When Franz returned to himself, he seemed still to be in adream. He thought himself in a sepulchre, into which a rayof sunlight in pity scarcely penetrated. He stretched forthhis hand, and touched stone; he rose to his seat, and foundhimself lying on his bournous in a bed of dry heather, verysoft and odoriferous. The vision had fled; and as if thestatues had been but shadows from the tomb, they hadvanished at his waking. He advanced several paces towardsthe point whence the light came, and to all the excitementof his dream succeeded the calmness of reality. He foundthat he was in a grotto, went towards the opening, andthrough a kind of fanlight saw a blue sea and an azure sky.The air and water were shining in the beams of the morningsun; on the shore the sailors were sitting, chatting andlaughing; and at ten yards from them the boat was at anchor,undulating gracefully on the water. There for some time heenjoyed the fresh breeze which played on his brow, andlistened to the dash of the waves on the beach, that leftagainst the rocks a lace of foam as white as silver. He wasfor some time without reflection or thought for the divinecharm which is in the things of nature, specially after afantastic dream; then gradually this view of the outerworld, so calm, so pure, so grand, reminded him of theillusiveness of his vision, and once more awakened memory.He recalled his arrival on the island, his presentation to asmuggler chief, a subterranean palace full of splendor, anexcellent supper, and a spoonful of hashish. It seemed,however, even in the very face of open day, that at least ayear had elapsed since all these things had passed, so deepwas the impression made in his mind by the dream, and sostrong a hold had it taken of his imagination. Thus everynow and then he saw in fancy amid the sailors, seated on arock, or undulating in the vessel, one of the shadows whichhad shared his dream with looks and kisses. Otherwise, hishead was perfectly clear, and his body refreshed; he wasfree from the slightest headache; on the contrary, he felt acertain degree of lightness, a faculty for absorbing thepure air, and enjoying the bright sunshine more vividly thanever.

He went gayly up to the sailors, who rose as soon as theyperceived him; and the patron, accosting him, said, "TheSignor Sinbad has left his compliments for your excellency,and desires us to express the regret he feels at not beingable to take his leave in person; but he trusts you willexcuse him, as very important business calls him to Malaga."

"So, then, Gaetano," said Franz, "this is, then, allreality; there exists a man who has received me in thisisland, entertained me right royally, and has departed whileI was asleep?"

"He exists as certainly as that you may see his small yachtwith all her sails spread; and if you will use your glass,you will, in all probability, recognize your host in themidst of his crew." So saying, Gaetano pointed in adirection in which a small vessel was making sail towardsthe southern point of Corsica. Franz adjusted his telescope,and directed it towards the yacht. Gaetano was not mistaken.At the stern the mysterious stranger was standing up lookingtowards the shore, and holding a spy-glass in his hand. Hewas attired as he had been on the previous evening, andwaved his pocket-handkerchief to his guest in token ofadieu. Franz returned the salute by shaking his handkerchiefas an exchange of signals. After a second, a slight cloud ofsmoke was seen at the stern of the vessel, which rosegracefully as it expanded in the air, and then Franz heard aslight report. "There, do you hear?" observed Gaetano; "heis bidding you adieu." The young man took his carbine andfired it in the air, but without any idea that the noisecould be heard at the distance which separated the yachtfrom the shore.

"What are your excellency's orders?" inquired Gaetano.

"In the first place, light me a torch."

"Ah, yes, I understand," replied the patron, "to find theentrance to the enchanted apartment. With much pleasure,your excellency, if it would amuse you; and I will get youthe torch you ask for. But I too have had the idea you have,and two or three times the same fancy has come over me; butI have always given it up. Giovanni, light a torch," headded, "and give it to his excellency."

Giovanni obeyed. Franz took the lamp, and entered thesubterranean grotto, followed by Gaetano. He recognized theplace where he had awaked by the bed of heather that wasthere; but it was in vain that he carried his torch allround the exterior surface of the grotto. He saw nothing,unless that, by traces of smoke, others had before himattempted the same thing, and, like him, in vain. Yet he didnot leave a foot of this granite wall, as impenetrable asfuturity, without strict scrutiny; he did not see a fissurewithout introducing the blade of his hunting sword into it,or a projecting point on which he did not lean and press inthe hopes it would give way. All was vain; and he lost twohours in his attempts, which were at last utterly useless.At the end of this time he gave up his search, and Gaetanosmiled.

When Franz appeared again on the shore, the yacht onlyseemed like a small white speck on the horizon. He lookedagain through his glass, but even then he could notdistinguish anything. Gaetano reminded him that he had comefor the purpose of shooting goats, which he had utterlyforgotten. He took his fowling-piece, and began to hunt overthe island with the air of a man who is fulfilling a duty,rather than enjoying a pleasure; and at the end of a quarterof an hour he had killed a goat and two kids. These animals,though wild and agile as chamois, were too much likedomestic goats, and Franz could not consider them as game.Moreover, other ideas, much more enthralling, occupied hismind. Since, the evening before, he had really been the heroof one of the tales of the "Thousand and One Nights," and hewas irresistibly attracted towards the grotto. Then, inspite of the failure of his first search, he began a second,after having told Gaetano to roast one of the two kids. Thesecond visit was a long one, and when he returned the kidwas roasted and the repast ready. Franz was sitting on thespot where he was on the previous evening when hismysterious host had invited him to supper; and he saw thelittle yacht, now like a sea-gull on the wave, continuingher flight towards Corsica. "Why," he remarked to Gaetano,"you told me that Signor Sinbad was going to Malaga, whileit seems he is in the direction of Porto-Vecchio."

"Don't you remember," said the patron, "I told you thatamong the crew there were two Corsican brigands?"

"True; and he is going to land them," added Franz.

"Precisely so," replied Gaetano. "Ah, he is one who fearsneither God nor Satan, they say, and would at any time runfifty leagues out of his course to do a poor devil aservice."

"But such services as these might involve him with theauthorities of the country in which he practices this kindof philanthropy," said Franz.

"And what cares he for that," replied Gaetano with a laugh,"or any authorities? He smiles at them. Let them try topursue him! Why, in the first place, his yacht is not aship, but a bird, and he would beat any frigate three knotsin every nine; and if he were to throw himself on the coast,why, is he not certain of finding friends everywhere?"

It was perfectly clear that the Signor Sinbad, Franz's host,had the honor of being on excellent terms with the smugglersand bandits along the whole coast of the Mediterranean, andso enjoyed exceptional privileges. As to Franz, he had nolonger any inducement to remain at Monte Cristo. He had lostall hope of detecting the secret of the grotto; heconsequently despatched his breakfast, and, his boat beingready, he hastened on board, and they were soon under way.At the moment the boat began her course they lost sight ofthe yacht, as it disappeared in the gulf of Porto-Vecchio.With it was effaced the last trace of the preceding night;and then supper, Sinbad, hashish, statues, - all became adream for Franz. The boat sailed on all day and all night,and next morning, when the sun rose, they had lost sight ofMonte Cristo. When Franz had once again set foot on shore,he forgot, for the moment at least, the events which hadjust passed, while he finished his affairs of pleasure atFlorence, and then thought of nothing but how he shouldrejoin his companion, who was awaiting him at Rome.

He set out, and on the Saturday evening reached the EternalCity by the mail-coach. An apartment, as we have said, hadbeen retained beforehand, and thus he had but to go toSignor Pastrini's hotel. But this was not so easy a matter,for the streets were thronged with people, and Rome wasalready a prey to that low and feverish murmur whichprecedes all great events; and at Rome there are four greatevents in every year, - the Carnival, Holy Week, CorpusChristi, and the Feast of St. Peter. All the rest of theyear the city is in that state of dull apathy, between lifeand death, which renders it similar to a kind of stationbetween this world and the next - a sublime spot, aresting-place full of poetry and character, and at whichFranz had already halted five or six times, and at each timefound it more marvellous and striking. At last he made hisway through the mob, which was continually increasing andgetting more and more turbulent, and reached the hotel. Onhis first inquiry he was told, with the impertinencepeculiar to hired hackney-coachmen and inn-keepers withtheir houses full, that there was no room for him at theHotel de Londres. Then he sent his card to Signor Pastrini,and asked for Albert de Morcerf. This plan succeeded; andSignor Pastrini himself ran to him, excusing himself forhaving made his excellency wait, scolding the waiters,taking the candlestick from the porter, who was ready topounce on the traveller and was about to lead him to Albert,when Morcerf himself appeared.

The apartment consisted of two small rooms and a parlor. Thetwo rooms looked onto the street - a fact which SignorPastrini commented upon as an inappreciable advantage. Therest of the floor was hired by a very rich gentleman who wassupposed to be a Sicilian or Maltese; but the host wasunable to decide to which of the two nations the travellerbelonged. "Very good, signor Pastrini," said Franz; "but wemust have some supper instantly, and a carriage for tomorrowand the following days."

"As to supper," replied the landlord, "you shall be servedimmediately; but as for the carriage" -

"What as to the carriage?" exclaimed Albert. "Come, come,Signor Pastrini, no joking; we must have a carriage."

"Sir," replied the host, "we will do all in our power toprocure you one - this is all I can say."

"And when shall we know?" inquired Franz.

"To-morrow morning," answered the inn-keeper.

"Oh, the deuce! Then we shall pay the more, that's all, Isee plainly enough. At Drake's or Aaron's one paystwenty-five lire for common days, and thirty or thirty-fivelire a day more for Sundays and feast days; add five lire aday more for extras, that will make forty, and there's anend of it."

"I am afraid if we offer them double that we shall notprocure a carriage."

"Then they must put horses to mine. It is a little worse forthe journey, but that's no matter."

"There are no horses." Albert looked at Franz like a man whohears a reply he does not understand.

"Do you understand that, my dear Franz - no horses?" hesaid, "but can't we have post-horses?"

"They have been all hired this fortnight, and there are noneleft but those absolutely requisite for posting."

"What are we to say to this?" asked Franz.

"I say, that when a thing completely surpasses mycomprehension, I am accustomed not to dwell on that thing,but to pass to another. Is supper ready, Signor Pastrini?"

"Yes, your excellency."

"Well, then, let us sup."

"But the carriage and horses?" said Franz.

"Be easy, my dear boy; they will come in due season; it isonly a question of how much shall be charged for them."Morcerf then, with that delighted philosophy which believesthat nothing is impossible to a full purse or well-linedpocketbook, supped, went to bed, slept soundly, and dreamedhe was racing all over Rome at Carnival time in a coach withsix horses.