the person you may see in the house you will be taken to."
The physician obeyed without a remark, as at that time people began to
obey Louis XIV., and left the room preceding Saint-Aignan.

"Do you, Saint-Aignan, send Manicamp to me, before the physician can
possibly have spoken to him." And Saint-Aignan left in his turn.

Chapter XVI. Showing in What Way D'Artagnan Discharged the Mission with
Which the King Had Intrusted Him.

While the king was engaged in making these last-mentioned arrangements
in order to ascertain the truth, D'Artagnan, without losing a second,
ran to the stable, took down the lantern, saddled his horse himself, and
proceeded towards the place his majesty had indicated. According to
the promise he had made, he had not accosted any one; and, as we have
observed, he had carried his scruples so far as to do without the
assistance of the stable-helpers altogether. D'Artagnan was one of those
who in moments of difficulty pride themselves on increasing their own
value. By dint of hard galloping, he in less than five minutes
reached the wood, fastened his horse to the first tree he came to, and
penetrated to the broad open space on foot. He then began to inspect
most carefully, on foot and with his lantern in his hand, the whole
surface of the Rond-point, went forward, turned back again, measured,
examined, and after half an hour's minute inspection, he returned
silently to where he had left his horse, and pursued his way in deep
reflection and at a foot-pace to Fontainebleau. Louis was waiting in his
cabinet; he was alone, and with a pencil was scribbling on paper certain
lines which D'Artagnan at the first glance recognized as unequal and
very much touched up. The conclusion he arrived at was, that they must
be verses. The king raised his head and perceived D'Artagnan. "Well,
monsieur," he said, "do you bring me any news?"

"Yes, sire."

"What have you seen?"

"As far as probability goes, sire--" D'Artagnan began to reply.

"It was certainty I requested of you."

"I will approach it as near as I possibly can. The weather was very well
adapted for investigations of the character I have just made; it has
been raining this evening, and the roads were wet and muddy--"

"Well, the result, M. d'Artagnan?"

"Sire, your majesty told me that there was a horse lying dead in the
cross-road of the Bois-Rochin, and I began, therefore, by studying the
roads. I say the roads, because the center of the c