THE ISLAND OF MONTE CRISTO
In a sheltered bay of the island of Monte Cristo, the Young Amelia rode at anchor. Dante and his companions worked through the night, loading the cargo which had been landed there from the Turkish ship.
When the sun rose in the morning, they were tired and hungry, but all the work was finished. Dante said he would go and shoot a goat for breakfast. He really wanted to get away from the others, by himself, to look for the secret caves. But Jacopo, his friend, offered to go with him. Dante had to agree, or the others would have suspected something. So he said to Jacopo, 'Yes, come along.'
Jacopo and Dante had not gone far when they saw a small goat. Dante raised his gun and shot it.
'Please take it back to our comrades, Jacopo, and ask them to cook it,' he said to his friend. 'I'll walk around a little longer. You can fire a gun to let me know when it is ready.'
Jacopo took the goat and Dante started to climb up a very steep rock. When he reached the top, he looked down. There he saw Jacopo on the beach with the other sailors. They were already cooking the goat over a fire.
Now Dante began to look for the caves. He thought he could see, on some of the rocks, marks made by the hand of man. Perhaps they would lead him to the caves. Sometimes these marks disappeared beneath tufts of moss or under bushes. He had to pull away branches and grass to find them.
The marks seemed to stop at an open piece of ground. There were no caves there. He could see only a big round rock resting on the ground.
Then he heard a gun. Breakfast must be ready. He started to run back to the bay. From the top of the steep rock, he looked down once more and saw Jacopo and the others on the beach. Dante called out and they looked up at him. Suddenly he slipped and fell. When the sailors reached him he was groaning with pain.
'He has broken his ribs,' said the captain.
They tried to lift him up, but Edmond groaned again and ask them not to move him.
'But we cannot leave you here. The Young Amelia must sail,' said the captain.
'Leave me with some biscuits, a pickaxe and a gun,' said Edmond. 'In a day or two I shall be better. Then I can build myself a shelter with the pickaxe and I can shoot goats for food. When you have sold your cargo, you can sail back here to fetch me.'
Dante was a good sailor and the captain did not like to leave him behind.
'We shall stay here until the evening,' he said. 'Perhaps you will feel better then.'
'No, no!' said Edmond. 'Please go. I shall be all right until you return.'
At last he persuaded them to leave him. They said goodbye, promising to return in a few days.
Dante, lying on the rock, watched the Young Amelia sail out of the bay. The ship became smaller and smaller as she sailed away.
When the Young Amelia was quite out of sight, Dante got up from the ground. He picked up his gun and his pickaxe and moved away. He did not move slowly like a man who had fallen and hurt himself. He walked quickly, jumping from rock to rock like the small goats which lived on the island. There was nothing wrong with Dante. He had pretended to hurt himself so that he could be left alone on the island.
He stood still and looked around him.
'And now,' he cried, 'to find the treasure!'
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