The Count of Monte Cristo

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him and fought against him; and in that war Zaccone had been taken
prisoner, sent to England, and consigned to the hulks, whence he had
escaped by swimming. Then began his travels, his duels, his caprices;
then the insurrection in Greece broke out, and he had served in the
Grecian ranks. While in that service he had discovered a silver mine in
the mountains of Thessaly, but he had been careful to conceal it from
every one. After the battle of Navarino, when the Greek government was
consolidated, he asked of King Otho a mining grant for that district,
which was given him. Hence that immense fortune, which, in Lord
Wilmore's opinion, possibly amounted to one or two millions per
annum,--a precarious fortune, which might be momentarily lost by the
failure of the mine.

"But," asked the visitor, "do you know why he came to France?"

"He is speculating in railways," said Lord Wilmore, "and as he is
an expert chemist and physicist, he has invented a new system of