neral or an army to fear, nor a diplomatist
to trick him, will restore himself, and when once restored, will pay
down to me the hundred thousand crowns in question. That is the idea I
have formed; what do you say to it, Planchet?"

"Magnificent, monsieur!" cried Planchet, trembling with emotion. "How
did you conceive that idea?"

"It came to me one morning on the banks of the Loire, whilst our beloved
king, Louis XIV., was pretending to weep upon the hand of Mademoiselle
de Mancini."

"Monsieur, I declare the idea is sublime. But--"

"Ah! is there a _but?_"

"Permit me! But this is a little like the skin of that fine bear--you
know--that they were about to sell, but which it was necessary to take
from the back of the living bear. Now, to take M. Monk, there will be a
bit of a scuffle, I should think."

"No doubt; but as I shall raise an army to--"

"Yes, yes--I understand, _parbleu!_--a _coup-de-main_. Yes, then,
monsieur, you will triumph, for no one equals you in such sorts of
encounters."

"I certainly am lucky in them," said D'Artagnan, with a proud
simplicity. "You know that if for this affair I had my dear Athos, my
brave Porthos, and my cunning Aramis, the business would be settled; but
they are all lost, as it appears, and nobody knows where to find them.
I will do it, then, alone. Now, do you find the business good, and the
investment advantageous?"

"Too much so--too much so."

"How can that be?"

"Because fine things never reach the expected point."

"This is infallible, Planchet, and the proof is that I undertake it. It
will be for you a tolerably pretty gain, and for me a very interesting
stroke. It will be said, 'Such was the old age of M. d'Artagnan,' and I
shall hold a place in tales and even in history itself, Planchet. I am
greedy of honor."

"Monsieur," cried Planchet, "when I think that it is here, in my home,
in the midst of my sugar, my prunes, and my cinnamon, that this gigantic
project is ripened, my shop seems a palace to me."

"Beware, beware, Planchet! If the least report of this escapes, there is
the Bastile for both of us. Beware, my friend, for this is a plot we are
hatching. M. Monk is the ally of M. Mazarin--beware!"

"Monsieur, when a man has had the honor to belong to you, he knows
nothing of fear; and when he has had the advantage of being bound up in
interests with you, he holds his tongue."

"Very well; that is more your affair than mine, seeing that in a week I