appointment. At
other times he would return home to write a treatise, and requested his
friends not to disturb him.

At this Athos would smile, with his charming, melancholy smile, which
so became his noble countenance, and Porthos would drink, swearing that
Aramis would never be anything but a village CURE.

Planchet, d'Artagnan's valet, supported his good fortune nobly. He
received thirty sous per day, and for a month he returned to his
lodgings gay as a chaffinch, and affable toward his master. When the
wind of adversity began to blow upon the housekeeping of the Rue des
Fossoyeurs--that is to say, when the forty pistoles of King Louis XIII
were consumed or nearly so--he commenced complaints which Athos thought
nauseous, Porthos indecent, and Aramis ridiculous. Athos counseled
d'Artagnan to dismiss the fellow; Porthos was of opinion that he should
give him a good thrashing first; and Aramis contended that a master
should never attend to anything but the civilities paid to him.

"This is all very easy for you to say," replied d'Artagnan, "for you,
Athos, who live like a dumb man with Grimaud, who forbid him to speak,
and consequently never exchange ill words with him; for you, Porthos,
who carry matters in such a magnificent style, and are a god to your
valet, Mousqueton; and for you, Aramis, who, always abstracted by your
theological studies, inspire your servant, Bazin, a mild, religious man,
with a profound respect; but for me, who am without any settled means
and without resources--for me, who am neither a Musketeer nor even a
Guardsman, what I am to do to inspire either the affection, the terror,
or the respect in Planchet?"

"This is serious," answered the three friends; "it is a family affair.
It is with valets as with wives, they must be placed at once upon the
footing in which you wish them to remain. Reflect upon it."

D'Artagnan did reflect, and resolved to thrash Planchet provisionally;
which he did with the conscientiousness that d'Artagnan carried into
everything. After having well beaten him, he forbade him to leave his
service without his permission. "For," added he, "the future cannot fail
to mend; I inevitably look for better times. Your fortune is therefore
made if you remain with me, and I am too good a master to allow you to
miss such a chance by granting you the dismissal you require."

This manner of acting roused much respect for d'Artagnan's policy among
the Musketeers. Planchet was equ