ngland. Your
gratification will then be doubled. Return to the boat and wait for me."
Upon which they departed with such shouts of joy as terrified even the
dog himself.

D'Artagnan had caused the coffer to be brought as far as the king's
ante-chamber. He then, with great care, closed the door of this
ante-chamber, after which he opened the coffer, and said to the general:

"General, I have a thousand excuses to make to you; my manner of acting
has not been worthy of such a man as you, I know very well; but I wished
you to take me for the captain of a bark. And then England is a very
inconvenient country for transports. I hope, therefore, you will take
all that into consideration. But now, general, you are at liberty to get
up and walk." This said, he cut the bonds which fastened the arms and
hands of the general. The latter got up, and then sat down with the
countenance of a man who expects death. D'Artagnan opened the door
of Charles's study, and said, "Sire, here is your enemy, M. Monk; I
promised myself to perform this service for your majesty. It is done;
now order as you please. M. Monk," added he, turning towards the
prisoner, "you are in the presence of his majesty Charles II., sovereign
lord of Great Britain."

Monk raised towards the prince his coldly stoical look, and replied: "I
know no king of Great Britain; I recognize even here no one worthy of
bearing the name of gentleman: for it is in the name of King Charles
II. that an emissary, whom I took for an honest man, came and laid an
infamous snare for me. I have fallen into that snare; so much the worse
for me. Now, you the tempter," said he to the king, "you the executor,"
said he to D'Artagnan; "remember what I am about to say to you; you have
my body, you may kill it, and I advise you to do so, for you shall never
have my mind or my will. And now, ask me not a single word, as from this
moment I will not open my mouth even to cry out. I have said."

And he pronounced these words with the savage, invincible resolution
of the most mortified Puritan. D'Artagnan looked at his prisoner like
a man, who knows the value of every word, and who fixes that value
according to the accent with which it has been pronounced.

"The fact is," said he, in a whisper to the king, "the general is an
obstinate man; he would not take a mouthful of bread, nor swallow a drop
of wine, during the two days of our voyage. But as from this moment it
is your majesty who must decide