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
Page: 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