The Count of Monte Cristo

Inquiring About the Grotto

Dantès asks Jacopo where they will pass the night and suggests staying in the grottos. When questioned about these caves, Jacopo knows of no grottos on Monte Cristo. A cold sweat springs forth on Dantès’s brow as he confirms there are none. He remembers that these caves might have been filled up or stopped up for security by Cardinal Spada, making the discovery of the hidden entrance his primary task. He decides to delay investigation until morning.

Discovering the Guide-Marks

The next day, Dantès sets off alone to explore the island, taking a fowling-piece and feigning a desire to hunt wild goats. Following a path worn by a torrent through a cleft between two walls of rock—a path that human foot has likely never before tread—he examines the smallest objects with serious attention. He believes he can trace marks on certain rocks that appear made by the hand of man with some degree of regularity and definite purpose. These guide-marks are occasionally hidden under tufts of myrtle or parasitic lichen, requiring him to separate branches or brush away moss to find them. The marks seem to lead toward a large round rock placed solidly on its base, though they appear to cease about sixty paces from the harbor.

The Feigned Accident

Dantès sends Jacopo back to camp with a killed kid and instructions to have the comrades prepare a meal and signal when ready. While alone, Dantès’s foot slips and he appears to stagger and disappear from view over a rock’s edge. His companions find him lying prone, bleeding, and almost senseless after rolling down a twelve-to-fifteen-foot declivity. They pour rum down his throat, and he recovers consciousness but complains of great pain in his knee, heaviness in his head, and severe pains in his loins. When they wish to carry him to shore, he declares with heavy groans that he cannot bear to be moved. The sailors prepare the meal while Dantès insists he only needs rest.

Demanding to Be Left Alone

Despite the patron’s urgency to depart to deliver cargo, Dantès declares he would rather die where he is than undergo the agony movement causes him. He insists his comrades should have their meal while he rests. The old patron suggests they will not leave him, but Dantès refuses to allow any breach of proper rules in his favor. He requests only a small supply of biscuit, a gun with powder and balls, and a pickaxe to build shelter. When Jacopo offers to stay and care for him, giving up his share of the venture, Dantès warmly squeezes his hand but firmly insists he does not wish anyone to stay. The patron agrees to leave him with the requested supplies.

Searching for the Entrance

Once the smugglers have disappeared from view, Dantès rises with agility and lightness, far more spry than the kid among the myrtles and shrubs of these wild rocks. Taking his gun in one hand and pickaxe in the other, he hastens toward the rock where the guide-marks terminate. Recalling the tale of the Arabian fisherman that Faria had related to him, he stands before the large round rock and speaks the magical words: “Open Sesame!”

KAPITEL 24. The Secret Cave

The chapter follows Edmond Dantès as he finally excavates the treasure of Cardinal Spada on Monte Cristo island, culminating in his discovery of an immense fortune that will transform his fate.

Surveillance from the Summit

Before beginning his excavation, Dantès feels an inexplicable dread and climbs to the summit of the highest rock to survey his surroundings. He scans the horizon, deliberately avoiding Corsica, Sardinia, Elba, Genoa, and Leghorn. Instead, he watches two vessels—a brigantine disappearing through the straits of Bonifacio and a tartan sailing toward Corsica. Satisfied that no one is watching him, he descends carefully to begin his work, fearing that an accident like the one he previously faked might occur in reality.