Day, for which Dantes had so eagerly and impatiently waitedwith open eyes, again dawned. With the first light Dantesresumed his search. Again he climbed the rocky height he hadascended the previous evening, and strained his view tocatch every peculiarity of the landscape; but it wore thesame wild, barren aspect when seen by the rays of themorning sun which it had done when surveyed by the fadingglimmer of eve. Descending into the grotto, he lifted thestone, filled his pockets with gems, put the box together aswell and securely as he could, sprinkled fresh sand over thespot from which it had been taken, and then carefully troddown the earth to give it everywhere a uniform appearance;then, quitting the grotto, he replaced the stone, heaping onit broken masses of rocks and rough fragments of crumblinggranite, filling the interstices with earth, into which hedeftly inserted rapidly growing plants, such as the wildmyrtle and flowering thorn, then carefully watering thesenew plantations, he scrupulously effaced every trace offootsteps, leaving the approach to the cavern assavage-looking and untrodden as he had found it. This done,he impatiently awaited the return of his companions. To waitat Monte Cristo for the purpose of watching like a dragonover the almost incalculable richs that had thus fallen intohis possession satisfied not the cravings of his heart,which yearned to return to dwell among mankind, and toassume the rank, power, and influence which are alwaysaccorded to wealth - that first and greatest of all theforces within the grasp of man.

On the sixth day, the smugglers returned. From a distanceDantes recognized the rig and handling of The Young Amelia,and dragging himself with affected difficulty towards thelanding-place, he met his companions with an assurance that,although considerably better than when they quitted him, hestill suffered acutely from his late accident. He theninquired how they had fared in their trip. To this questionthe smugglers replied that, although successful in landingtheir cargo in safety, they had scarcely done so when theyreceived intelligence that a guard-ship had just quitted theport of Toulon and was crowding all sail towards them. Thisobliged them to make all the speed they could to evade theenemy, when they could but lament the absence of Dantes,whose superior skill in the management of a vessel wouldhave availed them so materially. In fact, the pursuingvessel had almost overtaken them when, fortunately, nightcame on, and enabled them to double the Cape of Corsica, andso elude all further pursuit. Upon the whole, however, thetrip had been sufficiently successful to satisfy allconcerned; while the crew, and particularly Jacopo,expressed great regrets that Dantes had not been an equalsharer with themselves in the profits, which amounted to noless a sum than fifty piastres each.

Edmond preserved the most admirable self-command, notsuffering the faintest indication of a smile to escape himat the enumeration of all the benefits he would have reapedhad he been able to quit the island; but as The Young Ameliahad merely come to Monte Cristo to fetch him away, heembarked that same evening, and proceeded with the captainto Leghorn. Arrived at Leghorn, he repaired to the house ofa Jew, a dealer in precious stones, to whom he disposed offour of his smallest diamonds for five thousand francs each.Dantes half feared that such valuable jewels in the hands ofa poor sailor like himself might excite suspicion; but thecunning purchaser asked no troublesome questions concerninga bargain by which he gained a round profit of at leasteighty per cent.

The following day Dantes presented Jacopo with an entirelynew vessel, accompanying the gift by a donation of onehundred piastres, that he might provide himself with asuitable crew and other requisites for his outfit, uponcondition that he would go at once to Marseilles for thepurpose of inquiring after an old man named Louis Dantes,residing in the Allees de Meillan, and also a young womancalled Mercedes, an inhabitant of the Catalan village.Jacopo could scarcely believe his senses at receiving thismagnificent present, which Dantes hastened to account for bysaying that he had merely been a sailor from whim and adesire to spite his family, who did not allow him as muchmoney as he liked to spend; but that on his arrival atLeghorn he had come into possession of a large fortune, lefthim by an uncle, whose sole heir he was. The superioreducation of Dantes gave an air of such extreme probabilityto this statement that it never once occurred to Jacopo todoubt its accuracy. The term for which Edmond had engaged toserve on board The Young Amelia having expired, Dantes tookleave of the captain, who at first tried all his powers ofpersuasion to induce him to remain as one of the crew, buthaving been told the history of the legacy, he ceased toimportune him further. The following morning Jacopo set sailfor Marseilles, with directions from Dantes to join him atthe Island of Monte Cristo.

Having seen Jacopo fairly out of the harbor, Dantesproceeded to make his final adieus on board The YoungAmelia, distributing so liberal a gratuity among her crew asto secure for him the good wishes of all, and expressions ofcordial interest in all that concerned him. To the captainhe promised to write when he had made up his mind as to hisfuture plans. Then Dantes departed for Genoa. At the momentof his arrival a small yacht was under trial in the bay;this yacht had been built by order of an Englishman, who,having heard that the Genoese excelled all other buildersalong the shores of the Mediterranean in the construction offast-sailing vessels, was desirous of possessing a specimenof their skill; the price agreed upon between the Englishmanand the Genoese builder was forty thousand francs. Dantes,struck with the beauty and capability of the little vessel,applied to its owner to transfer it to him, offering sixtythousand francs, upon condition that he should be allowed totake immediate possession. The proposal was too advantageousto be refused, the more so as the person for whom the yachtwas intended had gone upon a tour through Switzerland, andwas not expected back in less than three weeks or a month,by which time the builder reckoned upon being able tocomplete another. A bargain was therefore struck. Dantes ledthe owner of the yacht to the dwelling of a Jew; retiredwith the latter for a few minutes to a small back parlor,and upon their return the Jew counted out to the shipbuilderthe sum of sixty thousand francs in bright gold pieces.

The delighted builder then offered his services in providinga suitable crew for the little vessel, but this Dantesdeclined with many thanks, saying he was accustomed tocruise about quite alone, and his principal pleasureconsisted in managing his yacht himself; the only thing thebuilder could oblige him in would be to contrive a sort ofsecret closet in the cabin at his bed's head, the closet tocontain three divisions, so constructed as to be concealedfrom all but himself. The builder cheerfully undertook thecommission, and promised to have these secret placescompleted by the next day, Dantes furnishing the dimensionsand plan in accordance with which they were to beconstructed.

The following day Dantes sailed with his yacht from Genoa,under the inspection of an immense crowd drawn together bycuriosity to see the rich Spanish nobleman who preferredmanaging his own yacht. But their wonder was soon changed toadmiration at seeing the perfect skill with which Danteshandled the helm. The boat, indeed, seemed to be animatedwith almost human intelligence, so promptly did it obey theslightest touch; and Dantes required but a short trial ofhis beautiful craft to acknowledge that the Genoese had notwithout reason attained their high reputation in the art ofshipbuilding. The spectators followed the little vessel withtheir eyes as long as it remained visible; they then turnedtheir conjectures upon her probable destination. Someinsisted she was making for Corsica, others the Island ofElba; bets were offered to any amount that she was bound forSpain; while Africa was positively reported by many personsas her intended course; but no one thought of Monte Cristo.Yet thither it was that Dantes guided his vessel, and atMonte Cristo he arrived at the close of the second day; hisboat had proved herself a first-class sailer, and had comethe distance from Genoa in thirty-five hours. Dantes hadcarefully noted the general appearance of the shore, and,instead of landing at the usual place, he dropped anchor inthe little creek. The island was utterly deserted, and boreno evidence of having been visited since he went away; histreasure was just as he had left it. Early on the followingmorning he commenced the removal of his riches, and erenightfall the whole of his immense wealth was safelydeposited in the compartments of the secret locker.

A week passed by. Dantes employed it in manoeuvring hisyacht round the island, studying it as a skilful horsemanwould the animal he destined for some important service,till at the end of that time he was perfectly conversantwith its good and bad qualities. The former Dantes proposedto augment, the latter to remedy.

Upon the eighth day he discerned a small vessel under fullsail approaching Monte Cristo. As it drew near, herecognized it as the boat he had given to Jacopo. Heimmediately signalled it. His signal was returned, and intwo hours afterwards the newcomer lay at anchor beside theyacht. A mournful answer awaited each of Edmond's eagerinquiries as to the information Jacopo had obtained. OldDantes was dead, and Mercedes had disappeared. Danteslistened to these melancholy tidings with outward calmness;but, leaping lightly ashore, he signified his desire to bequite alone. In a couple of hours he returned. Two of themen from Jacopo's boat came on board the yacht to assist innavigating it, and he gave orders that she should be steereddirect to Marseilles. For his father's death he was in somemanner prepared; but he knew not how to account for themysterious disappearance of Mercedes.

Without divulging his secret, Dantes could not givesufficiently clear instructions to an agent. There were,besides, other particulars he was desirous of ascertaining,and those were of a nature he alone could investigate in amanner satisfactory to himself. His looking-glass hadassured him, during his stay at Leghorn, that he ran no riskof recognition; moreover, he had now the means of adoptingany disguise he thought proper. One fine morning, then, hisyacht, followed by the little fishing-boat, boldly enteredthe port of Marseilles, and anchored exactly opposite thespot from whence, on the never-to-be-forgotten night of hisdeparture for the Chateau d'If, he had been put on board theboat destined to convey him thither. Still Dantes could notview without a shudder the approach of a gendarme whoaccompanied the officers deputed to demand his bill ofhealth ere the yacht was permitted to hold communicationwith the shore; but with that perfect self-possession he hadacquired during his acquaintance with Faria, Dantes coollypresented an English passport he had obtained from Leghorn,and as this gave him a standing which a French passportwould not have afforded, he was informed that there existedno obstacle to his immediate debarkation.

The first person to attract the attention of Dantes, as helanded on the Canebiere, was one of the crew belonging tothe Pharaon. Edmond welcomed the meeting with this fellow - who had been one of his own sailors - as a sure means oftesting the extent of the change which time had worked inhis own appearance. Going straight towards him, hepropounded a variety of questions on different subjects,carefully watching the man's countenance as he did so; butnot a word or look implied that he had the slightest idea ofever having seen before the person with whom he was thenconversing. Giving the sailor a piece of money in return forhis civility, Dantes proceeded onwards; but ere he had gonemany steps he heard the man loudly calling him to stop.Dantes instantly turned to meet him. "I beg your pardon,sir," said the honest fellow, in almost breathless haste,"but I believe you made a mistake; you intended to give me atwo-franc piece, and see, you gave me a double Napoleon."

"Thank you, my good friend. I see that I have made atrifling mistake, as you say; but by way of rewarding yourhonesty I give you another double Napoleon, that you maydrink to my health, and be able to ask your messmates tojoin you."

So extreme was the surprise of the sailor, that he wasunable even to thank Edmond, whose receding figure hecontinued to gaze after in speechless astonishment. "Somenabob from India," was his comment.

Dantes, meanwhile, went on his way. Each step he trodoppressed his heart with fresh emotion; his first and mostindelible recollections were there; not a tree, not astreet, that he passed but seemed filled with dear andcherished memories. And thus he proceeded onwards till hearrived at the end of the Rue de Noailles, from whence afull view of the Allees de Meillan was obtained. At thisspot, so pregnant with fond and filial remembrances, hisheart beat almost to bursting, his knees tottered under him,a mist floated over his sight, and had he not clung forsupport to one of the trees, he would inevitably have fallento the ground and been crushed beneath the many vehiclescontinually passing there. Recovering himself, however, hewiped the perspiration from his brows, and stopped not againtill he found himself at the door of the house in which hisfather had lived.

The nasturtiums and other plants, which his father haddelighted to train before his window, had all disappearedfrom the upper part of the house. Leaning against the tree,he gazed thoughtfully for a time at the upper stories of theshabby little house. Then he advanced to the door, and askedwhether there were any rooms to be let. Though answered inthe negative, he begged so earnestly to be permitted tovisit those on the fifth floor, that, in spite of theoft-repeated assurance of the concierge that they wereoccupied, Dantes succeeded in inducing the man to go up tothe tenants, and ask permission for a gentleman to beallowed to look at them.

The tenants of the humble lodging were a young couple whohad been scarcely married a week; and seeing them, Dantessighed heavily. Nothing in the two small chambers formingthe apartments remained as it had been in the time of theelder Dantes; the very paper was different, while thearticles of antiquated furniture with which the rooms hadbeen filled in Edmond's time had all disappeared; the fourwalls alone remained as he had left them. The bed belongingto the present occupants was placed as the former owner ofthe chamber had been accustomed to have his; and, in spiteof his efforts to prevent it, the eyes of Edmond weresuffused in tears as he reflected that on that spot the oldman had breathed his last, vainly calling for his son. Theyoung couple gazed with astonishment at the sight of theirvisitor's emotion, and wondered to see the large tearssilently chasing each other down his otherwise stern andimmovable features; but they felt the sacredness of hisgrief, and kindly refrained from questioning him as to itscause, while, with instinctive delicacy, they left him toindulge his sorrow alone. When he withdrew from the scene ofhis painful recollections, they both accompanied himdownstairs, reiterating their hope that he would come againwhenever he pleased, and assuring him that their poordwelling would ever be open to him. As Edmond passed thedoor on the fourth floor, he paused to inquire whetherCaderousse the tailor still dwelt there; but he received,for reply, that the person in question had got intodifficulties, and at the present time kept a small inn onthe route from Bellegarde to Beaucaire.

Having obtained the address of the person to whom the housein the Allees de Meillan belonged, Dantes next proceededthither, and, under the name of Lord Wilmore (the name andtitle inscribed on his passport), purchased the smalldwelling for the sum of twenty-five thousand francs, atleast ten thousand more than it was worth; but had its ownerasked half a million, it would unhesitatingly have beengiven. The very same day the occupants of the apartments onthe fifth floor of the house, now become the property ofDantes, were duly informed by the notary who had arrangedthe necessary transfer of deeds, etc., that the new landlordgave them their choice of any of the rooms in the house,without the least augmentation of rent, upon condition oftheir giving instant possession of the two small chambersthey at present inhabited.

This strange event aroused great wonder and curiosity in theneighborhood of the Allees de Meillan, and a multitude oftheories were afloat, none of which was anywhere near thetruth. But what raised public astonishment to a climax, andset all conjecture at defiance, was the knowledge that thesame stranger who had in the morning visited the Allees deMeillan had been seen in the evening walking in the littlevillage of the Catalans, and afterwards observed to enter apoor fisherman's hut, and to pass more than an hour ininquiring after persons who had either been dead or goneaway for more than fifteen or sixteen years. But on thefollowing day the family from whom all these particulars hadbeen asked received a handsome present, consisting of anentirely new fishing-boat, with two seines and a tender. Thedelighted recipients of these munificent gifts would gladlyhave poured out their thanks to their generous benefactor,but they had seen him, upon quitting the hut, merely givesome orders to a sailor, and then springing lightly onhorseback, leave Marseilles by the Porte d'Aix.