"Master—come quickly—your cabin door is open."
"What of that?"
"The safe is open, too."
"Impossible!"
"Master, I saw with my own eyes the contents of the safe lying on the ground. Gold and diamonds are scattered about the floor."
Monte-Cristo frowned. Was there a thief on board?
"Come, Spero," he said, and, followed by Jacopo, father and son hurried to the cabin.
As the Corsican had said, the cabin was indeed open, and the carpet was strewn with emeralds, rubies, and other precious stones. Monte-Cristo at first examined the lock, the secret spring of which he alone knew how to open.
"It was not a thief who opened the safe," he said to Jacopo.