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Updated: June 7, 2025
The sail slid down the mast and fell in a heap in the bottom of the boat. "What are you doing?" cried Murat. "Do you forget that I am king and that I command you?" "Sire," said Donadieu, "there is a king more powerful than you God; there is a voice which drowns yours the voice of the tempest: let us save your Majesty if possible, and demand nothing more of us."
The captain listened to the proposal; then immediately turning to the crew, he gave an order in an undertone which Donadieu could not hear, but which he understood probably by the gesture, for he instantly gave Langlade and Blancard the order to make away from the schooner. They obeyed with the unquestioning promptitude of sailors; but the king stamped his foot. "What are you doing, Donadieu?
"Yes, the wretch, or rather the imbecile," said Donadieu, "he took us for pirates, and wanted to sink us as if we needed him to do that!" Indeed, a single glance at the boat showed that she was beginning to make water.
The boat which was to take him across had not reached the rendezvous, but this time there was not the slightest fear that it would fail; the bay had been reconnoitred during the day by three men devoted to the fallen fortunes of the king Messieurs Blancard, Langlade, and Donadieu, all three naval officers, men of ability and warm heart, who had sworn by their own lives to convey Murat to Corsica, and who were in fact risking their lives in order to accomplish their promise.
"What for?" asked Murat, looking up. "To put in there, sire, if we can." "No, no," cried Murat; "I will not land except in Corsica. I will not leave France again. Besides, the sea is calm and the wind is getting up again " "Down with the sails!" shouted Donadieu. Instantly Langlade and Blancard jumped forward to carry out the order.
At this cry the king awoke; and soon a little trading brig hove in sight, going from Corsica to Toulon. Donadieu steered for the brig, Blancard hoisted enough sail to work the boat, and Langlade ran to the prow and held up the king's cloak on the end of a sort of harpoon.
Donadieu endeavoured to repeat the same manoeuvre, but he could not turn before the wind struck the boat, the mast bent like a reed; the boat shipped a wave. "To the pumps!" cried Donadieu. "Sire, now is the moment to help us " Blancard, Langlade, and Murat seized their hats and began to bale out the boat. The position of the four men was terrible it lasted three hours.
"And are you not going to prepare for it?" asked the king gaily. "What could we do?" said Donadieu. "We have not an inch of canvas to catch the wind, and as long as we do not make too much water, we shall float like a cork. Look out-sire!" Indeed, a second hurricane was on its way, bringing rain and lightning; it was swifter than the first.
Strange rumours were heard concerning Murat's intentions. An army of nine hundred men helped to give them some amount of confirmation. It was then that Blancard, Donadieu, and Langlade took leave of him; Murat wished to keep them, but they had been vowed to the rescue of the exile, not to the fortunes of the king.
"And are you not going to prepare for it?" asked the king gaily. "What could we do?" said Donadieu. "We have not an inch of canvas to catch the wind, and as long as we do not make too much water, we shall float like a cork. Look out-sire!" Indeed, a second hurricane was on its way, bringing rain and lightning; it was swifter than the first.
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