Dantes, though almost sure as to what course the vessel would take, had yet watched it anxiously until it tacked and stood towards him.Then he advanced; but before they could meet, the vessel again changed her course.By a violent effort he rose half out of the water, waving his cap, and uttering a loud shout peculiar to sailers.This time he was both seen and heard, and the tartan instantly steered towards him.At the same time, he saw they were about to lower the boat.
An instant after, the boat, rowed by two men, advanced rapidly towards him.Dantes let go of the timber, which he now thought to be useless, and swam vigorously to meet them.
But he had reckoned too much upon his strength, and then he realized how serviceable the timber had been to him.His arms became stiff, his legs lost their flexibility, and he was almost breathless.
He shouted again.The two sailors redoubled their efforts, and one of them cried in Italian, "Courage!"The word reached his ear as a wave which he no longer had the strength to surmount passed over his head.He rose again to the surface, struggled with the last desperate effort of a drowning man, uttered a third cry, and felt himself sinking, as if the fatal cannon shot were again tied to his feet.The water passed over his head, and the sky turned gray.A convulsive movement again brought him to the surface.He felt himself seized by the hair, then he saw and heard nothing.He had fainted.
When he opened his eyes Dantes found himself on the deck of the tartan.His first care was to see what course they were taking.They were rapidly leaving the Chateau d'If behind.
Dantes was so exhausted that the exclamation of joy he uttered was mistaken for a sigh.
As we have said, he was lying on the deck.A sailor was rubbing his limbs with a woollen cloth; another, whom he recognized as the one who had cried out "Courage!" held a gourd full of rum to his mouth; while the third, an old sailer, at once the pilot and captain, looked on with that egotistical pity men feel for a misfortune that they have escaped yesterday, and which may overtake them to-morrow.
A few drops of the rum restored suspended animation, while the friction of his limbs restored their elasticity.
"Who are you?" said the pilot in bad French.
"I am," replied Dantes, in bad Italian, "a Maltese sailor.
We were coming from Syracuse laden with grain.The storm of last night overtook us at Cape Morgion, and we were wrecked on these rocks.""Where do you come from?"
"From these rocks that I had the good luck to cling to while our captain and the rest of the crew were all lost.I saw your vessel, and fearful of being left to perish on the desolate island, I swam off on a piece of wreckage to try and intercept your course.You have saved my life, and Ithank you," continued Dantes."I was lost when one of your sailors caught hold of my hair.""It was I," said a sailor of a frank and manly appearance;"and it was time, for you were sinking."
"Yes," returned Dantes, holding out his hand, "I thank you again.""I almost hesitated, though," replied the sailor; "you looked more like a brigand than an honest man, with your beard six inches, and your hair a foot long." Dantes recollected that his hair and beard had not been cut all the time he was at the Chateau d'If.
"Yes," said he, "I made a vow, to our Lady of the Grotto not to cut my hair or beard for ten years if I were saved in a moment of danger; but to-day the vow expires.""Now what are we to do with you?" said the captain.
"Alas, anything you please.My captain is dead; I have barely escaped; but I am a good sailor.Leave me at the first port you make; I shall be sure to find employment.""Do you know the Mediterranean?"
"I have sailed over it since my childhood.""You know the best harbors?"
"There are few ports that I could not enter or leave with a bandage over my eyes.""I say, captain," said the sailor who had cried "Courage!"to Dantes, "if what he says is true, what hinders his staying with us?""If he says true," said the captain doubtingly."But in his present condition he will promise anything, and take his chance of keeping it afterwards.""I will do more than I promise," said Dantes.
"We shall see," returned the other, smiling.