Evening came, and Dantès watched the island fade into twilight shadows before disappearing into darkness. While it vanished from everyone else's sight, his prison-trained eyes continued to see it long after the others had looked away. He remained alone on deck, the last witness to its presence.
The next morning broke off a different coast. They spent the day sailing along the shoreline, and that evening spotted signal fires on land. These were clearly landing coordinates, because a ship's lantern was raised on their mast instead of the usual flag, and they moved to within cannon range of the shore.
Dantès noticed that as they approached land, the captain had mounted two small cannons, not particularly loud, but capable of firing four-ounce cannonballs over considerable distances. However, this precaution proved unnecessary, and everything proceeded with perfect smoothness and courtesy.
