El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-08-30

night he was IN a cell IN the gloomy
Chateau DIR. a fortress on a bare rocl
off AIarseiIles. And Il years were t.
/ pass before he strobe again IN tbs
sunlight
Three men had wrought his ruin
Danglars envied Edmond's rapid pro-
motion. Fernand was crazed with
/ love for Mercedes, Edmond's be-
/ trothed. Dangers wrote and Fernant
! dispatched a letter warning the au-
| thorities TO intercept the missive Ed
| mOnd was bearing to Paris Chance
/ decreed that this warning, addressed
/ to Villefort's father. fell into the
/ hands OF the INSCRIPTIONS Nillefort
himself
OF this dark intrigue Edmond knew
nothing. At his captains dying re-
quest, he had called at Eloa. where ne
/ had seen the captive Napoleon and
been entrusted with a sealed letter
Villefort, a turncoat devoted 10 the
/ aristOcracy, had changed his name to
make men forget that his father was
a Bonapartist- He destroyed the In
eliminating letter before Edmond S
eyes and promised that the lad should
soon be free Even as he spoke the
wors-, he knew tat in the disappear
ance OF this youth lay his own Sc
curity.
Thus It happened that while the
Corsican came out OF Elba by stealth
and rode to Paris amid tumultuous
cheers, Edmond lay in q dungeon. The
thunder OF the guns at Waterloo did
not penetrate the walls OF Chateau
DIFF. Napoleon was borne away to st.
Helena; the Hundred Days were over
And Dantes knew naught OF these
things. He ate out his heart in
thoughts Of Mercedes and wondered
what mad freak Of fortune had thrust
him away from the world Of men
Days dragged into years He lost
track OF time. Confined in a black
and Shiny dungeon. he saw only his
jailer. There were moments when he
hoped. hours when he despaired
weeks when he raved in impotent an
ger. Four years rolled past He was
starving himself TO death Then he
heard a rasping scratching noise. The
spark Of human hope burned anew.
He swallowed his broth. He must
win back his strength. Somewhere
near him was a human mole burow-
ing stealthily, worming toward free
dom
-Four days later a section OF flooring
fell in and out Of a dark tunnel
sprang an old man He was the Able
Faria, a prisoner for eight year His
tunnel dug with arduous toll, had
failed to reach the sunlight, but it led
to fellowship. unsupported by their
jailers. the two men met daily and
studied unweariedly. out Of his ripe
wisdom and his prOdigiOus memory,
the able taught Edmond mathematics.
history and languages.
Les guileless than Edmond, he was
able TO prove, from the youths own
story, that Danglars. Fernand and
Villefort were responsible for his liv-
ing death So Edmond had a new in
centive for freedom He sought re-
venge. The able revealed, too. the
~ - I'D
and jewels that lay in cave on
Monte Cristo. an uninhabited island
off Italy
The years rolled on Another at
tempt to escape was frustrated by the
paralysis OF the abbe's right side. Ed
mond refused TO leave him He was a
very different man from the carefree
sailor who had been so suddenly
jerked from the gayety OF marriage
feast TO the gloom Of a dun geon. He
was a man OF the world-educated,
cynical
one night he heard a cry OF anguish.
Hurriedly he rolled aside the great
stone that concealed the tunnel open
ing. craWled swiftly to his neighbor's
ceiE he found him writhing In agony,
At dawn he was dead.
That night Edmond carried the
corpse to his own cell and laid IL on
his own bed, face to the wall, 50 that
the jailer would think IL Edmond
asleep. Secreting - crude knife with
which TO effect an escape. he then
sewed himself into the coarse sack
in which the jailers had put the body.
Two men later bore out the supposed
corpse. weighted the legs with a great
iron ball, and swung the sack pow
erfully. Edmond suddenly realized
that he was falling from a great
height He had been flung from the
chateau roof into the sea
He errna med a loud G he gfrrrrl- the
water and then the weight dragged
him into the ice cold depths. He
ripped open the sack, convulsively cut
the rope that was znotted TO the shot,
and rose to the surface He had not
forgotten how to swim He struck out
in the blacknes for an islet. Just as
he was losing hope his knee struck
rock. He staggered to his feet and
above him rose a gloomy mass, his
goal.
At daybreak he flung himself into
the sea and was pulled aboard an
outward bound bark Each moment
Marseilles receded further into the
distance. He learned from his ship
mates that IL was February %. 1929.
He had been shut away from the
world for Il years He wondered
what had become OF Mercedes Then
he thought Of Danglars. Fernand and
Villafort A baleful light Gickered
in his hard eyes.
Edmond had fallen In with a band
OF smugglers. On one OF their voy-
ages, he gazed eagerly at a granite
mass rose-hued in the dawn 1t was
Monte Cristo- A few weeks later
chance brought him to the island.
None Of his comrades suspected the
leaping thoughts that thronged in
Edmonds mind. They were simple
folk. easily deceived Edmond fell
from a rock and complained that he
was so hurt that he could not move.
He was confident. he insisted, that he
could cure himself II he were left
here At last they sailed away. When
the boat was out Of sight, he ieaped
to his feet, seized his pickax. and
cried open Sesame" he was alone
on Monte Crlsto.
Following the clues Of the abbe's
ancient manuscript. he located the
great slabs Of rock, overgrOwn with
vegetation He slashed at the edges
with his pickax and made a hole With
his horn Of powder he easily blasted
the rock away. Before him was an
iron ring embedded in a flagstone. He
raised il and saw a flight Of stairs.
With hope mingled with a strange
misglving, he descended. broke open a
passage into an inner cave, and dug
away the earth over an oak Golfer
bound with iron He burst it open
and there blazed gold coins. bars OF
gold, diamonds. rubies and pearls that
gllttered In glorious prOfusiOn-
When Edmond came back to France.
II was as the count OF Monte Cristo-
1abulously wealthy, romantic in ap-
pearance. a performer Of miracles. His
betrayers had risen TO heights Of fame
and affluence- Danglars was
wealthy banker; Fernand an honored
warrior; Nillefort high in office. Mer-
cedes, believing Edmond dead, had