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XLVI. FORWARD! 313 XLVII. JANE ZELD 320 XLVIII. A THUNDER CLAP 332 XLIX. HOW AND WHERE 338 L. CATASTROPHES 345 LI. A SHOT FROM A REVOLVER 353 LII. "WILL JANE ZELD LIVE?" 357 LIII. JANE ZELD'S SECRET 361 LIV. CARMEN 382 LV. THE BANKER 390 LVI. ESPERANCE, MONTE-CRISTO'S SON 397 LVII. THEY MUST BE SAVED! 402 LVIII. GOUTRAN AND CARMEN 412 LIX. UPON THE TRACK 422 LX. ESPERANCE IN DESPAIR 428 LXI. ESPERANCE GOES TO COURBERRIE 430 LXII. COUCON 435 LXIII. CARMEN KEEPS HER WORD 438 LXIV. THE PLOT 447 LXV. THE MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS 451 LXVI. UNITED IN DEATH 456 LXVII. THE SPECTRE 462 LXVIII. MONTE-CRISTO, THE MARTYR 468 LXIX. EPILOGUE 471

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THE
SON OF MONTE-CRISTO.

 

SEQUEL TO

 

THE WIFE OF MONTE-CRISTO.

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CHAPTER I.

ESPERANCE, THE SON OF MONTE-CRISTO.

Esperance, the son of Monte-Cristo, lay sleeping in the comfortable bed provided for him in the house of Fanfar, the French colonist, as related at the close of the preceding volume, "The Wife of Monte-Cristo." The prostration and exhaustion brought on by the excitement and fatigue of his terrible adventure with the remorseless Khouans rendered his sleep as leaden as the sleep of death; indeed, had it not been for his heavy respiration, he might have been mistaken for a corpse. But ordinary difficulties were not to conquer the heroic son of Monte-Cristo, who seemed to have inherited all the marvelous power and energy of his noble father, and as he lay there in the hot Algerian night, amid the balmy perfume of the luxuriant tropical flowers, a mysterious smile hovered about the corners of his sharply cut lips that told unmistakably of a fearless nature and a firm desire to promote the success of the good and the true. Esperance slept, and the lion in him was dormant; it was, however, destined soon to be aroused.

In another room, around the family table, Fanfar and his guests were seated, the Count of Monte-Cristo occupying the place of honor. The colonist, at the urgent solicitation of those with whom he had so strangely been brought in contact, was about to relate the story of his life, when suddenly Monte-Cristo's quick ear caught a sound.

"What was that?" he