The musketeers rode the whole length of the Faubourg SaintAntoine and of the road to Vincennes, and soon foundthemselves out of the town, then in a forest and then withinsight of a village.

The horses seemed to become more lively with each successivestep; their nostrils reddened like glowing furnaces.D'Artagnan, freely applying his spurs, was in advance ofPorthos two feet at the most; Musqueton followed two lengthsbehind; the guards were scattered according to the varyingexcellence of their respective mounts.

From the top of an eminence D'Artagnan perceived a group ofpeople collected on the other side of the moat, in front ofthat part of the donjon which looks toward Saint Maur. Herode on, convinced that in this direction he would gainintelligence of the fugitive. In five minutes he had arrivedat the place, where the guards joined him, coming up one byone.

The several members of that group were much excited. Theylooked at the cord, still hanging from the loophole andbroken at about twenty feet from the ground. Their eyesmeasured the height and they exchanged conjectures. On thetop of the wall sentinels went and came with a frightenedair.

A few soldiers, commanded by a sergeant, drove away idlersfrom the place where the duke had mounted his horse.D'Artagnan went straight to the sergeant.

"My officer," said the sergeant, "it is not permitted tostop here."

"That prohibition is not for me," said D'Artagnan. "Have thefugitives been pursued?"

"Yes, my officer; unfortunately, they are well mounted."

"How many are there?"

"Four, and a fifth whom they carried away wounded."

"Four!" said D'Artagnan, looking at Porthos. "Do you hear,baron? They are only four!"

A joyous smile lighted Porthos's face.

"How long a start have they?"

"Two hours and a quarter, my officer."

"Two hours and a quarter - that is nothing; we are wellmounted, are we not, Porthos?"

Porthos breathed a sigh; he thought of what was in store forhis poor horses.

"Very good," said D'Artagnan; "and now in what direction didthey set out?"

"That I am forbidden to tell."

D'Artagnan drew from his pocket a paper. "Order of theking," he said.

"Speak to the governor, then."

"And where is the governor?"

"In the country."

Anger mounted to D'Artagnan's face; he frowned and hischeeks were colored.

"Ah, you scoundrel!" he said to the sergeant, "I believe youare impudent to me! Wait!"

He unfolded the paper, presented it to the sergeant with onehand and with the other took a pistol from his holsters andcocked it.

"Order of the king, I tell you. Read and answer, or I willblow out your brains!"

The sergeant saw that D'Artagnan was in earnest. "TheVendomois road," he replied.

"And by what gate did they go out?"

"By the Saint Maur gate."

"If you are deceiving me, rascal, you will be hangedto-morrow."

"And if you catch up with them you won't come back to hangme," murmured the sergeant.

D'Artagnan shrugged his shoulders, made a sign to his escortand started.

"This way, gentlemen, this way!" he cried, directing hiscourse toward the gate that had been pointed out.

But, now that the duke had escaped, the concierge had seenfit to fasten the gate with a double lock. It was necessaryto compel him to open it, as the sergeant had been compelledto speak, and this took another ten minutes. This lastobstacle having been overcome, the troop pursued theircourse with their accustomed ardor; but some of the horsescould no longer sustain this pace; three of them stoppedafter an hour's gallop, and one fell down.

D'Artagnan, who never turned his head, did not perceive it.Porthos told him of it in his calm manner.

"If only we two arrive," said D'Artagnan, "it will beenough, since the duke's troop are only four in number."

"That is true," said Porthos

And he spurred his courser on.

At the end of another two hours the horses had gone twelveleagues without stopping; their legs began to tremble, andthe foam they shed whitened the doublets of their masters.

"Let us rest here an instant to give these poor creaturesbreathing time," said Porthos.

"Let us rather kill them! yes, kill them!" cried D'Artagnan;"I see fresh tracks; 'tis not a quarter of an hour sincethey passed this place."

In fact, the road was trodden by horses' feet, visible evenin the approaching gloom of evening.

They set out; after a run of two leagues, Musqueton's horsesank.

"Gracious me!" said Porthos, "there's Phoebus ruined."

"The cardinal will pay you a hundred pistoles."

"I'm above that."

"Let us set out again, at full gallop."

"Yes, if we can."

But at last the lieutenant's horse refused to go on; hecould not breathe; one last spur, instead of making himadvance, made him fall.

"The devil!" exclaimed Porthos; "there's Vulcan foundered."

"Zounds!" cried D'Artagnan, "then we must stop! Give me yourhorse, Porthos. What the devil are you doing?"

"By Jove, I am falling, or rather, Bayard is falling,"answered Porthos.

All three then cried: "All's over."

"Hush!" said D'Artagnan.

"What is it?"

"I hear a horse."

"It belongs to one of our companions, who is overtaking us."

"No," said D'Artagnan, "it is in advance."

"That is another thing," said Porthos; and he listenedtoward the quarter indicated by D'Artagnan.

"Monsieur," said Musqueton, who, abandoning his horse on thehigh road, had come on foot to rejoin his master, "Phoebuscould no longer hold out and - - "

"Silence!" said Porthos.

In fact, at that moment a second neighing was borne to themon the night wind.

"It is five hundred feet from here, in advance," saidD'Artagnan.

"True, monsieur," said Musqueton; "and five hundred feetfrom here is a small hunting-house."

"Musqueton, thy pistols," said D'Artagnan.

"I have them at hand, monsieur."

"Porthos, take yours from your holsters."

"I have them."

"Good!" said D'Artagnan, seizing his own; "now youunderstand, Porthos?"

"Not too well."

"We are out on the king's service."

"Well?"

"For the king's service we need horses."

"That is true," said Porthos.

"Then not a word, but set to work!"

They went on through the darkness, silent as phantoms; theysaw a light glimmering in the midst of some trees.

"Yonder is the house, Porthos," said the Gascon; "let me dowhat I please and do you what I do."

They glided from tree to tree till they arrived at twentysteps from the house unperceived and saw by means of alantern suspended under a hut, four fine horses. A groom wasrubbing them down; near them were saddles and bridles.

D'Artagnan approached quickly, making a sign to his twocompanions to remain a few steps behind.

"I buy those horses," he said to the groom.

The groom turned toward him with a look of surprise, butmade no reply.

"Didn't you hear, fellow?"

"Yes, I heard."

"Why, then, didn't you reply?"

"Because these horses are not to be sold," was the reply.

"I take them, then," said the lieutenant.

And he took hold of one within his reach; his two companionsdid the same thing.

"Sir," cried the groom, "they have traversed six leagues andhave only been unsaddled half an hour."

"Half an hour's rest is enough " replied the Gascon.

The groom cried aloud for help. A kind of steward appeared,just as D'Artagnan and his companions were prepared tomount. The steward attempted to expostulate.

"My dear friend," cried the lieutenant, "if you say a word Iwill blow out your brains."

"But, sir," answered the steward, "do you know that thesehorses belong to Monsieur de Montbazon?"

"So much the better; they must be good animals, then."

"Sir, I shall call my people."

"And I, mine; I've ten guards behind me, don't you hear themgallop? and I'm one of the king's musketeers. Come, Porthos;come, Musqueton."

They all mounted the horses as quickly as possible.

"Halloo! hi! hi!" cried the steward; "the house servants,with the carbines!"

"On! on!" cried D'Artagnan; "there'll be firing! on!"

They all set off, swift as the wind.

"Here!" cried the steward, "here!" whilst the groom ran to aneighboring building.

"Take care of your horses!" cried D'Artagnan to him.

"Fire!" replied the steward.

A gleam, like a flash of lightning, illumined the road, andwith the flash was heard the whistling of balls, which werefired wildly in the air.

"They fire like grooms," said Porthos. "In the time of thecardinal people fired better than that, do you remember theroad to Crevecoeur, Musqueton?"

"Ah, sir! my left side still pains me!"

"Are you sure we are on the right track, lieutenant?"

"Egad, didn't you hear? these horses belong to Monsieur deMontbazon; well, Monsieur de Montbazon is the husband ofMadame de Montbazon - - "

"And - - "

"And Madame de Montbazon is the mistress of the Duc deBeaufort."

"Ah! I understand," replied Porthos; "she has ordered relaysof horses."

"Exactly so."

"And we are pursuing the duke with the very horses he hasjust left?"

"My dear Porthos, you are really a man of most superiorunderstanding," said D'Artagnan, with a look as if he spokeagainst his conviction.

"Pooh!" replied Porthos, "I am what I am."

They rode on for an hour, till the horses were covered withfoam and dust.

"Zounds! what is yonder?" cried D'Artagnan.

"You are very lucky if you see anything such a night asthis," said Porthos.

"Something bright."

"I, too," cried Musqueton, "saw them also."

"Ah! ah! have we overtaken them?"

"Good! a dead horse!" said D'Artagnan, pulling up his horse,which shied; "it seems their horses, too, are breaking down,as well as ours."

"I seem to hear the noise of a troop of horsemen," exclaimedPorthos, leaning over his horse's mane.

"Impossible."

"They appear to be numerous."

"Then 'tis something else."

"Another horse!" said Porthos.

"Dead?"

"No, dying."

"Saddled?"

"Yes, saddled and bridled."

"Then we are upon the fugitives."

"Courage, we have them!"

"But if they are numerous," observed Musqueton, "'tis not wewho have them, but they who have us."

"Nonsense!" cried D'Artagnan, "they'll suppose us to bestronger than themselves, as we're in pursuit; they'll beafraid and will disperse."

"Certainly," remarked Porthos.

"Ah! do you see?" cried the lieutenant.

"The lights again! this time I, too, saw them," saidPorthos.

"On! on! forward! forward!" cried D'Artagnan, in hisstentorian voice; "we shall laugh over all this in fiveminutes."

And they darted on anew. The horses, excited by pain andemulation, raced over the dark road, in the midst of whichwas now seen a moving mass, denser and more obscure than therest of the horizon.