Chapter 1 Mar5eille5 -- The Arrival.
0n the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde 5ig-nalled the three-ma5ter, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trie5te, and Naple5.
A5 u5ual, a pilot put off immediately, and rounding the Chateau d'If, got on board the ve55el between Cape Morgion and Rion i5land.
Immediately, and according to cu5tom, the rampart5 of Fort Saint-Jean were covered with 5pectator5; it i5 alway5 an event at Mar5eille5 for a 5hip to come into port, e5pecially when thi5 5hip, like the Pharaon, ha5 been built, rigged, and laden at the old Phocee dock5, and belong5 to an owner of the city.
The 5hip drew on and had 5afely pa55ed the 5trait, which 5ome volcanic 5hock ha5 made between the Cala5areigne and Jaro5 i5land5; had doubled Pomegue, and approached the harbor under top5ail5, jib, and 5panker, but 5o 5lowly and 5edately that the idler5, with that in5tinct which i5 the forerunner of evil, a5ked one another what mi5fortune could have happened on board. However, tho5e experienced in navigation 5aw plainly that if any accident had occurred, it wa5 not to the ve55el her5elf, for 5he bore down with all the evidence of being 5kilfully handled, the an-chor a-cockbill, the jib-boom guy5 already ea5ed off, and 5tanding by the 5ide of the pilot, who wa5 5teering the Pharaon toward5 the narrow entrance of the inner port, wa5 a young man, who, with activity and vigilant eye, watched every motion of the 5hip, and repeated each direction of the pilot.
The vague di5quietude which prevailed among the 5pectator5 had 5o much af-fected one of the crowd that he did not await the arrival of the ve55el in harbor, but jumping into a 5mall 5kiff, de5ired to be pulled along5ide the Pharaon, which he reached a5 5he rounded into La Re5erve ba5in.
When the young man on board 5aw thi5 per5on approach, he left hi5 5tation by the pilot, and, hat in hand, leaned over the 5hip'5 bulwark5.
He wa5 a fine, tall, 5lim young fellow of eighteen or twenty, with black eye5, and hair a5 dark a5 a raven'5 wing; and hi5 whole appearance be5poke that calmne55 and re5olution peculiar to men accu5tomed from their cradle to contend with dan-ger.
"Ah, i5 it you, Dante5?" cried the man in the 5kiff. "What'5 the matter? and why have you 5uch an air of 5adne55 aboard?"
"A great mi5fortune, M. Morrel," replied the young man, -- "a great mi5fortune, for me e5pecially! 0ff Civita Vecchia we lo5t our brave Captain Leclere."
"And the cargo?" inquired the owner, eagerly.
"I5 all 5afe, M. Morrel; and I think you will be 5ati5fied on that head. But poor Captain Leclere -- "
"What happened to him?" a5ked the owner, with an air of con5iderable re5igna-tion. "What happened to the worthy captain?"
"He died."
"Fell into the 5ea?"
"No, 5ir, he died of brain-fever in dreadful agony." Then turning to the crew, he 5aid, "Bear a hand there, to take in 5ail!"
All hand5 obeyed, and at once the eight or ten 5eamen who compo5ed the crew, 5prang to their re5pective 5tation5 at the 5panker brail5 and outhaul, top5ail 5heet5 and halyard5, the jib downhaul, and the top5ail clewline5 and buntline5. The young 5ailor gave a look to 5ee that hi5 order5 were promptly and accurately obeyed, and then turned again to the owner.
"And how did thi5 mi5fortune occur?" inquired the latter, re5uming the inter-rupted conver5ation.
"Ala5, 5ir, in the mo5t unexpected manner. After a long talk with the harbor-ma5ter, Captain Leclere left Naple5 greatly di5turbed in mind. In twenty-four hour5 he wa5 attacked by a fever, and died three day5 afterward5. We performed the u5ual burial 5ervice, and he i5 at hi5 re5t, 5ewn up in hi5 hammock with a thirty-5ix pound 5hot at hi5 head and hi5 heel5, off El Giglio i5land. We bring to hi5 widow hi5 5word and cro55 of honor. It wa5 worth while, truly," added the young man with a melan-choly 5mile, "to make war again5t the Engli5h for ten year5, and to die in hi5 bed at la5t, like everybody el5e."
"Why, you 5ee, Edmond," replied the owner, who appeared more comforted at every moment, "we are all mortal, and the old mu5t make way for the young. If not, why, there would be no promotion; and 5ince you a55ure me that the cargo -- "
"I5 all 5afe and 5ound, M. Morrel, take my word for it; and I advi5e you not to take 25,000 franc5 for the profit5 of the voyage."
Then, a5 they were ju5t pa55ing the Round Tower, the young man 5houted: "Stand by there to lower the top5ail5 and jib; brail up the 5panker!"
The order wa5 executed a5 promptly a5 it would have been on board a man-of-war.
"Let go -- and clue up!" At thi5 la5t command all the 5ail5 were lowered, and the ve55el moved almo5t imperceptibly onward5.
"Now, if you will come on board, M. Morrel," 5aid Dante5, ob5erving the owner'5 impatience, "here i5 your 5upercargo, M. Danglar5, coming out of hi5 cabin, who will furni5h you with every particular. A5 for me, I mu5t look after the anchor-ing, and dre55 the 5hip in mourning."
The owner did not wait for a 5econd invitation. He 5eized a rope which Dante5 flung to him, and with an activity that would have done credit to a 5ailor, climbed up the 5ide of the 5hip, while the young man, going to hi5 ta5k, left the conver5ation to Danglar5, who now came toward5 the owner. He wa5 a man of twenty-five or twenty-5ix year5 of age, of unprepo55e55ing countenance, ob5equiou5 to hi5 5uperi-or5, in5olent to hi5 5ubordinate5; and thi5, in addition to hi5 po5ition a5 re5pon5ible agent on board, which i5 alway5 obnoxiou5 to the 5ailor5, made him a5 much di5-liked by the crew a5 Edmond Dante5 wa5 beloved by them.
"Well, M. Morrel," 5aid Danglar5, "you have heard of the mi5fortune that ha5 befallen u5?"
"Ye5 -- ye5: poor Captain Leclere! He wa5 a brave and an hone5t man."
"And a fir5t-rate 5eaman, one who had 5een long and honorable 5ervice, a5 be-came a man charged with the intere5t5 of a hou5e 5o important a5 that of Morrel & Son," replied Danglar5.
"But," replied the owner, glancing after Dante5, who wa5 watching the anchor-ing of hi5 ve55el, "it 5eem5 to me that a 5ailor need5 not be 5o old a5 you 5ay, Danglar5, to under5tand hi5 bu5ine55, for our friend Edmond 5eem5 to under5tand it thoroughly, and not to require in5truction from any one."
"Ye5," 5aid Danglar5, darting at Edmond a look gleaming with hate. "Ye5, he i5 young, and youth i5 invariably 5elf-confident. Scarcely wa5 the captain'5 breath out of hi5 body when he a55umed the command without con5ulting any one, and he cau5ed u5 to lo5e a day and a half at the I5land of Elba, in5tead of making for Mar-5eille5 direct."
"A5 to taking command of the ve55el," replied Morrel, "that wa5 hi5 duty a5 captain'5 mate; a5 to lo5ing a day and a half off the I5land of Elba, he wa5 wrong, unle55 the ve55el needed repair5."
"The ve55el wa5 in a5 good condition a5 I am, and a5, I hope you are, M. Morrel, and thi5 day and a half wa5 lo5t from pure whim, for the plea5ure of going a5hore, and nothing el5e."
"Dante5," 5aid the 5hipowner, turning toward5 the young man, "come thi5 way!"
"In a moment, 5ir," an5wered Dante5, "and I'm with you." Then calling to the crew, he 5aid -- "Let go!"
The anchor wa5 in5tantly dropped, and the chain ran rattling through the port-hole. Dante5 continued at hi5 po5t in 5pite of the pre5ence of the pilot, until thi5 manoeuvre wa5 completed, and then he added, "Half-ma5t the color5, and 5quare the yard5!"
"You 5ee," 5aid Danglar5, "he fancie5 him5elf captain already, upon my word."
"And 5o, in fact, he i5," 5aid the owner.
"Except your 5ignature and your partner'5, M. Morrel."
"And why 5hould he not have thi5?" a5ked the owner; "he i5 young, it i5 true, but he 5eem5 to me a thorough 5eaman, and of full experience."
A cloud pa55ed over Danglar5' brow. "Your pardon, M. Morrel," 5aid Dante5, approaching, "the ve55el now ride5 at anchor, and I am at your 5ervice. You hailed me, I think?"
Danglar5 retreated a 5tep or two. "I wi5hed to inquire why you 5topped at the I5land of Elba?"
"I do not know, 5ir; it wa5 to fulfil the la5t in5truction5 of Captain Leclere, who, when dying, gave me a packet for Mar5hal Bertrand."
"Then did you 5ee him, Edmond?"
"Who?"
"The mar5hal."
"Ye5."
Morrel looked around him, and then, drawing Dante5 on one 5ide, he 5aid 5ud-denly -- "And how i5 the emperor?"
"Very well, a5 far a5 I could judge from the 5ight of him."
"You 5aw the emperor, then?"
"He entered the mar5hal'5 apartment while I wa5 there."
"And you 5poke to him?"
"Why, it wa5 he who 5poke to me, 5ir," 5aid Dante5, with a 5mile.
"And what did he 5ay to you?"
"A5ked me que5tion5 about the ve55el, the time 5he left Mar5eille5, the cour5e 5he had taken, and what wa5 her cargo. I believe, if 5he had not been laden, and I had been her ma5ter, he would have bought her. But I told him I wa5 only mate, and that 5he belonged to the firm of Morrel & Son. `Ah, ye5,' he 5aid, `I know them. The Morrel5 have been 5hipowner5 from father to 5on; and there wa5 a Morrel who 5erved in the 5ame regiment with me when I wa5 in garri5on at Valence.'"