barrassed. At first,
Athos supported the association for a time with his own means.

Porthos succeeded him; and thanks to one of those disappearances to
which he was accustomed, he was able to provide for the wants of all for
a fortnight. At last it became Aramis's turn, who performed it with a
good grace and who succeeded--as he said, by selling some theological
books--in procuring a few pistoles.

Then, as they had been accustomed to do, they had recourse to M. de
Treville, who made some advances on their pay; but these advances could
not go far with three Musketeers who were already much in arrears and a
Guardsman who as yet had no pay at all.

At length when they found they were likely to be really in want, they
got together, as a last effort, eight or ten pistoles, with which
Porthos went to the gaming table. Unfortunately he was in a bad vein; he
lost all, together with twenty-five pistoles for which he had given his
word.

Then the inconvenience became distress. The hungry friends, followed by
their lackeys, were seen haunting the quays and Guard rooms, picking
up among their friends abroad all the dinners they could meet with; for
according to the advice of Aramis, it was prudent to sow repasts right
and left in prosperity, in order to reap a few in time of need.

Athos was invited four times, and each time took his friends and their
lackeys with him. Porthos had six occasions, and contrived in the same
manner that his friends should partake of them; Aramis had eight of
them. He was a man, as must have been already perceived, who made but
little noise, and yet was much sought after.

As to d'Artagnan, who as yet knew nobody in the capital, he only found
one chocolate breakfast at the house of a priest of his own province,
and one dinner at the house of a cornet of the Guards. He took his army
to the priest's, where they devoured as much provision as would have
lasted him for two months, and to the cornet's, who performed wonders;
but as Planchet said, "People do not eat at once for all time, even when
they eat a good deal."

D'Artagnan thus felt himself humiliated in having only procured one meal
and a half for his companions--as the breakfast at the priest's could
only be counted as half a repast--in return for the feasts which Athos,
Porthos, and Aramis had procured him. He fancied himself a burden to the
society, forgetting in his perfectly juvenile good faith that he had
fed this society for a month;