enthusiasm. “We will put him in a cage and show him for
money.”
“Well, Planchet, that is a third plan, of which I had not
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thought.”
“Do you think it a good one?”
“Yes, certainly, but I think mine better.”
“Let us see yours, then.”
“In the first place, I shall set a ransom on him.”
“Of how much?”
“Peste! a fellow like that must be well worth a hundred
thousand crowns.”
“Yes, yes!”
“You see, then — in the first place, a ransom of a hundred
thousand crowns.”
“Or else —- ”
“Or else, what is much better, I deliver him up to King
Charles, who, having no longer either a general or an army
to fear, nor a diplomatist to trick him, will restore
himself, and when once restored, will pay down to me the
hundred thousand crowns in question. That is the idea I have
formed; what do you say to it, Planchet?”
“Magnificent, monsieur!” cried Planchet, trembling with
emotion. “How did you conceive that idea?”
“It came to me one morning on the banks of the Loire, whilst
our beloved king, Louis XIV., was pretending to weep upon
the hand of Mademoiselle de Mancini.”
“Monsieur, I declare the idea is sublime. But —- ”
“Ah! is there a but?”
“Permit me! But this is a little like the skin of that fine
bear — you know — that they were about to sell, but which
it was necessary to take from the back of the living bear.
Now, to take M. Monk, there will be a bit of scuffle, I
should think.”
“No doubt; but as I shall raise an army to —- ”
“Yes, yes — I understand, parbleu! — a coup-de-main. Yes,
then, monsieur, you will triumph, for no one equals you in
such sorts of encounters.”
“I certainly am lucky in them,” said D’Artagnan, with a
proud simplicity. “You know that if for this affair I had my
dear Athos, my brave Porthos, and my cunning Aramis, the
business would be settled; but they are all lost, as it
appears, and nobody knows where to find them. I will do it,
then, alone. Now, do you find the business good, and the
investment advantageous?”
“Too much so — too much so.”
“How can that be?”
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“Because fine things never reach the expected point.”
“This is infallible, Planchet, and the proof is that I
undertake it. It will be for you a tolerably pretty gain,
and for me a very interesting stroke. It will be said, `Such
was the old age of M. d’Artagnan,’ and I shall hold a place
in tales and even in history itself, Planchet. I am greedy
of honor.”
“Monsieur,” cried Planchet, “when I think that it is here,
in my home, in the midst of my sugar, my prunes, and my
cinnamon, that this gigantic project is ripened, my shop
seems a palace to me.”
“Beware, beware, Planchet! If the least report of this
escapes, there is the Bastile for both of us. Beware, my
friend, for this is a plot we are hatching. M. Monk is the
ally of M. Mazarin — beware!”
“Monsieur, when a man has had the honor to belong to you, he
knows nothing of fear; and when he has the advantage of
being bound up in interests with you, he holds his tongue.”
“Very well, that is more your affair than mine, seeing that
in a week I shall be in England.”
“Depart, monsieur, depart — the sooner the better.”
“Is the money, then, ready?”
“It will be to-morrow, to-morrow you shall receive it from
my own hands. Will you have gold or silver?”
“Gold; that is most convenient. But how are we going to
arrange this? Let us see.”
“Oh, good Lord! in the simplest way possible. You shall give
me a receipt, that is all.”
“No, no,” said D’Artagnan, warmly; “we must preserve order
in all things.”
“That is likewise my opinion; but with you, M. d’Artagnan
—- ”
“And if I should die yonder — if I should be killed by a
musket-ball — if I should burst from drinking beer?”