would the patron think? He must wait.
Fortunately, Dantes had learned how to wait; he had waited
fourteen years for his liberty, and now he was free he could wait
at least six months or a year for wealth. Would he not have
accepted liberty without riches if it had been offered to him?
Besides, were not those riches chimerical? — offspring of the brain
of the poor Abbe Faria, had they not died with him? It is true, the
letter of the Cardinal Spada was singularly circumstantial, and
Dantes repeated it to himself, from one end to the other, for he
had not forgotten a word.
Evening came, and Edmond saw the island tinged with the shades
of twilight, and then disappear in the darkness from all eyes but
his own, for he, with vision accustomed to the gloom of a prison,
continued to behold it last of all, for he remained alone upon
deck. The next morn broke off the coast of Aleria; all day they
coasted, and in the evening saw fires lighted on land; the position
of these was no doubt a signal for landing, for a ship's lantern
was hung up at the mast-head instead of the streamer, and they came
to within a gunshot of the shore. Dantes noticed that the captain
of The Young Amelia had, as he neared the land, mounted two small
culverins, which, without making much noise, can throw a four ounce
ball a thousand paces or so.
But on this occasion the precaution was superfluous, and
everything proceeded with the utmost smoothness and politeness.
Four shallops came off with very little noise alongside the lugger,
which, no doubt, in acknowledgement of the compliment, lowered her
own shallop into the sea, and the five boats worked so well that by
two o'clock in the morning all the cargo was out of The Young
Amelia and on terra firma. The same night, such a man of regularity
was the patron of The Young Amelia, the profits were divided, and
each man had a hundred Tuscan livres, or about eighty francs. But
the voyage was not ended. They turned the bowsprit towards
Sardinia, where they intended to take in a cargo, which was toSardinia, where they intended to take in a cargo, which was to
replace what had been discharged. The second operation was as
successful as the first, The Young Amelia was in luck. This new
cargo was destined for the coast of the Duchy of Lucca, and
consisted almost entirely of Havana cigars, sherry, and Malaga
wines.
There they had a bit of a skirmish in getting rid of the duties;
the excise was, in truth, the everlasting enemy of the patron of
The Young Amelia. A customs officer was laid low, and two sailors
wounded; Dantes was one of the latter, a ball having touched him in
the left shoulder. Dantes was almost glad of this affray, and
almost pleased at being wounded, for they were rude lessons which
taught him with what eye he could view danger, and with what
endurance he could bear suffering. He had contemplated danger with
a smile, and when wounded had exclaimed with the great philosopher,
"Pain, thou art not an evil." He had, moreover, looked upon the
customs officer wounded to death, and, whether from heat of blood
produced by the encounter, or the chill of human sentiment, this
sight had made but slight impression upon him. Dantes was on the
way he desired to follow, and was moving towards the end he wished
to achieve; his heart was in a fair way of petrifying in his bosom.
Jacopo, seeing him fall, had believed him killed, and rushing
towards him raised him up, and then attended to him with all the
kindness of a devoted comrade.
This world was not then so good as Doctor Pangloss believed it,
neither was it so wicked as Dantes thought it, since this man, who
had nothing to expect from his comrade but the inheritance of his
share of the prize-money, manifested so much sorrow when he saw him
fall. Fortunately, as we have said, Edmond was only wounded, and
with certain herbs gathered at certain seasons, and sold to the
smugglers by the old Sardinian women, the wound soon closed. Edmond
then resolved to try Jacopo, and offered him in return for his
attention a share of his prize-money, but Jacopo refused itattention a share of his prize-money, but Jacopo refused it
indignantly.
As a result of the sympathetic devotion which Jacopo had from
the first bestowed on Edmond, the latter was moved to a certain
degree of affection. But this sufficed for Jacopo, who
instinctively felt that Edmond had a right to superiority of
position — a superiority which Edmond had concealed from all
others. And from this time the kindness which Edmond showed him was
enough for the brave seaman.
Then in the long days on board ship, when the vessel, gliding on
with security over the azure sea, required no care but the hand of
the helmsman, thanks to the favorable winds that swelled her sails,
Edmond, with a chart in his hand, became the instructor of Jacopo,
as the poor Abbe Faria had been his tutor. He pointed out to him
the bearings of the coast, explained to him the variations of the
compass, and taught him to read in that vast book opened over our
heads which they call heaven, and where God writes in azure with
letters of diamonds. And when Jacopo inquired of him, "What is the
use of teaching all these things to a poor sailor like me?" Edmond
replied, "Who knows? You may one day be the captain of a vessel.
Your fellow-countryman, Bonaparte, became emperor." We had
forgotten to say that Jacopo was a Corsican.
Two months and a half elapsed in these trips, and Edmond had
become as skilful a coaster as he had been a hardy seaman; he had
formed an acquaintance with all the smugglers on the coast, and
learned all the Masonic signs by which these half pirates recognize
each other. He had passed and re-passed his Island of Monte Cristo
twenty times, but not once had he found an opportunity of landing
there. He then formed a resolution. As soon as his engagement with
the patron of The Young Amelia ended, he would hire a small vessel
on his own account — for in his several voyages he had amassed a
hundred piastres — and under some pretext land at the Island of
Monte Cristo. Then he would be free to make his researches, not