Journeys with Dumas Paperback - 2012

From the publisher

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...saw nothing that resembled what he sought. At last, in a little hole, he saw a wooden peg, which, as he took it up, let fall into his hand a small round key, like that of a piano. He examined it carefully, put the step back in its place, went to the wall, and guided this time by certainty, ended by discovering in the angle of the pilaster a small round hole, almost invisible on account of the shadow projected by the column. He introduced the key, and the door turned on its hinges with a facility which its weight made surprising. He saw before him a dark corridor, the dampness of which came out to meet him and chilled him. Not a ray of light, not a sound of any kind. Ferdinando stopped. It would have been too imprudent to venture unprepared into that vault; some open trap might cruelly punish the curiosity of a rash visitor. He reclosed the door, and, satisfied with this beginning of discovery, he returned to the chateau determined to bring a lantern the following night, and push his investigation to its end. He spent the whole day in a state of agitation we can easily comprehend. Again and again he questioned Peppino the gardener, as if he could tell him something more than he knew already. The worthy man could only repeat what he had said, adding however, that the man in the cloak had been seen in the village the night before; evidently he was the same man who had entered the chapel. At ten o'clock Ferdinando left the chateau with a dark lantern; he was armed as before, with a sword and a pair of pistols. He entered the chapel without meeting any one on his way, raised the stone, found the key, unlocked the door, and saw before him the dark corridor. This time, armed with his lantern, he boldly entered it. Hardly had he gone twenty steps before...