第207章

cried I, `you are an excellent woman, and heaven will bless you.'""This," said Monte Cristo, "is less correct than your philosophy, -- it is only faith.""Alas, your excellency is right," replied Bertuccio, "and God made this infant the instrument of our punishment.Never did a perverse nature declare itself more prematurely, and yet it was not owing to any fault in his bringing up.He was a most lovely child, with large blue eyes, of that deep color that harmonizes so well with the blond complexion;only his hair, which was too light, gave his face a most singular expression, and added to the vivacity of his look, and the malice of his smile.Unfortunately, there is a proverb which says that `red is either altogether good or altogether bad.' The proverb was but too correct as regarded Benedetto, and even in his infancy he manifested the worst disposition.It is true that the indulgence of his foster-mother encouraged him.This child, for whom my poor sister would go to the town, five or six leagues off, to purchase the earliest fruits and the most tempting sweetmeats, preferred to Palma grapes or Genoese preserves, the chestnuts stolen from a neighbor's orchard, or the dried apples in his loft, when he could eat as well of the nuts and apples that grew in my garden.One day, when Benedetto was about five or six, our neighbor Vasilio, who, according to the custom of the country, never locked up his purse or his valuables -- for, as your excellency knows, there are no thieves in Corsica -- complained that he had lost a louis out of his purse; we thought he must have made a mistake in counting his money, but he persisted in the accuracy of his statement.One day, Benedetto, who had been gone from the house since morning, to our great anxiety, did not return until late in the evening, dragging a monkey after him, which he said he had found chained to the foot of a tree.

For more than a month past, the mischievous child, who knew not what to wish for, had taken it into his head to have a monkey.A boatman, who had passed by Rogliano, and who had several of these animals, whose tricks had greatly diverted him, had, doubtless, suggested this idea to him.`Monkeys are not found in our woods chained to trees,' said I;`confess how you obtained this animal.' Benedetto maintained the truth of what he had said, and accompanied it with details that did more honor to his imagination than to his veracity.I became angry; he began to laugh, I threatened to strike him, and he made two steps backwards.`You cannot beat me,' said he; `you have no right, for you are not my father.'

"We never knew who had revealed this fatal secret, which we had so carefully concealed from him; however, it was this answer, in which the child's whole character revealed itself, that almost terrified me, and my arm fell without touching him.The boy triumphed, and this victory rendered him so audacious, that all the money of Assunta, whose affection for him seemed to increase as he became more unworthy of it, was spent in caprices she knew not how to contend against, and follies she had not the courage to prevent.When I was at Rogliano everything went on properly, but no sooner was my back turned than Benedetto became master, and everything went ill.When he was only eleven, he chose his companions from among the young men of eighteen or twenty, the worst characters in Bastia, or, indeed, in Corsica, and they had already, for some mischievous pranks, been several times threatened with a prosecution.I became alarmed, as any prosecution might be attended with serious consequences.I was compelled, at this period, to leave Corsica on an important expedition; I reflected for a long time, and with the hope of averting some impending misfortune, I resolved that Benedetto should accompany me.Ihoped that the active and laborious life of a smuggler, with the severe discipline on board, would have a salutary effect on his character, which was now well-nigh, if not quite, corrupt.I spoke to Benedetto alone, and proposed to him to accompany me, endeavoring to tempt him by all the promises most likely to dazzle the imagination of a child of twelve.

He heard me patiently, and when I had finished, burst out laughing.

"`Are you mad, uncle?' (he called me by this name when he was in good humor); `do you think I am going to change the life I lead for your mode of existence -- my agreeable indolence for the hard and precarious toil you impose on yourself, exposed to the bitter frost at night, and the scorching heat by day, compelled to conceal yourself, and when you are perceived, receive a volley of bullets, all to earn a paltry sum? Why, I have as much money as I want;mother Assunta always furnishes me when I ask for it! You see that I should be a fool to accept your offer.' The arguments, and his audacity, perfectly stupefied me.

Benedetto rejoined his associates, and I saw him from a distance point me out to them as a fool.""Sweet child," murmured Monte Cristo.

"Oh, had he been my own son," replied Bertuccio, "or even my nephew, I would have brought him back to the right road, for the knowledge that you are doing your duty gives you strength, but the idea that I was striking a child whose father I had killed, made it impossible for me to punish him.I gave my sister, who constantly defended the unfortunate boy, good advice, and as she confessed that she had several times missed money to a considerable amount, Ishowed her a safe place in which to conceal our little treasure for the future.My mind was already made up.