news for him whom it concerns, you will at least agree, my
dear governor!"

"And at eight o'clock in the evening!"

"It is charitable!"

"Oh! charity is all very well, but it is for that fellow who says he
is so weary and tired, but not for me who am amusing myself," said
Baisemeaux, exasperated.

"Will you lose by him, then? And is the prisoner who is to be set at
liberty a good payer?"

"Oh, yes, indeed! a miserable, five-franc rat!"

"Let me see it," asked M. d'Herblay. "It is no indiscretion?"

"By no means; read it."

"There is 'Urgent,' on the paper; you have seen that, I suppose?"

"Oh, admirable! 'Urgent!'--a man who has been there ten years! It
is _urgent_ to set him free to-day, this very evening, at eight
o'clock!--_urgent!_" And Baisemeaux, shrugging his shoulders with an air
of supreme disdain, flung the order on the table and began eating again.

"They are fond of these tricks!" he said, with his mouth full; "they
seize a man, some fine day, keep him under lock and key for ten years,
and write to you, 'Watch this fellow well,' or 'Keep him very strictly.'
And then, as soon as you are accustomed to look upon the prisoner as a
dangerous man, all of a sudden, without rhyme or reason they write--'Set
him at liberty,' and actually add to their missive--'urgent.' You will
own, my lord, 'tis enough to make a man at dinner shrug his shoulders!"

"What do you expect? It is for them to write," said Aramis, "for you to
execute the order."

"Good! good! execute it! Oh, patience! You must not imagine that I am a
slave."

"Gracious Heaven! my very good M. Baisemeaux, who ever said so? Your
independence is well known."

"Thank Heaven!"

"But your goodness of heart is also known."

"Ah! don't speak of it!"

"And your obedience to your superiors. Once a soldier, you see,
Baisemeaux, always a soldier."

"And I shall directly obey; and to-morrow morning, at daybreak, the
prisoner referred to shall be set free."

"To-morrow?"

"At dawn."

"Why not this evening, seeing that the _lettre de cachet_ bears, both on
the direction and inside, '_urgent_'?"

"Because this evening we are at supper, and our affairs are urgent,
too!"

"Dear Baisemeaux, booted though I be, I feel myself a priest, and
charity has higher claims upon me than hunger and thirst. This
unfortunate man has suffered long enough, since you have just told me
that he has been your prisoner these ten years. Abridge his suffering.
His