at down, and Aramis took one of D'Artagnan's hands in his.

"Tell me, candidly, my dear friend, whether you have not counseled
Porthos to distrust me a little?"

"I admit, I have, but not as you understand it. I saw that Porthos was
bored to death, and I wished, by presenting him to the king, to do for
him, and for you, what you would never do for yourselves."

"What is that?"

"Speak in your own praise."

"And you have done it most nobly; I thank you."

"And I brought the cardinal's hat a little nearer, just as it seemed to
be retreating from you."

"Ah! I admit that," said Aramis, with a singular smile, "you are,
indeed, not to be matched for making your friends' fortunes for them."

"You see, then, that I only acted with the view of making Porthos's
fortune for him."

"I meant to have done that myself; but your arm reaches farther than
ours."

It was now D'Artagnan's turn to smile.

"Come," said Aramis, "we ought to deal truthfully with each other. Do
you still love me, D'Artagnan?"

"The same as I used to do," replied D'Artagnan, without compromising
himself too much by this reply.

"In that case, thanks; and now, for the most perfect frankness," said
Aramis; "you visited Belle-Isle on behalf of the king?"

"_Pardieu!_"

"You wished to deprive us of the pleasure of offering Bell-Isle
completely fortified to the king."

"But before I could deprive you of that pleasure, I ought to have been
made acquainted with your intention of doing so."

"You came to Belle-Isle without knowing anything?"

"Of you! yes. How the devil could I imagine that Aramis had become
so clever an engineer as to be able to fortify like Polybius, or
Archimedes?"

"True. And yet you smelt me out over yonder?"

"Oh! yes."

"And Porthos, too?"

"I did not divine that Aramis was an engineer. I was only able to guess
that Porthos might have become one. There is a saying, one becomes an
orator, one is born a poet; but it has never been said, one is born
Porthos, and one becomes an engineer."

"Your wit is always amusing," said Aramis, coldly.

"Well, I will go on."

"Do. When you found out our secret, you made all the haste you could to
communicate it to the king."

"I certainly made as much haste as I could, since I saw that you were
making still more. When a man weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, as
Porthos does, rides post; when a gouty prelate--I beg your pardon, but
you yourself told me you were so--when a p