ular haunts. As to Dantes, he had passed it on his voyage to and
from the Levant, but never touched at it. He questioned Jacopo. "Where
shall we pass the night?" he inquired.

"Why, on board the tartan," replied the sailor.

"Should we not do better in the grottos?"

"What grottos?"

"Why, the grottos--caves of the island."

"I do not know of any grottos," replied Jacopo. The cold sweat sprang
forth on Dantes' brow.

"What, are there no grottos at Monte Cristo?" he asked.

"None."

For a moment Dantes was speechless; then he remembered that these caves
might have been filled up by some accident, or even stopped up, for the
sake of greater security, by Cardinal Spada. The point was, then, to
discover the hidden entrance. It was useless to search at night, and
Dantes therefore delayed all investigation until the morning. Besides,
a signal made half a league out at sea, and to which The Young Amelia
replied by a similar signal, indicated that the moment for business had
come. The boat that now arrived, assured by the answering signal that
all was well, soon came in sight, white and silent as a phantom, and
cast anchor within a cable's length of shore.

Then the landing began. Dantes reflected, as he worked, on the shout of
joy which, with a single word, he could evoke from all these men, if he
gave utterance to the one unchanging thought that pervaded his heart;
but, far from disclosing this precious secret, he almost feared that
he had already said too much, and by his restlessness and continual
questions, his minute observations and evident pre-occupation, aroused
suspicions. Fortunately, as regarded this circumstance at least, his
painful past gave to his countenance an indelible sadness, and
the glimmerings of gayety seen beneath this cloud were indeed but
transitory.

No one had the slightest suspicion; and when next day, taking a
fowling-piece, powder, and shot, Dantes declared his intention to go and
kill some of the wild goats that were seen springing from rock to rock,
his wish was construed into a love of sport, or a desire for solitude.
However, Jacopo insisted on following him, and Dantes did not oppose
this, fearing if he did so that he might incur distrust. Scarcely,
however, had they gone a quarter of a league when, having killed a kid,
he begged Jacopo to take it to his comrades, and request them to cook
it, and when ready to let him know by firing a gun. This and some dried
fruits and a flask