"Yes; but how do you come to know all this?"
"Oh—I know you, dear count. Wherever there is any grief to alleviate, a heroic act to accomplish, the Count of Monte-Cristo is always on the spot."
"You have a good opinion of me," said the count, deprecatingly; "and then, who was it that took care that the Zouave Coucou was sent here in order to console the poor mother?"
"Pah, that was only Christian duty; and besides, Captain Joliette bears among his superiors an excellent name. He was always the first in the midst of the enemy's fire, and his modesty, in spite of his bravery, has become proverbial among his comrades."
"And his disappearance?"
"For myself and all others this disappearance is really a puzzle. The Arabs seldom take prisoners, and I greatly fear that he has been dragged into the desert and killed."
"Do you, perhaps, know of what race the Bedouins were who attacked the expedition?" inquired Monte-Cristo, considering.
"If I am not mistaken, they were Yavaregs."
"Tell me what you think of the capture of Abd-el-Kader. Are you now of opinion that Algiers will be pacified?"
"Oh, no; either early or late there will probably be found another leader who, under pretence of avenging Abd-el-Kader, will renew the combat, for the Bedouins never submit."