The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-11

Niscount Albert de Morcerf introduced 1 Monte Cristo to Parisian society. AL
 bert and his friend, the Baron Franz
 d'Epnay, had met the Count at Rome.
 where Monte cristo seemed a person
 of the first importance and had been able to render the young men signal
 services among which was the rescuing
 of Albert from the hands of a gang of | Italian bandits.
 1 Baron Franz was sure he had seen l this strange man before. Once. explor- l Ing in a sailboat the shores and islands of Tuscany, he had landed at night on
 the small and barren island of Monte Cristo, where he had encountered a l gang of Italian smugglers He had not 1 been stabbed or robbed; but, instead, had received an invitation to dinner l from a man wh om the gang spoke of as the chief" He had been bllnd- folded and led to a mysterious cave | which he found fitted up with unpar- alleled gorgeousness, where he had been treated to wonderful delicacies.
 At the end of the feast the barons host l had placed before him a small, elegantly 1 chased silver cup. It contained a greenish paste.
 Are you a man for the substantials?"
 said the host. Taste this, and the mines l of Golconda are opened to you Are you a man of imagination? Taste, and the boun-
 daries of the possible disappear. It is the l famous hashish."
 Franz tasted and sank Into gorgeous dreams and visions. When he awoke he was on the seashore; and though he sub
 sequently visited the island and searched for the magic cave, he searched in vain. 1 Monte Cristo was tall and slim, with a figure nevertheless of herculean strength. 1 He had coal-black hair; large, bright, 1 glittering eyes In which at times an un- earthly fire semed burning and ghastly l paleness of complexion
 The Countess Guiccioli. who saw-hm at l the opera-where he went accompanied l by a mysterious Greek girl, his ward, l who was said to be Albanian prn- | cess named Haidee, declared he was a vampire. Byron believed in vampires. | So when Monte Cristo came to Paris he was well introduced and had veil of l mystery about him which captivated the . society of the French capital Besides. he had an unlimited letter of credit on | that eminent banker, the Baron Danglars; and an unlimited letter of credit inspires respect for it's possessor in any capital in the world.
 All Paris talked about the splendor of the Counts jewels He had a vial hol- lowed out of a solid emerald of great size in which he kept little pellets of a grenish tnge-the famous hashsh Every morning Monte Crsto furnished Paris with some evidence of the power of unbounded wealth. The Count de Morcerf, of course, was attentive to the man who had rescued his son from the bandits. The Count was said to belong to an ancient family, and had served not only in the French army but had been the right-hand man of Tl Tepelenl the l famous Albanian chief.
 Monte Crlsto seemd to have a strange aversion to meeting the Countess de Mor- cerf, but one day Albert insisted on mak- | ing the presentation.
 Good heavens, motheri Are you ill?" | cried Albert, when Monte Cristo made his | bow before the Countess.
 "No. no," replied the Countess, striving 1 to collect herself. Tt is only the natural | agitation that l feel at seeing for the 1 first time the man to whom l am indebted | for the life of my son" Even after, when | the Countess met the Count of Monte , Cristo, there was a strange, frightened | look in her eyes.
 Monte Cristo had a fine house situated | in the Champs Elysees. but he purchased [ another at Auteuil. The house at Auteull | had long been uninhabited.
 "Come," said the Count to his steward one night. "come. Bertucclo. We will in- spect our purchase. It Is No. 2S Rue de Ia Fontaine"
 Bertuccio, the Corscan, started as if ] stung by an adder; but he accompanied | his master. They went over the house with a lantern, and then into long forsaken garden, Bertuccio becoming more | and more nervous at every step. At last | he could bear it no longer, and when the i Count asked him if he supposed anything was buried under a certain tree. the 1 Corsican broke down. "Oh," said he, "f know not by what means you have dis covered my secret. but all that you have | said and done this night proves that you know me and my crime. It was on that very spot that I killed Villefort. He had | refused me justice when by brother was l assassinated by the Royalists and l swore the vendetta against him. He had just | buried a box there. I though It might be , treasure and after he Tell l dug it up and , found neWly-born child in it, not yet dead. That child I brought up my son. called him Benedetto. but he be- | came an outcast, forger, criminal, a common thief"
 Where is Benedetto now?" asked the | count sternly
 "I do not know" said Bertuccio.
 "Villefort came here to meet his mis- 1 tress. who lived here. did he?" astsi | the count.
 ''Yes. and I followed him night after ! night until at last I surprised him in the | garden. as I have told. Now give l1a over to justice if you will The strange discovery of this crime has .unnerved ms, mysterious man..
 Enough, enough, Bertucco" repiie1 , the count Much stranger things have happened than my acquiring this bit of | interesting llnowledge-for instance. Vile fort lives. You did not strike true, Cor sican.r
 Soon after Monte Crsto gave q grand | dinner at the house at Auteull. The Baron and Baroness Danglars were. of | course. among the guests, and so aiso i of course, was NJ. de Vilefort, the emi- nent prosecutor whose success as an of | ficial at Paris had given him station and wealth NJ de Viliefort a power | in the government. He had risen since he was Deputy Procureur due Roi at l Marseilles The wife whose betrothdl [ feast had been rudely disturbed by the affair of Edmond Dantes had died. and he had made another match-the world said a very advantageous one
 Mme de Villefort was much interested in chemistry. Monte Cristo, who was an expert chemist himself. had had several conversations with her on the subject and after the last one had said to him. ! self 'I need not interfere in this house.