s the way."

"No; I am going to the stables."

"That is useless, sire, for I have horses ready for your majesty."

The king's only answer was a look, but this look promised more than the
ambition of three D'Artagnans could have dared to hope.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

CHAILLOT.

Although they had not been summoned, Manicamp and Malicorne had followed
the king and D'Artagnan. They were both exceedingly intelligent men,
except that Malicorne was generally too precipitate, owing to his
ambition, while Manicamp was frequently too tardy, owing to his
idleness. On this occasion, however, they arrived at precisely the
proper moment. Five horses were waiting in readiness. Two were seized
upon by the king and D'Artagnan, two others by Manicamp and Malicorne,
while a groom belonging to the stables mounted the fifth. The whole
cavalcade set off at a gallop. D'Artagnan had been very careful in his
selection of the horses; they were the very horses for distressed
lovers--horses which did not simply run, but flew. Within ten minutes
after their departure, the cavalcade, amid a cloud of dust, arrived at
Chaillot. The king literally threw himself off his horse, but,
notwithstanding the rapidity with which he accomplished this maneuver,
he found D'Artagnan already holding his stirrup. With a sign of
acknowledgment to the musketeer, he threw the bridle to the groom, then
darted into the vestibule, violently pushed open the door, and entered
the reception-room. Manicamp, Malicorne, and the groom, remained
outside, D'Artagnan alone following him. When he entered the
reception-room, the first object which met his gaze was Louise herself,
not simply on her knees, but lying at the foot of a large stone
crucifix. The young girl was stretched upon the damp flag-stones,
scarcely visible in the gloom of the apartment, which was lighted only
by means of a narrow window, protected by bars, and completely shaded by
creeping plants. She was alone, inanimate, cold as the stone to which
she was clinging.

When the king saw her in this state, he thought she was dead, and
uttered a loud cry, which made D'Artagnan hurry into the room. The king
had already passed one of his arms round her body, and D'Artagnan
assisted him in raising the poor girl, whom the torpor of death seemed
already to have taken possession of. D'Artagnan seized hold of the
alarm-bell, and rang with all his might. The Carmelite sisters
immediately hastened at the summons, and u