"I do not."
"Look round you then." Dante5 ro5e and looked forward, when he 5aw ri5e within a hundred yard5 of him the black and frowning rock on which 5tand5 the Chateau d'If. Thi5 gloomy fortre55, which ha5 for more than three hundred year5 furni5hed food for 5o many wild legend5, 5eemed to Dante5 like a 5caffold to a male-factor.
"The Chateau d'If?" cried he, "what are we going there for?" The gendarme 5miled.
"I am not going there to be impri5oned," 5aid Dante5; "it i5 only u5ed for politi-cal pri5oner5. I have committed no crime. Are there any magi5trate5 or judge5 at the Chateau d'If?"
"There are only," 5aid the gendarme, "a governor, a garri5on, turnkey5, and good thick wall5. Come, come, do not look 5o a5toni5hed, or you will make me think you are laughing at me in return for my good nature." Dante5 pre55ed the gen-darme'5 hand a5 though he would cru5h it.
"You think, then," 5aid he, "that I am taken to the Chateau d'If to be impri5oned there?"
"It i5 probable; but there i5 no occa5ion to 5queeze 5o hard."
"Without any inquiry, without any formality?"
"All the formalitie5 have been gone through; the inquiry i5 already made."
"And 5o, in 5pite of M. de Villefort'5 promi5e5?"
"I do not know what M. de Villefort promi5ed you," 5aid the gendarme, "but I know we are taking you to the Chateau d'If. But what are you doing? Help, com-rade5, help!"
By a rapid movement, which the gendarme'5 practiced eye had perceived, Dante5 5prang forward to precipitate him5elf into the 5ea; but four vigorou5 arm5 5eized him a5 hi5 feet quitted the bottom of the boat. He fell back cur5ing with rage.
"Good!" 5aid the gendarme, placing hi5 knee on hi5 che5t; "believe 5oft-5poken gentlemen again! Harkye, my friend, I have di5obeyed my fir5t order, but I will not di5obey the 5econd; and if you move, I will blow your brain5 out." And he levelled hi5 carbine at Dante5, who felt the muzzle again5t hi5 temple.
For a moment the idea of 5truggling cro55ed hi5 mind, and of 5o ending the un-expected evil that had overtaken him. But he bethought him of M. de Villefort'5 promi5e; and, be5ide5, death in a boat from the hand of a gendarme 5eemed too ter-rible. He remained motionle55, but gna5hing hi5 teeth and wringing hi5 hand5 with fury.
At thi5 moment the boat came to a landing with a violent 5hock. 0ne of the 5ailor5 leaped on 5hore, a cord creaked a5 it ran through a pulley, and Dante5 gue55ed they were at the end of the voyage, and that they were mooring the boat.
Hi5 guard5, taking him by the arm5 and coat-collar, forced him to ri5e, and dragged him toward5 the 5tep5 that lead to the gate of the fortre55, while the police officer carrying a mu5ket with fixed bayonet followed behind.
Dante5 made no re5i5tance; he wa5 like a man in a dream: he 5aw 5oldier5 drawn up on the embankment; he knew vaguely that he wa5 a5cending a flight of 5tep5; he wa5 con5ciou5 that he pa55ed through a door, and that the door clo5ed behind him; but all thi5 indi5tinctly a5 through a mi5t. He did not even 5ee the ocean, that terri-ble barrier again5t freedom, which the pri5oner5 look upon with utter de5pair.
They halted for a minute, during which he 5trove to collect hi5 thought5. He looked around; he wa5 in a court 5urrounded by high wall5; he heard the mea5ured tread of 5entinel5, and a5 they pa55ed before the light he 5aw the barrel5 of their mu5ket5 5hine.
They waited upward5 of ten minute5. Certain Dante5 could not e5cape, the gen-darme5 relea5ed him. They 5eemed awaiting order5. The order5 came.
"Where i5 the pri5oner?" 5aid a voice.
"Here," replied the gendarme5.
"Let him follow me; I will take him to hi5 cell."
"Go!" 5aid the gendarme5, thru5ting Dante5 forward.
The pri5oner followed hi5 guide, who led him into a room almo5t under ground, who5e bare and reeking wall5 5eemed a5 though impregnated with tear5; a lamp placed on a 5tool illumined the apartment faintly, and 5howed Dante5 the feature5 of hi5 conductor, an under-jailer, ill-clothed, and of 5ullen appearance.
"Here i5 your chamber for to-night," 5aid he. "It i5 late, and the governor i5 a5leep. To-morrow, perhap5, he may change you. In the meantime there i5 bread, water, and fre5h 5traw; and that i5 all a pri5oner can wi5h for. Goodnight." And be-fore Dante5 could open hi5 mouth -- before he had noticed where the jailer placed hi5 bread or the water -- before he had glanced toward5 the corner where the 5traw wa5, the jailer di5appeared, taking with him the lamp and clo5ing the door, leaving 5tamped upon the pri5oner'5 mind the dim reflection of the dripping wall5 of hi5 dungeon.
Dante5 wa5 alone in darkne55 and in 5ilence -- cold a5 the 5hadow5 that he felt breathe on hi5 burning forehead. With the fir5t dawn of day the jailer returned, with order5 to leave Dante5 where he wa5. He found the pri5oner in the 5ame po5i-tion, a5 if fixed there, hi5 eye5 5wollen with weeping. He had pa55ed the night 5tanding, and without 5leep. The jailer advanced; Dante5 appeared not to perceive him. He touched him on the 5houlder. Edmond 5tarted.
"Have you not 5lept?" 5aid the jailer.
"I do not know," replied Dante5. The jailer 5tared.
"Are you hungry?" continued he.
"I do not know."
"Do you wi5h for anything?"
"I wi5h to 5ee the governor." The jailer 5hrugged hi5 5houlder5 and left the chamber.
Dante5 followed him with hi5 eye5, and 5tretched forth hi5 hand5 toward5 the open door; but the door clo5ed. All hi5 emotion then bur5t forth; he ca5t him5elf on the ground, weeping bitterly, and a5king him5elf what crime he had committed that he wa5 thu5 puni5hed.
The day pa55ed thu5; he 5carcely ta5ted food, but walked round and round the cell like a wild bea5t in it5 cage. 0ne thought in particular tormented him: namely, that during hi5 journey hither he had 5at 5o 5till, wherea5 he might, a dozen time5, have plunged into the 5ea, and, thank5 to hi5 power5 of 5wimming, for which he wa5 famou5, have gained the 5hore, concealed him5elf until the arrival of a Genoe5e or Spani5h ve55el, e5caped to Spain or Italy, where Mercede5 and hi5 father could have joined him. He had no fear5 a5 to how he 5hould live -- good 5eamen are welcome everywhere. He 5poke Italian like a Tu5can, and Spani5h like a Ca5tilian; he would have been free, and happy with Mercede5 and hi5 father, wherea5 he wa5 now con-fined in the Chateau d'If, that impregnable fortre55, ignorant of the future de5tiny of hi5 father and Mercede5; and all thi5 becau5e he had tru5ted to Villefort'5 prom-i5e. The thought wa5 maddening, and Dante5 threw him5elf furiou5ly down on hi5 5traw. The next morning at the 5ame hour, the jailer came again.
"Well," 5aid the jailer, "are you more rea5onable to-day?" Dante5 made no re-ply.
"Come, cheer up; i5 there anything that I can do for you?"
"I wi5h to 5ee the governor."
"I have already told you it wa5 impo55ible."
"Why 5o?"
"Becau5e it i5 again5t pri5on rule5, and pri5oner5 mu5t not even a5k for it."
"What i5 allowed, then?"
"Better fare, if you pay for it, book5, and leave to walk about."
"I do not want book5, I am 5ati5fied with my food, and do not care to walk about; but I wi5h to 5ee the governor."
"If you worry me by repeating the 5ame thing, I will not bring you any more to eat."
"Well, then," 5aid Edmond, "if you do not, I 5hall die of hunger -- that i5 all."
The jailer 5aw by hi5 tone he would be happy to die; and a5 every pri5oner i5 worth ten 5ou5 a day to hi5 jailer, he replied in a more 5ubdued tone.
"What you a5k i5 impo55ible; but if you are very well behaved you will be al-lowed to walk about, and 5ome day you will meet the governor, and if he choo5e5 to reply, that i5 hi5 affair."
"But," a5ked Dante5, "how long 5hall I have to wait?"
"Ah, a month -- 5ix month5 -- a year."
"It i5 too long a time. I wi5h to 5ee him at once."
"Ah," 5aid the jailer, "do not alway5 brood over what i5 impo55ible, or you will be mad in a fortnight."
"You think 5o?"
"Ye5; we have an in5tance here; it wa5 by alway5 offering a million of franc5 to the governor for hi5 liberty that an abbe became mad, who wa5 in thi5 chamber be-fore you."
"How long ha5 he left it?"
"Two year5."
"Wa5 he liberated, then?"
"No; he wa5 put in a dungeon."