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The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
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Hope. Justice. Vengeance. A classic tale you don't want to miss! Best-selling author Alexandre Dumas--who also wrote The Three Musketeers-- tells this heartbreaking yet heroic tale of Edmond Dantes who takes revenge on the men responsible for his unjust fourteen-year imprisonment, keeping him from the woman he loved and the life he was supposed to live.*This widely popular classic, originally written in French, tells a tale of devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty. The Count of Monte Cristo is a must-have for any home library or literary aficionado.
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LiteratureCategoria
ClassicsCHAPTER 1
MARSEILLESāTHE ARRIVAL
On the 24th of February, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signaled the three-master, the Pharaon, from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. As usual, a pilot put off immediately, and rounding the ChĆ¢teau dāIf, got on board the vessel between Cape Morgion and Rion Island.
Instantly, and according to custom, the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean were covered with spectators; it is always an event at Marseilles for a ship to come into port, especially when this ship, like the Pharaon, has been built, rigged, and laden at the old Phocee docks, and belongs to an owner of the city.
The ship drew on and had safely passed the strait, which some volcanic shock has made between the Calasareigne and Jaros islands; had doubled Pomegue, and approached the harbor under topsails, jib, and spanker, but so slowly and sedately that the idlers, with that instinct which is the forerunner of evil, asked one another what misfortune could have happened on board. However, those experienced in navigation saw plainly that if any accident had occurred, it was not to the vessel herself, for she bore down with all the evidence of being skillfully handled, the anchor ready to be dropped, the bows prit shrouds already eased off, and standing by the side of the pilot, who was steering the Pharaon toward the narrow entrance of the inner port, was a young man, who, with activity and vigilant eye, watched every motion of the ship, and repeated each direction of the pilot.
The vague disquietude which prevailed among the spectators had so much affected one of the crowd that he did not await the arrival of the vessel in harbor, but jumping into a small skiff, desired to be pulled alongside the Pharaon, which he reached as she rounded into La Reserve basin.
When the young man on board saw this person approach, he left his station by the pilot, and, hat in hand, leaned over the shipās bulwarks. He was a fine, tall, slim young fellow of eighteen or twenty with black eyes and hair as dark as a ravenās wing. His whole appearance bespoke that calmness and resolution peculiar to men accustomed from their cradle to contend with danger.
āAh, is it you, Dantes?ā cried the man in the skiff. āWhatās the matter? And why have you such an air of sadness aboard?ā
āA great misfortune, M. Morrel,ā replied the young man, āa great misfortune, for me especially! Off Civita Vecchia we lost our brave Captain Leclere.ā
āAnd the cargo?ā inquired the owner, eagerly.
āIs all safe, M. Morrel; and I think you will be satisfied on that head. But poor Captain Leclereāā
āWhat happened to him?ā asked the owner, with an air of considerable resignation. āWhat happened to the worthy captain?ā
āHe died.ā
āFell into the sea?ā
āNo, sir, he died of brain fever in dreadful agony.ā Then turning to the crew, he said, āBear a hand there, to take in sail!ā
All hands obeyed, and at once the eight or ten seamen who composed the crew sprang to their respective stations at the spanker brails and outhaul, topsail sheets and halyards, the jib downhaul, and the topsail cluelines and buntlines. The young sailor gave a look to see that his orders were promptly and accurately obeyed, and then turned again to the owner.
āAnd how did this misfortune occur?ā inquired the latter, resuming the interrupted conversation.
āAlas, sir, in the most unexpected manner. After a long talk with the harbor master, Captain Leclere left Naples greatly disturbed in mind. In twenty-four hours he was attacked by a fever, and died three days afterward. We performed the usual burial service, and he is at his rest, sewn up in his hammock with a thirty-six pound shot at his head and his heels, off El Giglio Island. We bring to his widow his sword and cross of honor. It was worthwhile, truly,ā added the young man with a melancholy smile, āto make war against the English for ten years, and to die in his bed at last, like everybody else.ā
āWhy, you see, Edmond,ā replied the owner, who appeared more comforted at every moment, āwe are all mortal, and the old must make way for the young. If not, why, there would be no promotion; and since you assure me that the cargoāā
āIs all safe and sound, M. Morrel, take my word for it; and I advise you not to take 25,000 francs for the profits of the voyage.ā
Then, as they were just passing the Round Tower, the young man shouted, āStand by there to lower the topsails and jib; brail up the spanker!ā
The order was executed as promptly as it would have been on board a manof-war.
āLet goāand clue up!ā At this last command all the sails were lowered, and the vessel moved almost imperceptibly onward.
āNow, if you will come on board, M. Morrel,ā said Dantes, observing the ownerās impatience, āhere is your supercargo, M. Danglars, coming out of his cabin, who will furnish you with every particular. As for me, I must look after the anchoring, and dress the ship in mourning.ā
The owner did not wait for a second invitation. He seized a rope which Dantes flung to him, and with an activity that would have done credit to a sailor, climbed up the side of the ship, while the young man, going to his task, left the conversation to Danglars, who now came toward the owner. He was a man of twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, of unprepossessing countenance, obsequious to his superiors, insolent to his subordinates; and this, in addition to his position as responsible agent on board, which is always obnoxious to the sailors, made him as much disliked by the crew as Edmond Dantes was beloved by them.
āWell, M. Morrel,ā said Danglars, āyou have heard of the misfortune that has befallen us?ā
āYes, yes; poor Captain Leclere! He was a brave and an honest man.ā
āAnd a first-rate seaman, one who had seen long and honorable service, as became a man charged with the interests of a house so important as that of Morrel & Son,ā replied Danglars.
āBut,ā replied the owner, glancing after Dantes, who was watching the anchoring of his vessel, āit seems to me that a sailor needs not be so old as you say, Danglars, to understand his business, for our friend Edmond seems to understand it thoroughly, and not to require instruction from anyone.ā
āYes,ā said Danglars, darting at Edmond a look gleaming with hate. āYes, he is young, and youth is invariably self-confident. Scarcely was the captainās breath out of his body when he assumed the command without consulting anyone, and he caused us to lose a day and a half at the Island of Elba, instead of making for Marseilles direct.ā
āAs to taking command of the vessel,ā replied Morrel, āthat was his duty as captainās mate; as to losing a day and a half off the Island of Elba, he was wrong, unless the vessel needed repairs.ā
āThe vessel was in as good condition as I am, and as I hope you are, M. Morrel, and this day and a half was lost from pure whim, for the pleasure of going ashore and nothing else.ā
āDantes,ā said the ship owner, turning toward the young man, ācome this way!ā
āIn a moment, sir,ā answered Dantes, āand Iām with you.ā Then calling to the crew, he said, āLet go!ā
The anchor was instantly dropped, and the chain ran rattling through the porthole. Dantes continued at his post in spite of the presence of the pilot, until this maneuver was completed, and then he added, āHalf-mast the colors, and square the yards!ā
āYou see,ā said Danglars, āhe fancies himself captain already, upon my word.ā
āAnd so, in fact, he is,ā said the owner.
āExcept your signature and your partnerās, M. Morrel.ā
āAnd why should he not have this?ā asked the owner. āHe is young, it is true, but he seems to me a thorough seaman, and of full experience.ā
A cloud passed over Danglarsās brow.
āYour pardon, M. Morrel,ā said Dantes, approaching. āThe vessel now rides at anchor, and I am at your service. You hailed me, I think?ā
Danglars retreated a step or two.
āI wished to inquire why you stopped at the Island of Elba?ā
āI do not know, sir; it was to fulfill the last instructions of Captain Leclere, who, when dying, gave me a packet for Marshal Bertrand.ā
āThen did you see him, Edmond?ā
āWho?ā
āThe marshal.ā
āYes.ā
Morrel looked around him, and then, drawing Dantes on one side, he said suddenly, āAnd how is the emperor?ā
āVery well, as far as I could judge from the sight of him.ā
āYou saw the emperor, then?ā
āHe entered the marshalās apartment while I was there.ā
āAnd you spoke to him?ā
āWhy, it was he who spoke to me, sir,ā said Dantes, with a smile.
āAnd what did he say to you?ā
āAsked me questions about the vessel, the time she left Marseilles, the course she had taken, and what was her cargo. I believe, if she had not been laden, and I had been her master, he would have bought her. But I told him I was only mate, and that she belonged to the firm of Morrel & Son. āAh, yes,ā he said, āI know them. The Morrels have been shipowners from father to son; and there was a Morrel who served in the same regiment with me when I was in garrison at Valence.āā
āPardieu, and that is true!ā cried the owner, greatly delighted. āAnd that was Policar Morrel, my uncle, who was afterward a captain. Dantes, you must tell my uncle that the emperor remembered him, and you will see it will bring tears into the old soldierās eyes. Come, come,ā continued he, patting Edmondās shoulder kindly, āyou did very right, Dantes, to follow Captain Leclereās instructions and touch at Elba, although if it were known that you had conveyed a packet to the marshal and had conversed with the emperor, it might bring you into trouble.ā
āHow could that bring me into trouble, sir?ā asked Dantes. āFor I did not even know of what I was the bearer; and the emperor merely made such inquiries as he would of the firstcomer. But, pardon me, here are the health officers and the customs inspectors coming alongside.ā And the young man went to the gangway.
As he departed, Danglars approached, and said, āWell, it appears that he has given you satisfactory reasons for his landing at Porto-Ferrajo?ā
āYes, most satisfactory, my dear Danglars.ā
āWell, so much the better,ā said the supercargo, āfor it is not pleasant to think that a comrade has not done his duty.ā
āDantes has done his,ā replied the owner, āand that is not saying much. It was Captain Leclere who gave orders for this delay.ā
āTalking of Captain Leclere, has not Dantes given you a letter from him?ā
āTo me? Noāwas there one?ā
āI believe that, besides the packet, Captain Leclere confided a letter to his care.ā
āOf what packet are you speaking, Danglars?ā
āWhy, that which Dantes left at Porto-Ferrajo.ā
āHow do you know he had a packet to leave at Porto-Ferrajo?ā
Danglars turned very red.
āI was passing close to the door of the captainās cabin, which was half open, and I saw him give the packet and letter to Dantes.ā
āHe did not speak to me of it,ā replied the shipowner; ābut if there be any letter he will give it to me.ā
Danglars reflected for a moment. āThen, M. Morrel, I beg of you,ā said he, ānot to say a word to Dantes on the subject. I may have been mistaken.ā
At this moment the young man returned; Danglars withdrew.
āWell, my dear Dantes, are you now free?ā inquired the owner.
āYes, sir.ā
āYou have not been long detained.ā
āNo. I gave the customhouse officers a copy of our bill of lading; and as to the other papers, they sent ...