Essential Classics (Illustrated). Charles Dickens

to heaven and clasped his hands beneath the coverlet. He felt more gratitude for the possession of this piece of iron than he had ever felt for anything. He had noticed, however, that the prisoner on the other side had ceased to labor; no matter, this was a greater reason for proceeding--if his neighbor would not come to him, he would go to his neighbor. All day he toiled on untiringly, and by the evening he had succeeded in extracting ten handfuls of plaster and fragments of stone. When the hour for his jailer's visit arrived, Dantes straightened the handle of the saucepan as well as he could, and placed it in its accustomed place. The turnkey poured his ration of soup into it, together with the fish--for thrice a week the prisoners were deprived of meat. This would have been a method of reckoning time, had not Dantes long ceased to do so. Having poured out the soup, the turnkey retired. Dantes wished to ascertain whether his neighbor had really ceased to work. He listened--all was silent, as it had been for the last three days. Dantes sighed; it was evident that his neighbor distrusted him. However, he toiled on all the night without being discouraged; but after two or three hours he encountered an obstacle. The iron made no impression, but met with a smooth surface; Dantes touched it, and found that it was a beam. This beam crossed, or rather blocked up, the hole Dantes had made; it was necessary, therefore, to dig above or under it. The unhappy young man had not thought of this. "O my God, my God!" murmured he, "I have so earnestly prayed to you, that I hoped my prayers had been heard. After having deprived me of my liberty, after having deprived me of death, after having recalled me to existence, my God, have pity on me, and do not let me die in despair!"

      "Who talks of God and despair at the same time?" said a voice that seemed to come from beneath the earth, and, deadened by the distance, sounded hollow and sepulchral in the young man's ears. Edmond's hair stood on end, and he rose to his knees.

      "Ah," said he, "I hear a human voice." Edmond had not heard any one speak save his jailer for four or five years; and a jailer is no man to a prisoner--he is a living door, a barrier of flesh and blood adding strength to restraints of oak and iron.

      "In the name of heaven," cried Dantes, "speak again, though the sound of your voice terrifies me. Who are you?"

      "Who are you?" said the voice.

      "An unhappy prisoner," replied Dantes, who made no hesitation in answering.

      "Of what country?"

      "A Frenchman."

      "Your name?"

      "Edmond Dantes."

      "Your profession?"

      "A sailor."

      "How long have you been here?"

      "Since the 28th of February, 1815."

      "Your crime?"

      "I am innocent."

      "But of what are you accused?"

      "Of having conspired to aid the emperor's return."

      "What! For the emperor's return?--the emperor is no longer on the throne, then?"

      "He abdicated at Fontainebleau in 1814, and was sent to the Island of Elba. But how long have you been here that you are ignorant of all this?"

      "Since 1811."

      Dantes shuddered; this man had been four years longer than himself in prison.

      "Do not dig any more," said the voice; "only tell me how high up is your excavation?"

      "On a level with the floor."

      "How is it concealed?"

      "Behind my bed."

      "Has your bed been moved since you have been a prisoner?"

      "No."

      "What does your chamber open on?"

      "A corridor."

      "And the corridor?"

      "On a court."

      "Alas!" murmured the voice.

      "Oh, what is the matter?" cried Dantes.

      "I have made a mistake owing to an error in my plans. I took the wrong angle, and have come out fifteen feet from where I intended. I took the wall you are mining for the outer wall of the fortress."

      "But then you would be close to the sea?"

      "That is what I hoped."

      "And supposing you had succeeded?"

      "I should have thrown myself into the sea, gained one of the islands near here--the Isle de Daume or the Isle de Tiboulen--and then I should have been safe."

      "Could you have swum so far?"

      "Heaven would have given me strength; but now all is lost."

      "All?"

      "Yes; stop up your excavation carefully, do not work any more, and wait until you hear from me."

      "Tell me, at least, who you are?"

      "I am--I am No. 27."

      "You mistrust me, then," said Dantes. Edmond fancied he heard a bitter laugh resounding from the depths.

      "Oh, I am a Christian," cried Dantes, guessing instinctively that this man meant to abandon him. "I swear to you by him who died for us that naught shall induce me to breathe one syllable to my jailers; but I conjure you do not abandon me. If you do, I swear to you, for I have got to the end of my strength, that I will dash my brains out against the wall, and you will have my death to reproach yourself with."

      "How old are you? Your voice is that of a young man."

      "I do not know my age, for I have not counted the years I have been here. All I do know is, that I was just nineteen when I was arrested, the 28th of February, 1815."

      "Not quite twenty-six!" murmured the voice; "at that age he cannot be a traitor."

      "Oh, no, no," cried Dantes. "I swear to you again, rather than betray you, I would allow myself to be hacked in pieces!"

      "You have done well to speak to me, and ask for my assistance, for I was about to form another plan, and leave you; but your age reassures me. I will not forget you. Wait."

      "How long?"

      "I must calculate our chances; I will give you the signal."

      "But you will not leave me; you will come to me, or you will let me come to you. We will escape, and if we cannot escape we will talk; you of those whom you love, and I of those whom I love. You must love somebody?"

      "No, I am alone in the world."

      "Then you will love me. If you are young, I will be your comrade; if you are old, I will be your son. I have a father who is seventy if he yet lives; I only love him and a young girl called Mercedes. My father has not yet forgotten me, I am sure, but God alone knows if she loves me still; I shall love you as I loved my father."

      "It is well," returned the voice; "to-morrow."

      These few words were uttered with an accent that left no doubt of his sincerity; Dantes rose, dispersed the fragments with the same precaution as before, and pushed his bed back against the wall. He then gave himself up to his happiness. He would no longer be alone. He was, perhaps, about to regain his liberty; at the worst, he would have a companion, and captivity that is shared is but half captivity. Plaints made in common are almost prayers, and prayers where two or three are gathered together invoke the mercy of heaven.

      All day Dantes walked up and down his cell. He sat down occasionally on his bed, pressing his hand on his heart. At the slightest noise he bounded towards the door. Once or twice