The Count of Monte Cristo

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vessel--which had a double hold, where our goods were concealed--amidst
a number of other vessels that bordered the banks of the Rhone from
Beaucaire to Arles. On our arrival we began to discharge our cargo in
the night, and to convey it into the town, by the help of the inn-keeper
with whom we were connected. Whether success rendered us imprudent,
or whether we were betrayed, I know not; but one evening, about five
o'clock, our little cabin-boy came breathlessly, to inform us that
he had seen a detachment of custom-house officers advancing in our
direction. It was not their proximity that alarmed us, for detachments
were constantly patrolling along the banks of the Rhone, but the care,
according to the boy's account, that they took to avoid being seen. In
an instant we were on the alert, but it was too late; our vessel was
surrounded, and amongst the custom-house officers I observed several
gendarmes, and, as terrified at the sight of their uniforms as I was
brave at the sight of any other, I sprang into the hold, opened a
port, and dropped into the river, dived, and only rose at intervals to
breathe, until I reached a ditch that had recently been made from the