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At the expiration of ten minutes Aramis arrived, accompaniedby Grimaud and eight or ten followers. He was excessivelydelighted and threw himself into his friends' arms.

"You are free, my brothers! free without my aid! and I shallhave succeeded in doing nothing for you in spite of all myefforts."

"Do not be unhappy, dear friend, on that account; if youhave done nothing as yet, you will do something soon,"replied Athos.

"I had well concerted my plans," pursued Aramis; "thecoadjutor gave me sixty men; twenty guard the walls of thepark, twenty the road from Rueil to Saint Germain, twentyare dispersed in the woods. Thus I was able, thanks to thestrategic disposition of my forces, to intercept twocouriers from Mazarin to the queen."

Mazarin listened intently.

"But," said D'Artagnan, "I trust that you honorably sentthem back to monsieur le cardinal!"

"Ah, yes!" said Aramis, "toward him I should be very likelyto practice such delicacy of sentiment! In one of thedespatches the cardinal declares to the queen that thetreasury is empty and that her majesty has no more money. Inthe other he announces that he is about to transport hisprisoners to Melun, since Rueil seemed to him notsufficiently secure. You can understand, dear friend, withwhat hope I was inspired by that last letter. I placedmyself in ambuscade with my sixty men; I encircled thecastle; the riding horses I entrusted to Grimaud and Iawaited your coming out, which I did not expect tillto-morrow, and I didn't hope to free you without a skirmish.You are free to-night, without fighting; so much the better!How did you manage to escape that scoundrel Mazarin? Youmust have much reason to complain of him."

"Not very much," said D'Artagnan.

"Really!"

"I might even say that we have some reason to praise him."

"Impossible!"

"Yes, really; it is owing to him that we are free."

"Owing to him?"

"Yes, he had us conducted into the orangery by MonsieurBernouin, his valet-de-chambre, and from there we followedhim to visit the Comte de la Fere. Then he offered us ourliberty and we accepted it. He even went so far as to showus the way out; he led us to the park wall, which we climbedover without accident, and then we fell in with Grimaud."

"Well!" exclaimed Aramis, "this will reconcile me to him;but I wish he were here that I might tell him that I did notbelieve him capable of so noble an act."

"My lord," said D'Artagnan, no longer able to containhimself, "allow me to introduce to you the Chevalierd'Herblay, who wishes - as you may have heard - to offerhis congratulations to your eminence."

And he retired, discovering Mazarin, who was in greatconfusion, to the astonished gaze of Aramis.

"Ho! ho!" exclaimed the latter, "the cardinal! a gloriousprize! Halloo! halloo! friends! to horse! to horse!"

Several horsemen ran quickly to him.

"Zounds!" cried Aramis, "I may have done some good; so, mylord, deign to receive my most respectful homage! I will laya wager that 'twas that Saint Christopher, Porthos, whoperformed this feat! Apropos! I forgot - - " and he gavesome orders in a low voice to one of the horsemen.

"I think it will be wise to set off," said D'Artagnan.

"Yes; but I am expecting some one, a friend of Athos."

"A friend!" exclaimed the count.

"And here he comes, by Jupiter! galloping through thebushes."

"The count! the count!" cried a young voice that made Athosstart.

"Raoul! Raoul!" he ejaculated.

For one moment the young man forgot his habitual respect - he threw himself on his father's neck.

"Look, my lord cardinal," said Aramis, "would it not havebeen a pity to have separated men who love each other as welove? Gentlemen," he continued, addressing the cavaliers,who became more and more numerous every instant; "gentlemen,encircle his eminence, that you may show him the greaterhonor. He will, indeed give us the favor of his company; youwill, I hope, be grateful for it; Porthos, do not lose sightof his eminence."

Aramis then joined Athos and D'Artagnan, who were consultingtogether.

"Come," said D'Artagnan, after a conference of five minutes'duration, "let us begin our journey."

"Where are we to go?" asked Porthos.

"To your house, dear Porthos, at Pierrefonds; your finechateau is worthy of affording its princely hospitality tohis eminence; it is, likewise, well situated - neither toonear Paris, nor too far from it; we can establish acommunication between it and the capital with greatfacility. Come, my lord, you shall be treated like a prince,as you are."

"A fallen prince!" exclaimed Mazarin, piteously.

"The chances of war," said Athos, "are many, but be assuredwe shall take no improper advantage of them."

"No, but we shall make use of them," said D'Artagnan.

The rest of the night was employed by these cavaliers intraveling with the wonderful rapidity of former days.Mazarin, still sombre and pensive, permitted himself to bedragged along in this way; it looked a race of phantoms. Atdawn twelve leagues had been passed without drawing rein;half the escort were exhausted and several horses fell down.

"Horses, nowadays, are not what they were formerly,"observed Porthos; "everything degenerates."

"I have sent Grimaud to Dammartin," said Aramis. "He is tobring us five fresh horses - one for his eminence, four forus. We, at least, must keep close to monseigneur; the restof the start will rejoin us later. Once beyond Saint Deniswe shall have nothing to fear."

Grimaud, in fact, brought back five horses. The nobleman towhom he applied, being a friend of Porthos, was very ready,not to sell them, as was proposed, but to lend them. Tenminutes later the escort stopped at Ermenonville, but thefour friends went on with well sustained ardor, guardingMazarin carefully. At noon they rode into the avenue ofPierrefonds.

"Ah!" said Musqueton, who had ridden by the side ofD'Artagnan without speaking a word on the journey, "you maythink what you will, sir, but I can breathe now for thefirst time since my departure from Pierrefonds;" and he puthis horse to a gallop to announce to the other servants thearrival of Monsieur du Vallon and his friends.

"We are four of us," said D'Artagnan; "we must relieve eachother in mounting guard over my lord and each of us mustwatch three hours at a time. Athos is going to examine thecastle, which it will be necessary to render impregnable incase of siege; Porthos will see to the provisions and Aramisto the troops of the garrison. That is to say, Athos will bechief engineer, Porthos purveyor-in-general, and Aramisgovernor of the fortress."

Meanwhile, they gave up to Mazarin the handsomest room inthe chateau.

"Gentlemen," he said, when he was in his room, "you do notexpect, I presume, to keep me here a long time incognito?"

"No, my lord," replied the Gascon; "on the contrary, wethink of announcing very soon that we have you here."

"Then you will be besieged."

"We expect it."

"And what shall you do?"

"Defend ourselves. Were the late Cardinal Richelieu alive hewould tell you a certain story of the Bastion Saint Gervais,which we four, with our four lackeys and twelve dead men,held out against a whole army."

"Such feats, sir, are done once - and never repeated."

"However, nowadays there's no need of so much heroism.To-morrow the army of Paris will be summoned, the day afterit will be here! The field of battle, instead, therefore, ofbeing at Saint Denis or at Charenton, will be near Compiegneor Villars-Cotterets."

"The prince will vanquish you, as he has always done."

"'Tis possible; my lord; but before an engagement ensues weshall move your eminence to another castle belonging to ourfriend Du Vallon, who has three. We will not expose youreminence to the chances of war."

"Come," answered Mazarin, "I see it will be necessary for meto capitulate."

"Before a siege?"

"Yes; the conditions will be better than afterward."

"Ah, my lord! as to conditions, you would soon see howmoderate and reasonable we are!"

"Come, now, what are your conditions?"

"Rest yourself first, my lord, and we - we will reflect."

"I do not need rest, gentlemen; I need to know whether I amamong enemies or friends."

"Friends, my lord! friends!"

"Well, then, tell me at once what you want, that I may seeif any arrangement be possible. Speak, Comte de la Fere!"

"My lord," replied Athos, "for myself I have nothing todemand. For France, were I to specify my wishes, I shouldhave too much. I beg you to excuse me and propose to thechevalier."

And Athos, bowing, retired and remained leaning against themantelpiece, a spectator of the scene.

"Speak, then, chevalier!" said the cardinal. "What do youwant? Nothing ambiguous, if you please. Be clear, short andprecise."

"As for me," replied Aramis, "I have in my pocket the veryprogramme of the conditions which the deputation - of whichI formed one - went yesterday to Saint Germain to impose onyou. Let us consider first the ancient rights. The demandsin that programme must be granted."

"We were almost agreed on those," replied Mazarin; "let uspass on to private and personal stipulations."

"You suppose, then, that there are some?" said Aramis,smiling.

"I do not suppose that you will all be quite sodisinterested as Monsieur de la Fere," replied the cardinal,bowing to Athos.

"My lord, you are right, and I am glad to see that you dojustice to the count at last. The count has a mind abovevulgar desires and earthly passions. He is a proud soul - he is a man by himself! You are right - he is worth us all,and we avow it to you!"

"Aramis," said Athos, "are you jesting?"

"No, no, dear friend; I state only what we all know. You areright; it is not you alone this matter concerns, but my lordand his unworthy servant, myself."

"Well, then, what do you require besides the generalconditions before recited?"

"I require, my lord, that Normandy should be given to Madamede Longueville, with five hundred thousand francs and fullabsolution. I require that his majesty should deign to begodfather to the child she has just borne; and that my lord,after having been present at the christening, should go toproffer his homage to our Holy Father the Pope."

"That is, you wish me to lay aside my ministerial functions,to quit France and be an exile."

"I wish his eminence to become pope on the firstopportunity, allowing me then the right of demanding fullindulgences for myself and my friends."

Mazarin made a grimace which was quite indescribable, andthen turned to D'Artagnan.

"And you, sir?" he said.

"I, my lord," answered the Gascon, "I differ from Monsieurd'Herblay entirely as to the last point, though I agree withhim on the first. Far from wishing my lord to quit Paris, Ihope he will stay there and continue to be prime minister,as he is a great statesman. I shall try also to help him todown the Fronde, but on one condition - that he sometimesremembers the king's faithful servants and gives the firstvacant company of musketeers to a man that I could name. Andyou, Monsieur du Vallon - - "

"Yes, you, sir! Speak, if you please," said Mazarin.

"As for me," answered Porthos, "I wish my lord cardinal, inorder to do honor to my house, which gives him an asylum,would in remembrance of this adventure erect my estate intoa barony, with a promise to confer that order on one of myparticular friends, whenever his majesty next createspeers."

"You know, sir, that before receiving the order one mustsubmit proofs."

"My friends will submit them. Besides, should it benecessary, monseigneur will show him how that formality maybe avoided."

Mazarin bit his lips; the blow was direct and he repliedrather dryly:

"All this appears to me to be ill conceived, disjointed,gentlemen; for if I satisfy some I shall displease others.If I stay in Paris I cannot go to Rome; if I became pope Icould not continue to be prime minister; and it is only bycontinuing prime minister that I can make Monsieurd'Artagnan a captain and Monsieur du Vallon a baron."

"True"" said Aramis, "so, as I am in a minority, I withdrawmy proposition, so far as it relates to the voyage to Romeand monseigneur's resignation."

"I am to remain minister, then?" said Mazarin.

"You remain minister; that is understood," said D'Artagnan;"France needs you."

"And I desist from my pretensions," said Aramis. "Hiseminence will continue to be prime minister and hermajesty's favorite, if he will grant to me and my friendswhat we demand for France and for ourselves."

"Occupy yourselves with your own affairs, gentlemen, and letFrance settle matters as she will with me," resumed Mazarin.

"Ho! ho!" replied Aramis. "The Frondeurs will have a treatyand your eminence must sign it before us, promising at thesame time to obtain the queen's consent to it."

"I can answer only for myself," said Mazarin. "I cannotanswer for the queen. Suppose her majesty refuses?"

"Oh!" said D'Artagnan, "monseigneur knows very well that hermajesty refuses him nothing."

"Here, monseigneur," said Aramis, "is the treaty proposed bythe deputation of Frondeurs. Will your eminence please readand examine?"

"I am acquainted with it."

"Sign it, then."

"Reflect, gentlemen, that a signature given undercircumstances like the present might be regarded as extortedby violence."

"Monseigneur will be at hand to testify that it was freelygiven."

"Suppose I refuse?"

"Then," said D'Artagnan, "your eminence must expect theconsequences of a refusal."

"Would you dare to touch a cardinal?"

"You have dared, my lord, to imprison her majesty'smusketeers."

"The queen will revenge me, gentlemen."

"I do not think so, although inclination might lead her todo so, but we shall take your eminence to Paris, and theParisians will defend us."

"How uneasy they must be at this moment at Rueil and SaintGermain," said Aramis. "How they must be asking, `Where isthe cardinal?' `What has become of the minister?' `Where hasthe favorite gone?' How they must be looking for monseigneurin all corners! What comments must be made; and if theFronde knows that monseigneur has disappeared, how theFronde must triumph!"

"It is frightful," murmured Mazarin.

"Sign the treaty, then, monseigneur," said Aramis.

"Suppose the queen should refuse to ratify it?"

"Ah! nonsense!" cried D'Artagnan, "I can manage so that hermajesty will receive me well; I know an excellent method."

"What?"

"I shall take her majesty the letter in which you tell herthat the finances are exhausted."

"And then?" asked Mazarin, turning pale.

"When I see her majesty embarrassed, I shall conduct her toRueil, make her enter the orangery and show her a certainspring which turns a box."

"Enough, sir," muttered the cardinal, "you have said enough;where is the treaty?"

"Here it is," replied Aramis. "Sign, my lord," and he gavehim a pen.

Mazarin arose, walked some moments, thoughtful, but notdejected.

"And when I have signed," he said, "what is to be myguarantee?"

"My word of honor, sir," said Athos.

Mazarin started, turned toward the Comte de la Fere, andlooking for an instant at that grand and honest countenance,took the pen.

"It is sufficient, count," he said, and signed the treaty.

"And now, Monsieur d'Artagnan," he said, "prepare to set offfor Saint Germain and take a letter from me to the queen."