Ten Years Later by Dumas, Alexandre. Part one

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

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