ut," 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 se