r three husbands; if so, you will know that I have fallen a victim;
you will demand an account of my death. I risk nothing more than seeing
my homage rejected. Ah! well, if such be the case, if she repulses me, I
shall continue to delight Captain Daniel during his trips by swallowing
lighted candles and balancing bottles on the end of my nose. Certainly
such an occupation is honorable and amusing, but I prefer another life.
So, then, no matter what you say, Father, I am resolved to attempt the
adventure and to go to Devil's Cliff. I cannot tell you what secret
presentiment tells me I shall succeed, that I am upon the eve of seeing
my destiny fulfill itself in a most wonderful manner. The future seems
tinted with rose and gold; I dream only of magnificent palaces, wealth,
and beauty; it seems to me (excuse the pagan comparison) that Love and
Fortune have come and taken me by the hands and are saying to me,
'Polypheme de Croustillac, happiness awaits thee.' You will say,
perhaps, Father," continued the chevalier, throwing a mocking glance at
his faded coat, "that I am poorly dressed to present myself in this
beautiful and brave company of fortune and happiness; but Blue Beard,
who must be intelligent, will comprehend at once that under this
outside, the heart of an Amadis, the spirit of a Gascon, and the courage
of a Caesar dwells."

After a moment's silence the priest, instead of smiling at the
pleasantries of the chevalier, said to him in a tone that was most
solemn, "Is your resolve finally taken?"

"Unwaveringly and absolutely taken, Father."

"Hear me then; I heard the confessions of the Chevalier de Crussol, the
former governor of this island; he who, when the third husband of this
woman disappeared, went to Devil's Cliff."

"Well, father?"

"While I must respect the secrets of the confessional, I can, I must,
tell you that if you persist in your insane project, you expose yourself
to great and unavoidable peril. Without doubt, if you lose your life,
your death will not remain unpunished; but there will be no means of
preventing the fatal end upon which you would rush. Who obliges you to
go to Devil's Cliff? The resident of that place wishes to live in
solitude; the barriers of that abode are such that you cannot break them
down without violence; for in every country, and above all in this one,
he who trespasses upon the property of another exposes himself to grave
danger--danger the greater that all idea of a