Now that this treasure, which had so long been the object of the
abbe's meditations, could insure the future happiness of him whom
Faria really loved as a son, it had doubled its value in his eyes,
and every day he expatiated on the amount, explaining to Dantes all
the good which, with thirteen or fourteen millions of francs, a man
could do in these days to his friends; and then Dantes' countenance
became gloomy, for the oath of vengeance he had taken recurred to
his memory, and he reflected how much ill, in these times, a man
with thirteen or fourteen millions could do to his enemies.
The abbe did not know the Island of Monte Cristo; but Dantes
knew it, and had often passed it, situated twenty-five miles from
Pianosa, between Corsica and the Island of Elba, and had once
touched there. This island was, always had been, and still is,
completely deserted. It is a rock of almost conical form, which
looks as though it had been thrust up by volcanic force from the
depth to the surface of the ocean. Dantes drew a plan of the island
for Faria, and Faria gave Dantes advice as to the means he should
employ to recover the treasure. But Dantes was far from being as
enthusiastic and confident as the old man. It was past a question
now that Faria was not a lunatic, and the way in which he had
achieved the discovery, which had given rise to the suspicion of
his madness, increased Edmond's admiration of him; but at the same
time Dantes could not believe that the deposit, supposing it had
ever existed, still existed; and though he considered the treasure
as by no means chimerical, he yet believed it was no longer
there.
However, as if fate resolved on depriving the prisoners of their
last chance, and making them understand that they were condemned to
perpetual imprisonment, a new misfortune befell them; the gallery
on the sea side, which had long been in ruins, was rebuilt. They
had repaired it completely, and stopped up with vast masses of
stone the hole Dantes had partly filled in. But for thisstone the hole Dantes had partly filled in. But for this
precaution, which, it will be remembered, the abbe had made to
Edmond, the misfortune would have been still greater, for their
attempt to escape would have been detected, and they would
undoubtedly have been separated. Thus a new, a stronger, and more
inexorable barrier was interposed to cut off the realization of
their hopes.
"You see," said the young man, with an air of sorrowful
resignation, to Faria, "that God deems it right to take from me any
claim to merit for what you call my devotion to you. I have
promised to remain forever with you, and now I could not break my
promise if I would. The treasure will be no more mine than yours,
and neither of us will quit this prison. But my real treasure is
not that, my dear friend, which awaits me beneath the sombre rocks
of Monte Cristo, it is your presence, our living together five or
six hours a day, in spite of our jailers; it is the rays of
intelligence you have elicited from my brain, the languages you
have implanted in my memory, and which have taken root there with
all their philological ramifications. These different sciences that
you have made so easy to me by the depth of the knowledge you
possess of them, and the clearness of the principles to which you
have reduced them — this is my treasure, my beloved friend, and
with this you have made me rich and happy. Believe me, and take
comfort, this is better for me than tons of gold and cases of
diamonds, even were they not as problematical as the clouds we see
in the morning floating over the sea, which we take for terra
firma, and which evaporate and vanish as we draw near to them. To
have you as long as possible near me, to hear your eloquent speech,
— which embellishes my mind, strengthens my soul, and makes my
whole frame capable of great and terrible things, if I should ever
be free, — so fills my whole existence, that the despair to which I
was just on the point of yielding when I knew you, has no longerwas just on the point of yielding when I knew you, has no longer
any hold over me; and this — this is my fortune — not chimerical,
but actual. I owe you my real good, my present happiness; and all
the sovereigns of the earth, even Caesar Borgia himself, could not
deprive me of this."
Thus, if not actually happy, yet the days these two unfortunates
passed together went quickly. Faria, who for so long a time had
kept silence as to the treasure, now perpetually talked of it. As
he had prophesied would be the case, he remained paralyzed in the
right arm and the left leg, and had given up all hope of ever
enjoying it himself. But he was continually thinking over some
means of escape for his young companion, and anticipating the
pleasure he would enjoy. For fear the letter might be some day lost
or stolen, he compelled Dantes to learn it by heart; and Dantes
knew it from the first to the last word. Then he destroyed the
second portion, assured that if the first were seized, no one would
be able to discover its real meaning. Whole hours sometimes passed
while Faria was giving instructions to Dantes, — instructions which
were to serve him when he was at liberty. Then, once free, from the
day and hour and moment when he was so, he could have but one only
thought, which was, to gain Monte Cristo by some means, and remain
there alone under some pretext which would arouse no suspicions;
and once there, to endeavor to find the wonderful caverns, and
search in the appointed spot, — the appointed spot, be it
remembered, being the farthest angle in the second opening.
In the meanwhile the hours passed, if not rapidly, at least
tolerably. Faria, as we have said, without having recovered the use
of his hand and foot, had regained all the clearness of his
understanding, and had gradually, besides the moral instructions we
have detailed, taught his youthful companion the patient and
sublime duty of a prisoner, who learns to make something from
nothing. They were thus perpetually employed, — Faria, that he