"Ma foi, he has an open look about him that pleases me, in spite of the singular remark he has made about me.""Gentlemen," said Albert, "Germain informs me that breakfast is ready.My dear count, allow me to show you the way." They passed silently into the breakfast-room, and every one took his place."Gentleman," said the count, seating himself, "permit me to make a confession which must form my excuse for any improprieties I may commit.I am a stranger, and a stranger to such a degree, that this is the first time Ihave ever been at Paris.The French way of living is utterly unknown to me, and up to the present time I have followed the Eastern customs, which are entirely in contrast to the Parisian.I beg you, therefore, to excuse if you find anything in me too Turkish, too Italian, or too Arabian.
Now, then, let us breakfast."
"With what an air he says all this," muttered Beauchamp;"decidedly he is a great man."
"A great man in his own country," added Debray.
"A great man in every country, M.Debray," said Chateau-Renaud.The count was, it may be remembered, a most temperate guest.Albert remarked this, expressing his fears lest, at the outset, the Parisian mode of life should displease the traveller in the most essential point."My dear count," said he, "I fear one thing, and that is, that the fare of the Rue du Helder is not so much to your taste as that of the Piazza di Spagni.I ought to have consulted you on the point, and have had some dishes prepared expressly.""Did you know me better," returned the count, smiling, "you would not give one thought of such a thing for a traveller like myself, who has successively lived on maccaroni at Naples, polenta at Milan, olla podrida at Valencia, pilau at Constantinople, karrick in India, and swallows' nests in China.I eat everywhere, and of everything, only I eat but little; and to-day, that you reproach me with my want of appetite, is my day of appetite, for I have not eaten since yesterday morning.""What," cried all the guests, "you have not eaten for four and twenty hours?""No," replied the count; "I was forced to go out of my road to obtain some information near Nimes, so that I was somewhat late, and therefore I did not choose to stop.""And you ate in your carriage?" asked Morcerf.
"No, I slept, as I generally do when I am weary without having the courage to amuse myself, or when I am hungry without feeling inclined to eat.""But you can sleep when you please, monsieur?" said Morrel.
"Yes."
"You have a recipe for it?"
"An infallible one."
"That would be invaluable to us in Africa, who have not always any food to eat, and rarely anything to drink.""Yes," said Monte Cristo; "but, unfortunately, a recipe excellent for a man like myself would be very dangerous applied to an army, which might not awake when it was needed.""May we inquire what is this recipe?" asked Debray.
"Oh, yes," returned Monte Cristo; "I make no secret of it.
It is a mixture of excellent opium, which I fetched myself from Canton in order to have it pure, and the best hashish which grows in the East -- that is, between the Tigris and the Euphrates.These two ingredients are mixed in equal proportions, and formed into pills.Ten minutes after one is taken, the effect is produced.Ask Baron Franz d'Epinay; Ithink he tasted them one day."
"Yes," replied Morcerf, "he said something about it to me.""But," said Beauchamp, who, as became a journalist, was very incredulous, "you always carry this drug about you?""Always."
"Would it be an indiscretion to ask to see those precious pills?" continued Beauchamp, hoping to take him at a disadvantage.
"No, monsieur," returned the count; and he drew from his pocket a marvellous casket, formed out of a single emerald and closed by a golden lid which unscrewed and gave passage to a small greenish colored pellet about the size of a pea.
This ball had an acrid and penetrating odor.There were four or five more in the emerald, which would contain about a dozen.The casket passed around the table, but it was more to examine the admirable emerald than to see the pills that it passed from hand to hand."And is it your cook who prepares these pills?" asked Beauchamp.
"Oh, no, monsieur," replied Monte Cristo; "I do not thus betray my enjoyments to the vulgar.I am a tolerable chemist, and prepare my pills myself.""This is a magnificent emerald, and the largest I have ever seen," said Chateau-Renaud, "although my mother has some remarkable family jewels.""I had three similar ones," returned Monte Cristo."I gave one to the Sultan, who mounted it in his sabre; another to our holy father the Pope, who had it set in his tiara, opposite to one nearly as large, though not so fine, given by the Emperor Napoleon to his predecessor, Pius VII.I kept the third for myself, and I had it hollowed out, which reduced its value, but rendered it more commodious for the purpose I intended." Every one looked at Monte Cristo with astonishment; he spoke with so much simplicity that it was evident he spoke the truth, or that he was mad.However, the sight of the emerald made them naturally incline to the former belief."And what did these two sovereigns give you in exchange for these magnificent presents?" asked Debray.
"The Sultan, the liberty of a woman," replied the Count;"the Pope, the life of a man; so that once in my life I have been as powerful as if heaven had brought me into the world on the steps of a throne.""And it was Peppino you saved, was it not?" cried Morcerf;"it was for him that you obtained pardon?""Perhaps," returned the count, smiling.