THE SECRET CAVE
The marks that Dante had seen on the rocks led away from a small creek, up to the open piece of ground where the large rock lay.
'The creek must be the one mentioned in Caesar Spada's will,' thought Dante, 'and the treasure must be buried under the large rock.' He felt sure of this, because the large rock was to the east of the small creek in a right line, just as it said in the will.
He lifted his pickaxe and began to chop the ground at the bottom of this rock. Soon he had made a hole big enough to put his arm inside. Then he took some gunpowder which he stuffed in the hole under the rock. Lighting his handkerchief, he placed it near the gunpowder and ran away. In a few seconds there was an explosion. Dante looked back and he saw that the rock had split into five pieces. He was easily able to move these pieces out of the way. Looking down at the place where the rock had been, he saw, in the ground, a square paving stone with an iron ring fixed in it. His heart leapt for joy.
This must be the right place.
Now he cut down a branch from a tree. He put the branch into the ring on the paving stone and tried to lift it up. At first it would not move. Then it came up slowly. Underneath the stone there were some steps leading down into an underground cave.
Edmond went slowly down the steps. It was not very dark down there. Light came in through several cracks in the roof of the cave which he had not seen from above. He stood for a few minutes, looking for sparkling jewels. Alas, only the rays of light sparkled through the roof of the cave. There was nothing else there.
Dante was very disappointed. Then he remembered the words of the will :
'The treasure is in the farthest angle of the second opening in the caves.'
He had only found the first opening. Now he must look for the second.
He tapped with his pickaxe around the sides of the cave. At a point farthest away from the steps there was a hollow echo when he hit the wall. He lifted up his pickaxe and gave it a hard blow. The wall of the cave began to crumble away. He struck again, once, twice, three times, and there was a hole big enough for him to enter. Crouching, he went through this hole and found himself in a very small dark cave.
'In the farthest angle of the second opening,' said Dante, repeating the words of the will to himself. He looked around. At the left of the opening through which he had entered, was a dark and deep angle in the cave. That was where the treasure must be buried. Suddenly, a shadow passed across the opening of the first cave, above the steps. Someone must be spying on him. He dashed up the steps and out into the open. His heart was pounding.
He could see only a goat grazing nearby. Could it have been the goat? Or had someone come to the island to find out his secret? He looked at the sea. There were no ships there. There was not even a small boat in the creek. Nobody else could be on the island. It must have been the goat. He looked again in the bushes around this open spot, but he could see nothing.
Now he picked a branch from a resinous tree, lighted it at the fire at which the men of the Young Amelia had cooked their breakfast, and took it down into the cave with him as a torch. He raised his pickaxe once more and began to strike at the ground in the farthest angle of the second cave. He hit something made of iron, buried a few inches under the ground. It seemed to be the top of a large chest. He pulled away the earth until he could see the chest. It had handles on the sides and a padlock on the lid. He seized the handles and tried to lift the chest. It was impossible. It was much too heavy. Putting his pickaxe between the lid and the padlock, he broke the lock and lifted up the lid.
The chest was divided into three compartments. One contained shining piles of golden coins. Another was full of gold bars. Edmond put his hands into the third compartment and lifted out diamonds, pearls and rubies.
He could not believe his eyes. There were countless unheard-of treasures here. It was like a dream.
For a long time he was so excited that he did not know what to do. Then he thought carefully. He could not take all this treasure away with him now. He could only take a little and come back for the rest when he had been able to buy a ship for himself to carry it away.
So he filled his pockets with precious stones. Then he put back the lid on the chest and covered it all over again with earth. Going through the larger cave, he went up the steps and put back the paving stone over the hole. Next, he put back the pieces of the big rock on top of the paving stone and filled up all the cracks with earth. He planted bushes and flowers in the earth and watered them to make it look as though they had been growing there for a long time.
He could do no more, for now he must wait for the return of the Young Amelia to Monte Cristo.
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