The Count of Monte Cristo

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As Dantes (his eyes turned in the direction of the Chateau d'If) uttered
this prayer, he saw off the farther point of the Island of Pomegue a
small vessel with lateen sail skimming the sea like a gull in search of
prey; and with his sailor's eye he knew it to be a Genoese tartan.
She was coming out of Marseilles harbor, and was standing out to sea
rapidly, her sharp prow cleaving through the waves. "Oh," cried Edmond,
"to think that in half an hour I could join her, did I not fear being
questioned, detected, and conveyed back to Marseilles! What can I do?
What story can I invent? under pretext of trading along the coast, these
men, who are in reality smugglers, will prefer selling me to doing a
good action. I must wait. But I cannot---- I am starving. In a few hours
my strength will be utterly exhausted; besides, perhaps I have not been
missed at the fortress. I can pass as one of the sailors wrecked last
night. My story will be accepted, for there is no one left to contradict
me."

As he spoke, Dantes looked toward the spot where the fishing-vessel had