ers. On opening
it, D'Artagnan recognized the writing of the king: "I should think,"
said Louis XIV., "you will have completed the execution of my orders,
Monsieur d'Artagnan; return then immediately to Paris, and join me at
the Louvre."

"There is the end of my exile!" cried the musketeer with joy; "God be
praised, I am no longer a jailer!" And he showed the letter to Athos.

"So then you must leave us?" replied the latter, in a melancholy tone.

"Yes; but to meet again, dear friend, seeing that Raoul is old enough
now to go alone with M. de Beaufort, and who will prefer his father
going back in company with M. d'Artagnan, to forcing him to travel two
hundred leagues solitarily to reach home at La Fere; would you not,
Raoul?"

"Certainly," stammered the latter, with an expression of tender regret.

"No, no, my friend," interrupted Athos, "I will never quit Raoul till
the day his vessel shall have disappeared on the horizon. As long as he
remains in France, he shall not be separated from me."

"As you please, dear friend; but we will, at least, leave
Sainte-Marguerite together; take advantage of the bark which will convey
me back to Antibes."

"With all my heart; we cannot too soon be at a distance from this fort,
and from the spectacle which saddened us so just now."

The three friends quitted the little isle, after paying their respects
to the governor, and by the last flashes of the departing tempest they
took their farewell of the white walls of the fort. D'Artagnan parted
from his friends that same night, after having seen fire set to the
carriage upon the shore by the orders of Saint-Mars, according to the
advice the captain had given him. Before getting on horseback, and after
leaving the arms of Athos: "My friends," said he, "you bear too much
resemblance to two soldiers who are abandoning their post. Something
warns me that Raoul will require being supported by you in his rank.
Will you allow me to ask permission to go over into Africa with a
hundred good muskets? The king will not refuse me, and I will take you
with me."

"Monsieur d'Artagnan," replied Raoul, pressing his hand with emotion,
"thanks for that offer, which would give us more than we wish, either
Monsieur le Comte or I. I, who am young, stand in need of labor of mind
and fatigue of body; Monsieur le Comte wants the profoundest repose. You
are his best friend. I recommend him to your care. In watching over him,
you will hold both our sou