The Count of Monte Cristo

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evident from the cross which still surmounted them. A lamp, placed at
the base of a pillar, lighted up with its pale and flickering flame the
singular scene which presented itself to the eyes of the two visitors
concealed in the shadow. A man was seated with his elbow leaning on the
column, and was reading with his back turned to the arcades, through the
openings of which the new-comers contemplated him. This was the chief
of the band, Luigi Vampa. Around him, and in groups, according to their
fancy, lying in their mantles, or with their backs against a sort of
stone bench, which went all round the columbarium, were to be seen
twenty brigands or more, each having his carbine within reach. At the
other end, silent, scarcely visible, and like a shadow, was a
sentinel, who was walking up and down before a grotto, which was only
distinguishable because in that spot the darkness seemed more dense than
elsewhere. When the count thought Franz had gazed sufficiently on this
picturesque tableau, he raised his finger to his lips, to warn him to be
silent, and, ascending the three steps which led to the corridor of
the columbarium, entered the chamber by the middle arcade, and advanced