midday
Athos saw his son ascend the ladder of the admiral 's ship , he saw him lean upon the rail of the deck , and place himself in such a manner as to be always an object in the eye of his father . In vain the cannon thundered , in vain from the ship sounded the long and lordly tumult , responded to by immense acclamations from the shore ; in vain did the noise deafen the ear of the father , the smoke obscured the cherished object of his aspirations . Raoul appeared to him to the last moment ; and the imperceptible atom , passing from black to pale , from pale to white , from white to nothing , disappeared for Athos -- disappeared very long after , to all the eyes of the spectators , had disappeared both gallant ships and swelling sails . Towards midday , when the sun devoured space , and scarcely the tops of the masts dominated the incandescent limit of the sea , Athos perceived a soft aerial shadow rise , and vanish as soon as seen . This was the smoke of a cannon , which M. de Beaufort ordered to be fired as a last salute to the coast of France . The point was buried in its turn beneath the sky , and Athos returned with slow and painful step to his deserted hostelry . Chapter XXXIV .