rough the air to be
swallowed by the deep." Then, the count added aloud, "Was his name ever
known?"

"Oh, yes; but only as No. 34."

"Oh, Villefort, Villefort," murmured the count, "this scene must often
have haunted thy sleepless hours!"

"Do you wish to see anything more, sir?" said the concierge.

"Yes, especially if you will show me the poor abbe's room."

"Ah--No. 27."

"Yes; No. 27." repeated the count, who seemed to hear the voice of the
abbe answering him in those very words through the wall when asked his
name.

"Come, sir."

"Wait," said Monte Cristo, "I wish to take one final glance around this
room."

"This is fortunate," said the guide; "I have forgotten the other key."

"Go and fetch it."

"I will leave you the torch, sir."

"No, take it away; I can see in the dark."

"Why, you are like No. 34. They said he was so accustomed to darkness
that he could see a pin in the darkest corner of his dungeon."

"He spent fourteen years to arrive at that," muttered the count.

The guide carried away the torch. The count had spoken correctly.
Scarcely had a few seconds elapsed, ere he saw everything as distinctly
as by daylight. Then he looked around him, and really recognized his
dungeon.

"Yes," he said, "there is the stone upon which I used to sit; there is
the impression made by my shoulders on the wall; there is the mark of
my blood made when one day I dashed my head against the wall. Oh, those
figures, how well I remember them! I made them one day to calculate
the age of my father, that I might know whether I should find him still
living, and that of Mercedes, to know if I should find her still free.
After finishing that calculation, I had a minute's hope. I did not
reckon upon hunger and infidelity!" and a bitter laugh escaped the
count. He saw in fancy the burial of his father, and the marriage of
Mercedes. On the other side of the dungeon he perceived an inscription,
the white letters of which were still visible on the green wall. "'O
God,'" he read, "'preserve my memory!' Oh, yes," he cried, "that was
my only prayer at last; I no longer begged for liberty, but memory;
I dreaded to become mad and forgetful. O God, thou hast preserved my
memory; I thank thee, I thank thee!" At this moment the light of the
torch was reflected on the wall; the guide was coming; Monte Cristo went
to meet him.

"Follow me, sir;" and without ascending the stairs the guide conducted
him by a subterraneous passa