ffold."

"For you, then, monsieur?"

"Yes, sire; and every one of the words which he spoke to me, through the
planks of the scaffold covered with a black cloth, still sounds in my
ears. The king knelt down on one knee: 'Comte de la Fere,' said he, 'are
you there?' 'Yes, sire,' replied I. Then the king stooped towards the
boards."

Charles II., also palpitating with interest, burning with grief, stooped
towards Athos, to catch, one by one, every word that escaped from him.
His head touched that of the comte.

"Then," continued Athos, "the king stooped. 'Comte de la Fere,' said
he, 'I could not be saved by you: it was not to be. Now, even though I
commit a sacrilege, I must speak to you. Yes, I have spoken to men--yes,
I have spoken to God, and I speak to you the last. To sustain a cause
which I thought sacred, I have lost the throne of my fathers and the
heritage of my children.'"

Charles II. concealed his face in his hands, and a bitter tear glided
between his white and slender fingers.

"'I have still a million in gold,' continued the king. 'I buried it
in the vaults of the castle of Newcastle, a moment before I left that
city.'" Charles raised his head with an expression of such painful
joy that it would have drawn tears from any one acquainted with his
misfortunes.

"A million!" murmured he, "Oh, count!"

"'You alone know that this money exists: employ it when you think it can
be of the greatest service to my eldest son. And now, Comte de la Fere,
bid me adieu!'

"'Adieu, adieu, sire!' cried I."

Charles arose, and went and leant his burning brow against the window.

"It was then," continued Athos, "that the king pronounced the word
'REMEMBER!' addressed to me. You see, sire, that I have remembered."

The king could not resist or conceal his emotion. Athos beheld the
movement of his shoulders, which undulated convulsively; he heard the
sobs which burst from his over-charged breast. He was silent himself,
suffocated by the flood of bitter remembrances he had just poured upon
that royal head. Charles II., with a violent effort, left the window,
devoured his tears, and came and sat by Athos. "Sire," said the latter,
"I thought till to-day that the time had not yet arrived for the
employment of that last resource; but, with my eyes fixed upon England,
I felt it was approaching. To-morrow I meant to go and inquire in what
part of the world your majesty was, and then I purposed going to you.
You come to me