Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 2).djvu/103

Rh old? tall or short? Describe him, in order that, if we meet him by chance, like Jean Sbogar or Lara, we may recognize him."

"You could not apply to any one better able to inform you on all these points, for I knew him when he was a child, and one day that I fell into his hands, going from Ferentino to Alatri, he, fortunately for me, recollected our old acquaintance, and set me free, not only without ransom, but made me a present of a very splendid watch, and related his history to me."

"Let us see the watch," said Albert.

Maitre Pastrini drew from his fob a magnificent Breguet, bearing the name of its maker, of Parisian manufacture, and a count's coronet.

"Here it is," said he.

"Peste!" returned Albert, "I compliment you on it; I have its fellow," he took his watch from his waistcoat-pocket, "and it cost me three thousand francs."

"Let us hear the history," said Franz, motioning Maitre Pastrini to seat himself.

"Your excellencies permit it?" asked the host.

"Pardieu!" cried Albert, "you are not a preacher, to talk standing!" The host sat down, after having made each of them a respectful bow, which meant to say he was ready to tell them all they wished to know concerning Luigi Vampa.

"You tell me," said Franz, at the moment Maitre Pastrini was about to open his mouth, "that you knew Luigi Vampa when he was a child he is still a young man, then?"

"A young man! he is only two-and-twenty; he will gain himself a reputation."

"What do you think of that, Albert I at two-and-twenty to be thus famous?"

"Yes, and at his age, Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, who have all made some noise in the world, were not so advanced."

"So," continued Franz, addressing the host, "the hero of this history is only two-and-twenty?"

"Scarcely so much."

"Is he tall or short!"

"Of the middle height about the same stature as his excellency," returned the host, pointing to Albert.

"Thanks for the comparison," said Albert, with a bow.

"Go on, Maitre Pastrini," continued Franz, smiling at his friend's susceptibility. "To what class of society does he belong?"

"He was a shepherd-boy attached to the farm of the Count di San-Felice, situated between Palestrini and the Lake of Gabri; he was born