on: 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