s, and coughed by way of announcing himself.

"Ah!" exclaimed Porthos, whose countenance brightened with joy; "ah!
ah! Here is D'Artagnan. I shall then get hold of an idea!"

At these words Mouston, doubting what was going on behind him, got out
of the way, smiling kindly at the friend of his master, who thus found
himself freed from the material obstacle which had prevented his
reaching D'Artagnan. Porthos made his sturdy knees crack again in
rising, and crossing the room in two strides, found himself face to face
with his friend, whom he folded to his breast with a force of affection
that seemed to increase with every day. "Ah!" he repeated, "you are
always welcome, dear friend; but just now you are more welcome than
ever."

"But you seem in the dumps here?" exclaimed D'Artagnan.

Porthos replied by a look expressive of dejection. "Well, then, tell me
all about it, Porthos, my friend, unless it is a secret."

"In the first place," returned Porthos, "you know I have no secrets from
you. This, then, is what saddens me."

"Wait a minute, Porthos; let me first get rid of all this litter of
satin and velvet."

"Oh, never mind," said Porthos, contemptuously; "it is all trash."

"Trash, Porthos! Cloth at twenty livres an ell! gorgeous satin! regal
velvet!"

"Then you think these clothes are--"

"Splendid, Porthos, splendid. I'll wager that you alone in France have
so many; and suppose you never had any more made, and were to live a
hundred years, which wouldn't astonish me, you could still wear a new
dress the day of your death, without being obliged to see the nose of a
single tailor from now till then." Porthos shook his head.

"Come, my friend," said D'Artagnan, "this unnatural melancholy in you
frightens me. My dear Porthos, pray get out of it then; and the sooner
the better."

"Yes, my friend, so I will; if indeed it is possible."

"Perhaps you have received bad news from Bracieux?"

"No; they have felled the wood, and it has yielded a third more than
the estimate."

"Then has there been a falling-off in the pools of Pierrefonds?"

"No, my friend; they have been fished, and there is enough left to stock
all the pools in the neighborhood."

"Perhaps your estate at Valon has been destroyed by an earthquake?"

"No, my friend; on the contrary, the ground was struck by lightning a
hundred paces from the chateau, and a fountain sprung up in a place
entirely destitute of water."

"What in the world _is_