Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (books for 6 year olds to read themselves TXT) đ
![](/uploads/posts/books/2/7/0/8/7/twenty-years-after.jpg)
- Author: Alexandre Dumas
- Performer: 0192838431
Book online «Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (books for 6 year olds to read themselves TXT) đ». Author Alexandre Dumas
âAlways cautious, Planchet.â
ââTis instinct, your honor.â
âWell, what does your instinct tell you now?â
âSir, my instinct told me that those people were assembled there for some bad purpose; and I was reflecting on what my instinct had told me, in the darkest corner of the stable, when a man wrapped in a cloak and followed by two other men, came in.â
âAh ah!â said DâArtagnan, Planchetâs recital agreeing with his own observations. âWell?â
âOne of these two men said, `He must certainly be at Noisy, or be coming there this evening, for I have seen his servant.â
â`Art thou sure? â said the man in the cloak.
â`Yes, my prince.ââ
âMy prince!â interrupted DâArtagnan.
âYes, `my prince;â but listen. `If he is hereâ â this is what the other man said â `letâs see decidedly what to do with him.â
â`What to do with him?â answered the prince.
â`Yes, heâs not a man to allow himself to be taken anyhow; heâll defend himself.â
â`Well, we must try to take him alive. Have you cords to bind him with and a gag to stop his mouth?â
â`We have.â
â`Remember that he will most likely be disguised as a horseman.â
â`Yes, yes, my lord; donât be uneasy.â
â`Besides, I shall be there.â
â`You will assure us that justice â- â
â`Yes, yes! I answer for all that,â the prince said.
â`Well, then, weâll do our best.â Having said that, they went out of the stable.â
âWell, what matters all that to us?â said DâArtagnan. âThis is one of those attempts that happen every day.â
âAre you sure that we are not its objects?â
âWe? Why?â
âJust remember what they said. `I have seen his servant,â said one, and that applies very well to me.â
âWell?â
â`He must certainly be at Noisy, or be coming there this evening,â said the other; and that applies very well to you.â
âWhat else?â
âThen the prince said: `Take notice that in all probability he will be disguised as a cavalier;â which seems to me to leave no room for doubt, since you are dressed as a cavalier and not as an officer of musketeers. Now then, what do you say to that?â
âAlas! my dear Planchet,â said DâArtagnan, sighing, âwe are unfortunately no longer in those times in which princes would care to assassinate me. Those were good old days; never fear â these people owe us no grudge.â
âIs your honor sure?â
âI can answer for it they do not.â
âWell, we wonât speak of it any more, then;â and Planchet took his place in DâArtagnanâs suite with that sublime confidence he had always had in his master, which even fifteen years of separation had not destroyed.
They had traveled onward about half a mile when Planchet came close up to DâArtagnan.
âStop, sir, look yonder,â he whispered; âdonât you see in the darkness something pass by, like shadows? I fancy I hear horsesâ feet.â
âImpossible!â returned DâArtagnan. âThe ground is soaking wet; yet I fancy, as thou sayest, that I see something.â
At this moment the neighing of a horse struck his ear, coming through darkness and space.
âThere are men somewhere about, but thatâs of no consequence to us,â said DâArtagnan; âlet us ride onward.â
At about half-past eight oâclock they reached the first houses in Noisy; every one was in bed and not a light was to be seen in the village. The obscurity was broken only now and then by the still darker lines of the roofs of houses. Here and there a dog barked behind a door or an affrighted cat fled precipitately from the midst of the pavement to take refuge behind a pile of faggots, from which retreat her eyes would shine like peridores. These were the only living creatures that seemed to inhabit the village.
Toward the middle of the town, commanding the principal open space, rose a dark mass, separated from the rest of the world by two lanes and overshadowed in the front by enormous lime-trees. DâArtagnan looked attentively at the building.
âThis,â he said to Planchet, âmust be the archbishopâs chateau, the abode of the fair Madame de Longueville; but the convent, where is that?â
âThe convent, your honor, is at the other end of the village; I know it well.â
âWell, then, Planchet, gallop up to it whilst I tighten my horseâs girth, and come back and tell me if there is a light in any of the Jesuitsâ windows.â
In about five minutes Planchet returned.
âSir,â he said, âthere is one window of the convent lighted up.â
âHem! If I were a `Frondeur,ââ said DâArtagnan, âI should knock here and should be sure of a good supper. If I were a monk I should knock yonder and should have a good supper there, too; whereas, âtis very possible that between the castle and the convent we shall sleep on hard beds, dying with hunger and thirst.â
âYes,â added Planchet, âlike the famous ass of Buridan. Shall I knock?â
âHush!â replied DâArtagnan; âthe light no longer burns in yonder window.â
âDo you hear nothing?â whispered Planchet.
âWhat is that noise?â
There came a sound like a whirlwind, at the same time two troops of horsemen, each composed of ten men, sallied forth from each of the lanes which encompassed the house and surrounded DâArtagnan and Planchet.
âHeyday!â cried DâArtagnan, drawing his sword and taking refuge behind his horse; âare you not mistaken? is it really for us that you mean your attack?â
âHere he is! we have him!â cried the horsemen, rushing on DâArtagnan with naked swords.
âDonât let him escape!â said a loud voice.
âNo, my lord; be assured we shall not.â
DâArtagnan thought it was now time for him to join in the conversation.
âHalloo, gentlemen!â he called out in his Gascon accent, âwhat do you want? what do you demand?â
âThat thou shalt soon know,â shouted a chorus of horsemen.
âStop, stop!â cried he whom they had addressed as âmy lord;â ââtis not his voice.â
âAh! just so, gentlemen! pray, do people get into a passion at random at Noisy? Take care, for I warn you that the first man that comes within the length of my sword â and my sword is long â I rip him up.â
The chieftain of the party drew near.
âWhat are you doing here?â he asked in a lofty tone, as that of one accustomed to command.
âAnd you â what are you doing here?â replied DâArtagnan.
âBe civil, or I shall beat you; for although one may not choose to proclaim oneself, one insists on respect suitable to oneâs rank.â
âYou donât choose to discover yourself, because you are the leader of an ambuscade,â returned DâArtagnan; âbut with regard to myself, who am traveling quietly with my own servant, I have not the same reasons as you have to conceal my name.â
âEnough! enough! what is your name?â
âI shall tell you my name in order that you may know where to find me, my lord, or my prince, as it may suit you best to be called,â said our Gascon, who did not choose to seem to yield to a threat. âDo you know Monsieur dâArtagnan?â
âLieutenant in the kingâs musketeers?â said the voice; âyou are Monsieur dâArtagnan?â
âI am.â
âThen you came here to defend him?â
âHim? whom?â
âThe man we are seeking.â
âIt seems,â said DâArtagnan, âthat whilst I thought I was coming to Noisy I have entered, without suspecting it, into the kingdom of mysteries.â
âCome,â replied the same lofty tone, âanswer! Are you waiting for him underneath these windows? Did you come to Noisy to defend him?â
âI am waiting for no one,â replied DâArtagnan, who was beginning to be angry. âI propose to defend no one but myself, and I shall defend myself vigorously, I give you warning.â
âVery well,â said the voice; âgo away from here and leave the place to us.â
âGo away from here!â said DâArtagnan, whose purposes were in conflict with that order, âthat is not so easy, since I am on the point of falling, and my horse, too, through fatigue; unless, indeed, you are disposed to offer me a supper and a bed in the neighborhood.â
âRascal!â
âEh! monsieur!â said DâArtagnan, âI beg you will have a care what you say; for if you utter another word like that, be you marquis, duke, prince or king, I will thrust it down your throat! do you hear?â
âWell, well,â rejoined the leader, âthereâs no doubt âtis a Gascon who is speaking, and therefore not the man we are looking for. Our blow has failed for to-night; let us withdraw. We shall meet again, Master dâArtagnan,â continued the leader, raising his voice.
âYes, but never with the same advantages,â said DâArtagnan, in a tone of raillery; âfor when you meet me again you will perhaps be alone and there will be daylight.â
âVery good, very good,â said the voice. âEn route, gentlemen.â
And the troop, grumbling angrily, disappeared in the darkness and took the road to Paris. DâArtagnan and Planchet remained for some moments still on the defensive; then, as the noise of the horsemen became more and more distant, they sheathed their swords.
âThou seest, simpleton,â said DâArtagnan to his servant, âthat they wished no harm to us.â
âBut to whom, then?â
âIâfaith! I neither know nor care. What I do care for now, is to make my way into the Jesuitsâ convent; so to horse and let us knock at their door. Happen what will, the devil take them, they canât eat us.â
And he mounted his horse. Planchet had just done the same when an unexpected weight fell upon the back of the horse, which sank down.
âHey! your honor!â cried Planchet, âIâve a man behind me.â
DâArtagnan turned around and plainly saw two human forms on Planchetâs horse.
ââTis then the devil that pursues!â he cried; drawing his sword and preparing to attack the new foe.
âNo, no, dear DâArtagnan,â said the figure, ââtis not the devil, âtis Aramis; gallop fast, Planchet, and when you come to the end of the village turn swiftly to the left.â
And Planchet, with Aramis behind him, set off at full gallop, followed by DâArtagnan, who began to think he was in the merry maze of some fantastic dream.
9The Abbe DâHerblay.
At the extremity of the village Planchet turned to the left in obedience to the orders of Aramis, and stopped underneath the window which had light in it. Aramis alighted and clapped his hands three times. Immediately the window was opened and a ladder of rope was let down from it.
âMy friend,â said Aramis, âif you like to ascend I shall be delighted to receive you.â
âAh,â said DâArtagnan, âis that the way you return to your apartment?â
âAfter nine at night, pardieu!â said Aramis, âthe rule of the convent is very severe.â
âPardon me, my dear friend,â said DâArtagnan, âI think you said `pardieu!ââ
âDo you think so?â said Aramis, smiling; âit is possible. You have no idea, my dear fellow, how one acquires bad habits in these cursed convents, or what evil ways all these men of the church have, with whom I am obliged to live. But will you not go up?â
âPass on before me, I beg of you.â
âAs the late cardinal used to say to the late king, `only to show you the way, sire.ââ And Aramis ascended the ladder quickly and reached the window in an instant.
DâArtagnan followed, but less nimbly, showing plainly that this mode of ascent was not one to which he was accustomed.
âI beg your pardon,â said Aramis, noticing his awkwardness; âif I had known that I was to have the honor of your visit I should have procured the gardenerâs ladder; but for me alone this is good
Comments (0)