Zuleika was left with Mme. Morrel, and, accompanied by Maximilian, Monte-Cristo at once started for the Ghetto.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE WONDROUS PHYSICIAN.
A brisk walk of half an hour brought the Count and his companion to one of the two gates in the wall of the Ghetto or Jews' quarter of Rome. Monte-Cristo knocked at a wicket and a policeman immediately appeared. He was a young man and wore a military dress. His coat was buttoned to the throat, a yellow cord and tassel gracefully looped over the breast. His hands were encased in white cotton gloves, a helmet adorned with brass was upon his head and at his side hung a sword, while on the collar of his coat the number of his regiment shone in gilt figures. The man's bearing was soldierly and he had evidently seen service in the field. The Count addressed him in Italian, informing him that he and M. Morrel desired to visit the Ghetto, at the same time exhibiting their passports. After examining the papers and seeing that they were in proper form the policeman opened the gate and the visitors entered the crowded and filthy precincts of the Jews' quarter.
"Mon Dieu! what vile odors!" exclaimed M. Morrel, placing his handkerchief saturated with cologne to his nose, as they hurried through the narrow, garbage-encumbered lanes.
"The atmosphere is not like that of a perfumer's shop!" replied the Count, laughing. "But it seems to suit the children of Israel, for they thrive and multiply in it as the sparrows in the pure air and green fields of England!"
"I pity them!" said Maximilian.