The Count of Monte Cristo

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a Jew; retired with the latter for a few minutes to a small back parlor,
and upon their return the Jew counted out to the shipbuilder the sum of
sixty thousand francs in bright gold pieces.

The delighted builder then offered his services in providing a suitable
crew for the little vessel, but this Dantes declined with many thanks,
saying he was accustomed to cruise about quite alone, and his principal
pleasure consisted in managing his yacht himself; the only thing the
builder could oblige him in would be to contrive a sort of secret closet
in the cabin at his bed's head, the closet to contain three divisions,
so constructed as to be concealed from all but himself. The builder
cheerfully undertook the commission, and promised to have these secret
places completed by the next day, Dantes furnishing the dimensions and
plan in accordance with which they were to be constructed.

The following day Dantes sailed with his yacht from Genoa, under the
inspection of an immense crowd drawn together by curiosity to see the