m^ mintcv Garden 



sailors armed to the teeth, and directed by 

 a grand-looking old man, whose white 

 beard fell in ripples to his waistband. 

 The ship, the sailors, and the venerable, 

 giantesque commander had every mark of 

 wealth and power about them. 



Now, when M. Fran9ois Victor de 

 Montmartin saw the vessel, which had 

 actually come to anchor close inshore be- 

 fore he observed it, he uttered a great cry, 

 and rushed to the chamber of his wife and 

 babe ; but they were not there, and when 

 he looked out of a window he saw a glori- 

 ously robed form with a child in its arms 

 flying down the headland slope to the 

 beach. Again he let go that terrible cry 

 of anguish, dashed out in furious pursuit, 

 and was shot dead, midway between the 

 house and the beach. 



Away sailed the superb vessel, with the 

 young woman and her child on board, and 

 that was all ever known about them. A 

 clump of acacia is said to mark the spot 

 on the highest swell of our bluff where 

 Fran9ois Victor de Montmartin was buried. 

 But then, to say the whole truth, every 

 14 



