Chapter 25. The Unknown
Day, for which Dantès had so eagerly and impatiently waited with openeyes, again dawned. With the first light Dantès resumed his search.Again he climbed the rocky height he had ascended the previous evening,and strained his view to catch every peculiarity of the landscape; butit wore the same wild, barren aspect when seen by the rays of themorning sun which it had done when surveyed by the fading glimmer ofeve.
Descending into the grotto, he lifted the stone, filled his pockets withgems, put the box together as well and securely as he could, sprinkledfresh sand over the spot from which it had been taken, and thencarefully trod down the earth to give it everywhere a uniformappearance; then, quitting the grotto, he replaced the stone, heaping onit broken masses of rocks and rough fragments of crumbling granite,filling the interstices with earth, into which he deftly insertedrapidly growing plants, such as the wild myrtle and flowering thorn,then carefully watering these new plantations, he scrupulously effacedevery trace of footsteps, leaving the approach to the cavern as savage-looking and untrodden as he had found it. This done, he impatientlyawaited the return of his companions. To wait at Monte Cristo for thepurpose of watching like a dragon over the almost incalculable richesthat had thus fallen into his possession satisfied not the cravings ofhis heart, which yearned to return to dwell among mankind, and to assumethe rank, power, and influence which are always accorded to wealth—thatfirst and greatest of all the forces within the grasp of man.
On the sixth day, the smugglers returned. From a distance Dantèsrecognized the rig and handling of La Jeune Amélie, and dragging himselfwith affected difficulty towards the landing-place, he met hiscompanions with an assurance that, although considerably better thanwhen they quitted him, he still suffered acutely from his late accident.He then inquired how they had fared in their trip. To this question thesmugglers replied that, although successful in landing their cargo insafety, they had scarcely done so when they received intelligence that aguard-ship had just quitted the port of Toulon and was crowding all sailtowards them. This obliged them to make all the speed they could toevade the enemy, when they could but lament the absence of Dantès, whosesuperior skill in the management of a vessel would have availed them somaterially. In fact, the pursuing vessel had almost overtaken them when,fortunately, night came on, and enabled them to double the Cape ofCorsica, and so elude all further pursuit. Upon the whole, however, thetrip had been sufficiently successful to satisfy all concerned; whilethe crew, and particularly Jacopo, expressed great regrets that Dantèshad not been an equal sharer with themselves in the profits, whichamounted to no less a sum than fifty piastres each.
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Edmond preserved the most admirable self-command, not suffering thefaintest indication of a smile to escape him at the enumeration of allthe benefits he would have reaped had he been able to quit the island;but as La Jeune Amélie had merely come to Monte Cristo to fetch himaway, he embarked that same evening, and proceeded with the captain toLeghorn.
Arrived at Leghorn, he repaired to the house of a Jew, a dealer inprecious stones, to whom he disposed of four of his smallest diamondsfor five thousand francs each. Dantès half feared that such valuablejewels in the hands of a poor sailor like himself might excitesuspicion; but the cunning purchaser asked no troublesome questionsconcerning a bargain by which he gained a round profit of at leasteighty per cent.
The following day Dantès presented Jacopo with an entirely new vessel,accompanying the gift by a donation of one hundred piastres, that hemight provide himself with a suitable crew and other requisites for hisoutfit, upon condition that he would go at once to Marseilles for thepurpose of inquiring after an old man named Louis Dantès, residing inthe Allées de Meilhan, and also a young woman called Mercédès, aninhabitant of the Catalan village.
Jacopo could scarcely believe his senses at receiving this magnificentpresent, which Dantès hastened to account for by saying that he hadmerely been a sailor from whim and a desire to spite his family, who didnot allow him as much money as he liked to spend; but that on hisarrival at Leghorn he had come into possession of a large fortune, lefthim by an uncle, whose sole heir he was. The superior education ofDantès gave an air of such extreme probability to this statement that itnever once occurred to Jacopo to doubt its accuracy.
The term for which Edmond had engaged to serve on board La Jeune Améliehaving expired, Dantès took leave of the captain, who at first tried allhis powers of persuasion to induce him to remain as one of the crew, buthaving been told the history of the legacy, he ceased to importune himfurther.
The following morning Jacopo set sail for Marseilles, with directionsfrom Dantès to join him at the Island of Monte Cristo.
Having seen Jacopo fairly out of the harbor, Dantès proceeded to makehis final adieus on board La Jeune Amélie, distributing so liberal agratuity among her crew as to secure for him the good wishes of all, andexpressions of cordial interest in all that concerned him. To thecaptain he promised to write when he had made up his mind as to hisfuture plans. Then Dantès departed for Genoa.
At the moment of his arrival a small yacht was under trial in the bay;this yacht had been built by order of an Englishman, who, having heardthat the Genoese excelled all other builders along the shores of theMediterranean in the construction of fast-sailing vessels, was desirousof possessing a specimen of their skill; the price agreed upon betweenthe Englishman and the Genoese builder was forty thousand francs.Dantès, struck with the beauty and capability of the little vessel,applied to its owner to transfer it to him, offering sixty thousandfrancs, upon condition that he should be allowed to take immediatepossession. The proposal was too advantageous to be refused, the more soas the person for whom the yacht was intended had gone upon a tourthrough Switzerland, and was not expected back in less than three weeksor a month, by which time the builder reckoned upon being able tocomplete another. A bargain was therefore struck. Dantès led the ownerof the yacht to the dwelling of a Jew; retired with the latter for a fewminutes to a small back parlor, and upon their return the Jew countedout to the shipbuilder the sum of sixty thousand francs in bright goldpieces.
The delighted builder then offered his services in providing a suitablecrew for the little vessel, but this Dantès declined with many thanks,saying he was accustomed to cruise about quite alone, and his principalpleasure consisted in managing his yacht himself; the only thing thebuilder could oblige him in would be to contrive a sort of secret closetin the cabin at his bed’s head, the closet to contain three divisions,so constructed as to be concealed from all but himself. The buildercheerfully undertook the commission, and promised to have these secretplaces completed by the next day, Dantès furnishing the dimensions andplan in accordance with which they were to be constructed.
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Two hours afterward Dantès sailed from the port of Genoa, under theinspection of an immense crowd drawn together by curiosity to see therich Spanish nobleman who preferred managing his own yacht. But theirwonder was soon changed to admiration at seeing the perfect skill withwhich Dantès handled the helm. The boat, indeed, seemed to be animatedwith almost human intelligence, so promptly did it obey the slightesttouch; and Dantès required but a short trial of his beautiful craft toacknowledge that the Genoese had not without reason attained their highreputation in the art of shipbuilding.
The spectators followed the little vessel with their eyes as long as itremained visible; they then turned their conjectures upon her probabledestination. Some insisted she was making for Corsica, others the Islandof Elba; bets were offered to any amount that she was bound for Spain;while Africa was positively reported by many persons as her intendedcourse; but no one thought of Monte Cristo.
Yet thither it was that Dantès guided his vessel, and at Monte Cristo hearrived at the close of the second day; his boat had proved herself afirst-class sailor, and had come the distance from Genoa in thirty-fivehours. Dantès had carefully noted the general appearance of the shore,and, instead of landing
at the usual place, he dropped anchor in thelittle creek. The island was utterly deserted, and bore no evidence ofhaving been visited since he went away; his treasure was just as he hadleft it.
Early on the following morning he commenced the removal of his riches,and ere nightfall the whole of his immense wealth was safely depositedin the compartments of the secret locker.
A week passed by. Dantès employed it in manœuvring his yacht round theisland, studying it as a skilful horseman would the animal he destinedfor some important service, till at the end of that time he wasperfectly conversant with its good and bad qualities. The former Dantèsproposed to augment, the latter to remedy.
Upon the eighth day he discerned a small vessel under full sailapproaching Monte Cristo. As it drew near, he recognized it as the boathe had given to Jacopo. He immediately signalled it. His signal wasreturned, and in two hours afterwards the new-comer lay at anchor besidethe yacht.
A mournful answer awaited each of Edmond’s eager inquiries as to theinformation Jacopo had obtained. Old Dantès was dead, and Mercédès haddisappeared.
Dantès listened to these melancholy tidings with outward calmness; but,leaping lightly ashore, he signified his desire to be quite alone. In acouple of hours he returned. Two of the men from Jacopo’s boat came onboard the yacht to assist in navigating it, and he gave orders that sheshould be steered direct to Marseilles. For his father’s death he was insome manner prepared; but he knew not how to account for the mysteriousdisappearance of Mercédès.
Without divulging his secret, Dantès could not give sufficiently clearinstructions to an agent. There were, besides, other particulars he wasdesirous of ascertaining, and those were of a nature he alone couldinvestigate in a manner satisfactory to himself. His looking-glass hadassured him, during his stay at Leghorn, that he ran no risk ofrecognition; moreover, he had now the means of adopting any disguise hethought proper. One fine morning, then, his yacht, followed by thelittle fishing-boat, boldly entered the port of Marseilles, and anchoredexactly opposite the spot from whence, on the never-to-be-forgottennight of his departure for the Château d’If, he had been put on boardthe boat destined to convey him thither.
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Still Dantès could not view without a shudder the approach of a gendarmewho accompanied the officers deputed to demand his bill of health erethe yacht was permitted to hold communication with the shore; but withthat perfect self-possession he had acquired during his acquaintancewith Faria, Dantès coolly presented an English passport he had obtainedfrom Leghorn, and as this gave him a standing which a French passportwould not have afforded, he was informed that there existed no obstacleto his immediate debarkation.
The first person to attract the attention of Dantès, as he landed on theCanebière, was one of the crew belonging to the Pharaon. Edmond welcomedthe meeting with this fellow—who had been one of his own sailors—as asure means of testing the extent of the change which time had worked inhis own appearance. Going straight towards him, he propounded a varietyof questions on different subjects, carefully watching the man’scountenance as he did so; but not a word or look implied that he had theslightest idea of ever having seen before the person with whom he wasthen conversing.
Giving the sailor a piece of money in return for his civility, Dantèsproceeded onwards; but ere he had gone many steps he heard the manloudly calling him to stop.
Dantès instantly turned to meet him.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” said the honest fellow, in almost breathlesshaste, “but I believe you made a mistake; you intended to give me a two-franc piece, and see, you gave me a double Napoleon.”
“Thank you, my good friend. I see that I have made a trifling mistake,as you say; but by way of rewarding your honesty I give you anotherdouble Napoleon, that you may drink to my health, and be able to askyour messmates to join you.”
So extreme was the surprise of the sailor, that he was unable even tothank Edmond, whose receding figure he continued to gaze after inspeechless astonishment. “Some nabob from India,” was his comment.
Dantès, meanwhile, went on his way. Each step he trod oppressed hisheart with fresh emotion; his first and most indelible recollectionswere there; not a tree, not a street, that he passed but seemed filledwith dear and cherished memories. And thus he proceeded onwards till hearrived at the end of the Rue de Noailles, from whence a full view ofthe Allées de Meilhan was obtained. At this spot, so pregnant with fondand filial remembrances, his heart beat almost to bursting, his kneestottered under him, a mist floated over his sight, and had he not clungfor support to one of the trees, he would inevitably have fallen to theground and been crushed beneath the many vehicles continually passingthere. Recovering himself, however, he wiped the perspiration from hisbrows, and stopped not again till he found himself at the door of thehouse in which his father had lived.
The nasturtiums and other plants, which his father had delighted totrain before his window, had all disappeared from the upper part of thehouse.
Leaning against the tree, he gazed thoughtfully for a time at the upperstories of the shabby little house. Then he advanced to the door, andasked whether there were any rooms to be let. Though answered in thenegative, he begged so earnestly to be permitted to visit those on thefifth floor, that, in despite of the oft-repeated assurance of theconcierge that they were occupied, Dantès succeeded in inducing the manto go up to the tenants, and ask permission for a gentleman to beallowed to look at them.
The tenants of the humble lodging were a young couple who had beenscarcely married a week; and seeing them, Dantès sighed heavily. Nothingin the two small chambers forming the apartments remained as it had beenin the time of the elder Dantès; the very paper was different, while thearticles of antiquated furniture with which the rooms had been filled inEdmond’s time had all disappeared; the four walls alone remained as hehad left them.
The bed belonging to the present occupants was placed as the formerowner of the chamber had been accustomed to have his; and, in spite ofhis efforts to prevent it, the eyes of Edmond were suffused in tears ashe reflected that on that spot the old man had breathed his last, vainlycalling for his son.
The young couple gazed with astonishment at the sight of their visitor’semotion, and wondered to see the large tears silently chasing each otherdown his otherwise stern and immovable features; but they felt thesacredness of his grief, and kindly refrained from questioning him as toits cause, while, with instinctive delicacy, they left him to indulgehis sorrow alone.
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When he withdrew from the scene of his painful recollections, they bothaccompanied him downstairs, reiterating their hope that he would comeagain whenever he pleased, and assuring him that their poor dwellingwould ever be open to him.
As Edmond passed the door on the fourth floor, he paused to inquirewhether Caderousse the tailor still dwelt there; but he received forreply, that the person in question had got into difficulties, and at thepresent time kept a small inn on the route from Bellegarde to Beaucaire.
Having obtained the address of the person to whom the house in theAllées de Meilhan belonged, Dantès next proceeded thither, and, underthe name of Lord Wilmore (the name and title inscribed on his passport),purchased the small dwelling for the sum of twenty-five thousand francs,at least ten thousand more than it was worth; but had its owner askedhalf a million, it would unhesitatingly have been given.
The very same day the occupants of the apartments on the fifth floor ofthe house, now become the property of Dantès, were duly informed by thenotary who had arranged the necessary transfer of deeds, etc., that thenew landlord gave them their choice of any of the rooms in the house,without the least augmentation of rent, upon condition of their givinginstant possession of the two small chambers they at present inhabited.
This strange event aroused great wonder and curiosity in theneighborhood of the Allées de Meilhan, and a multitude of theories wereafloat, none of which was anywhere near the truth. But what raisedpublic astonishment to a
climax, and set all conjecture at defiance, wasthe knowledge that the same stranger who had in the morning visited theAllées de Meilhan had been seen in the evening walking in the littlevillage of the Catalans, and afterwards observed to enter a poorfisherman’s hut, and to pass more than an hour in inquiring afterpersons who had either been dead or gone away for more than fifteen orsixteen years.
But on the following day the family from whom all these particulars hadbeen asked received a handsome present, consisting of an entirely newfishing-boat, with two seines and a tender.
The delighted recipients of these munificent gifts would gladly havepoured out their thanks to their generous benefactor, but they had seenhim, upon quitting the hut, merely give some orders to a sailor, andthen springing lightly on horseback, leave Marseilles by the Ported’Aix.