Welcome back, everyone, to 1001 Stories for the Road,

An Account of Monte Cristo by Alexandra Dumas.

What a character he was, what an adventure this is.

I've got something here you might enjoy.

With his work translated into over 100 different languages,

Alexander Dumas has become one of the most widely read French authors in history.

His most famous works are The Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo.

Dumas was of mixed race heritage, the son of a French nobleman

and a black slave woman. Despite the advantages of aristocracy and professional success,

Dumas dealt with discrimination throughout his life and career. When his African ancestry was

insulted, he famously once replied, my father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a

negro, and my great-grandfather, a monkey. You see, sir, my family starts, where yours ends.

And now, chapter 24, The Secret Cave

The Sun had nearly reached the meridian, and his scorching rays fell full on the rocks,

which seemed themselves sensible of the heat.

Thousands of grasshoppers, hidden in the bushes, chirped with a monotonous and dull note.

The leaves of the myrtle and olive trees waved and rustled in the wind. The leaves of the myrtle and olive trees waved and rustled in the wind. At every step that Edmund took, he disturbed the lizards

glittering with the hues of the emerald. A far off, he saw the wild goats bounded from crag to

crag. In a word, the island was inhabited.

Yet Edmund felt himself alone, guided by the hand of God.

He felt an indescribable sensation somewhat akin to dread.

That dread of daylight, which even in the desert, makes us fear we are watched and observed.

...