, a temple of the Celtic
divinities, when Belle-Isle was still called Colonese, this grotto had
seen more than one human sacrifice accomplished in its mysterious
depths. The first entrance to the cavern was by a moderate descent,
above which heaped-up rocks formed a low arcade; the interior, very
unequal as to the ground, dangerous from the rocky inequalities of the
vault, was subdivided into several compartments which commanded each
other and joined each other by means of several rough broken steps,
fixed right and left, in enormous natural pillars. At the third
compartment, the vault was so low, the passage so narrow, that the bark
would scarcely have passed without touching the two sides; nevertheless,
in a moment of despair, wood softens and stone becomes compliant under
the breath of human will. Such was the thought of Aramis, when, after
having fought the fight, he decided upon flight--a flight certainly
dangerous, since all the assailants were not dead; and that, admitting
the possibility of putting the bark to sea, they would have to fly in
open day, before the conquered, so interested on recognizing their small
number, in pursuing their conquerors. When the two discharges had killed
ten men, Aramis, habituated to the windings of the cavern, went to
reconnoiter them one by one--counted them, for the smoke prevented
seeing outside; and he immediately commanded that the canoe should be
rolled as far as the great stone, the closure of the liberating issue.
Porthos collected all his strength, took the canoe up in his arms, and
raised it up, while the Bretons made it run rapidly along the rollers.
They had descended into the third compartment; they had arrived at the
stone which walled up the outlet. Porthos seized this gigantic stone at
its base, applied to it his robust shoulder, and gave a heave which made
this wall crack.

A cloud of dust fell from the vault with the ashes of ten thousand
generations of sea birds, whose nests stuck like cement to the rock. At
the third shock the stone gave way; it oscillated for a minute. Porthos,
placing his back against the neighboring rock, made an arch with his
foot, which drove the block out of the calcareous masses which served
for hinges and cramps. The stone fell, and daylight was visible,
brilliant, radiant, which rushed into the cavern by the opening, and the
blue sea appeared to the delighted Bretons. They then began to lift the
bark over the barricade. Twenty more toi