Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 190 — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

»* = a — + ee ee - LT AY a * ied “7 fe FR gp Et ¥ | Thus it was, that Bassompierre, who was at the same time both Protestant and Catholic—Protestant from | conviction; and Cathelic as commander of the Saint Ksprit—Bassompierre, who was a German by birth, and a Frenchman at heart—Bassompierre, who Lad a par- ticular command at the siege of la Rochelle—said, on eharging at tie head of many other Protestant noble- men like himself: ‘‘ You will see, gentlemen, that we shal) be fools enough to take la Rochelle."’ And Bassompierre was right. The cannonades of the Isle of Rhe were a vrelude to the dragoonings of the Cevennes; the taking of la Rochelle was the pre- uce to the edict of Nantes. The guards, under M. des Essarts, were stationed at she Minimes. But we know that d’Artagnan, engrossed by the ambi- tion of becoming a musketeer, had formed but few intimacies with his comrades, and he found himself therefore isolated, and abandone | to his own reflections. On the evening before he had escaped two pistol shots which had secretly been fired at him; and he con- sidered long and deeply who these assasins could be, but without coming to any Sy wor wes in the matter. D'Artagnan passed a very bad night.. Three or four times be awoke with a start, fancying that a man ap- proached his bed to stab him. Yet the day dawned, without any accident having occurred during the dark- hess, ent d’Artagnan suspected that what is deferred is not rnerefore lost. He remained in his quarters throughout the whole day; and gave, as an excuse to himeelf the badness of she weather. At nine o'clock on the next morning, they beat to arms. The duke of Orleans was visiting the posts. The guards mustered, and d’Artagnan took his place amidst his comrades, His royal highness passed in front of the line; and then all the superior officers approached to pay their’ respects to him. M.des Essarts, the captain of the guards, went with the others. After a short time a'Artrgnan thought that he per- ceived M. des Essarts makings sign to him to draw near. He waited for another gesture fearing that he might have been mistaken; but on its being os scan he left the ranks, and advanced toreceive the order. * His royal highness is about to ask for volunteers for a dangerous expedition which will be honorable to those who perform it; and I made you a sign, that you might | bold yourself in readiness,”’ “Thank you, captain,’ replied d'Art the eyes of the lieutenant-general. The Rochellois had, in fact, made a sortie during the night, and recaptured a bastion which the royal army nad seized two days before. The point was to push a. forlorn hope so forward, as to beable to discover in what manner the enemy guarded this bastion. After a few minutes, royal highness raised his | voice and said: ‘* | want three or four volunteers for this expedition, | Jed by a man who can be depended upon.” **Asfor your trustworthy man; here he is,’ ssid M. | des Essarts, pointing to d’Artagnan, “and as for the | four or five volunteers, your royal highness has only to | make your wishes known, aad the men will not be want- | ing.”’ ** Fonr men, who will volunteer to come and be killed | with me!” cried d'Artagnan, raising his sword. Two of his companions in the guards rushed towards | him instantaneously; and two soldiers havin gim, the number wascomplete. D’Artagnan, therefore rejected all others, to avoid injustice to those who had the prior claim. It was not known whether the Rochellois, after having taken the bastion, had evacuated, or placed a garrison init. It was therefore necessary to examine the spot sufficiently close to ascertain this point. D’Artagnan went off with his four companions, in the | Yine ofthe trench, The two guards marched by his side, | and the two soldiers in the rear. Sheltering themselves in this manner by the rampart, they arrived within a hundred paces of the bastion; and, | on turning round at that moment, py er perceived | that the two soldiers had disappeared. Believing them to have remained behind from fear, he continued to ad- | vance, At the turn of the counterscarp, they found themselves | about sixty one, andthe The three volunteers deliberated whether they should advance further, when suddenly a ci cie of smoke sur- ‘ounded the vast stone, and a dozen balls whistled | around d@’A an and his companions. They knew now what they had come to Jearn: the bastion was guarded; a longer delay, therefore, in go dangerous @ place, would have been “yea an unneces- sary imprudence. So d’Artagnan and the ards from the bastion; but they saw no— much like a flight. On reaching the angle of the trench, which wonld werve as a@ rauspart to them, one of the guards fell with a ball through his chest, whilst the other, who was safe ond sound, made the best of his way to the camp. i would not thus abandon a companion, andle over him to lift him up, and aid him to regain Loé lines; but atthat very moment, two shots were fired ; one ball shattered the head of the man who was already wounded, and the other was flattened againsta rock, after having passed within two inches of d’Artagnan’s body. The young man turned very qnickly; for this attack could not come from tho bastion, which was hidden by the angle of the trench, The remembrance of tlie two soldiers who bad abandoned him, occurred to his mind, and suggested to his assassins of the previous even- ing. He resolved, on this occasion, to tind out what it mean; and fell, therefore, upon the body of his com- wide, 2s though he had been dead. Me immediately | ——— -—e —-—— -- --@-- --— —- - —— = - | which an, who re- | to what I heard him say.” uired nothing better than to distinguish himself before | joined | swear that you shall directly die by my hand.” astion seemed abandoned. | two guards | took turned their backs, and began a retreat, which was very | strivin THE THREE GUARDSMEN, ee — _+_—_— - —$_—— —————— ee eee | saw that two heads were raised above an abandoned | proved tod’ Artagnan that he who had sought to assas- work, which was about thirty yards from him; they | sinate him had now saved his life. were those of the two soldiers. D‘Artagnan wasnot| D*Artagnan reached the trench, and threw the body mistaken; these men had fled solely for the purpose of | by the side of the wounded man, who was quite as pale assassinating him, hoping that .he death of the young | as the dead one. man would be impute to the attack of the enemy. He then began to take the inventory. There was a | But ashe might be only wounded, and might de- | leathern pocket-book, a purse, which evidently contained nounce their crime, they drewnear to complete their | apart of the sum which the banditti had received, and work, Happily, deceived by the sight of d’Artagnan’s a dice-box and dice; and these composed the inheritance position, they negicvcted to re-load their guns. When | of the dead man. they were about three paces from him, d’Artagnan,who | He left the dice-box and dice where they had fallen, had taken especial care, in falling, not to relinquish his | threw the purse to the wounded man, and eagerly opened sword, suddenly arose, and sprang beside them. _ the pocket-book. The assassins were well aware, that, if they fled to-| Amongst several unimportant _ wards the camp without having killed their man, they following letter: it was that which should be accused by him; and therefore their first im- for at the hazard of his life:— | ulse was to passoverto the enemy. Oneofthem took ‘Since you have lost the track of that woman and she iis gun by the barrel, and made use of it as aclub;: he is now in safety in the convent, which you never ought dealt a terrible blow at d’Artagnan, who avoided it by | to have allowed her to reach, take care at any rate not to jumping aside: by this movement, however, he opened miss the man, otherwise, you know that I have a leng & passage tothe bandit, who immediately sprang forth | arm, and you shall pay-dearly for the hundred louis towards the bastion. But as the Rochellois who | which you have of mine.” guarded it were ignorant of his intentions in advancing, | There was no signature, | te’ fired upon him, and he fell, with his ison Nevertheless, it was evident that the letter was from e — ; ’ yes he found the 1e had gone to search u _ broken by a ball. her ladyship. He kept it, therefore, as a testimony _ Inthe mean time, d’Artagnan threw himself on the | against her; and finding himself in safety behind the soldier with his sword, angle of the trench, he began to question the wounded man. The latter confessed that he had been e with his comrade, the same who had now been ed, The struggle was not long This wretch had only his discharged fusee to de- fend himself with. The sword of the guardsman glided | along the barrel of this useless weapon, and passed through the assassin’s thigh. Assoon as he had fallen, | d’Artagnan applied the point of his weapon to his _ throat. | Oh, do not kill me!” exclaimed the bandit. ‘‘ Par- _ don, pardon! sir, and J will confess everything!”’ “Ts it worth my While to grant you your life for your secret 7’ demanded the young man. ** Yes, if you consider life of any value to a man of twenty-two years of age, who, being as handsome and as brave as you are, may accomplish peeve ‘* Wretch!”" cried d’Artagnan, ** come, speuk Who employed you to assassinate me?” ‘*‘A woman whom I do not know, but who was called *my lady.’”’ * But, if yon do not know to know her name’”’ ‘** My comrade knew her,and called her so; it was with him that she arranged the business—not with me. | He hasa letter from this person now in his pocket, would be of great importance to you, according | eFecond the barrier of la Villette; but that, having stopped drink- ing at a wine shop, they had been ten minutes too late for the carriage. * But wliat were you to have done with this woman?" demanded d’Artagnan, in an agony. “We were to have taken her to a hotel in the Place Royale,” said the wounded man. * Yes, yes,’ muttered d'Artagnan, ‘that is it; to her ladyship herself."’ | The young man shuddered as he comprehended with quickly. , how terrible a thirst for vengeance this woman was im- | pelled to destroy him, and th ow well she was acquainted with the secrets of the | court, since she had detected even this. For this exact this woman, how came you | information she was indebted to the cardinal. ' But, as some degree of compensation, he with unfeigned joy that the queen Nad at last the prisou to which Madame Bonancieux had been sent to expiate her devotednees, and had already rescued her fromit. Thus the letter which he had received from : the young woman, and her appearance in the cartiage on ih ‘* But how came you to be his partner in this ambus- | the Chaillot road, were explained to him, ” er” Thenceforth, as Athos had predicted, it was possible ‘ ‘* He proposed to me to join him in it, and I agreed."’ | to find Madame Bonancieux again, and a convent was * *‘ And how much has she paid you for this pretty ex- | not impregnable. , eS. ition?” This idea disposed his heart toclemency.. He turned ‘** A hundred louis.” towards the wounded man, who watched all the ——— 3 ‘Well, upon my word,” said the young man laughing, | of his countenance with anxiety, and stretching out | A ‘“she thinks me of some value. A hundred louis! arm to him— \ OE: _ is quite a fortune for two wretches like you. Ican well| “ Come,"’ said he, ‘‘ I will not abandon you here, Rest vas understand that you would accept it; and so I forgive | on me, and let us return to the camp.” ; i | you, but on one condition.” “Yes,” said the wounded man, who could hardly ‘What is that?” said the soldier, uneasy at discover- | credit so much magnanimity; ‘‘ but is it not to have me “ae ing that all was not yet ended. hanged *”” » Mh a “That yon go and get me the letter out of your com- ** You have my word,” replied he; ‘for the second y-aat panion’s pocket.” \ time, I grant you your life.” io eo ** But,” exclaimed the bandit, “that is only another! The wounded man fell on his knees, and kissed the — way of killing me. How can you ask me to go for the | feet of his preserver; but d'Artagnan, who had no long- tof letter, under the very fire of the bastion?” er any motive for remaining so near the enemy him- self, cut short these tokens of his gratitude. The guard who had returned at the first discharge from the bastion, had announced the death of his four com- panions, There was, therefore, both great astonishment ‘*But you must make up your mind to go for it, or I ** Mercy! sir, mercy! int name of that young lad whom, rhaps, you imagine dead, whom you love, and to carry off a young woman, who was to leave Parisby , ose who loved him; and | t, t * ~~ - 7 é a .* but who is not so,’’ screamed the bandit throwing him- | and great joy in the regiinent, when they saw the young as) self upon his knees, and spores himself on his | man returning safe and sound. aes hand; for he was beginning to ose his strength withhis | D'Artagnan explained the sword-wound of his ecm- o) blood. peutan by a sortie, which he invented. He nted . eam ‘And how do you know that there is a young lady | the death of the other soldier, and the perils they had s whom I love, and that I have believed her to be dead?" | run. This account was the occasion of a true triumph <. tohim. For one day the whole army spoke of this ex- pedition; and his royal highness himself sent to compli- ment him on his conduct. And, lastly, as every good action brings its recompense with it, that of d’Artagnan had the nappy result of re- storing to him the tranquility that he had tout: In fact, the young man thought that he might cease to be dis turbed, since, of his two enemies, one was killed and demanded d’Artagnan. ** By that letter in my comrade’s pocket.” * You see, then, that i must-have that letter,’ said d'Artagnan, ‘So, let us have no longer delay, no more hesitation, or, whatever may be my repugnance to bathe my sword a second time in the blood of such a wretch as you are, I swear to you on the word of an honest man—-—’ At these words, d’Artagnan made such a threatening gesture, that the wounded man arose, “Stop! stop! exclaimed he eae courag through the very force of fear: “Twill go—l will go.” D’Artagnan took the soldier's arquebuss, made him CHAPTER XLII walk before him, and urged him at the same time to- | : Ne wards his companion, by pricking him in the loins with | THE WINE OF ANJOU, BT ip CO ——————_—_ TT This tranquility, however, d'Artagnan did not yet thoroughly know her ladyship, -~—-- - the point of his sword. D'Artagnan, as we have said, had become now « It was a fearful spectacle, to witness this unhappy | in his mind, as alway’s happens after a past danger, being leaving a long track of blood upon the path he | when danger seems to have entirely vanished. ors growing pale from the ap ge of death, and yet’ Yet one anxiety still remained to him, which was, | to drag himself, without being seen, to’ the | that he received no tidings of his friends, r 30 anon body of his accomplice, which was stretched out at a But one morning he received an explanation, in the _ distance of twenty yards. following letter, dated from Villeroi:— a ieZ*’ “*M. d'Artagnan, £ 3 Terror was so depicted on his countenance, which . ib wank ® —ak was covered by an icy dampness, that d'Artagnan both; Messrs. A'hos, Porthos, and Aramis, after hat pitied and despised him, a capital dinner party at my house, and eee m- ‘*Come!"’ said he, ‘* I will show you the difference be- | selves very much, made so t a noise that the pro- tween aman of courage, and a coward like you! Wait, vost of t _ where you are: I will go!” And with an active step, | themin confinement for a few days. I must never and his eye upon the bastion, observing the proceedings | less, execute the oders that they gave me, to send you of the enemy, and availing himself of every inequality | a dozen bottles of my Anjou wine, which they greatly ‘ of Sapa he managed to advance as far as the second | admired. They hope that you will drink to their — | soldier, heulths, in their own favorite wine. There were two methods of accomplishing his pir-| “I have doné this; and am, sir, with great respect, GopEay;" =" castle, who is a strict disciplinarian, - pose: either to search him where he was; or to ¢arry | your most obedient, humble servaat, > _fiim away, makinga buckler of his body, and then to _ ] search him in the trench, “The host of Messieurs the Mnsketeers,”* D’Artagnan preferred the sccond'plan, and had thrown | the body of the assassin on his shoulders just at the | amidst their pleasures, asI have thought of them in ; very moment that the enemy fired. weariness, Surely enough I will drink to them, A slight tremor, a fiual cry, a shudder of agony, ' with all my heart, too; but not alone.” JOO the other devoted to his interests. +7! roved one thing—that ‘“ Good!” exclaimed d’Artagnan; “they think of me. —* >” '-