"Take it off, take it off, baron; the coat does not make the governor,"

he said gravely, with a bow; then he continued: "Thanks to the advice of De Crussol and the Reverend Father Griffen, the dweller at Devil's Cliff has not been disturbed, baron? You have not visited the place, in spite of the strange stories about it?"

"No, sir, I a.s.sure you, the recommendation of the persons so respectable as Father Griffen and the deceased De Crussol were sufficient. And then the road to Devil's Cliff is impa.s.sable; the rocks bare and rent; it takes two or three hours to climb them; and faith, I a.s.sure you, sir, to make such a journey under the sun of the tropics," said the baron, wiping his forehead, which was perspiring at the mere thought of such a climb, "appears to me entirely inadvisable, because, morally, I am convinced that the aforesaid stories have no foundation, and I think in that I am not wrong."

"Allow me, baron, to ask you some further questions."

"At your service, sir."

"The woman called Blue Beard has a counting house at St. Pierre?"

"Yes, sir."

"Her business man is empowered to send out her vessels which are always destined for France?"

"That, sir, is very easily verified in the clearing books of the captains.

"And these registers?"

"Are there in that case."

"Will you take the trouble to look them over, baron, and to select from them some dates which I was going to ask of you?"

The governor arose, mounted painfully on a chair, and took down a large volume bound in green leather, placing it on his desk; then, as if this exertion had redoubled the heat he was suffering from and exhausted his strength, he said to De Chemerant: "Sir, you have been, doubtless, a soldier; you can understand that we live a little carelessly; for, without further parley and asking pardon for the great liberty, I will remove my vest, if you please; it is embroidered in cloth and as heavy as a cuira.s.s."

"Take it off--take off everything that you wish to," replied De Chemerant with impervious gravity; "there is so little left for me to say to you that I trust you will not need to remove more of your apparel. Can you feel a.s.sured, other than from these facts, that the vessels loaded with cargoes by our widow have always been sent to France?"

"Yes, sir," replied the governor, opening his register; then, following with the end of his finger the tables, he read, "'For Roch.e.l.le, for Roch.e.l.le, for Bordeaux, for Bordeaux, for Roch.e.l.le, for Roch.e.l.le, for Havre de Grace.' You see, sir, the vessels have always sailed for France."

"That is well, baron. According to the direction, frequent enough, of vessels of commerce, which leave the counting-house wharves, it follows that Blue Beard (we will adopt the popular surname) can put a vessel to sea very quickly."

"Doubtless, sir."

"Has she not a brigantine always ready to put to sea, and which can in two hours be at the Creek of Caymans, not far from Devil's Cliff, where there is a little harbor," said De Chemerant, consulting his notes once more.

"Yes, sir; this brigantine is called the Chameleon; Blue Beard recently placed it, very generously, at my service (through the mediation of Monsieur Morris, her man of business), to give chase to a Spanish pirate, and there is an old filibuster of a captain called Hurricane, who commands the vessel----"

"We will speak of this filibuster later, sir, but this pirate----"

"Was sunk in the Riviere des Saints."

"To return to this filibuster, baron; he frequents the house of Blue Beard?"

"Yes, sir."

"As much so as another bad fellow, a buccaneer by trade?"

"Yes, sir," said the baron in a dry tone, resolved to confine himself to the secondary role which De Chemerant imposed upon him.

"A Caribbean also is often there?"

"Yes, sir."

"The presence of these men in the island is of how recent date?"

"That I do not know, sir; they were established here at my arrival in Martinique. They say that the filibuster formerly pursued his calling on the north of the Antilles and the seas of the south. Like many captains who have made something by filibustering, he has bought here a little dwelling at the point of the island, where he lives alone."

"And the buccaneer, baron?"

"This kind of person is here to-day, gone to-morrow, according to whether the hunt is more or less abundant; sometimes he remains away a month, and it is the same with the Caribbean."

"This information accords perfectly with that which was given me; beside, I do not speak of men of this sort other than by hearsay. They are far too unimportant, and too foreign to the mission which I am in charge of, to merit their occupying my attention for any length of time.

They are, at most, pa.s.sive instruments," continued De Chemerant to himself, "and they are probably very indirectly connected with this grave matter." Then, after a few minutes' reflection, he said aloud, "Now, baron, one more question: have not your secret police notified you that the English have tried to introduce themselves into this island since the war?"

"Twice, lately, sir, our cruisers have given chase to a suspicious vessel coming from the Barbadoes seeking to approach from the windward, the only places where one can land in the island; elsewhere the coast is too rugged to permit landing."

"Very good," said De Chemerant. After a moment's silence he said, "Tell me, baron, how long would it take to go to Devil's Cliff?"

"About eleven hours; the roads are difficult, one could not reach there before nightfall."

"Well, then, baron," said De Chemerant, taking out his watch, "in two hours from now, that is to say, at one o'clock in the afternoon, you will have the goodness to order thirty of your most reliable guards to arm themselves, to provide themselves with scaling ladders, one or two bombs, and to hold themselves in readiness to follow and obey me as they would yourself."

"But, sir, if you wish to go to Devil's Cliff, you must start at once in order to arrive by daylight."

"Doubtless baron; but as I desire to arrive in the middle of the night, you will see the wisdom of my not starting for two hours."

"That is another thing, sir."

"Can you procure for me a covered litter?"

"Yes, sir, there is mine."

"And can this go to Devil's Cliff?"

"To the foot of the mountain only, not a step further, for they say it is impossible for a horse to climb the heaped-up and yawning rocks."

"Very good; will you, then, be so good, baron, as to have this litter prepared, as well as a mount for me; I will leave it at the foot of the cliff."

"Yes, sir."

"I warn you, baron, that it is of the greatest importance that the object of this enterprise be perfectly concealed; all will be lost if they are warned of my visit to Devil's Cliff; we shall not inform the escort of our destination until outside Fort Royal, and we shall make, I hope, as much haste as the roads will permit. In a word, baron,"

continued the envoy, with a confidential air, which he had not a.s.sumed until then, "mystery is so much the more indispensable that it concerns a state secret and the future of two great nations."

"Because of Blue Beard?" said the governor, questioning with a curious glance the cold and grave face of De Chemerant.

"Because of Blue Beard."

"How?" replied the baron. "Blue Beard, then, counts for something in a state secret, in the peace of two great nations?"

Monsieur de Chemerant, who did not like repet.i.tion, made an affirmative sign and continued, "I also beg of you, baron, that you will see that the frigate's boat does not leave the wharf, so that I may return on board and put to sea without remaining here a second, if, as I hope, my mission be successful. Ah! I forgot; the litter must be such that it can be entirely closed."