to get rid of him or to make an ally of him.”
“Monsieur, a king who has neither army nor money, as you
have heard my conversation with my brother Louis, has no
means of acting against a man like Monk.”
“Yes, sire, that was your opinion, I know very well; but,
fortunately, for you, it was not mine.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That, without an army and without a million, I have done —
I, myself — what your majesty thought could alone be done
with an army and a million.”
“How! What do you say? What have you done?”
“What have I done? Eh! well, sire, I went yonder to take
this man who is so troublesome to your majesty.”
“In England?”
“Exactly, sire.”
“You went to take Monk in England?”
“Should I by chance have done wrong, sire?”
“In truth, you are mad, monsieur!”
“Not the least in the world, sire.”
“You have taken Monk?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Where?”
“In the midst of his camp.”
The king trembled with impatience.
“And having taken him on the causeway of Newcastle, I bring
him to your majesty,” said D’Artagnan, simply.
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
“You bring him to me!” cried the king, almost indignant at
what he considered a mystification.
“Yes, sire,” replied D’Artagnan, the same tone, “I bring him
to you; he is down below yonder, in a large chest pierced
with holes, so as to allow him to breathe.”
“Good God!”
“Oh! don’t be uneasy, sire, we have taken the greatest
possible care of him. He comes in good state, and in perfect
condition. Would your majesty please to see him, to talk
with him, or to have him thrown into the sea?”
“Oh, heavens!” repeated Charles, “oh, heavens! do you speak
the truth, monsieur? Are you not insulting me with some
unworthy joke? You have accomplished this unheard-of act of
audacity and genius — impossible!”
“Will your majesty permit me to open the window?” said
D’Artagnan, opening it.
The king had not time to reply, yes on no. D’Artagnan gave a
shrill and prolonged whistle, which he repeated three times
through the silence of the night.
“There!” said he, “he will be brought to your majesty.”
CHAPTER 29
In which D’Artagnan begins to fear he has placed his
Money and that of Planchet in the Sinking Fund
The king could not overcome his surprise, and looked
sometimes at the smiling face of the musketeer, and
sometimes at the dark window which opened into the night.
But before he had fixed his ideas, eight of D’Artagnan’s
men, for two had remained to take care of the bark, brought
to the house, where Parry received him, that object of an
oblong form, which, for the moment inclosed the destinies of
England. Before he left Calais, D’Artagnan had had made in
that city a sort of coffin, large and deep enough for a man
to turn in it at his ease. The bottom and sides, properly
upholstered, formed a bed sufficiently soft to prevent the
rolling of the ship turning this kind of cage into a
rat-trap. The little grating, of which D’Artagnan had spoken
to the king, like the visor of a helmet, was placed opposite
to the man’s face. It was so constructed that, at the least
cry, a sudden pressure would stifle that cry, and, if
necessary, him who had uttered that cry.
D’Artagnan was so well acquainted with his crew and his
prisoner, that during the whole voyage he had been in dread
of two things: either that the general would prefer death to
this sort of imprisonment, and would smother himself by
endeavoring to speak, or that his guards would allow
themselves to be tempted by the offers of the prisoner, and
put him, D’Artagnan, into the box instead of Monk.
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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
D’Artagnan, therefore, had passed the two days and the two
nights of the voyage close to the coffin, alone with the
general, offering him wine and food, which the latter had
refused, and constantly endeavoring to reassure him upon the
destiny which awaited him at the end of this singular
captivity. Two pistols on the table and his naked sword made