low voice, "alas! alas!"

"Evil presage!" on his side said D'Artagnan to himself, making up for
lost time. "I could not smile upon them. An evil presage!"

The next day Grimaud was on foot again. The service commanded by M. de
Beaufort was happily accomplished. The flotilla, sent to Toulon by the
exertions of Raoul, had set out, dragging after it in little nutshells,
almost invisible, the wives and friends of the fishermen and smugglers
put in requisition for the service of the fleet. The time, so short,
which remained for the father and the son to live together, appeared to
have doubled in rapidity, as the swiftness of everything increases which
inclines toward mixing with the gulf of eternity.

Athos and Raoul returned to Toulon, which began to be filled with the
noise of carriages, with the noise of arms, with the noise of neighing
horses. The trumpeters sounded their spirited marches; the drummers
signalized their strength; the streets were overflowing with soldiers,
servants, and tradespeople. The Duc de Beaufort was everywhere,
superintending the embarkation with the zeal and interest of a good
captain. He encouraged even the most humble of his companions; he
scolded his lieutenants, even those of the highest rank. Artillery,
provisions, baggage, he insisted upon seeing all himself. He examined
the equipment of every soldier; he assured himself of the health and
soundness of every horse. It was plain that, light, boastful, and
egotistical, in his hotel, the gentleman became the soldier again--the
high noble, a captain--in face of the responsibility he had accepted.
And yet, it must be admitted that, whatever was the care with which he
presided over the preparations for departure, it was easy to perceive
careless precipitation, and the absence of all the precaution which make
the French soldier the first soldier in the world, because, in that
world, he is the one most abandoned to his own physical and moral
resources. All things having satisfied, or appearing to have satisfied,
the admiral, he paid his compliments to Raoul, and gave the last orders
for sailing, which was ordered the next morning at daybreak. He invited
the comte and his son to dine with him; but they, under a pretext of the
service, kept themselves apart. Gaining their hostelry, situated under
the trees of the great Place, they took their repast in haste, and
Athos led Raoul to the rocks which dominate the city, vast gray
mountains, whence the v