D'Artagnan, the King Maker — page 54: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

To Portugal. A5 me—merely the captain on scout duty, and not a political intriguer, like the Marquis de Rambouillet, our Ambas- sador to Spain—that the rose in King Philip’s cap is likely to become a thorn to his side!” Richelieu had leaned well over th table, charmed by the ring of this confident, incisive 4nd manly voice. At this observation from his carefully-chosen confidant, his glance rose, clear and searching, as though he were again of the junior’s age. It seemed to both that their spirits communed with nothing earthly between. ‘Thus are two diamonds, brought into contact, declared to be genuine and inappreciable, by their own sparks. ‘“Memo.,” said D’Artagnan, drawing the huge ring on his finger over his gauntlet, which he had put on, “I am to cover all the ground I can of this Ultima Thule be- tween this and the end of the coming February. Under the wings of the Petrel, bird of storm, but likewise of sunshine, I am to meet your money-carrier for means to pay the laborers whom I should employ to heap up such a barrier on Spain’s frontier as it will take her all her time to remove; or it will crush her.” “Spain is halting. He who will not look before him, shall look behind him.” “A cunning captain may certainly succeed by attack- ing a foe in the rear!’ “She has forts, and the Spanish soldier is redoubt- able behind a rampart!” “Pooh! gold goes in at any gate “Save the golden ones of Heaven.” “T shall have laid out my burden of that kind before Iam ordered through there!” .“That is all. I thank the stars that they sent a capa- ble man.” “Yes, my lord, whose shortest answer is doing a thing!” Richelieu fell into abstraction. Did he doubt that he had ventured too far; confided an important operation to a Hercules who would beg to be relieved of the bur- den? D’Artagnan, who thad reached the door curtains, lifted them to make sure that the door was closed. He lis- tened to his soldier breathing on the other side as he Gom Ghoo KS