The Count of Monte Cristo

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been wanting in, and which is seldom possessed except by those who
have been placed in constant intercourse with persons of high birth and
breeding. At the end of fifteen months the level was finished, and the
excavation completed beneath the gallery, and the two workmen could
distinctly hear the measured tread of the sentinel as he paced to and
fro over their heads.

Compelled, as they were, to await a night sufficiently dark to favor
their flight, they were obliged to defer their final attempt till that
auspicious moment should arrive; their greatest dread now was lest the
stone through which the sentry was doomed to fall should give way before
its right time, and this they had in some measure provided against by
propping it up with a small beam which they had discovered in the
walls through which they had worked their way. Dantes was occupied in
arranging this piece of wood when he heard Faria, who had remained
in Edmond's cell for the purpose of cutting a peg to secure their
rope-ladder, call to him in a tone indicative of great suffering. Dantes