I was steering towards St.Honnorat as the gentleman desired me; but he changed his mind, and pretended that I could not pass to the south of the abbey." "And why not ?" "Because, monsieur, there is in front of the square tower of the Benedictines, towards the southern point, the bank of the _Moines_." "A rock ?" asked Athos.
"Level with the water, but below water; a dangerous passage, yet one I have cleared a thousand times; the gentleman required me to land him at Sainte-Marguerite's." "Well ?" "Well, monsieur!" cried the fisherman, with his _Provencal_ accent, "a man is a sailor, or he is not; he knows his course, or he is nothing but a fresh-water lubber.

I was obstinate, and wished to try the channel.
The gentleman took me by the collar, and told me quietly he would strangle me.

My mate armed himself with a hatchet, and so did I.We had the affront of the night before to pay him out for.

But the gentleman drew his sword, and used it in such an astonishingly rapid manner, that we neither of us could get near him.

I was about to hurl my hatchet at his head, and I had a right to do so, hadn't I, monsieur?
for a sailor aboard is master, as a citizen is in his chamber; I was going, then, in self-defense, to cut the gentleman in two, when, all at once--believe me or not, monsieur--the great carriage case opened of itself, I don't know how, and there came out of it a sort of a phantom, his head covered with a black helmet and a black mask, something terrible to look upon, which came towards me threatening with its fist." "And that was--" said Athos.
"That was the devil, monsieur; for the gentleman, with great glee, cried out, on seeing him: 'Ah! thank you, monseigneur!'" "A most strange story!" murmured the comte, looking at Raoul.
"And what did you do ?" asked the latter of the fisherman.
"You must know, monsieur, that two poor men, such as we are, could be no match for two gentlemen; but when one of them turned out to be the devil, we had no earthly chance! My companion and I did not stop to consult one another; we made but one jump into the sea, for we were within seven or eight hundred feet of the shore." "Well, and then ?" "Why, and then, monseigneur, as there was a little wind from the southwest, the boat drifted into the sands of Sainte-Marguerite's." "Oh!--but the travelers ?" "Bah! you need not be uneasy about them! It was pretty plain that one was the devil, and protected the other; for when we recovered the boat, after she got afloat again, instead of finding these two creatures injured by the shock, we found nothing, not even the carriage or the case." "Very strange! very strange!" repeated the comte.