and thrust a loaded revolver into the belt he wore
about his waist.

"The scoundrel was anxious that I should come alone, but he did not
prohibit me from arming myself," muttered he, with a grim smile, "and I
have seen too much of Signor Benedetto to care to leave the game
entirely in his hands!"

Quitting the palace by a private door, after making sure that everybody
was asleep and that he was unobserved, Monte-Cristo bent his steps in
the direction of the almond grove. It was a moonless night and very
dark; the air was rather chill, while the roar of the surf sounded
louder than usual in the crisp, bracing atmosphere. The Count gathered
his cloak tightly about him and walked steadily onward, notwithstanding
the thick darkness. At length the heavy odor of the almond blossoms
warned him that he was approaching his destination, and he paused to
survey the scene.

About fifty yards away the almond grove loomed up, casting a denser
shade upon the surrounding blackness. The Count hastened his steps and
in a few seconds stood among the trees. As he paused the figure of a man
emerged from behind a huge fragment of rock and thus hailed him:

"Are you the Count of Monte-Cristo?"

"I am," was the firm reply.

"And are you alone, as I recommended?"

"Entirely alone. Now, if you have finished your questions, pray who are
you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Merely for form's sake."

"Well, then, I am Benedetto."

"Of course. As it was too dark for me to distinguish your features, I
simply wanted to identify you. Now, state your business as briefly as
possible."

"I escaped from Toulon long ago, and, after wandering all over Europe,
settled in Athens, where I remained until a week since, when the result
of a difficulty compelled me to quit the city."

"An assassination?"

"Yes, an assassination!"

Monte-Cristo shuddered to hear the cold-blooded villain talk so calmly
of his foul crime, but, conquering his aversion, he said between his
teeth:

"Proceed."

"I fled from Athens under cover of the night and the next morning hired
a fisherman to bring me here in his boat, thinking that the island was
inhabited only by a few poverty-stricken wretches who gained a scanty
subsistence from the sea. On my arrival I was filled with terror at
beholding your magnificent palace, which I was told belonged to a great
lord. I naturally imagined that no one could inhabit such a dwelling
save some high official of the Greek Government,