omises.

Scarcely had D'Artagnan re-entered his apartment with his two friends,
when one of the soldiers of the fort came to inform him that the
governor was seeking him. The bark which Raoul had perceived at sea, and
which appeared so eager to gain the port, came to Sainte-Marguerite with
an important dispatch for the captain of the musketeers. On opening it,
D'Artagnan recognized the writing of the king: "I should think,"
said Louis XIV., "you will have completed the execution of my orders,
Monsieur d'Artagnan; return, then, immediately to Paris, and join me at
the Louvre."

"There is the end of my exile!" cried the musketeer with joy; "God be
praised, I am no longer a jailer!" And he showed the letter to Athos.

"So, then, you must leave us?" replied the latter, in a melancholy tone.

"Yes, but to meet again, dear friend, seeing that Raoul is old enough
now to go alone with M. de Beaufort, and will prefer his father going
back in company with M. d'Artagnan, to forcing him to travel two hundred
leagues solitarily to reach home at La Fere; will you not, Raoul?"

"Certainly," stammered the latter, with an expression of tender regret.

"No, no, my friend," interrupted Athos, "I will never quit Raoul till
the day his vessel disappears on the horizon. As long as he remains in
France he shall not be separated from me."

"As you please, dear friend; but we will, at least, leave
Sainte-Marguerite together; take advantage of the bark that will convey
me back to Antibes."

"With all my heart; we cannot too soon be at a distance from this fort,
and from the spectacle that shocked us so just now."

The three friends quitted the little isle, after paying their respects
to the governor, and by the last flashes of the departing tempest they
took their farewell of the white walls of the fort. D'Artagnan parted
from his friend that same night, after having seen fire set to the
carriage upon the shore by the orders of Saint-Mars, according to the
advice the captain had given him. Before getting on horseback, and after
leaving the arms of Athos: "My friends," said he, "you bear too much
resemblance to two soldiers who are abandoning their post. Something
warns me that Raoul will require being supported by you in his rank.
Will you allow me to ask permission to go over into Africa with a
hundred good muskets? The king will not refuse me, and I will take you
with me."

"Monsieur d'Artagnan," replied Raoul, pressing his hand wit