“Alas!” murmured the voice.

“Oh, what is the matter?” cried Dantès.

“I have made a mistake owing to an error in my plans. I took the wrong angle, and have come out fifteen feet from where I intended. I took the wall you are mining for the outer wall of the fortress.”

“But then you would be close to the sea?”

“That is what I hoped.”

“And supposing you had succeeded?”

“I should have thrown myself into the sea, gained one of the islands near here⁠—the Isle de Daume or the Isle de Tiboulen⁠—and then I should have been safe.”

“Could you have swum so far?”

“Heaven would have given me strength; but now all is lost.”