Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 2).djvu/122

104 "Well, and what may you have to say against this name?" inquired Albert; "it is a very pretty name, and the adventures of the gentleman of that name amused me very much in my youth, I must confess."

Franz said no more. The name of Sindbad the Sailor, as may well be supposed, awakened in him a world of recollections, as had the name of the Count of Monte-Cristo on the previous evening.

"Proceed!" said he to the host.

"Vampa put the two sequins haughtily into his pocket, and slowly returned by the way he had gone. As he came within two or three hundred paces of the grotto, he thought he heard a cry. He listened to know whence the sound could proceed. A moment afterward, and lie heard his own name pronounced distinctly.

"The cry proceeded from the grotto. He bounded like a chamois, cocking his carbine as he went, and in a moment reached the summit of a hill opposite to that on which he had perceived the traveler.

"Thence cries of 'Help! help!' came more distinctly on his ear. He cast his eyes around him, and saw a man carrying off Teresa, as the centaur Nessus carried off Deianira.

"This man, who was hastening toward the wood, was already three-quarters of the way on the road from the grotto to the forest. Vampa measured the distance; the man was at least two hundred paces in advance of him, and there was not a chance of overtaking him before he reached the wood. The young shepherd stopped, as if his feet had been rooted to the ground; then he put the butt of his carbine to his shoulder, slowly took aim at the ravisher, followed him for a second in his track, and then fired.

"The ravisher stopped suddenly, his knees bent under him, and lie fell with Teresa in his arms. The young girl rose instantly, but the man lay on the earth struggling in the agonies of death. Vampa then rushed toward Teresa; for at ten paces from the dying man her legs had failed her, and she had dropped on her knees, so that the young man feared that the ball that had brought down his enemy had also wounded his betrothed.

"Fortunately, she was unscathed, and it was fright alone that had overcome Teresa. When Luigi had assured himself that she was safe and sound, he turned toward the wounded man. He had just expired, with clenched hands, his mouth in a spasm of agony, and his hair on end in the sweat of death. His eyes remained open and menacing. Vampa approached the carcass, and recognized Cucumetto.

"From the day on which the bandit had been saved by the two young peasants, he had been enamored of Teresa, and had sworn she should be his. From that time he had watched them, and profiting by