shall be in England."

"Depart, monsieur, depart--the sooner the better."

"Is the money, then, ready?"

"It will be to-morrow; to-morrow you shall receive it from my own hands.
Will you have gold or silver?"

"Gold; that is most convenient. But how are we going to arrange this?
Let us see."

"Oh, good Lord! in the simplest way possible. You shall give me a
receipt, that is all."

"No, no," said D'Artagnan, warmly; "we must preserve order in all
things."

"That is likewise my opinion; but with you, M. d'Artagnan--"

"And if I should die yonder--if I should be killed by a musket-ball--if
I should burst from drinking beer?"

"Monsieur, I beg you to believe that in that case I should be so much
afflicted at your death, that I should not think about the money."

"Thank you, Planchet; but no matter. We shall, like two lawyers' clerks,
draw up together an agreement, a sort of act, which may be called a deed
of company."

"Willingly, monsieur."

"I know it is difficult to draw such a thing up, but we can try."

"Let us try, then." And Planchet went in search of pens, ink, and
paper. D'Artagnan took the pen and wrote:--"Between Messire d'Artagnan,
ex-lieutenant of the king's musketeers, at present residing in the
Rue Tiquetonne, Hotel de la Chevrette; and the Sieur Planchet, grocer,
residing in the Rue des Lombards, at the sign of the Pilon d'Or, it has
been agreed as follows:--A company, with a capital of forty thousand
livres, and formed for the purpose of carrying out an idea conceived by
M. d'Artagnan, and the said Planchet approving of it in all points,
will place twenty thousand livres in the hands of M. d'Artagnan. He
will require neither repayment nor interest before the return of M.
d'Artagnan from a journey he is about to take into England. On his part,
M. d'Artagnan undertakes it to find twenty thousand livres, which
he will join to the twenty thousand already laid down by the Sieur
Planchet. He will employ the said sum of forty thousand livres according
to his judgment in an undertaking which is described below. On the day
when M. d'Artagnan shall have re-established, by whatever means, his
majesty King Charles II. upon the throne of England, he will pay into
the hands of M. Planchet the sum of--"

"The sum of a hundred and fifty thousand livres," said Planchet,
innocently, perceiving that D'Artagnan hesitated.

"Oh, the devil, no!" said D'Artagnan, "the division cannot be made by
half; that wou