beard +leaning on the arm of Monmouth, and heard the young woman cry to him in +a voice full of emotion: "Adieu, our savior--adieu--may Heaven protect +you! We will never forget you!" + +"Adieu, our best friend," said Monmouth. "Adieu, brave and worthy +chevalier!" + +And the Chameleon moved off, while Angela with her handkerchief, and +Monmouth with a gesture of the hand, made a last sign of farewell to the +adventurer. + +Alas! this apparition was as short as it was ravishing. The brigantine, +after having for a moment grazed the stern of the Unicorn, turned back +on her way and made straight toward the frigate, with incredible +boldness, keeping almost within range of her guns. + +The Thunderer in her turn tacked about; without doubt the captain, +furious at this useless chase, wished to end it at any price. A sudden +flash, a dull and prolonged report was heard a long distance, and the +frigate left behind her a cloud of bluish smoke. + +At this significant demonstration, no longer amusing herself with +doubling before the frigate, the Chameleon came close up to the wind--a +movement particularly favorable to her--and then took flight seriously. +The Thunderer pursued her, both ships directing themselves to the south. + +The Unicorn had the cape on the northeast. She sailed splendidly. One +thus comprehends that she would leave very soon and very far behind the +two ships which sank more and more below the horizon. + +Croustillac remained with his eyes riveted on the ship which bore Blue +Beard away. He followed it with yearning and desolate eyes until the +brigantine had entirely disappeared in space. Then two great tears +rolled down the cheeks of the adventurer. + +He let his head fall into his two hands with which he covered his face. + +Captain Daniel came to suddenly interrupt the sad reverie of the +chevalier; he slapped him joyously on the shoulder and cried out: "Ah, +ha, our guest, the Unicorn, is well on her way; suppose we go below and +drink a madeira sangaree while waiting for supper? I hope you are going +to show me again some of your funny tricks which made me laugh so much, +you know? when you held forks straight on the end of your nose. Come, +let us drink a glass." + +"I am not thirsty, Master Daniel," said the Gascon, sadly. + +"So much the better; you will only drink with the more pleasure; to +drink without thirst--that is what distinguishes the man from the brute, +as they say." + +"Thanks, Master Daniel, but I cannot." + +"Ah! the devil! what is the matter with you then? You have a very queer +air; is it because you have not been lucky, you who boasted you were +going to marry Blue Beard before a month had passed? Say then, do you +remember? You must have lost your bet completely; you have not dared +only to go to Devil's Cliff, I am sure." + +"You are right, Master Daniel, I have lost my bet." + +"As you bet nothing at all it will not ruin you to pay it, fortunately. +Ah! say then, I have had several questions on my tongue for a quarter of +an hour: how did you come to be on board the frigate? how did the +captain of the brigantine pick you up? did you know him? and then, this +woman and this lord who said adieu to you just now--what does all this +mean? Oh, as to that, if it bothers you, do not answer me; I ask you +that, only to know it. If it is a secret, _motus_, let us speak no more +of it." + +"I can tell you nothing on that subject, Master Daniel.'' + +"Let it be understood, then, that I have asked no questions about it, +and long live joy! Come, laugh then, laugh then! what makes you sad? Is +it because here you are still with your old green coat and the very pink +hose so prettily stained with seawater, be it said without offending +you? I will lend you a change, although it is as hot as a furnace, +because it is not healthy to let one's clothes dry on one's body. Come, +come, quit that gloomy air! See, are you not my guest, since you are +here by order of my shipowner? And, whatever comes, have I not told you +that you can stay on board the Unicorn as much as you please? for, by +the Lord, I adore your conversation, your stories, and especially your +tricks. Ah! say, I have a species of tow made with a thread of the bark +of the palm tree, that will burn like priming; that will be famous, you +will swallow that, and you will spit flame and fire like a real demon; +is it not true?" + +"The chevalier appears not disposed to amuse you very much, Master +Daniel," said a grave voice. + +Croustillac and the captain turned; it was Father Griffen who, from the +poop, had watched the pursuit of the brigantine, and who now was +descending to the deck. + +"It is true, Father, I feel somewhat sad," said Croustillac. + +"Bah! bah! if my guest is not in the mood, he will be, very soon, for he +is not naturally a melancholy man. I will go to prepare the sangaree," +said Daniel. And he quitted the deck. + +After some moments of silence, the priest said to Croustillac: + +"Here you are, again, the guest of Captain Daniel; here you are, as poor +as you were ten days ago." + +"Why should I be richer to-day than I was ten days ago, Father," asked +the Gascon. + +It must be said to the praise of Croustillac, that his bitter regrets +were pure from all covetous thoughts; although poor, he was happy to +think that, apart from the little medallion Blue Beard had given him, +his devotion had been entirely disinterested. + +"I believe," said Father Griffen, "that the Duke of Monmouth will be +annoyed at not being able to requite your devotion as he ought. But it +is not altogether his fault; events have so pressed upon one +another----" + +"You do not speak seriously, Father. Why should the duke have wished to +humiliate a man who has done what he could to serve him?" + +"You have done for the duke what a brother might have done; and why, +knowing you to be poor, should he not, as a brother, come to your aid?" + +"For a thousand reasons, I should be disturbed beyond measure, Father. I +even count on the events of the life, more adventurous than ever, that I +am about to lead, to distract my mind, and I hope----" + +The Gascon did not finish his sentence, and again concealed his face in +his hands. The priest respected his silence and left him. + + * * * * * + +Thanks to trade winds and a fine passage, the Unicorn was in sight of +the coast of France about forty days after her departure from +Martinique. + +Little by little the gloomy sadness of the chevalier softened. With an +instinct of great delicacy--an instinct as new to him as the sentiment +which, without doubt, had developed it--the chevalier reserved for +solitude the tender and melancholy thoughts awakened in him by the +remembrance of Blue Beard, for he did not wish to expose these precious +memories to the rude pleasantries of Captain Daniel, or to the +interpretations of Father Griffen. + +At the end of eight days the chevalier had again become in the eyes of +the passengers of the Unicorn what he had been during the first voyage. +Knowing that he was to pay his passage by his good companionship, he put +that kind of probity which was natural to him into his efforts to amuse +Captain Daniel; he showed himself so good a companion that the worthy +captain saw with despair the end of the voyage approach. + +Croustillac had formally declared that he was going to take service in +Moscow where the Czar Peter then received soldiers of fortune gladly. + +The sun was on the point of setting when the Unicorn found herself in +sight of the shores of France. Captain Daniel, from motives of prudence, +preferred waiting for the morning before proceeding to the anchorage. + +Shortly before the moment of sitting down to the table, Father Griffen +prayed the Gascon to come with him to his room. The grave, almost +solemn, air of the priest appeared strange to Croustillac. + +The door closed, Father Griffen, his eyes filled with tears, extended +his arms to the Gascon, and said: "Come, come, excellent and noble +creature; come, my good and dear son." + +The chevalier, at once moved and astonished, cordially pressed the +priest in his arms and said to him: "What is it, then, my father?" + +"What is it? what is it? How, you, a poor adventurer, you, whose past +life should have rendered less scrupulous than others, you save the life +of the son of a king, you devote yourself to his interests with as much +abnegation as intelligence; and then, that done and your friends in +safety, you return to your obscure and miserable life, not knowing even +at this hour, on the eve of reentering France, where you will lay your +head to-morrow! and that without one word, one single word of complaint, +of the ingratitude, or at least, of the forgetfulness of those who owe +you so much!" + +"But, my Father----" + +"Oh, I have observed you well during this voyage! Never a bitter word, +never even the shadow of a reproach; as in the past, you have become gay +and thoughtless again. And yet--no--no--I have well seen that your +gayety was assumed; you have lost in this voyage your one possession, +your only resource--the careless gayety which has aided you to bear +misfortune." + +"My Father, I assure you, no." + +"Oh, I do not deceive myself, I tell you. At night I have surprised you +alone, apart, on the deck, sadly dreaming. Of old, did you ever dream +thus?" + +"Have I not, on the contrary, during the voyage, diverted Captain Daniel +by my pleasantries, good Father?" + +"Oh, I have observed you well; if you have consented to amuse Master +Daniel, it was in order to recompense him as you could for the +hospitality he has given you. Listen, my son--I am old--I can say all to +you without offending you; well, conduct such as yours would be very +worthy, very fine on the part of a man whose antecedents, whose +principles rendered him naturally delicate; but on your part, whom an +idle, perhaps culpable youth, should seem to have robbed of all +elevation of thought, it is doubly noble and beautiful; it is at once +the expiation of the past and the glorification of the present. Thus, +such sentiments cannot remain without their recompense--the trial has +endured too long. Yes, I almost blame myself for having imposed it on +you." + +"What trial, my Father?" + +"Yet, no; this trial has permitted you to show a delicacy as noble as +touching----" + +A knock at the door of Father Griffen's room. + +"What is it?" + +"Supper, Father." + +"Come, let us go, my son," said Father Griffen, regarding Croustillac +with a peculiar air; "I do not know why it seems to me that the journey +will terminate fortunately for you." + +The chevalier, very much surprised that the Reverend Father should have +brought him to his room in order to hold the discourse we have reported, +followed Father Griffen on deck. + +To the great astonishment of Croustillac, he saw the crew in gala +attire; lighted torches were suspended to the shrouds and the masts. +When the adventurer appeared on deck, the twelve guns of the +three-master resounded in salute. + +"Zounds! Father, what is all this?" said Croustillac; "are we attacked?" + +Father Griffen had no leisure to respond to the adventurer; Captain +Daniel, in his holiday clothes, followed by his lieutenant, his officer +and the masters and mates of the Unicorn, came to respectfully salute +Croustillac, and said to him with ill-concealed embarrassment: +"Chevalier, you are my shipowner; this ship and its cargo belong to +you." + +"To the devil with you, comrade Daniel!" responded Croustillac; "if you +are as crazy as this before supper, what will you be when you have been +drinking, our host?" + +"I ask no end of pardons, chevalier, for having made you balance things +on your nose, and for having led you to chew oakum in order to spit fire +during the voyage. But as true as we are in sight of the coast of +France, I did not know that you were the proprietor of the Unicorn." + +"Ah, Father, explain to me," said Croustillac. + +"The Reverend Father will explain to you many things--so much the +better, chevalier," continued Daniel, "that it is he who brought me just +now the letter of my correspondent of Fort Royal, which announces to me +that in view of the power of attorney he has always had from my +shipowner in Rochelle, he has sold the Unicorn and her cargo as attorney +to Chevalier Polypheme de Croustillac; thus then the Unicorn and her +cargo belong to you, chevalier; you will give me a receipt and discharge +of the said Unicorn and of the said cargo when we reach a port of +France, or foreign land which it shall suit you to designate; which +receipt and discharge I will send to my shipowner for my entire +discharge of the said ship and said cargo." + +Having pronounced this legal formula all in a breath, Captain Daniel, +seeing Croustillac abstracted and anxious, thought that the chevalier +bore him some grudge; he replied with new embarrassment: "Father +Griffen, who has known me for many years, will affirm to you, and you +will believe it, chevalier, I swear to you that in asking you to swallow +oakum and spit out flame, I did not know that I had to do with my owner, +and the master of the Unicorn. No, no, chevalier, it is not for one who +possesses a ship, which, all loaded, might be worth at least two hundred +thousand crowns----" + +"This ship and her cargo is worth that price?" said the adventurer. + +"At the lowest price, sir; at the lowest price, sold in a lump and at +once; but, by not hurrying, one would have fifty thousand crowns more." + +"Do you now comprehend, my son?" said Father Griffen, "our friends of +Devil's Cliff, learning that grave interests recalled me suddenly to +France, have charged me with making you accept this gift on their parts. +Pardon me, or rather felicitate me for having so well proved the +elevation of your character, in revealing to you only at this late hour, +the bounty of the prince." + +"Ah, Father," said Croustillac bitterly, drawing from his breast the +medallion that the duchess had given him, and which he wore suspended by +a leathern cord, "with that, I was recompensed as a gentleman, why now +do they treat me as a vagabond in giving me this splendid alms?" + +The next day the Unicorn entered port, Croustillac, making use of his +new rights, borrowed twenty-five louis of Captain Daniel, on the value +of the cargo, and forbade him to land for twenty-four hours. + +Father Griffen was to lodge at the seminary. Croustillac appointed a +meeting with him for the next day at noon. At noon the chevalier did not +appear, but sent the priest the following note by a messenger of La +Rochelle: + + * * * * * + +"My good Father I cannot accept the gift which you have offered me. I +send you a deed drawn up according to rule, which substitutes you in all +my rights over this ship and her cargo. You will employ it all in good +works, as you understand how to do. The notary who will send you this +note will consult with you as to formalities; he has my power of +attorney. + +"Adieu, my good Father; sometimes remember the Gascon, and do not forget +him in your prayers. + +"CHEVALIER DE CROUSTILLAC." + + * * * * * + +It was years before Father Griffen heard of the adventurer again. + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE ABBEY. + + +The abbey of St. Quentin, situated not far from Abbeville and almost at +the mouth of the Somme, possessed the finest farms in the province of +Picardy; each week its numerous tenants paid in kind a part of their +rents. In order to represent abundance, a painter might have chosen the +moment when this enormous tithe was carried to the convent. + +At the end of the month of November, 1708, about eighteen years after +the events of which we have spoken, the tenants were met together on a +misty, cold autumn morning, in a little court situated outside the +buildings of the abbey and not far from the lodge of the porter. + +Outside one saw the horses, the asses, and the carts which had served +for the transportation of the immense quantity of produce destined for +the provisioning of the convent. + +A bell rang, all the peasants pressed to the foot of a small staircase +of a few steps, situated under a shed which occupied the back part of +the court. The flight of steps was surmounted by a vault through which +one came out from the interior of the convent. + +The cellarer, accompanied by two lay brethren, appeared under this +vault. + +The fat, rubicund, animated face of the Father, detached itself like a +Rembrandt on the obscure depth of the passage at the extremity of which +he had stopped; from fear of the cold, the monk had drawn over his head +the warm hood of his black cloak. A soft _soutane_ of white wool draped +itself in large folds about his enormous obesity. + +One of the brothers carried an ink bottle at his girdle, a pen behind +his ear, and a big register under his arm; he seated himself on one of +the steps of the staircase, in order to enter the rents brought by the +farmers. + +The other brothers classified the goods under the shed as they were +placed there; while the cellarer, from the top of the flight of steps, +presided solemnly over their admission, his hands concealed in his large +cuffs. + +It is impossible to number and describe this mass of comestibles placed +at the foot of the staircase. Here were enormous fish from the sea, the +lake, or the river, which still wriggled on the slabs of the court; +there magnificent capons, monstrous geese, large ducks coupled by their +feet, fluttered convulsively in the midst of mountains of fresh butter +and immense baskets of eggs, vegetables, and winter fruits. Further on +were tethered two of these sheep fattened on the salt meadows, which +give such fine flavor to their succulent flesh. Fishers rolled along +small barrels of oysters; further on were shellfish of every kind, +lobsters, eels and shrimps, which shook the wicker baskets in which they +were inclosed. + +One of the porters of the abbey was on his knees before a buck a year +old, in full flesh, and killed the day before; he weighed with his hand +a quarter, to make the cellarer admire its weight; near the buck lay two +kids, a good number of hares and partridges; while another porter opened +hampers filled with every species of marsh fowl and birds of passage, +such as wild duck, woodcock, teal, plovers, etc. + +Finally, in another corner of the court, were spread out the more +modest, but no less useful offerings, such as sacks of the purest flour, +dried vegetables, strings of perfumed hams, etc. + +At one time these gastronomics were so heaped up that they reached the +level of the staircase where the cellarer stood. + +Seeing this rotund monk with his shining face, his vast abdomen, +standing on this pedestal of comestibles which he watched with the eye +of a gormand, one would have called him the genius of good cheer. + +According to the quantity or quality of his tribute, each tenant, after +having received a word of blame or praise from the cellarer, withdrew +with a slight genuflection. The Reverend Father even deigned at times to +withdraw from his long sleeves his fat, red hand, to give it to the most +favored to kiss. + +The roll-call of the lay brother was almost at an end. + +There was brought to the cellarer a savory caudle in a silver bowl borne +on a tray of the same metal. The Reverend Father swallowed this +consomme, a perfect specific against the morning cold and fog. At this +moment the lay brother complained of having in vain twice called James, +the tenant of the farm of Blaville, who owed ten hens, three sacks of +wheat and one hundred crowns for the rent of his farm. + +"Ah, well!" said the cellarer, "where then is James? He is ordinarily +exact. For fifteen years that he has held the farm of Blaville, he has +never failed in his rent." + +The peasants still called for James. + +James did not appear. + +From out the crowd of farmers came two children, a young boy and a young +girl from thirteen to fourteen years of age; trembling with confusion, +they advanced to the foot of the staircase--redoubtable +tribunal!--holding each other by the hand, their eyes downcast and full +of tears. + +The little girl fingered the corner of the apron of coarse cloth +covering her petticoat of whitish cloth rayed with wide black stripes; +the young boy convulsively grasped his cap of brown wool. They stopped +at the foot of the staircase. + +"These are the children of the farmer James," said a voice. + +"Very well! and the ten hens, and the three sacks of wheat, and the one +hundred crowns from your father?" said the reverend man severely. + +The two poor children pressed against each other, nudging one another +with the elbow, as an encouragement to answer. + +Finally the young boy, having more resolution, raised his noble, +handsome face, which his coarse garments rendered still more remarkable, +and sadly said to the monk: "Our father has been very ill for two +months; our mother is taking care of him--there is no money in the +house; we have been obliged to take the wheat and the rent to support +the day laborer and his wife who takes my father's place in the farm +work, and then it has been necessary to sell the hens to pay the +doctor." + +"It is always the same story when tenants fail in their rents," said the +monk roughly. "James was a good and punctual farmer; this is how he +spoils all, just like the others; but in the interests of the abbey as +well as in his own, we will not let him wander into the bad way." Then, +addressing himself to the children, he added severely: "The +father-treasurer will consider this--wait there." + +The two children withdrew into an obscure corner of the shed. The young +girl seated herself, weeping, on a bench; her brother stood near her, +looking at his sister with gloomy sadness. + +The roll-call finished, the monks re-entered the abbey, the peasants +regained the horses and carts which had brought them, the two children +remained alone in the court, waiting with sad disquietude the decision +of the treasurer with regard to their father. + +A new personage appeared at the gate of the little court. This was a +tall old man with large, white mustache and neglected beard; he walked +with difficulty with the help of a wooden leg, and wore a uniform-coat +of green with an orange-colored collar; a wallet of leather slung on his +back carried his modest baggage; he supported himself on a thick cane +made from the dogwood tree, and on his head was a big Hungarian cap of +black worn fur, which descending to his eyebrows, gave him the most +savage air in the world; his hair, as white as his mustache, tied with a +leathern string, formed a long queue which fell to his shoulders; his +skin was tanned, his eyes were bright and lively, though age had bowed +his tall stature. + +This old man entered the court without seeing the children; he looked +about him like a man seeking to find his way; perceiving the two little +peasants, he went straight to them. + +The young girl, startled by this strange figure, or rather, by this +enormous cap of bristling fur, gave a cry of affright; her brother took +her hand to reassure her, and although the poor child wished to withdraw +it, he advanced resolutely toward the old man. + +The latter stopped, struck with the beauty of these two children, and +especially the delicate features of the young girl, whose face of +perfect regularity was crowned with two bands of blond hair half +concealed under a poor little child's cap of a brown color; she wore, +like her brother, rude wooden shoes and wool stockings. + +"You are afraid of me then! Zounds! you will not tell me, then, where +the Abbey of St. Quentin is?" said the old soldier. + +Although he was far from wishing to intimidate the children, the tone of +his voice frightened the young girl still more, who, pressing closely to +her brother, said to him in a low tone: "Answer him, James, answer him; +see what a wicked air he has." + +"Have no fear, Angela, have no fear," answered the boy. Then he said to +the soldier: "Yes, sir, this is the Abbey of St. Quentin; but if you +wish to enter the porter's lodge is on the other side, outside of this +court." + +The boy might have spoken a long time without the soldier paying +attention to his words. + +When the young girl called her brother "James" the old man made a +movement of surprise; but when James, in his turn, called his sister +"Angela" the old man started, let his stick fall, and was obliged to +support himself against the wall, so violent was his agitation. + +"You call yourselves 'James' and 'Angela,' my children?" said he, in a +trembling voice. + +"Yes, sir," answered the young boy entirely reassured, but astonished at +this question. + +"And your parents?" + +"Our parents are tenants of the abbey, sir." + +"Come," said the soldier, whom the reader has doubtless already +recognized, "I am an old fool--but--the union of these two +names--James--Angela. Come, come, Polypheme, you lose your head, my +friend; because you encounter two little peasants you imagine--" he +shrugged his shoulders; "it is hardly worth while to have this big white +beard at one's chin only to give way to such visions! If it is to make +such discoveries that you return from Moscow, Polypheme, you might just +as well--have done----" + +While speaking thus to himself, Croustillac had examined the young girl +with the greatest curiosity; more and more struck with a resemblance +which seemed incomprehensible, he fastened eager eyes on Angela. + +The young girl again frightened, said to her brother, hiding her face +behind his shoulder: "Heavens! how he frightens me, again!" + +"However, these features," said Croustillac, feeling his heart beat with +doubt, anxiety, fear and despair all at once, "these charming features +recall to me--but no--it is impossible--impossible. By what probability? +Decidedly, I am an old fool. Farmers? Come, that sabre cut I got on the +head at the siege of Azof has deranged my brain. After all, there are +chances so strange (and surely, more than any one else, I should believe +in the oddities of chance; I should be an ingrate to deny it); yes, +chance might occasion peasants to give their children certain names +rather than others, but chance does not make these resemblances--come, +it is impossible. After all, I can ask them, and in asking them I shall +laugh at myself; it is stupid. My children, tell me, what is your +father's name?" + +"James, sir." + +"Yes, James--but James--what?" + +"James, sir." + +"James? nothing more?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the boy, regarding Croustillac with surprise. + +"This is more and more strange," said Croustillac, reflecting. + +"Has he been long in France?" + +"He has always been here, sir." + +"Come, I was mad; decidedly, I was mad. Has your father ever been a +soldier, my children?" + +Angela and James looked at each other with astonishment. + +The young boy answered: "No, sir, he has always been a farmer." + +At this moment the door which communicated with the abbey opened and one +of the lay brothers appeared at the top of the stairway. + +This brother was the type of an ignoble monk, gross and sensual. He made +a sign to the children, who tremblingly approached. + +"Come here, little one," said he to the girl. + +The poor child, after casting a doubtful look at her brother, whom she +could not make up her mind to leave, timidly mounted the steps. + +The monk took her insolently by the chin with his coarse hand, turned up +her face which she held down, and said to her: "Pretty one, you will +warn your father that if he does not pay eight days from now his rent in +kind and the hundred crowns which he owes, there is a farmer who is more +solvent than he who wants the farm and who will obtain it. As your +father is a good fellow, they will give him eight days--but for that, +they would have turned him out to-day." + +"My God! my God!" said the children, weeping and clasping their hands, +"there is no money at home. Our poor father is sick. Alas! what shall we +do?" + +"You will do what you can," said the monk, "that is the order of the +prior;" and he made a sign to the young girl to go. + +The two children threw themselves into each other's arms, sobbing, and +saying: "Our father will die of this--he will die!" + +Croustillac, half-hidden by a post of the shed, had been at once touched +and angered by this scene. At the moment the monk was about to close the +door, the Gascon said to him: "Reverend Father, a word--is this the +Abbey of St. Quentin?" + +"Yes, and what of it?" said the monk rudely. + +"You will willingly give me a lodging till to-morrow, will you not?" + +"Hum--always beggars," said the monk. "Very well; go and ring at the +porter's gate. They will give you a bundle of straw and give you bread +and soup." Then he added: "These vagabonds are the plague of religious +houses." + +The adventurer became crimson, drew up his tall form, thrust, with a +blow of his fist, his fur cap over his eyes, struck the earth with his +stick, and cried in a threatening tone: "Zounds! Reverend Father, know +your company a little better, at least." + +"Who is this old wallet-bearer?" said the irritated monk. + +"Because I carry a wallet it does not follow that I ask alms of you, +Reverend Father," said Croustillac. + +"What dost thou want, then?" + +"I ask a supper and a shelter because your rich convent can well afford +to give bread and shelter to poor travelers. Charity commands this from +your abbot. And beside, in sheltering Christians, you do not give, you +restore. Your abbey grows very fat from its tithes." + +"Wilt thou be quiet, thou old heretic, thou insolent old fellow!" + +"You call me an insolent old fellow. Very well; learn, Don Surly, that I +have still a crown in my wallet, and that I can do without your straw +and your soup, Don Ribald." + +"What dost thou mean by Don Ribald, rascal that thou art?" said the lay +brother, advancing to the top of the steps. "Take care lest I give thy +old rags a good shaking." + +"Since we thee-and-thou each other, Don Drinker, take care in thy turn, +Don Greedy, that I do not make thee taste of my stick, Don Big Paunch, +infirm as I am, Don Brutal." + +The vigorous monk for a moment made as though he was about to descend to +chastise the Gascon, but he shrugged his shoulders and said to +Croustillac: "If thou hast ever the impudence to present thyself at the +porter's lodge, thou wilt be thrashed to some purpose. That is the kind +of hospitality thou wilt receive henceforth from the Abbey of St. +Quentin." Then addressing himself to the children: "And you be sure to +tell your father that in eight days he pays or quits the farm, for, I +repeat to you, that there is a farmer more solvent than he who wants +it." + +The monk shut the door brusquely. + +"I cannot tell it to the children," said the adventurer, speaking to +himself; "that would be a bad example for youth; but I had something +like a feeling of remorse for having aided in the burning of a convent +in the Moravian War--well, it pleases me to imagine that the roasted +ones resembled this fat, big-bellied animal, and it makes me feel quite +cheerful. The scoundrel! to treat those poor children so harshly! It is +strange how I interest myself in them--if I had at least some reason for +it, I should let myself hope. After all, why not clear up my doubts? +What do I risk by it? I have plenty of money. Ah, then, my children," +said he to the young peasants, "your father is sick and poor? He will +not be vexed to gain a little windfall; although I carry a wallet, I +have a purse. Well, instead of going to dine and sleep at the inn (may +the lightning strike me if I ever set foot in this abbey, the Lord +confound it!) I will go and dine and sleep at your place. I will not be +any trouble to you. I have been a soldier, I am not hard to suit; a +stool in the chimney corner, a morsel of lard, a glass of cider, and for +the night a bundle of fresh straw, the gentle warmth of the stable--that +is all I need; and that means a piece of twenty-four sous which will +come into your house. What do you say to that?" + +"My father is not an innkeeper, sir," answered the young boy. + +"Bah! bah! my boy, if the good man has sense; if the good mother is a +housekeeper, as she ought to be, they will not regret my coming; this +piece of good luck will make your pot boil for a whole day. Come, +conduct me to your farm, my children; your father would scold you for +not bringing him an old soldier." + +In spite of his apparent roughness and his uncouth figure, the chevalier +inspired James and Angela with confidence; the children took each other +by the hand and walked before the invalid soldier, who followed them +absorbed in a profound reverie. + +At the end of an hour's walk, they arrived at the entrance of a long +avenue of apple trees, which led to the farm. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +REUNION. + + +James and Angela entered the farm in order to learn if their father +would consent to give the old soldier hospitality. While waiting the +return of the children, the adventurer closely scanned the outbuildings +of the farm. + +Everything appeared to be carried on with care and neatness; at the side +of the working buildings was the farmer's house; two immense walnut +trees shaded the door and its thatched roof of velvety green moss; a +light smoke escaped from the brick chimney; the sound of the ocean was +heard in the distance, as the farm lay almost on the cliffs of the +coast. + +The rain began to fall; the wind moaned; a shepherd boy was bringing +home from the fields two beautiful brown cows which turned toward their +warm stable, causing their little bells to give forth a melancholy +sound. The adventurer was touched by this peaceful scene. He envied the +lot of the people of this farm, even though he knew their momentary +embarrassment. He saw approaching him a woman pale and small in figure, +and of middle-age. She was dressed like the peasants of Picardy, but +with extreme neatness. Her son accompanied her; her daughter remained in +the doorway. + +"We are very much grieved, sir." + +Hardly had the woman said these words, when Croustillac became as pale +as a ghost, extended his arms toward her without saying a word, let his +cane escape, lost his equilibrium and fell suddenly his full length on a +heap of dry leaves which was, happily, behind him. + +The adventurer had fainted. + +The Duchess of Monmouth (for it was she) not at once recognizing the +chevalier, attributed his weakness to fatigue or need, and hastened, +with the assistance of her two children, to resuscitate the stranger. + +James, a strong boy for his age, supported the old man to the trunk of +one of the walnut trees, while his mother and sister hurried off to seek +a cordial. In opening the chevalier's coat in order to facilitate his +respiration, James saw, attached by a leathern braid, the rich medallion +which the adventurer carried on his breast. + +"Mother! see this beautiful reliquary," said the young lad. + +The duchess approached and was in turn stupefied at recognizing the +medallion she had once given Croustillac. Then, regarding the chevalier +with closer attention, she cried: + +"It is he! it is the generous man who saved us!" + +The chevalier began to revive. When he opened his eyes they were filled +with tears. + +It would be impossible to paint the happiness, the transports of the +good Croustillac. + +"You in this dress, madame! you whom I see after so many years! When I +heard these children just now call each other James and Angela, my heart +beat so strong! But I could not believe--hope--And the duke?" + +The Duchess of Monmouth put one finger on her lips, shook her head +sadly, and said: "You are going to see him! Alas! why should the +pleasure of seeing you again be saddened by the sickness of James? Had +it not been for this, to-day would have been beautiful for us." + +"I can hardly recognize you again, madame; you, in this costume--in this +sad condition." + +"Silence! my children may hear you. But wait a moment here; I will go +and prepare my husband to receive you." + +After some minutes the adventurer entered Monmouth's room; the latter +was extended on one of those green serge canopied beds such as may still +be seen in the houses of some of the peasants. + +Although he was emaciated by suffering, and was at that time more than +fifty years old, the physiognomy of the duke showed the same gracious +and high character. + +Monmouth held out his hands affectionately to Croustillac, and +indicating a chair at his bed, said to him: "Seat yourself there, my +good friend. To what miraculous chance do we owe this happy meeting? I +cannot believe my eyes! So, chevalier, we are reunited after more than +eighteen years of separation. Ah! how often Angela and I have spoken of +you and of your devoted generosity. Our regret was not being able to +tell our children the debt of gratitude that we owe you, and which they +also owe you." + +"Ah, well, my duke, consider what is most pressing," said the Gascon, +"each in his turn." + +So saying, he took his knife from his pocket, unfastened his coat, and +gravely made a large incision in the lining. + +"What are you doing?" asked the duke. + +The chevalier drew from his secret pocket a kind of leathern purse, and +said to the duke: "There is in this one hundred double-louis, your +highness; on the other side there is as much. This is the first of my +savings on my pay, and the price of the leg which I left the past year +at the battle of Mohiloff, after the passage of Beresina; for he was +first, Peter the Great--well-named--in paying generously the soldiers of +fortune who enrolled themselves in his service and who gave, many of +them, the sacrifice of some one of their limbs." + +"But, my friend, I do not understand you," said Monmouth, gently pushing +away the purse which the adventurer tendered him. + +"I will be explicit, my lord; you are in arrears to the amount of one +hundred crowns of rent, and you are threatened with being turned out of +this farm in eight days. It is a pot-bellied animal, bearded and +corpulent, robed in the garb of a monk, who has made this threat to your +poor, dear children but a short time since at the convent door." + +"Alas, James! this is only too probable," said Angela, sadly, to her +husband. + +"I fear it," said Monmouth, "but this is not a reason, my friend, to +accept----" + +"But, my lord, it seems to me that you made me such a fine gift, it is +now eighteen years ago, that we might well share it to-day; and when we +speak of the past, in order to disembarrass yourself at once of what +concerns me, and to speak henceforth of your affairs at our ease, my +lord, in two words, this is my history. Upon my arrival at Rochelle, +Father Griffen told me that you had presented me the Unicorn and its +cargo!" + +"My God! my friend, this was such a small thing after all that you had +done for us," said James. + +"May we not at least recognize all that you have done for us?" said +Angela. + +"Without doubt, it was little--it was nothing at all--a cup of coffee +well sugared, with rum to soften it, was it not? Only the cup was a +ship, and to fill it there was coffee and sugar and rum, the cargo of a +vessel of eight hundred tons--the whole worth two hundred thousand +crowns. You are right--it was less than nothing--but in order to put +aside useless discussion and to be frank, Zounds! this gift wounded +me----" + +"My friend----" + +"I was paid by this medallion--speak no more of it. Besides, I have no +longer the right to resent it; I made deed of gift of the whole to +Father Griffen in order that he might in his turn give it to the poor, +or to the convent, or to the devil if he chose to." + +"Can it be possible that you refused it?" exclaimed both husband and +wife. + +"Yes, I did refuse it, and I am sure, my lord, although you pretend +surprise, that you would have acted as I did. I was not already so rich +in good works as not to keep the memory of Devil's Cliff pure and +without stain. It was a costly luxury, perhaps, but I had been James of +Monmouth twenty-four hours, and somewhat of my role of grand seigneur +still clung to me." + +"Noble and excellent heart!" exclaimed Angela. + +"But," said Monmouth, "you were so poor!" + +"It is just because I am used to poverty and an adventurous life that +that cost me nothing--I said to myself: 'Polypheme--consider! thou hast +dreamed this night that thou wast worth two hundred thousand crowns.' I +dreamed this dream--all has been said--and that did me good. Yes, often +in Russia, when I was in misery--in distress--or when I was nailed to my +pallet by a wound, I said to myself, to comfort and to rejoice me: +'After all, Polypheme, for once in thy life thou hast done something +noble and generous.' Well, you may believe me, that restored my courage. +But this is boasting, and what is worse, it unmans me--let us return to +my departure from Rochelle. I avow it to you and I thank you for it; +nevertheless, I have profited a little by your generosity. As nothing +remained to me of my three unlucky crowns, and that was a small sum to +travel to Moscow on, I borrowed twenty-five louis from Master Daniel on +the cargo; I paid my passage on a Hamburg ship from Hamburg to Fallo; I +embarked for Revel on a Swedish vessel; from Revel I went to Moscow; I +arrived there like seafish in Lent; Admiral Lefort was recruiting a +forlorn hope to reinforce the _polichnie_ of the czar; in other words, +the first company of infantry equipped and maneuvering after the German +mode which had existed in Russia. I had made the campaign in Flanders +with the '_reiters_;' I knew the service; I was then enrolled in the +_polichnie_ of the czar, and I had the honor of having this great man +for file closer, for he served in this company as a simple soldier, +seeing he had the habit of thinking that in order to know a trade it is +necessary to learn it. + +"Once incorporated in the Muscovite army, I served in all the wars. Do +not think, my lord, that I am going to recount to you my campaigns, to +speak to you of the siege of Azof, where I received a saber cut on my +head; the taking of Astrakhan under Scheremetoff, where I received a +lance thrust in my loins; of the siege of Narva, where I had the honor +of aiming at his majesty, Charles XII., and the good fortune to miss +him; and finally, the great battle of Dorpat. + +"No, no, do not fear, my lord; I keep these fine stories to put your +children to sleep with during the winter nights, in the chimney corner, +when the seawinds rage in the branches of your old walnut trees. All +that remains for me to say to you, my lord, is that I have made war ever +since I left you, first as a noncommissioned officer, and then as +lieutenant. I might have done it still, perhaps, if last year I had not +forgotten one of my legs at Mohiloff. The czar generously gave me the +capital of my pension, and I returned to France because, after all, it +is there that one dies best--when one is born there; I went on foot, +lounging along, regaining my paternal valley, lodging and sleeping in +the abbeys to spare my purse, when chance--this time, no," said the +chevalier, in a grave and penetrating tone which contrasted greatly with +his ordinary language, "oh, this time, no--it was not chance, but the +providence of the good God which caused me to meet with your children, +my lord; they have brought me here; I fell back in a swoon on a heap of +dry leaves on recognizing the duchess, and here I am. + +"Now, here is my plan--at least, if you consent to it, my lord. My +paternal valley is very empty--my father and my mother are long since +dead; I should wish, of all things, to establish myself near you. +Although lame, I am still good for something, if only to serve as a +scarecrow to hinder the birds from eating your apples and cherries. I +will forget that you are 'my lord:' I will call you 'Master James,' I +will call the duchess, 'Dame James,' your children shall call me Father +Polypheme; I will tell them of my battles, and it will go on like that, +_vitam aeternam_." + +"Yes! yes! we accept; you shall never leave us," said James and Angela +together, their eyes filled with tears. + +"But on one condition," said the chevalier, drying his eyes also, "that +is, that I, who am as proud as a peacock, shall pay you, in advance, my +board; and that you will accept from me these two hundred louis that you +refused; total, six thousand livres; at five hundred francs a year, +twelve of board. In twelve years we will make another lease." + +"But, my friend----" + +"But, my lord, it is yes or no. If it is yes, I remain, and I am more +happy than I deserve to be. If it is no, I take again my stick, my +wallet, and I start for the paternal valley, where I shall die, in a +corner sadly and all alone, like an old dog who has lost his master." + +Grotesque as were these words, they were spoken in a tone so full of +emotion and so touching that the duke and his wife could not refuse the +offer of the chevalier: "Well then, I accept." + +"Hurrah!" cried Croustillac, in the voice of a stentor, and he +accompanied this Muscovite exclamation by throwing into the air his old +fur cap. + +"Yes, I accept with all my heart, my old friend," said Monmouth, +"and--why conceal it from you?--this unexpected succor which you offer +us so generously, saves, perhaps, my life--saves, perhaps, my wife and +children from misery, for this sum sets us afloat again, and we can +brave two years as bad as those which have been the cause of our first +embarrassment. Fatigue, chagrin, fear for the future, have made me ill; +now, tranquil as to the fate of my dear ones, assured of a friend like +you--I am sure that my health will return to me." + +"Zounds! my lord, how did it happen that, with the enormous amount of +jewels that you had, you are reduced?" + +"Angela will tell you that, my friend; emotion at once so keen and so +sweet as I feel has fatigued me." + +"After having left you on board of the Unicorn," said Angela "we set +sail for Brazil; we sojourned there some time, but from prudence, we +resolved to depart for India on board a Portuguese vessel. We had lived +three years in this little-known country, very happy and very tranquil, +when I fell seriously ill. One of the best physicians in Bombay declared +that the climate of India would become fatal to me; my native air alone +could save me. You know how James loves me; it was impossible for me to +alter his resolution; he chose at all hazards to return to Europe, to +France, in spite of the dangers that threatened him. We started from the +Cape in a Dutch ship, making sail for the Texel. We possessed a very +considerable sum coming from the sale of our jewels. Our voyage was very +fortunate as far as the coast of France, but there a terrible tempest +assailed us. After losing her masts, and being beaten about by the waves +for three days, our ship went ashore on the coast a quarter of a league +from here; by a miracle of Heaven, James and I alone escaped an almost +certain death. Several of the passengers were, like us, cast on the +beach during this horrible night--all perished. I repeat to you, my +friend, that a miracle from Heaven was necessary to save us, James and +me--to save me especially, ill as I was. The tenants whom we replaced on +this farm found us almost dying on the shore; they brought us here. The +ship was swallowed up with all our riches; James, occupied solely with +me, had forgotten all; we no longer possessed anything; I was an orphan +with no fortune; James could not apply to any one without being +recognized. + +"What remained to us in Martinique had, without doubt, been +confiscated--and then, how could we claim this property? For all +resource there remained to us a ring which I wore on my finger at the +time of the ship-wreck; we intrusted it to the tenants of this farm, who +had received us, to sell the diamond at Abbeville; they got for it about +four thousand livres--that was all our store. My health was so affected +that we were obliged to stop here; this measure, besides reconciled both +prudence and economy; the farmers were good, full of cares for us. + +"Little by little my health became re-established. Almost without +resources we thought of the future with terror; however, we were young, +misfortune had redoubled our love; the simple, obscure, peaceable life +of our hosts impressed us; they were old, without children; we proposed +to them to take the half of their farm, and to make our apprenticeship +under their direction, avowing to them that we had no other resources +than the four thousand livres that we would share with them. Touched +with our position, these good people wished at first to dissuade us from +this project, representing to us how hard and laborious this life was. I +insisted; I felt myself full of courage and strength; James had lived a +hard life too long not to accustom himself to that of the fields. We +accomplished our design; I was tranquil about James. Who would seek the +Duke of Monmouth in an obscure farm in Picardy? At the end of two years +we had finished our apprenticeship, thanks to the lessons and teaching +of our good forerunners; their little fortune, augmented by our four +thousand livres, was sufficient. They made an agreement with the +treasurer of the abbey that we should succeed them and we take the +entire farm." + +"Ah, madame, what resignation! what energy!" cried the chevalier. + +"Ah, if you knew, my friend," said Monmouth, "with what admirable +serenity of soul, with what gentle gayety Angela endured his rough +life--she, accustomed to a life of luxury!--if you knew how she always +knew how to be gracious, elegant, and charming, all the while +superintending the affairs of the household with admirable activity!--if +you knew in fine, what strength I drew from this brave and devoted +heart; from this gentle regard always fixed upon me with an admirable +expression of happiness and content precarious as was our position! Ah, +who will ever recompense this beautiful conduct?" + +"My friend," said Angela tenderly, "has not God blessed our laborious +and peaceful life? Has He not sent us two little angels to change our +duties into pleasures? What shall I say to you?" resumed Angela, +addressing the chevalier; "for the almost sixteen years that this +uniform life has lasted, of which each day has brought its bread, as the +good folks say, never a chagrin had come to trouble it, when, in the +past year, a bad harvest hampered us very much. We were obliged to +discharge two of our farm hands for economy's sake. James redoubled his +efforts and his work, his strength gave out; he took to his bed; our +small resources were exhausted. A bad year, you see, for poor farmers," +said Angela, smiling softly, "is terrible. In short, without you, I do +not know how we could have escaped the fate which threatened us, for the +Abbot of St. Quentin is inflexible toward tenants in arrears, and yet it +was our pride to pay him always a term in advance. One hundred +crowns--as much as that--and a hundred crowns, chevalier, are not easily +gotten together." + +"A hundred crowns? That does not pay for the embroidery on a baldric," +said James with a melancholy smile. "Ah, how many times, in experiencing +what misfortune is, have I regretted the good I might have done." + +"Listen, my lord," said Croustillac gravely, "I am no devotee. Just now +I came near shaking a monk out of his robes; I committed irregularities +during my campaign in Moravia, but I am sure there is One above Who does +not lose sight of honest people. Now, it is impossible that after +nineteen years of work and resignation, now when you grow old, with two +beautiful children, you should dream of remaining at the mercy of an +avaricious monk or a year of frost. In listening to you, an idea has +come to me. If I was the boaster of old, I should say that it was an +idea from above; but I wholly believe that it is a fortunate idea. What +has become of Father Griffen?" + +"We do not know; we did not return to Martinique." + +"He belongs to the order of Preaching Friars; he must be at the end of +the world," said Monmouth. + +"I, who have had no news of France for eighteen years, I know no more +than you, my lord, but this is why I concern myself. I left to him the +price of the Unicorn; he is a good and honest priest; if he still lives, +there must remain to him some of it, for he would have been prudent and +careful in his almsgiving. My advice would be to seek to know where the +Reverend Father is, for if the good God has willed that he should have +kept some good morsel from the Unicorn, own, my lord, that this would +not be bad eating at this moment; if not for you, at least, for these +two beautiful children, for my heart bleeds to see them with their +wooden shoes and their woolen hose, although they may keep their feet +warmer than boots of leather and gilded spurs, or shoes of satin with +silken hose, should they be red, these hose! red like those I wore in +1690," added the chevalier, with a sigh. Then he resumed: "Ah, well! my +lord, what say you to my Griffen idea?" + +"I say, my friend, that it is an idle hope. Father Griffen is without +doubt dead; he will doubtless have left your fortune to some religious +community." + +"To the Abbey of St. Quentin, perhaps," said Angela. + +"Zounds! it wants but that! I would instantly set fire to the +monastery!" + +"Ah--fie! fie! chevalier!" said Angela. + +"It is also because I am raging at having done what I did with your two +hundred thousand crowns; but could I then imagine that I should find +again, as a farmer, the son of a king who handled his diamonds by the +shovelful? Ah, it is no use to philosophize here; but to find Father +Griffen again if he is still living!" + +"And how to find him again?" said Monmouth. + +"By seeking him, my lord. I who have no reason for concealing myself, +to-morrow I will take up this quest, hobbling around. Nothing is more +simple; in truth, I am stupid not to have thought of it sooner. I will +direct myself at once to the Superior of Foreign Missions, thus we shall +know what we have to look to. The Superior will at least inform me if +the good Father is alive or not; and even, on this account, I will +to-morrow make a visit to your neighbor, the abbot of St. Quentin. He +will tell me what to do about it--how to get this information. I will +carry him your hundred crowns; that will be a good way to contrive the +interview." + +The three friends passed the day together. We leave the reader to +imagine the stories, the reminiscences, gay, touching, or sad, which +were recalled. + +On the morrow Croustillac, who had already made friends with young +James, started for the abbey. The amount of the rent, in bright _louis +d'or_, was an excellent passport to the presence of the treasurer. + +"Father," said Croustillac, "I have a very important letter to place in +the hands of a good priest of the order of Preaching Brothers; I do not +know if he is alive or dead; if he is in Europe, or at the end of the +world; to whom should I address myself for information on this subject?" + +"To one of our canons, my son, who has had much to do with missions, and +who, after long and painful apostolic labors, came six months since to +repose in a canonicate of our abbey." + +"And when can I see this venerable canon, Father?" + +"This very morning. In descending to the court of the cloister, ask a +lay brother to conduct you to Father Griffen." + +Croustillac gave so tremendous a blow of his staff on the floor, +shouting three times his Muscovite exclamation, "hurrah! hurrah! +hurrah!" that the reverend treasurer was startled by it, and rang the +bell precipitately, thinking he had to do with a madman. + +A friar entered. + +"Pardon, good Father," said Croustillac; "these savage cries, and this +no less savage blow of the stick, paint to you the state of my soul, my +astonishment, my joy! It is Father Griffen, himself, that I seek." + +"Then conduct this gentleman to Father Griffen," said the treasurer. + +We will not attempt to depict this new recognition, so important in the +results the Gascon expected from it. We will only say that the good +priest, charged with the trust of Croustillac, and fearing lest the +chevalier should one day come to regret his disinterestedness, but +wishing, however, to execute till then his charitable intentions, and +not to deprive the unfortunate of this rich alms, had each year +distributed to the poor the revenue of the capital, which he reserved +for a pious foundation if the Gascon should not reappear. + +The sale of the Unicorn, prudently managed, had brought about seven +hundred thousand livres. The Father, finding by chance an advantageous +sale of property in the environs of Abbeville, not far from the abbey of +St. Quentin, had profited by it. He had thus become proprietor of a very +fine estate called Chateauvieux. + +On his return from his long voyages, six months before the time of which +we speak, Father Griffen had asked by preference, a canonicate in +Picardy, in order to be more within reach of the property which he +managed, always ignorant whether the Gascon was dead or alive, but +inclining rather to the former supposition, after a silence of eighteen +years. + +Father Griffen, very old, very infirm, quitted the abbey only to visit +the estate of Chateauvieux. During the six months he lodged at St. +Quentin, he had never gone to the side of the farm of which James of +Monmouth was the farmer. The reunion of Father Griffen, the duke and his +wife, was as touching as that of the adventurer. + +After much discussion it was decided that one-half of the estate +belonged to James; the other half to Croustillac, in whose name it +remained. + +The Gascon immediately made his will in favor of the two children of +Monmouth on condition that the son should take the name of Jacques de +Chateauvieux. + +In order to explain this sudden change of fortune to the eyes of the +people of the abbey and the environs, it was agreed that Croustillac +should pass as an uncle from America, who had come incognito to test his +nephew and his wife, poor cultivators of the soil. + +James gave up his farm to the tenant who had been destined to replace +him, and departed with his wife, his children and his uncle Croustillac +for Chateauvieux. + +The three friends lived long and happily in their domain, and their +children and grandchildren lived there after them. The chevalier never +left Monmouth and his wife. Once a year Father Griffen came to pass some +weeks at Chateauvieux. + +One single day yearly cast a gloom over this peaceful and happy life; +this was the anniversary of the 15th of July, 1685, the anniversary of +the sacrifice of the courageous Sidney. + +Never did the son of James of Monmouth know that his father descended +from a royal race. The secret was always kept by James, by his wife, by +Croustillac, and by Father Griffen. + +Age had so changed the duke; so many years, beside, had passed over the +event of Martinique, that he was no longer disquieted by it. Only +sometimes, the children and grandchildren of James of Monmouth opened +astonished eyes when their good and old friend, the Chevalier de +Croustillac, addressing himself to the Duchess of Monmouth with an air +of understanding, said to her, while striving to hide a tear of emotion, +the following apparently truly cabalistic words: + +_Blue Beard, Whirlwind, Rend-your-Soul, Youmaeale, Devil's Cliff_. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + + +OMEGA + +BY + +"A REPORTER" + +Neely's Prismatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents + + +This is a love story of a negative character, which, however, +occasionally approaches positiveness. Suppressed passion manifests a +tendency to explode, especially when it is confined by a vow of +celibacy. But when an author steps into the prophetic department of the +religious field, and mixes a little of this variety into a love story, +making the lover and the lovees act their respective parts as if so +foreordained, it is really curious what antics they indulge in, but not +surprising that the theater of action reaches from ancient Chaldea to +Salt Lake City, the actors variate from Mohammedanism to Mormonism, and +the time limit stretches into the centuries. It is a fitting climax that +the sublime heights of the second part are culminated in the third's +last chapters by a description of the end of national destiny, the +_Armageddon_ of capitalist and socialist, the beginning of the world +period, in short, Millennium. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE SECRET OF THE EARTH + +BY + +CHARLES WILLING BEALE + +Cloth, $1.00 + + +A story of thrilling adventure from cover to cover which embodies a +theory of our planet so tremendous and appalling that the most +conservative mind can hardly fail to be impressed with the startling +array of facts adduced in support of it. Two young men set out upon a +voyage of discovery under very peculiar circumstances and with +exceptional facilities for accomplishing their purpose. The result of +their enterprise is something so astounding, and yet so entirely +probable when judged from the realm of the known, that the climax +appears inevitable. The story bears the imprint of experience. There is +no padding, and one is carried along with a rush from marvel to marvel +and venture to venture through vast areas of undreamed civilizations, +magnificent cities, and a people whose existence has been entirely +unsuspected by denizens of the known world, and yet which is shown to be +more than a mere conjecture as the story unfolds. The mode of travel is +entirely unique, no similar method having ever been employed, though it +is one which seems likely to become popular in the near future. The book +is worth reading, and will furnish food for the thoughtful. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE LITTLE BLIND GOD A-WHEEL + +BY + +SIDNEY HOWARD + +Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents + + +Surely the name of this author is not familiar, and yet it seems as +though we must have met it before. No one but an experienced writer +could have given us such a charming combination of incident and +description. Perhaps some well-known author is testing his real merit by +a little masquerade. We will wait, in confidence that such an excellent +production will be traced to its rightful source. Briefly, it is a +bicycling novel. A jolly party make a tour through northern New England +with all the amusing happenings incident to such a trip, not excepting +the experiences of the chaperon, who learns to ride that she may better +perform her duties. And then--there is a boy. And besides the boy there +is the little blind god who shoots his arrows so industriously that the +whole party return engaged save the boy, the chaperon, and the poor odd +man; and even he makes a determined effort to join the majority; but in +his case the Fates are stronger even than the Little Blind God. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +TWO WASHINGTON BELLES + +by + +LESTER M. DEL GARCIA + +Neely's Primatic Library Cloth, 50 Cents + + +"This is a modern, up-to-date "society" novel with considerable local +coloring and many pictures of life in the "hupper suckles." It describes +the career and love experiences of one who eventually becomes +Viscountess Landale. The frou-frou and fripperies of nineteenth-century +social gatherings and drawing-rooms are here described in analytical +detail, while much plot and counterplot go toward the making of a book +that is a departure from the usual run of what is ordinarily written +under the _genre_ of "novel" literature. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +ALLIQUIPPA + +AND + +DR. POFFENBURGH'S CHARM + +BY + +W. A. HOLLAND + +Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 50 Cents + + +Are tales that deal with life in Pennsylvania, within whose rich valleys +and sequestered byways are hidden many phases of quaint and charming +life of which the world knows all too little. "Alliquippa" is the story +of an Indian prince of the Alleghanies, and deals with pioneer life in +that wild region. There is an air of freshness and novelty to these +tales which, combined with the interest of the plots, commends the +volume to the attention of book-buyers. In "Dr. Poffenburgh's Charm" Mr. +Holland has told a romantic tale, which he has located in the historic +locality of eastern Pennsylvania originally settled by the Germans, +whose descendants are now known as Pennsylvania Dutch. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +AMONG THE DUNES + +BY + +MRS. D. L. RHONE + +Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents + + +'Among the Dunes' reads like some of the best work of the new school of +Scandinavian writers; but it is in fact an American book, the production +of a Pennsylvania lady. The scene is laid in Jutland, and the story, +which is quite out of the common, is full of an intense romantic +interest and charm."--_Review of Reviews._ + +"Excellent entertainment for a fireside audience."--_Richard Henry +Stoddard._ + +"It is a pleasure of the simplest and purest sort to turn from the +high-pressure novels of the day and read a tender and touching romance +like this story of the Far North."--_New York Independent._ + +"Readers who are old-fashioned enough, in these days of so much somber, +realistic writing, to enjoy a romance pure and simple, full of variety, +adventure, and mystery, will be pleased with 'Among the Dunes.'"--_New +York Christian Advocate._ + +"The narrative has a wonderful, fresh, salt-sea flavor, and the strange +series of events culminate in a most dramatic situation."--_Boston +Advertiser._ + +"Exuberant fancy is shown by the author, and there is a plenty of +adventure in her volume. It fills one of the main wants of the novel +reader--it is always interesting and sometimes strikingly so."--_New +York Times._ + +"There is all the weird fascination that belongs to the Danish country +and the Oriental race contained in the plot."--_Baltimore Telegram._ + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +THE CHILD WITNESS + +BY + +HELEN NORWOOD HALSEY + +Cloth, $1.00 + + +This is a story within a story, and will appeal to all; childhood and +youth will devour it with a keen interest, and the maturer mind will +detect in the simple, light, fantastic wording a portrayal of the +deepest passion to which the human heart is susceptible. Thus it is a +story for all, and will be read by all with a zest and interest which +will neither flag nor grow dim from the title to the finale. There are +few characters, and the story is simply told, and while the reader is +following with an unflagging interest the tragic events which present +themselves so rapidly and vividly before the mind's eye, there lies +hidden beneath the startling drama the germ of the story, the pitiful +picture of the little Child Witness, Danny, whose life is sacrificed to +the greed and cunning of a nature far below his own; but so lightly has +the author touched upon this phase of the story, so daintily is it +handled, that the heart of the reader goes out in a deep and mighty +compassion to the helpless child, the victim of the brute negro Barney, +and there is no feeling of revolt even to the most sensitive mind; and +while, in some of the situations of the story, the reader is carried +into the center of the slums, among the fallen and degraded, and while +there are scenes and circumstances from which the delicate mind may +shrink in horror, let the reader remember that it is wholesome at times +that those in the higher walks of life should realize that such a +condition of life actually exists and has grown too common even to +command a passing notice from those who pass by on the other side. The +story has, too, a touch of fine humor from which the mind may find a +relaxation and relief from the almost oppressing tragedy with which +every page is replete, and is an offset to that portion of the story +which presents, like a living, moving panorama, the torturous suffering +of the helpless child in the grasp of the negro. It is a story which +will be read and re-read from Maine to California--a story which will +linger in the memory and be eagerly devoured while one word remains--a +story which will be laid aside, stored away, and turned to again with a +fresh and reviving interest. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + +96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. + + +NEW YORKERS OF THE XIX CENTURY + +BY + +MRS. JOHN KING VAN RENSSELAER + +Cloth $10.00 + + +_This work is issued in a limited edition of two hundred copies only_ + +and contains Charts of prominent families, who have lived in New York +for the past one hundred years, and they will show at a glance, and in +detail, all the members of each branch of the family. These Charts have +been prepared by the aid of lists, papers, and other data, accessible to +Mrs. Van Rensselaer only, and have been added to and corrected by +members of the different families to whom they have been submitted, and +the information thus gained has been verified by comparing it with +marriage and death notices that have been published in the daily papers, +of which this lady has kept a faithful record. The value and importance +of these Charts will be recognized, not only by members of the families +whose names appear in them, but by genealogists who require trustworthy +information on these points, lawyers who search for legal evidences of +marriage, and all who are interested in family ties and relationships. +When the fact is recalled that the records in the churches of New York +have been culpably neglected and irregularly kept, and that there was no +law in this city requiring the registration of births, deaths, and +marriages between the years 1777 and 1877, the importance of these +Charts will be seen. The first issue will contain the following +families, viz.: Bard, Barclay, Bronson, Buchanan, Delafield, Duer, +Emmet, Fish, Glover, Hamilton, Hoffman, Jay, King, McVickar, Morton, +Lynch, Ogden, Renwick, Rutherfurd, Schuyler, Stuyvesant, Suydam, and Van +Rensselaer. + + +For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. + +F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Romance of the West Indies, by Eugene Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES *** + +***** This file should be named 29894.txt or 29894.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/8/9/29894/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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