Twenty Years Later by Dumas, Alexandre. Part two

Henry IV.”

“Well?”

“In these books, your honor, ’tis told how hungry voyagers,

drifting out to sea, have a bad habit of eating each other

and beginning with —- ”

“The fattest among them!” cried D’Artagnan, unable in spite

of the gravity of the occasion to help laughing.

“Yes, sir,” answered Mousqueton; “but permit me to say I see

Page 509

Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After

nothing laughable in it. However,” he added, turning to

Porthos, “I should not regret dying, sir, were I sure that

by doing so I might still be useful to you.”

“Mouston,” replied Porthos, much affected, “should we ever

see my castle of Pierrefonds again you shall have as your

own and for your descendants the vineyard that surrounds the

farm.”

“And you should call it `Devotion,'” added Aramis; “the

vineyard of self-sacrifice, to transmit to latest ages the

recollection of your devotion to your master.”

“Chevalier,” said D’Artagnan, laughing, “you could eat a

piece of Mouston, couldn’t you, especially after two or

three days of fasting?”

“Oh, no,” replied Aramis, “I should much prefer Blaisois; we

haven’t known him so long.”

One may readily conceive that during these jokes which were

intended chiefly to divert Athos from the scene which had

just taken place, the servants, with the exception of

Grimaud, were not silent. Suddenly Mousqueton uttered a cry

of delight, taking from beneath one of the benches a bottle

of wine; and on looking more closely in the same place he

discovered a dozen similar bottles, bread, and a monster

junk of salted beef.

“Oh, sir!” he cried, passing the bottle to Porthos, “we are

saved — the bark is supplied with provisions.”

This intelligence restored every one save Athos to gayety.

“Zounds!” exclaimed Porthos, “’tis astonishing how empty

violent agitation makes the stomach.”

And he drank off half a bottle at a draught and bit great

mouthfuls of the bread and meat.

“Now,” said Athos, “sleep, or try to sleep, my friends, and

I will watch.”

In a few moments, notwithstanding their wet clothes, the icy

blast that blew and the previous scene of terror, these

hardy adventurers, with their iron frames, inured to every

hardship, threw themselves down, intending to profit by the

advice of Athos, who sat at the helm, pensively wakeful,

guiding the little bark the way it was to go, his eyes fixed

on the heavens, as if he sought to verify not only the road

to France, but the benign aspect of protecting Providence.

After some hours of repose the sleepers were aroused by

Athos.

Dawn was shedding its pallid, placid glimmer on the purple

ocean, when at the distance of a musket shot from them was

seen a dark gray mass, above which gleamed a triangular

sail; then masters and servants joined in a fervent cry to

the crew of that vessel to hear them and to save.

“A bark!” all cried together.

It was, in fact, a small craft from Dunkirk bound for

Boulogne.

Page 510

Dumas, Alexandre – Twenty Years After

A quarter of an hour afterward the rowboat of this craft

took them all aboard. Grimaud tendered twenty guineas to the

captain, and at nine o’clock in the morning, having a fair

wind, our Frenchmen set foot on their native land.

“Egad! how strong one feels here!” said Porthos, almost

burying his large feet in the sands. “Zounds! I could defy a

nation!”

“Be quiet, Porthos,” said D’Artagnan, “we are observed.”

“We are admired, i’faith,” answered Porthos.

“These people who are looking at us are only merchants,”

said Athos, “and are looking more at the cargo than at us.”

“I shall not trust to that,” said the lieutenant, “and I

shall make for the Dunes* as soon as possible.”

*Sandy hills about Dunkirk, from which it derives its name.

The party followed him and soon disappeared with him behind

the hillocks of sand unobserved. Here, after a short

conference, they proposed to separate.

“And why separate?” asked Athos.

“Because,” answered the Gascon, “we were sent, Porthos and

I, by Cardinal Mazarin to fight for Cromwell; instead of

fighting for Cromwell we have served Charles I. — not the

same thing by any means. In returning with the Comte de la

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *