"And it would not be surprising if he had been assassinated," said another. "Assassinated? by his wife, no doubt?" said still another voice with an emphasis that spoke little in favor of Blue Beard. "Not by his wife!" "Ah, ah, that is something new!" "Not by his wife? and by whom, then?" "By his enemies in the Barbadoes." "By the English colonists?" "Yes, by the English, because he was himself English." "Is it so, then, sir; the third husband is dead, really dead?" asked the chevalier anxiously. "Oh, as to being dead--he is that," exclaimed several in chorus. Croustillac drew a long breath; a moment's thought, and his hopes resumed their audacious flight. "But the age of Blue Beard?" he persisted. "Her age--as to that I can satisfy you; she must be anywhere from twenty, yes, that is about it, from twenty to sixty years," said Captain Daniel. "Then you have not seen her?" said the Gascon, impatient under this raillery. "Seen her? I? And why the devil should you suppose I had seen Blue Beard?" asked the captain. "Are you mad?" "Why?" "Listen, my friends," said the captain to his passengers; "he asks me if I have seen Blue Beard." The passengers shrugged their shoulders. "But," continued Croustillac, "what is there astonishing in my question?" "What is there astonishing?" said the captain. "Yes." "Hold; you come from Paris, do you not? and is Paris not much smaller than Martinique?" "Without doubt." "Very well; have you seen the executioner at Paris?" "The executioner? No, but why such a question?" "Very well; once for all, understand that no one is any more curious to see Blue Beard than to see the executioner, sir. Beside, the house in which she lives is situated in the midst of the wilds of Devil's Cliff, where one does not care to venture. Then an assassin is not an agreeable companion, and Blue Beard has too bad associates." "Bad associates?" said the chevalier. "Yes, friends; friends of the heart; not to go into the matter any further, it is a saying that it is not well to encounter them by night on the plain; by night in the woods; or after sunset under the lee of the island," said the captain. "'Whirlwind'--the filibuster first," said one of the passengers with an affrighted air. "Or 'Rend the Soul'--the buccaneer of Marie-Galande," said another. "Or 'Youmaeale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," continued a third. "What?" cried the chevalier, "does Blue Beard coquette at the same time with a filibusterer, a buccaneer, and a cannibal? Bah! what a woman!" "So they say, sir." CHAPTER III. THE ARRIVAL. These singular revelations concerning the morals of Blue Beard made a great impression upon the chevalier. After some moments of silence he asked the captain, "Who is this man, this filibuster whom they term the Whirlwind?"