mingo. 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, colone