and the Baron
Franz d'Epinay, were at Florence. They had agreed to see the Carnival at
Rome that year, and that Franz, who for the last three or four years
had inhabited Italy, should act as cicerone to Albert. As it is no
inconsiderable affair to spend the Carnival at Rome, especially when
you have no great desire to sleep on the Piazza del Popolo, or the Campo
Vaccino, they wrote to Signor Pastrini, the proprietor of the Hotel de
Londres, Piazza di Spagna, to reserve comfortable apartments for them.
Signor Pastrini replied that he had only two rooms and a parlor on the
third floor, which he offered at the low charge of a louis per diem.
They accepted his offer; but wishing to make the best use of the time
that was left, Albert started for Naples. As for Franz, he remained at
Florence, and after having passed a few days in exploring the paradise
of the Cascine, and spending two or three evenings at the houses of
the Florentine nobility, he took a fancy into his head (having
already visited Corsica, the cradle of Bonaparte) to visit Elba, the
waiting-place of Napoleon.

One evening he cast off the painter of a sailboat from the iron ring
that secured it to the dock at Leghorn, wrapped himself in his coat and
lay down, and said to the crew,--"To the Island of Elba!" The boat shot
out of the harbor like a bird and the next morning Franz disembarked at
Porto-Ferrajo. He traversed the island, after having followed the
traces which the footsteps of the giant have left, and re-embarked
for Marciana. Two hours after he again landed at Pianosa, where he was
assured that red partridges abounded. The sport was bad; Franz only
succeeded in killing a few partridges, and, like every unsuccessful
sportsman, he returned to the boat very much out of temper. "Ah, if your
excellency chose," said the captain, "you might have capital sport."

"Where?"

"Do you see that island?" continued the captain, pointing to a conical
pile rising from the indigo sea.

"Well, what is this island?"

"The Island of Monte Cristo."

"But I have no permission to shoot over this island."

"Your excellency does not require a permit, for the island is
uninhabited."

"Ah, indeed!" said the young man. "A desert island in the midst of the
Mediterranean must be a curiosity."

"It is very natural; this island is a mass of rocks, and does not
contain an acre of land capable of cultivation."

"To whom does this island belong?"

"To Tuscany."

"What ga