Croustillac had formally declared that he was going to take service in Moscow where the Czar Peter then received soldiers of fortune gladly.
The sun was on the point of setting when the Unicorn found herself in sight of the sh.o.r.es of France. Captain Daniel, from motives of prudence, preferred waiting for the morning before proceeding to the anchorage.
Shortly before the moment of sitting down to the table, Father Griffen prayed the Gascon to come with him to his room. The grave, almost solemn, air of the priest appeared strange to Croustillac.
The door closed, Father Griffen, his eyes filled with tears, extended his arms to the Gascon, and said: "Come, come, excellent and n.o.ble creature; come, my good and dear son."
The chevalier, at once moved and astonished, cordially pressed the priest in his arms and said to him: "What is it, then, my father?"
"What is it? what is it? How, you, a poor adventurer, you, whose past life should have rendered less scrupulous than others, you save the life of the son of a king, you devote yourself to his interests with as much abnegation as intelligence; and then, that done and your friends in safety, you return to your obscure and miserable life, not knowing even at this hour, on the eve of reentering France, where you will lay your head to-morrow! and that without one word, one single word of complaint, of the ingrat.i.tude, or at least, of the forgetfulness of those who owe you so much!"
"But, my Father----"
"Oh, I have observed you well during this voyage! Never a bitter word, never even the shadow of a reproach; as in the past, you have become gay and thoughtless again. And yet--no--no--I have well seen that your gayety was a.s.sumed; you have lost in this voyage your one possession, your only resource--the careless gayety which has aided you to bear misfortune."
"My Father, I a.s.sure you, no."
"Oh, I do not deceive myself, I tell you. At night I have surprised you alone, apart, on the deck, sadly dreaming. Of old, did you ever dream thus?"
"Have I not, on the contrary, during the voyage, diverted Captain Daniel by my pleasantries, good Father?"
"Oh, I have observed you well; if you have consented to amuse Master Daniel, it was in order to recompense him as you could for the hospitality he has given you. Listen, my son--I am old--I can say all to you without offending you; well, conduct such as yours would be very worthy, very fine on the part of a man whose antecedents, whose principles rendered him naturally delicate; but on your part, whom an idle, perhaps culpable youth, should seem to have robbed of all elevation of thought, it is doubly n.o.ble and beautiful; it is at once the expiation of the past and the glorification of the present. Thus, such sentiments cannot remain without their recompense--the trial has endured too long. Yes, I almost blame myself for having imposed it on you."
"What trial, my Father?"
"Yet, no; this trial has permitted you to show a delicacy as n.o.ble as touching----"
A knock at the door of Father Griffen"s room.
"What is it?"
"Supper, Father."
"Come, let us go, my son," said Father Griffen, regarding Croustillac with a peculiar air; "I do not know why it seems to me that the journey will terminate fortunately for you."
The chevalier, very much surprised that the Reverend Father should have brought him to his room in order to hold the discourse we have reported, followed Father Griffen on deck.
To the great astonishment of Croustillac, he saw the crew in gala attire; lighted torches were suspended to the shrouds and the masts.
When the adventurer appeared on deck, the twelve guns of the three-master resounded in salute.
"Zounds! Father, what is all this?" said Croustillac; "are we attacked?"
Father Griffen had no leisure to respond to the adventurer; Captain Daniel, in his holiday clothes, followed by his lieutenant, his officer and the masters and mates of the Unicorn, came to respectfully salute Croustillac, and said to him with ill-concealed embarra.s.sment: "Chevalier, you are my shipowner; this ship and its cargo belong to you."
"To the devil with you, comrade Daniel!" responded Croustillac; "if you are as crazy as this before supper, what will you be when you have been drinking, our host?"
"I ask no end of pardons, chevalier, for having made you balance things on your nose, and for having led you to chew oak.u.m in order to spit fire during the voyage. But as true as we are in sight of the coast of France, I did not know that you were the proprietor of the Unicorn."
"Ah, Father, explain to me," said Croustillac.
"The Reverend Father will explain to you many things--so much the better, chevalier," continued Daniel, "that it is he who brought me just now the letter of my correspondent of Fort Royal, which announces to me that in view of the power of attorney he has always had from my shipowner in Roch.e.l.le, he has sold the Unicorn and her cargo as attorney to Chevalier Polypheme de Croustillac; thus then the Unicorn and her cargo belong to you, chevalier; you will give me a receipt and discharge of the said Unicorn and of the said cargo when we reach a port of France, or foreign land which it shall suit you to designate; which receipt and discharge I will send to my shipowner for my entire discharge of the said ship and said cargo."
Having p.r.o.nounced this legal formula all in a breath, Captain Daniel, seeing Croustillac abstracted and anxious, thought that the chevalier bore him some grudge; he replied with new embarra.s.sment: "Father Griffen, who has known me for many years, will affirm to you, and you will believe it, chevalier, I swear to you that in asking you to swallow oak.u.m and spit out flame, I did not know that I had to do with my owner, and the master of the Unicorn. No, no, chevalier, it is not for one who possesses a ship, which, all loaded, might be worth at least two hundred thousand crowns----"
"This ship and her cargo is worth that price?" said the adventurer.
"At the lowest price, sir; at the lowest price, sold in a lump and at once; but, by not hurrying, one would have fifty thousand crowns more."
"Do you now comprehend, my son?" said Father Griffen, "our friends of Devil"s Cliff, learning that grave interests recalled me suddenly to France, have charged me with making you accept this gift on their parts.
Pardon me, or rather felicitate me for having so well proved the elevation of your character, in revealing to you only at this late hour, the bounty of the prince."
"Ah, Father," said Croustillac bitterly, drawing from his breast the medallion that the d.u.c.h.ess had given him, and which he wore suspended by a leathern cord, "with that, I was recompensed as a gentleman, why now do they treat me as a vagabond in giving me this splendid alms?"
The next day the Unicorn entered port, Croustillac, making use of his new rights, borrowed twenty-five louis of Captain Daniel, on the value of the cargo, and forbade him to land for twenty-four hours.
Father Griffen was to lodge at the seminary. Croustillac appointed a meeting with him for the next day at noon. At noon the chevalier did not appear, but sent the priest the following note by a messenger of La Roch.e.l.le:
"My good Father I cannot accept the gift which you have offered me. I send you a deed drawn up according to rule, which subst.i.tutes you in all my rights over this ship and her cargo. You will employ it all in good works, as you understand how to do. The notary who will send you this note will consult with you as to formalities; he has my power of attorney.
"Adieu, my good Father; sometimes remember the Gascon, and do not forget him in your prayers.
"CHEVALIER DE CROUSTILLAC."
It was years before Father Griffen heard of the adventurer again.
EPILOGUE.
CHAPTER x.x.xVI.
THE ABBEY.
The abbey of St. Quentin, situated not far from Abbeville and almost at the mouth of the Somme, possessed the finest farms in the province of Picardy; each week its numerous tenants paid in kind a part of their rents. In order to represent abundance, a painter might have chosen the moment when this enormous t.i.the was carried to the convent.
At the end of the month of November, 1708, about eighteen years after the events of which we have spoken, the tenants were met together on a misty, cold autumn morning, in a little court situated outside the buildings of the abbey and not far from the lodge of the porter.
Outside one saw the horses, the a.s.ses, and the carts which had served for the transportation of the immense quant.i.ty of produce destined for the provisioning of the convent.