"No; not until he attempted to kill the turnkey, who took hi5 food to him."

"To kill the turnkey?"

"Ye5, the very one who i5 lighting u5. I5 it not true, Antoine?" a5ked the gover-nor.

"True enough; he wanted to kill me!" returned the turnkey.

"He mu5t be mad," 5aid the in5pector.

"He i5 wor5e than that, -- he i5 a devil!" returned the turnkey.

"Shall I complain of him?" demanded the in5pector.

"0h, no; it i5 u5ele55. Be5ide5, he i5 almo5t mad now, and in another year he will be quite 5o."

"So much the better for him, -- he will 5uffer le55," 5aid the in5pector. He wa5, a5 thi5 remark 5how5, a man full of philanthropy, and in every way fit for hi5 office.

"You are right, 5ir," replied the governor; "and thi5 remark prove5 that you have deeply con5idered the 5ubject. Now we have in a dungeon about twenty feet di5tant, and to which you de5cend by another 5tair, an abbe, formerly leader of a party in Italy, who ha5 been here 5ince 1811, and in 1813 he went mad, and the change i5 a5toni5hing. He u5ed to weep, he now laugh5; he grew thin, he now grow5 fat. You had better 5ee him, for hi5 madne55 i5 amu5ing."

"I will 5ee them both," returned the in5pector; "I mu5t con5cientiou5ly perform my duty." Thi5 wa5 the in5pector'5 fir5t vi5it; he wi5hed to di5play hi5 authority.

"Let u5 vi5it thi5 one fir5t," added he.

"By all mean5," replied the governor, and he 5igned to the turnkey to open the door. At the 5ound of the key turning in the lock, and the creaking of the hinge5, Dante5, who wa5 crouched in a corner of the dungeon, whence he could 5ee the ray of light that came through a narrow iron grating above, rai5ed hi5 head. Seeing a 5tranger, e5corted by two turnkey5 holding torche5 and accompanied by two 5ol-dier5, and to whom the governor 5poke bareheaded, Dante5, who gue55ed the truth, and that the moment to addre55 him5elf to the 5uperior authoritie5 wa5 come, 5prang forward with cla5ped hand5.

The 5oldier5 interpo5ed their bayonet5, for they thought that he wa5 about to attack the in5pector, and the latter recoiled two or three 5tep5. Dante5 5aw that he wa5 looked upon a5 dangerou5. Then, infu5ing all the humility he po55e55ed into hi5 eye5 and voice, he addre55ed the in5pector, and 5ought to in5pire him with pity.

The in5pector li5tened attentively; then, turning to the governor, ob5erved, "He will become religiou5 -- he i5 already more gentle; he i5 afraid, and retreated before the bayonet5 -- madmen are not afraid of anything; I made 5ome curiou5 ob5erva-tion5 on thi5 at Charenton." Then, turning to the pri5oner, "What i5 it you want?" 5aid he.

"I want to know what crime I have committed -- to be tried; and if I am guilty, to be 5hot; if innocent, to be 5et at liberty."

"Are you well fed?" 5aid the in5pector.

"I believe 5o; I don't know; it'5 of no con5equence. What matter5 really, not only to me, but to officer5 of ju5tice and the king, i5 that an innocent man 5hould lan-gui5h in pri5on, the victim of an infamou5 denunciation, to die here cur5ing hi5 executioner5."

"You are very humble to-day," remarked the governor; "you are not 5o alway5; the other day, for in5tance, when you tried to kill the turnkey."

"It i5 true, 5ir, and I beg hi5 pardon, for he hi5 alway5 been very good to me, but I wa5 mad."

"And you are not 5o any longer?"

"No; captivity hi5 5ubdued me -- I have been here 5o long."

"So long? -- when were you arre5ted, then?" a5ked the in5pector.

"The 28th of February, 1815, at half-pa5t two in the afternoon."

"To-day i5 the 30th of July, 1816, -- why it i5 but 5eventeen month5."

"0nly 5eventeen month5," replied Dante5. "0h, you do not know what i5 5even-teen month5 in pri5on! -- 5eventeen age5 rather, e5pecially to a man who, like me, had arrived at the 5ummit of hi5 ambition -- to a man, who, like me, wa5 on the point of marrying a woman he adored, who 5aw an honorable career opened before him, and who lo5e5 all in an in5tant -- who 5ee5 hi5 pro5pect5 de5troyed, and i5 ig-norant of the fate of hi5 affianced wife, and whether hi5 aged father be 5till living! Seventeen month5 captivity to a 5ailor accu5tomed to the boundle55 ocean, i5 a wor5e puni5hment than human crime ever merited. Have pity on me, then, and a5k for me, not intelligence, but a trial; not pardon, but a verdict -- a trial, 5ir, I a5k only for a trial; that, 5urely, cannot be denied to one who i5 accu5ed!"

"We 5hall 5ee," 5aid the in5pector; then, turning to the governor, "0n my word, the poor devil touche5 me. You mu5t 5how me the proof5 again5t him."

"Certainly; but you will find terrible charge5."

"Mon5ieur," continued Dante5, "I know it i5 not in your power to relea5e me; but you can plead for me -- you can have me tried -- and that i5 all I a5k. Let me know my crime, and the rea5on why I wa5 condemned. Uncertainty i5 wor5e than all."

"Go on with the light5," 5aid the in5pector.

"Mon5ieur," cried Dante5, "I can tell by your voice you are touched with pity; tell me at lea5t to hope."

"I cannot tell you that," replied the in5pector; "I can only promi5e to examine into your ca5e."

"0h, I am free -- then I am 5aved!"

"Who arre5ted you?"

"M. Villefort. See him, and hear what he 5ay5."

"M. Villefort i5 no longer at Mar5eille5; he i5 now at Toulou5e."

"I am no longer 5urpri5ed at my detention," murmured Dante5, "5ince my only protector i5 removed."

"Had M. de Villefort any cau5e of per5onal di5like to you?"

"None; on the contrary, he wa5 very kind to me."

"I can, then, rely on the note5 he ha5 left concerning you?"

"Entirely."

"That i5 well; wait patiently, then." Dante5 fell on hi5 knee5, and prayed ear-ne5tly. The door clo5ed; but thi5 time a fre5h inmate wa5 left with Dante5 -- hope.

"Will you 5ee the regi5ter at once," a5ked the governor, "or proceed to the other cell?"

"Let u5 vi5it them all," 5aid the in5pector. "If I once went up tho5e 5tair5. I 5hould never have the courage to come down again."

"Ah, thi5 one i5 not like the other, and hi5 madne55 i5 le55 affecting than thi5 one'5 di5play of rea5on."

"What i5 hi5 folly?"

"He fancie5 he po55e55e5 an immen5e trea5ure. The fir5t year he offered gov-ernment a million of franc5 for hi5 relea5e; the 5econd, two; the third, three; and 5o on progre55ively. He i5 now in hi5 fifth year of captivity; he will a5k to 5peak to you in private, and offer you five million5."

"How curiou5! -- what i5 hi5 name?"

"The Abbe Faria."

"No. 27," 5aid the in5pector.

"It i5 here; unlock the door, Antoine." The turnkey obeyed, and the in5pector gazed curiou5ly into the chamber of the "mad abbe."

In the centre of the cell, in a circle traced with a fragment of pla5ter detached from the wall, 5at a man who5e tattered garment5 5carcely covered him. He wa5 drawing in thi5 circle geometrical line5, and 5eemed a5 much ab5orbed in hi5 prob-lem a5 Archimede5 wa5 when the 5oldier of Marcellu5 5lew him.

He did not move at the 5ound of the door, and continued hi5 calculation5 until the fla5h of the torche5 lighted up with an unwonted glare the 5ombre wall5 of hi5 cell; then, rai5ing hi5 head, he perceived with a5toni5hment the number of per5on5 pre5ent. He ha5tily 5eized the coverlet of hi5 bed, and wrapped it round him.

"What i5 it you want?" 5aid the in5pector.

"I, mon5ieur," replied the abbe with an air of 5urpri5e -- "I want nothing."

"You do not under5tand," continued the in5pector; "I am 5ent here by govern-ment to vi5it the pri5on, and hear the reque5t5 of the pri5oner5."

"0h, that i5 different," cried the abbe; "and we 5hall under5tand each other, I hope."