egard to the food he eats, and the wines
he drinks; I advise him to take daily airings in the small park, which
you have kept for your own use, and he makes us of it accordingly. He
begins to walk again, he exercises his muscular powers by bending down
young elm-trees, or making the old oaks fly into splinters, as Milo of
Crotona used to do; and, as there are no lions in the park, it is not
unlikely we shall find him alive. Porthos is a brave fellow."

"Yes, but in the mean time he will get bored to death."

"Oh, no; he never does that."

"He will be asking questions?"

"He sees no one."

"At all events, he is looking or hoping for something or another."

"I have inspired in him a hope which we will realize some fine morning,
and on that he subsists."

"What is it?"

"That of being presented to the king."

"Oh! in what character?"

"As the engineer of Belle-Isle, of course."

"Is it possible?"

"Quite true."

"Shall we not be obliged, then, to send him back to Belle-Isle?"

"Most certainly; I am even thinking of sending him as soon as possible.
Porthos is very fond of display; he is man whose weakness D'Artagnan,
Athos, and myself are alone acquainted with; he never commits himself
in any way; he is dignity himself; to the officers there, he would seem
like a Paladin of the time of the Crusades. He would make the whole
staff drunk, without getting tipsy in the least himself, and every one
will regard him with admiration and sympathy; if, therefore, it should
happen that we have any orders requiring to be carried out, Porthos is
an incarnation of the order itself, and whatever he chose to do others
would find themselves obliged to submit to."

"Send him back, then."

"That is what I intend to do; but only in a few days; for I must not
omit to tell you one thing."

"What is it?"

"I begin to mistrust D'Artagnan. He is not at Fontainebleau, as you
may have noticed, and D'Artagnan is never absent, or apparently idle,
without some object in view. And now that my own affairs are settled, I
am going to try and ascertain what the affairs are in which D'Artagnan
is engaged."

"Your own affairs are settled, you say?"

"Yes."

"You are very fortunate in that case, then, and I should like to be able
to say the same."

"I hope you do not make yourself uneasy."

"Hum!"

"Nothing could be better than the king's reception of you."

"True."

"And Colbert leaves you in peace."

"Nearly so."

"In t