" said Athos
coolly; "but as to d'Artagnan, gentlemen, the idea of belonging to OURS
has driven him out of his senses. A thousand livres! For my part, I
declare I want two thousand."

"Four times two makes eight," then said Aramis; "it is eight thousand
that we want to complete our outfits, toward which, it is true, we have
already the saddles."

"Besides," said Athos, waiting till d'Artagnan, who went to thank
Monsieur de Treville, had shut the door, "besides, there is that
beautiful ring which beams from the finger of our friend. What the
devil! D'Artagnan is too good a comrade to leave his brothers in
embarrassment while he wears the ransom of a king on his finger."

29 HUNTING FOR THE EQUIPMENTS

The most preoccupied of the four friends was certainly d'Artagnan,
although he, in his quality of Guardsman, would be much more easily
equipped than Messieurs the Musketeers, who were all of high rank; but
our Gascon cadet was, as may have been observed, of a provident and
almost avaricious character, and with that (explain the contradiction)
so vain as almost to rival Porthos. To this preoccupation of his vanity,
d'Artagnan at this moment joined an uneasiness much less selfish.
Notwithstanding all his inquiries respecting Mme. Bonacieux, he could
obtain no intelligence of her. M. de Treville had spoken of her to the
queen. The queen was ignorant where the mercer's young wife was, but had
promised to have her sought for; but this promise was very vague and did
not at all reassure d'Artagnan.

Athos did not leave his chamber; he made up his mind not to take a
single step to equip himself.

"We have still fifteen days before us," said he to his friends, "well,
if at the end of a fortnight I have found nothing, or rather if nothing
has come to find me, as I, too good a Catholic to kill myself with a
pistol bullet, I will seek a good quarrel with four of his Eminence's
Guards or with eight Englishmen, and I will fight until one of them has
killed me, which, considering the number, cannot fail to happen. It
will then be said of me that I died for the king; so that I shall have
performed my duty without the expense of an outfit."

Porthos continued to walk about with his hands behind him, tossing his
head and repeating, "I shall follow up on my idea."

Aramis, anxious and negligently dressed, said nothing.

It may be seen by these disastrous details that desolation reigned in
the community.

The lackeys on thei