The Count of Monte Cristo

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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. I hoped 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