sel, and saw
floating on the water that good M. Mordaunt with a certain gold-hafted
dagger buried in his breast, one is not very likely to forget such
things."

"And yet there are people who forget them, Planchet."

"Yes, such as have not seen them, or have not heard Grimaud relate
them."

"Well, it is all the better that you recollect all that; I shall only
have to remind you of one thing, and that is that Charles I. had a son."

"Without contradicting you, monsieur, he had two," said Planchet; "for
I saw the second one in Paris, M. le Duke of York, one day, as he was
going to the Palais Royal, and I was told that he was not the eldest son
of Charles I. As to the eldest, I have the honor of knowing him by name,
but not personally."

"That is exactly the point, Planchet, we must come to: it is to this
eldest son, formerly called the Prince of Wales, and who is now styled
Charles II., king of England."

"A king without a kingdom, monsieur," replied Planchet, sententiously.

"Yes, Planchet, and you may add an unfortunate prince, more unfortunate
than the poorest man of the people lost in the worst quarter of Paris."

Planchet made a gesture full of that sort of compassion which we grant
to strangers with whom we think we can never possibly find ourselves in
contact. Besides, he did not see in this politico-sentimental operation
any sign of the commercial idea of M. d'Artagnan, and it was in this
idea that D'Artagnan, who was, from habit, pretty well acquainted with
men and things, had principally interested Planchet.

"I am coming to our business. This young Prince of Wales, a king without
a kingdom, as you have so well said, Planchet, has interested me. I,
D'Artagnan, have seen him begging assistance of Mazarin, who is a miser,
and the aid of Louis, who is a child, and it appeared to me, who am
acquainted with such things, that in the intelligent eye of the fallen
king, in the nobility of his whole person, a nobility apparent above
all his miseries, I could discern the stuff of a man and the heart of a
king."

Planchet tacitly approved of all this; but it did not at all, in his
eyes at least, throw any light upon D'Artagnan's idea. The latter
continued: "This, then, is the reasoning which I made with myself.
Listen attentively, Planchet, for we are coming to the conclusion."

"I am listening."

"Kings are not so thickly sown upon the earth, that people can find
them whenever they want them. Now, this king