The Count of Monte Cristo: Chapter 24 Summary & Analysis

Dantes climbs back up to the circular, heavy rock he saw the previous day and notes that, on the far horizon, the Jeune-Amelie is only a pinprick, heading in the opposite direction. It is broad daylight, but no one else is around; no one on the neighboring islands, including Elba, can see him. He sets about his work, climbing up to another rock-ledge above the circular rock, and realizing he can use the ram’s horn full of gunpowder, which Jacopo has left with him for hunting, to blow a small hole in the side of the base holding up the heavy circular rock. He does this, and then is able to lever the heavy rock down the hill and into the sea. He is amazed to find, beneath it, a ring that has been clearly installed by a person. He senses that the treasure is beneath this entryway.

Dantes pries open the lid and finds a staircase, but he notes that, despite this evidence of human presence, he must not get too carried away. He reassures himself by saying that, even if the staircase doesn’t lead to the treasure—if, for example, the Borgia family reached the treasure first many centuries ago—he will still have participated in a grand adventure. Thus, telling himself not to depend on the presence of the 14 million francs, he begins the descent into the staircase and the cave that has been carved into the center of the island.

Dantes continues his work. He peers into, and then enters, the first chamber of the cave and finds it empty. He tests the walls with his pickaxe, and, finding one that appears to have been done in plaster, he begins pulling it down: first the outer layer, and then the un-mortared rocks that lie beneath it. He finds another chamber, darker than the first, and begins to realize that the Abbe’s treasure directions are true. He finds the darkest corner of that second room, digs in the earth, and uncovers a chest. After calming himself, he pries it open with his pickaxe, revealing an enormous quantity of gold ingots, gold coins, and precious stones. The Abbe’s treasure is real, and Dantes has found it and secured it entirely for himself.

Dantes runs about the island as the daylight falls, rejoicing, wondering if he is in fact dreaming or if this treasure is real. He considers killing a goat for dinner with his gun, but worries about making a sound and directing others to the small island. He returns, counts the treasure, and then climbs back out of the cave, drinking a little wine and eating some biscuit, which the other sailors have left behind for their supposedly wounded comrade. He sleeps, exhausted from what has been the most exciting day of his young life.