e volcanic soil of the Antilles. Such was, at least, the
explanation that his wife gave concerning his mysterious death.

No one knew anything positive concerning the third husband of Blue Beard
and his death.

These three deaths, so close together, so mysterious, caused strange
stories to be circulated regarding this woman, and reached the ears of
the Governor of Martinique, who was then Chevalier de Crussol; he
started with an escort for Devil's Cliff; arriving at the foot of the
thickly-wooded ascent, on the summit of which towered the mansion, he
found a mulatto who gave him a letter. After reading this letter, the
governor showed great surprise, and ordering his escort to await his
return, he followed the slave, alone.

At the expiration of four hours the governor returned with his guide,
and immediately retraced his steps to St. Pierre. Some of those who
formed his escort remarked that he was very pale and very much agitated.
From that moment until the day of his death, which occurred thirteen
months to the very day after his visit to Devil's Cliff, no one ever
heard him pronounce the name of Blue Beard. The governor made a long
confession to Father Griffen, who came to him from Macouba. It was
observed that in leaving the penitent, Father Griffen appeared to have
received a great shock.

From that time the kind of fatal and mysterious reputation which had
attached itself to the name of Blue Beard increased day by day.
Superstition mingled with the terror which she inspired, until her name
was never mentioned without terror; it was firmly believed that she had
assassinated her three husbands, and that she had escaped punishment by
law only through the power of her wealth, thus purchasing the support of
the different governors who succeeded each other in turn. No one, then,
was tempted to trouble Blue Beard with visits to the wild and solitary
place in which she dwelt, above all since the cannibal, the buccaneer
and the privateer had come, as they said, to be companions or consolers
to the widow.

Whether or not these men had ever legally rendered themselves liable for
any crime, it was asserted that they pursued with an implacable hatred
and vengeance all who attempted to come near Blue Beard. By reason of
being repeated and exaggerated, these threats bore their fruit. The
islanders care little to go, perhaps at the peril of their lives, to
penetrate into the mysteries of Devil's Cliff. It required the desper