you will be arrested."

"What! Will they dare to arrest a man in his Majesty's service?"

"PARDIEU! They did not scruple much in the case of Athos. At all events,
young man, rely upon one who has been thirty years at court. Do not lull
yourself in security, or you will be lost; but, on the contrary--and
it is I who say it--see enemies in all directions. If anyone seeks a
quarrel with you, shun it, were it with a child of ten years old. If you
are attacked by day or by night, fight, but retreat, without shame;
if you cross a bridge, feel every plank of it with your foot, lest one
should give way beneath you; if you pass before a house which is being
built, look up, for fear a stone should fall upon your head; if you
stay out late, be always followed by your lackey, and let your lackey
be armed--if, by the by, you can be sure of your lackey. Mistrust
everybody, your friend, your brother, your mistress--your mistress above
all."

D'Artagnan blushed.

"My mistress above all," repeated he, mechanically; "and why her rather
than another?"

"Because a mistress is one of the cardinal's favorite means; he has not
one that is more expeditious. A woman will sell you for ten pistoles,
witness Delilah. You are acquainted with the Scriptures?"

D'Artagnan thought of the appointment Mme. Bonacieux had made with him
for that very evening; but we are bound to say, to the credit of our
hero, that the bad opinion entertained by M. de Treville of women in
general, did not inspire him with the least suspicion of his pretty
hostess.

"But, A PROPOS," resumed M. de Treville, "what has become of your three
companions?"

"I was about to ask you if you had heard any news of them?"

"None, monsieur."

"Well, I left them on my road--Porthos at Chantilly, with a duel on his
hands; Aramis at Crevecoeur, with a ball in his shoulder; and Athos at
Amiens, detained by an accusation of coining."

"See there, now!" said M. de Treville; "and how the devil did you
escape?"

"By a miracle, monsieur, I must acknowledge, with a sword thrust in my
breast, and by nailing the Comte de Wardes on the byroad to Calais, like
a butterfly on a tapestry."

"There again! De Wardes, one of the cardinal's men, a cousin of
Rochefort! Stop, my friend, I have an idea."

"Speak, monsieur."

"In your place, I would do one thing."

"What?"

"While his Eminence was seeking for me in Paris, I would take, without
sound of drum or trumpet, the road to Picard