He gave him his hand and said, simply:
"Thank you."
The officers flocked round him.
"It's nothing, gentlemen. . . . We have escaped with a fright . . . though it was a fine fright, I confess. . . . All the same, but for the intervention of this worthy man . . ."
And, going up to the hermit:
"What is your name, my friend?"
The hermit had kept his head concealed in his hood. He pushed it back an inch or so and, in a very low voice, so as to be heard by none but the Emperor, he said:
"The name of a man, Sire, who is very pleased that you have shaken him by the hand."
The Emperor gave a start and stepped back. Then, at once controlling himself:
"Gentlemen," he said to the officers, "I will ask you to go up to the chapel. More rocks can break loose; and it would perhaps be wise to warn the authorities of the island. You will join me later. I want to thank this good man."