From the period of his arrival there he knew nothing, not even the length of time he had been imprisoned. His recital finished, the abbé reflected long and earnestly.
"There is," said he, at the end of his meditations, "a clever maxim, which bears upon what I was saying to you some little while ago, and that is, that unless wicked ideas take root in a naturally depraved mind, human nature revolts at crime. Still, from civilization have originated wants, vices, and false tastes, which occasionally stifle within us all good feelings, and lead us into guilt. From this view of things, then, comes the axiom I allude to—that if you wish to discover the author of any bad action, discover the person to whom that bad action could be advantageous. Now, to whom could your disappearance have been serviceable?"
"To no breathing soul. Why, who could have cared about the removal of so insignificant a person as myself?"
"Do not speak thus, for your reply evinces neither logic nor philosophy; everything is relative, my dear young friend, from the king who obstructs his successor's immediate possession of the throne, to the occupant of a place for which the supernumary to whom it has been promised ardently longs. Now, in the event of the king's death, his successor inherits a crown; when the placeman dies, the supernumary steps into his shoes and receives his salary of twelve thousand livres. Well, these twelve thousand livres are his civil list, and are as essential to him as the twelve millions of a king. Every individual, from the highest to the lowest degree, has his place in the ladder of social life, and around him are grouped a little world of interests, composed of stormy passions and conflicting atoms, like the worlds of Descartes; but let us return to your world. You say you were on the point of being appointed captain of the Pharaon?"
"I was."
"And about to become the husband of a young and lovely girl?"
"True."
"Now, could any one have had any interest in preventing the accomplishment of these two circumstances? But let us first settle the question as to its being the interest of any one to hinder you from being captain of the Pharaon. What say you?"
"No! I was generally liked on board; and had the sailors possessed the right of electing a captain, their choice would have fallen on me. There was only one person among the crew who had any feeling of ill will toward me. I had quarreled with him some time previously, and had even challenged him to fight me; but he refused."
"Now we are getting on. And what was this man's name?"
