ards, who
are brave fellows, prudent and quiet--who do not get themselves
into trouble, and if they did, would not allow themselves to be
arrested. Not they! They would sooner die upon the spot than
recede an inch. It is only the King's mousquetaires who run away
or are taken prisoners.'

"Porthos and Aramis trembled with rage. They would willingly have
strangled their chief, if they had not felt that it was the great
affection he bore them that induced him to speak thus harshly.
They bit their lips till the blood came, and clutched the hilts of
their swords in silent fury. Several of the guardsmen in the
anteroom, who had heard Monsieur de Treville's summons to Athos,
Porthos, and Aramis, and suspected what was going on, had applied
their ears to the tapestry, and lost not a word of their captain's
reproaches, which they repeated to those around them, who in their
turn repeated them to their comrades on the staircase and in the
courtyard. In an instant, from the anteroom to the street, all was
commotion.

"'Ha! his Majesty's mousquetaires allow themselves to be arrested
by the Cardinal's guards!' continued Monsieur de Treville, who was
as furious as his soldiers. 'Aha! sirs, six of his Eminence's
guards arrest six of the King's! _Morbleu!_ I have made up my mind
what to do. I will go at once to the Louvre, resign my post as
captain of mousquetaires, and solicit a lieutenancy in the
Cardinal's guards; and if I am refused, _morbleu!_ I will turn
priest!'

"At these words the murmur outside the audience chamber became an
explosion. On all sides oaths and blasphemies were resounding.
D'Artagnan looked about for a place to hide himself. He felt a
strong inclination to get under the table.

"'Well, captain,' said Porthos, who was completely beside himself
with rage and vexation, 'the truth is that we were six against
six; but they attacked us treacherously; and before we could draw
a sword, two of us were dead men, and Athos desperately wounded
and equally useless. You know Athos, captain; well, twice he tried
to get up, and twice he fell down again. Nevertheless, we did not
yield ourselves prisoners; we were taken off by main force, and on
the way to the guard-house we managed to break away from them. As
to Athos, they thought him dead, and left him on the ground. That