"I doubt it, Planchet," replied D'Artagnan, "but what are you thinking of ?"
"I am thinking, sir, of those desperate looking men who were drinking in the inn where we rested." "Always cautious, Planchet."
"'Tis instinct, your honor."
"Well, what does your instinct tell you now?"
"Sir, my instinct told me that those people were assembled there for some bad purpose; and I was reflecting on what my instinct had
told me, in the darkest corner of the stable, when a man wrapped in a cloak and followed by two other men, came in." "Ah ah!" said D'Artagnan, Planchet's recital agreeing with his own observations. "Well?"
"One of these two men said, 'He must certainly be at Noisy, or be coming there this evening, for I have seen his servant.' "'Art thou sure?' said the man in the cloak.
"'Yes, my prince.'"
"My prince!" interrupted D'Artagnan.
"Yes, 'my prince;' but listen. 'If he is here'--this is what the other man said--'let's see decidedly what to do with him.'
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"'What to do with him?' answered the prince.
"'Yes, he's not a man to allow himself to be taken anyhow; he'll defend himself.'
"'Well, we must try to take him alive. Have you cords to bind him with and a gag to stop his mouth?' "'We have.'
"'Remember that he will most likely be disguised as a horseman.'
"'Yes, yes, my lord; don't be uneasy.'
"'Besides, I shall be there.'
"'You will assure us that justice----'
"'Yes, yes! I answer for all that,' the prince said.
"'Well, then, we'll do our best.' Having said that, they went out of the stable."
"Well, what matters all that to us?" said D'Artagnan. "This is one of those attempts that happen every day." "Are you sure that we are not its objects?"
"We? Why?"
"Just remember what they said. 'I have seen his servant,' said one, and that applies very well to me." "Well?"
"'He must certainly be at Noisy, or be coming there this evening,' said the other; and that applies very well to you."
"What else?"
"Then the prince said: 'Take notice that in all probability he will be disguised as a cavalier;' which seems to me to leave no room for doubt, since you are dressed as a cavalier and not as an officer of musketeers. Now then, what do you say to that?"
"Alas! my dear Planchet," said D'Artagnan, sighing, "we are unfortunately no longer in those times in which princes would care to
assassinate me. Those were good old days; never fear--these people owe us no grudge."
"Is your honor sure?"
"I can answer for it they do not."
"Well, we won't speak of it any more, then;" and Planchet took his place in D'Artagnan's suite with that sublime confidence he had always had in his master, which even fifteen years of separation had not destroyed.
They had traveled onward about half a mile when Planchet came close up to D'Artagnan.
"Stop, sir, look yonder," he whispered; "don't you see in the darkness something pass by, like shadows? I fancy I hear horses' feet." "Impossible!" returned D'Artagnan. "The ground is soaking wet; yet I fancy, as thou sayest, that I see something."
At this moment the neighing of a horse struck his ear, coming through darkness and space.
"There are men somewhere about, but that's of no consequence to us," said D'Artagnan; "let us ride onward."
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At about half-past eight o'clock they reached the first houses in Noisy; every one was in bed and not a light was to be seen in the village. The obscurity was broken only now and then by the still darker lines of the roofs of houses. Here and there a dog barked behind a door or an affrighted cat fled precipitately from the midst of the pavement to take refuge behind a pile of faggots, from which retreat her eyes would shine like peridores. These were the only living creatures that seemed to inhabit the village.
Toward the middle of the town, commanding the principal open space, rose a dark mass, separated from the rest of the world by two lanes and overshadowed in the front by enormous lime-trees. D'Artagnan looked attentively at the building.
"This," he said to Planchet, "must be the archbishop's chateau, the abode of the fair Madame de Longueville; but the convent, where
is that?"
"The convent, your honor, is at the other end of the village; I know it well."
"Well, then, Planchet, gallop up to it whilst I tighten my horse's girth, and come back and tell me if there is a light in any of the
Jesuits' windows."
In about five minutes Planchet returned.
"Sir," he said, "there is one window of the convent lighted up."
"Hem! If I were a 'Frondeur,'" said D'Artagnan, "I should knock here and should be sure of a good supper. If I were a monk I should knock yonder and should have a good supper there, too; whereas, 'tis very possible that between the castle and the convent we shall sleep on hard beds, dying with hunger and thirst."
"Yes," added Planchet, "like the famous ass of Buridan. Shall I knock?" "Hush!" replied D'Artagnan; "the light no longer burns in yonder window." "Do you hear nothing?" whispered Planchet.
"What is that noise?"
There came a sound like a whirlwind, at the same time two troops of horsemen, each composed of ten men, sallied forth from each of the lanes which encompassed the house and surrounded D'Artagnan and Planchet.
"Heyday!" cried D'Artagnan, drawing his sword and taking refuge behind his horse; "are you not mistaken? is it really for us that you
mean your attack?"
"Here he is! we have him!" cried the horsemen, rushing on D'Artagnan with naked swords. "Don't let him escape!" said a loud voice.
"No, my lord; be assured we shall not."
D'Artagnan thought it was now time for him to join in the conversation.
"Halloo, gentlemen!" he called out in his Gascon accent, "what do you want? what do you demand?" "That thou shalt soon know," shouted a chorus of horsemen.
"Stop, stop!" cried he whom they had addressed as "my lord;" "'tis not his voice."
"Ah! just so, gentlemen! pray, do people get into a passion at random at Noisy? Take care, for I warn you that the first man that
comes within the length of my sword--and my sword is long--I rip him up." The chieftain of the party drew near.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a lofty tone, as that of one accustomed to command.
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"And you--what are you doing here?" replied D'Artagnan.
"Be civil, or I shall beat you; for although one may not choose to proclaim oneself, one insists on respect suitable to one's rank." "You don't choose to discover yourself, because you are the leader of an ambuscade," returned D'Artagnan; "but with regard to
myself, who am traveling quietly with my own servant, I have not the same reasons as you have to conceal my name." "Enough! enough! what is your name?"
"I shall tell you my name in order that you may know where to find me, my lord, or my prince, as it may suit you best to be called,"
said our Gascon, who did not choose to seem to yield to a threat. "Do you know Monsieur d'Artagnan?"
"Lieutenant in the king's musketeers?" said the voice; "you are Monsieur d'Artagnan?"
"I am."