Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF EUGENE SUE. BY MARIAN LONGFELLOW. F. TENNYSON NEELY, PUBLISHER. LONDON. NEW YORK. Copyright, 1898, by F. TENNYSON NEELY, in United States and Great Britain. All Rights Reserved. TO THE MEMORY OF WILKIE COLLINS, AUTHOR AND ARTIST, WHO FIRST DIRECTED MY ATTENTION TO THIS WORK AND SUGGESTED ITS TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK IN KINDLY REMEMBRANCE. THE TRANSLATOR. CONTENTS. PART I. I. The Passenger II. A Female Blue Beard III. The Arrival IV. The Priest's House V. The Surprise VI. The Warning VII. The Cavern VIII. The Devil's Cliff IX. Night X. A Buccaneer XI. Master Rend-Your-Soul PART II. XII. The Marriage XIII. Supper XIV. True Love XV. The Envoy from France XVI. The Storm XVII. The Surprise XVIII. My Lord the Duke XIX. A Second Surprise XX. The Departure XXI. The Betrayal PART III. XXII. The Viceroy of Ireland and Scotland XXIII. The Arrest XXIV. The Interview XXV. Revelations XXVI. Devotion XXVII. The Martyr XXVIII. The Duke Relates the Sacrifice to which He Owes his Life XXIX. The Departure PART IV. XXX. Regrets XXXI. Croustillac Departs XXXII. The Frigate XXXIII. The Judgment XXXIV. The Chase XXXV. The Return EPILOGUE. XXXVI. The Abbey XXXVII. Reunited A ROMANCE OF THE WEST INDIES. PART I. CHAPTER I. THE PASSENGER. Toward the latter part of May, 1690, the three-masted schooner the Unicorn sailed from Rochelle for the island of Martinique. A Captain Daniel commanded this vessel, which was armed with a dozen pieces of medium-sized ordnance, a defensive precaution necessary at that period. France was at that time at war with England, and the Spanish pirates would often cross to the windward of the Antilles, in spite of the frequent pursuit of filibusters. Among the passengers of the Unicorn, few in number, was the Reverend Father Griffen, of the Order of the Preaching Brothers. He was returning to Martinique to resume his parish duties at Macouba, where he had occupied the curacy for some years to the satisfaction of the inhabitants and the slaves of that locality. The exceptional life of the colonies, then almost continually in a state of open hostility against the English, the Spanish, and the natives of the Antilles, placed the priests of the latter in a peculiar position. They were called upon not only to preach, to hear confessions, to administer the sacraments to their flocks, but also to aid in defending themselves during the frequent inroads of their enemies of all nations and all colors.