e Duc de Longueville, his brother-in-law.
This unexpected band of auxiliaries arrived in Paris on the tenth of
January and the Prince of Conti was named, but not until after a stormy
discussion, generalissimo of the army of the king, out of Paris.

As for the Duc de Beaufort, he arrived from Vendome, according to the
annals of the day, bringing with him his high bearing and his long and
beautiful hair, qualifications which gained him the sovereignty of the
marketplaces.

The Parisian army had organized with the promptness characteristic
of the bourgeois whenever they are moved by any sentiment whatever to
disguise themselves as soldiers. On the nineteenth the impromptu army
had attempted a sortie, more to assure itself and others of its actual
existence than with any more serious intention. They carried a banner,
on which could be read this strange device: "We are seeking our king."

The next following days were occupied in trivial movements which
resulted only in the carrying off of a few herds of cattle and the
burning of two or three houses.

That was still the situation of affairs up to the early days of
February. On the first day of that month our four companions had landed
at Boulogne, and, in two parties, had set out for Paris. Toward the
end of the fourth day of the journey Athos and Aramis reached Nanterre,
which place they cautiously passed by on the outskirts, fearing that
they might encounter some troop from the queen's army.

It was against his will that Athos took these precautions, but
Aramis had very judiciously reminded him that they had no right to be
imprudent, that they had been charged by King Charles with a supreme and
sacred mission, which, received at the foot of the scaffold, could
be accomplished only at the feet of Queen Henrietta. Upon that, Athos
yielded.

On reaching the capital Athos and Aramis found it in arms. The sentinel
at the gate refused even to let them pass, and called his sergeant.

The sergeant, with the air of importance which such people assume when
they are clad with military dignity, said:

"Who are you, gentlemen?"

"Two gentlemen."

"And where do you come from?"

"From London."

"And what are you going to do in Paris?"

"We are going with a mission to Her Majesty, the Queen of England."

"Ah, every one seems to be going to see the queen of England. We
have already at the station three gentlemen whose passports are under
examination, who are on their way t