ave the honour of charging you,' said Aramis,
raising his hat with one hand and drawing his sword with the
other.

"And the nine combatants precipitated themselves on each other
with a fury that did not exclude a certain degree of method.
Athos took one Cahusac, a favourite of the Cardinal's; Porthos
had Bicarat; and Aramis found himself opposed to two adversaries.
As to D'Artagnan, he encountered Jussac himself.

"The heart of the young Gascon beat high, not with fear, there
was no shadow of it, but with emulation; he fought like an
enraged tiger, turning about his enemy, changing each moment his
ground and his guard. Jussac was one of the good blades of the
day, and had had much practice; but he had, nevertheless, all the
difficulty in the world to defend himself against a supple and
active antagonist, who was constantly deviating from the received
rules of fencing, attacking him on all sides at once, and
parrying, at the same time, like a man who had the greatest
regard for his epidermis. At last Jussac lost patience. Furious
at being thus kept at bay by one whom he looked upon as a child,
his _sang-froid_ abandoned him, and he began to commit blunders.
D'Artagnan, who, although lacking practice, was perfect in
theory, redoubled his agility. Jussac, with the design of
finishing him at once, delivered a terrible thrust, which
D'Artagnan parried adroitly, and, before his opponent could raise
himself, he glided like a serpent under his guard, and passed his
sword through his body. Jussac fell heavily to the earth.

"D'Artagnan now cast an uneasy and rapid glance over the field of
battle. Aramis had already killed one of his adversaries. The
other gave him plenty to do, but Aramis was able to take care of
himself. Bicarat and Porthos were wounded; Porthos in the arm,
and Bicarat in the thigh. But neither wound was serious, and the
sight of their blood made them fight all the better. There was no
need to interfere there. Athos, wounded again by Cahusac, was
growing each moment paler, but he did not give way an inch. He
had changed his sword to his left hand. D'Artagnan caught his eye
as he was looking to see who most required his aid. The look of
the wounded mousquetaire was most eloquent; he would have died
sooner than call for assistan