lord. We have parted company this long time; all
three have left the service."

"Where can you find them, then?"

"Wherever they are, that's my business."

"Well, now, what are your conditions, if I employ you?"

"Money, my lord, as much money as what you wish me to undertake will
require. I remember too well how sometimes we were stopped for want of
money, and but for that diamond, which I was obliged to sell, we should
have remained on the road."

"The devil he does! Money! and a large sum!" said Mazarin. "Pray, are
you aware that the king has no money in his treasury?"

"Do then as I did, my lord. Sell the crown diamonds. Trust me, don't
let us try to do things cheaply. Great undertakings come poorly off with
paltry means."

"Well," returned Mazarin, "we will satisfy you."

"Richelieu," thought D'Artagnan, "would have given me five hundred
pistoles in advance."

"You will then be at my service?" asked Mazarin.

"Yes, if my friends agree."

"But if they refuse can I count on you?"

"I have never accomplished anything alone," said D'Artagnan, shaking his
head.

"Go, then, and find them."

"What shall I say to them by way of inducement to serve your eminence?"

"You know them better than I. Adapt your promises to their respective
characters."

"What shall I promise?"

"That if they serve me as well as they served the queen my gratitude
shall be magnificent."

"But what are we to do?"

"Make your mind easy; when the time for action comes you shall be put in
full possession of what I require from you; wait till that time arrives
and find out your friends."

"My lord, perhaps they are not in Paris. It is even probable that I
shall have to make a journey. I am only a lieutenant of musketeers, very
poor, and journeys cost money.

"My intention," said Mazarin, "is not that you go with a great
following; my plans require secrecy, and would be jeopardized by a too
extravagant equipment."

"Still, my lord, I can't travel on my pay, for it is now three months
behind; and I can't travel on my savings, for in my twenty-two years of
service I have accumulated nothing but debts."

Mazarin remained some moments in deep thought, as if he were fighting
with himself; then, going to a large cupboard closed with a triple lock,
he took from it a bag of silver, and weighing it twice in his hands
before he gave it to D'Artagnan:

"Take this," he said with a sigh, "'tis merely for your journey."

"If these ar