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