第29章

"I

mustovertakehim，ifIkillmyhorse，"thoughtthemusketeer;andhebegantosawthemouthofthepooranimal，whilstheburiedtherowelsofhismercilessspursintohissides。？Themaddenedhorsegainedtwentytoises，andcameupwithinpistol—shotofFouquet。

"Courage！"

saidthemusketeertohimself，"courage！thewhitehorsewillperhapsgrowweaker，andifthehorsedoesnotfall，themastermustpullupatlast。"？Buthorseandriderremaineduprighttogether，gaininggroundbydifficultdegrees。？D\'Artagnanutteredawildcry，whichmadeFouquetturnround，andaddedspeedtothewhitehorse。

"A

famoushorse！amadrider！"growledthecaptain。？"Hola！mordioux！？MonsieurFouquet！stop！intheking\'sname！"？Fouquetmadenoreply。

"Doyouhearme？"shoutedD\'Artagnan，whosehorsehadjuststumbled。

"Pardieu！"repliedFouquet，laconically;androdeonfaster。

D\'Artagnanwasnearlymad;thebloodrushedboilingtohistemplesandhiseyes。？"Intheking\'sname！"criedheagain，"stop，orIwillbringyoudownwithapistol—shot！"

"Do！"

repliedFouquet，withoutrelaxinghisspeed。

D\'Artagnanseizedapistolandcockedit，hopingthatthedoubleclickofthespringwouldstophisenemy。？"Youhavepistolslikewise，"saidhe，"turnanddefendyourself。"

Fouquetdidturnroundatthenoise，andlookingD\'Artagnanfullintheface，opened，withhisrighthand，thepartofhisdresswhichconcealedhisbody，buthedidnoteventouchhisholsters。？Therewerenotmorethantwentypacesbetweenthetwo。

"Mordioux！"saidD\'Artagnan，"I

willnotassassinateyou;ifyouwillnotfireuponme，surrender！whatisaprison？"

"I

wouldratherdie！"repliedFouquet;"Ishallsufferless。"

D\'Artagnan，drunkwithdespair，hurledhispistoltotheground。？"Iwilltakeyoualive！"saidhe;andbyaprodigyofskillwhichthisincomparablehorsemanalonewascapable，hethrewhishorseforwardtowithintenpacesofthewhitehorse;alreadyhishandwasstretchedouttoseizehisprey。

"Killme！killme！"criedFouquet，"\'twouldbemorehumane！"

"No！

alive—alive！"murmuredthecaptain。

Atthismomenthishorsemadeafalsestepforthesecondtime，andFouquet\'sagaintookthelead。？Itwasanunheard—ofspectacle，thisracebetweentwohorseswhichnowonlykeptalivebythewilloftheirriders。？ItmightbesaidthatD\'Artagnanrode，carryinghishorsealongbetweenhisknees。？Tothefuriousgallophadsucceededthefasttrot，andthathadsunktowhatmightbescarcelycalledatrotatall。？Butthechaseappearedequallywarminthetwofatiguedathlet？。？D\'Artagnan，quiteindespair，seizedhissecondpistol，andcockedit。

"Atyourhorse！notatyou！"criedhetoFouquet。？Andhefired。？Theanimalwashitinthequarters—hemadeafuriousbound，andplungedforward。？AtthatmomentD\'Artagnan\'shorsefelldead。

"I

amdishonored！"thoughtthemusketeer;"Iamamiserablewretch！forpity\'ssake，M。Fouquet，throwmeoneofyourpistols，thatImayblowoutmybrains！"？ButFouquetrodeaway。

"Formercy\'ssake！formercy\'ssake！"criedD\'Artagnan;"thatwhichyouwillnotdoatthismoment，Imyselfwilldowithinanhour，buthere，uponthisroad，Ishoulddiebravely;Ishoulddieesteemed;domethatservice，M。

Fouquet！"

M。

Fouquetmadenoreply，butcontinuedtotroton。？D\'Artagnanbegantorunafterhisenemy。？Successivelyhethrewawayhishat，hiscoat，whichembarrassedhim，andthenthesheathofhissword，whichgotbetweenhislegsashewasrunning。？Theswordinhishanditselfbecametooheavy，andhethrewitafterthesheath。？Thewhitehorsebegantorattleinitsthroat;D\'Artagnangaineduponhim。？Fromatrottheexhaustedanimalsunktoastaggeringwalk—thefoamfromhismouthwasmixedwithblood。？D\'Artagnanmadeadesperateeffort，sprangtowardsFouquet，andseizedhimbytheleg，sayinginabroken，breathlessvoice，"Iarrestyouintheking\'sname！blowmybrainsout，ifyoulike;wehavebothdoneourduty。"

Fouquethurledfarfromhim，intotheriver，thetwopistolsD\'Artagnanmighthaveseized，anddismountingfromhishorse—"Iamyourprisoner，monsieur，"saidhe;"willyoutakemyarm，forIseeyouarereadytofaint？"

"Thanks！"

murmuredD\'Artagnan，who，infact，felttheearthslidingfromunderhisfeet，andthelightofdayturningtoblacknessaroundhim;thenherolleduponthesand，withoutbreathorstrength。？Fouquethastenedtothebrinkoftheriver，dippedsomewaterinhishat，withwhichhebathedthetemplesofthemusketeer，andintroducedafewdropbetweenhislips。？D\'Artagnanraisedhimselfwithdifficulty，andlookedabouthimwithawanderingeye。？HebeheldFouquetonhisknees，withhiswethatinhishand，smilinguponhimwithineffablesweetness。？"Youarenotoff，then？"criedhe。？"Oh，monsieur！thetruekingofroyalty，inheart，insoul，isnotLouisoftheLouvre，orPhilippeofSainte—Marguerite;itisyou，proscribed，condemned！"

"I，whothisdayamruinedbyasingleerror，M。d\'Artagnan。"

"What，inthenameofHeaven，isthat？"

"I

shouldhavehadyouforafriend！？ButhowshallwereturntoNantes？？Weareagreatwayfromit。"

"Thatistrue，"saidD\'Artagnan，gloomily。

"Thewhitehorsewillrecover，perhaps;heisagoodhorse！？Mount，Monsieurd\'Artagnan;Iwillwalktillyouhaverestedalittle。"

"Poorbeast！andwounded，too？"saidthemusketeer。

"Hewillgo，Itellyou;Iknowhim;butwecandobetterstill，letusbothgetup，andrideslowly。"

"Wecantry，"saidthecaptain。？Buttheyhadscarcelychargedtheanimalwiththisdoubleload，whenhebegantostagger，andthenwithagreateffortwalkedafewminutes，thenstaggeredagain，andsankdowndeadbythesideoftheblackhorse，whichhehadjustmanagedtocomeupto。

"Wewillgoonfoot—destinywillsitso—thewalkwillbepleasant，"saidFouquet，passinghisarmthroughthatofD\'Artagnan。

"Mordioux！"criedthelatter，withafixedeye，acontractedbrow，andaswellingheart—"Whatadisgracefulday！"

Theywalkedslowlythefourleagueswhichseparatedthemfromthelittlewoodbehindwhichthecarriageandescortwereinwaiting。？WhenFouquetperceivedthatsinistermachine，hesaidtoD\'Artagnan，whocastdownhiseyes，ashamedofLouisXIV。，"Thereisanideathatdidnotemanatefromabraveman，Captaind\'Artagnan;itisnotyours。？Whatarethesegratingsfor？"saidhe。

"Topreventyourthrowinglettersout。"

"Ingenious！"

"Butyoucanspeak，ifyoucannotwrite，"saidD\'Artagnan。

"CanIspeaktoyou？"

"Why，certainly，ifyouwishtodoso。"

Fouquetreflectedforamoment，thenlookingthecaptainfullintheface，"Onesingleword，"saidhe;"willyourememberit？"

"I

willnotforgetit。"

"WillyouspeakittowhomIwish？"

"I

will。"

"Saint—Mand？;

articulatedFouquet，inalowvoice。

"Well！

andforwhom？"

"ForMadamedeBelli鑢eorP閘isson。"

"Itshallbedone。"

ThecarriagerolledthroughNantes，andtooktheroutetoAngers。

ChapterXLI:

InWhichtheSquirrelFalls，—theAdderFlies。

Itwastwoo\'clockintheafternoon。？Theking，fullofimpatience，wenttohiscabinetontheterrace，andkeptopeningthedoorofthecorridor，toseewhathissecretariesweredoing。？M。Colbert，seatedinthesameplaceM。deSaint—Aignanhadsolongoccupiedinthemorning，waschattinginalowvoicewithM。deBrienne。？Thekingopenedthedoorsuddenly，andaddressedthem。？"Whatisityouaresaying？"

"WewerespeakingofthefirstsittingoftheStates，"saidM。deBrienne，rising。

"Verywell，"repliedtheking，andreturnedtohisroom。

Fiveminutesafter，thesummonsofthebellrecalledRose，whosehouritwas。

"Haveyoufinishedyourcopies？"askedtheking。

"Notye

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