of Aramis. The bishop affected to speak in a loud
voice, before every one, of their previous interview. The king replied
that the words spoken in that interview had borne their fruit, and that
he desired another under the same conditions. Juxon turned to those
present and begged them to leave him and his assistant alone with the
king. Every one withdrew. As soon as the door was closed:

"Sire," said Aramis, speaking rapidly, "you are saved; the London
executioner has vanished. His assistant broke his leg last night
beneath your majesty's window--the cry we heard was his--and there is no
executioner nearer at hand than Bristol."

"But the Comte de la Fere?" asked the king.

"Two feet below you; take the poker from the fireplace and strike three
times on the floor. He will answer you."

The king did so, and the moment after, three muffled knocks, answering
the given signal, sounded beneath the floor.

"So," said Charles, "he who knocks down there----"

"Is the Comte de la Fere, sire," said Aramis. "He is preparing a way
for your majesty to escape. Parry, for his part, will raise this slab of
marble and a passage will be opened."

"Oh, Juxon," said the king, seizing the bishop's two hands in his own,
"promise that you will pray all your life for this gentleman and for
the other that you hear beneath your feet, and for two others also, who,
wherever they may be, are on the watch for my safety."

"Sire," replied Juxon, "you shall be obeyed."

Meanwhile, the miner underneath was heard working away incessantly, when
suddenly an unexpected noise resounded in the passage. Aramis seized the
poker and gave the signal to stop; the noise came nearer and nearer.
It was that of a number of men steadily approaching. The four men stood
motionless. All eyes were fixed on the door, which opened slowly and
with a kind of solemnity.

A parliamentary officer, clothed in black and with a gravity that
augured ill, entered, bowed to the king, and unfolding a parchment, read
the sentence, as is usually done to criminals before their execution.

"What is this?" said Aramis to Juxon.

Juxon replied with a sign which meant that he knew no more than Aramis
about it.

"Then it is for to-day?" asked the king.

"Was not your majesty warned that it was to take place this morning?"

"Then I must die like a common criminal by the hand of the London
executioner?"

"The London executioner has disappeared, your majesty, but a man has
offe