Haydee's hand and led her to the side of the yacht.
Not a single wave wrinkled the surface of the sea for miles and miles;
the water seemed asleep, while down upon it the moon poured a flood of
silvery radiance. The stars, too, were beaming brightly. Still, however,
the intense lightning shot athwart the placid sky. It had become almost
incessant. Monte-Cristo could not account for the bewildering
phenomenon. He summoned the captain of the Alcyon and said to him:

"Giacomo, you have sailed the Mediterranean all your life, have you
not?"

"All my life, Excellency," replied he, touching his cap.

"Have you ever before seen lightning such as this on a calm night?"

"Never, Excellency."

"It certainly cannot be heat-lightning."

"I think not, Excellency. Heat-lightning has a quicker flash and is much
less intense."

"What do you suppose it portends?"

"I can form no idea, Excellency."

"Oh! my lord," said Haydee, "a terrible storm is coming, I am sure; I
feel a premonition Of approaching danger. I pray you, guard against it."

"Nonsense, my child," returned Monte-Cristo, with a laugh that, in spite
of all his efforts at self-control, betrayed nervous agitation and an
undefinable dread. "The sky is clear, the moon is shining brilliantly
and the sea is altogether tranquil; if a storm were coming it would not
be so. Banish your fears and reassure yourself; the lightning is but a
freak of nature."

The captain, too, was disturbed, though he could give himself no
satisfactory reason for his uneasiness.

Ali, with the characteristic superstition of the Nubian race, had
prostrated himself upon the deck, and was making signs the Moslems of
his country use to drive away malignant spirits.

The night, however, passed without accident, though the singular
lightning continued for several hours.

Next morning the sun rose, encircled by a ruddy band, fringed on the
outer rim with a faint yellow, while its beams had a sullen glare
instead of their normal brilliancy. The lightning of the previous night
was absent, but soon another and not less disquieting phenomenon
manifested itself; as far as the eye could reach the sea seemed boiling,
and, at intervals, a puff, as if of vapor, would filter through the
waves, rising and disappearing in the heavens. Meanwhile the wind had
fallen, and amid an almost dead calm the sails of the Alcyon hung
listlessly, with only an occasional flapping. The yacht moved forward,
indeed, but s