urer, 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, we