“At the first sign of resistance,” cried the commander of the balancelle, “fire!” The soldiers brought their muskets to the present.
“Did we not say we surrendered?” said Yves.
“Alive, alive, captain!” cried one excited soldier, “they must be taken alive.”
“Well, yes—living,” said the captain. Then turning towards the Bretons, “Your lives are safe, my friends!” cried he, “all but the Chevalier d’Herblay.”
Aramis stared imperceptibly. For an instant his eye was fixed upon the depths of the ocean, illumined by the last flashes of the Greek fire, which ran along the sides of the waves, played on the crests like plumes, and rendered still darker and more terrible the gulfs they covered.
“Do you hear, monseigneur?” said the sailors.
“Yes.”
“What are your orders?”
“Accept!”
“But you, monseigneur?”