After a moment's silence, in which D'Artagnan appeared to becollecting, not one idea, but all his ideas - "It cannotbe, my dear Planchet," said he, "that you have not heard ofhis majesty Charles I. of England?"

"Alas! yes, monsieur, since you left France in order toassist him, and that, in spite of that assistance, he fell,and was near dragging you down in his fall."

"Exactly so; I see you have a good memory, Planchet."

"Peste! the astonishing thing would be, if I could have lostthat memory, however bad it might have been. When one hasheard Grimaud, who, you know, is not given to talking,relate how the head of King Charles fell, how you sailed thehalf of a night in a scuttled vessel, and saw floating onthe water that good M. Mordaunt with a certain gold-hafteddagger buried in his breast, one is not very likely toforget such things."

"And yet there are people who forget them, Planchet."

"Yes, such as have not seen them, or have not heard Grimaudrelate them."

"Well, it is all the better that you recollect all that; Ishall only have to remind you of one thing, and that is thatCharles I. had a son."

"Without contradicting you, monsieur, he had two," saidPlanchet; "for I saw the second one in Paris, M. le Duke ofYork, one day, as he was going to the Palais Royal, and Iwas told that he was not the eldest son of Charles I. As tothe eldest, I have the honor of knowing him by name, but notpersonally."

"That is exactly the point, Planchet, we must come to: it isto this eldest son, formerly called the Prince of Wales, andwho is now styled Charles II., king of England."

"A king without a kingdom, monsieur," replied Planchet,sententiously.

"Yes, Planchet, and you may add an unfortunate prince, moreunfortunate than the poorest man of the people lost in theworst quarter of Paris."

Planchet made a gesture full of that sort of compassionwhich we grant to strangers with whom we think we can neverpossibly find ourselves in contact. Besides, he did not seein this politico-sentimental operation any sign of thecommercial idea of M. d'Artagnan, and it was in this ideathat D'Artagnan, who was, from habit, pretty well acquaintedwith men and things, had principally interested Planchet.

"I am coming to our business. This young Prince of Wales, aking without a kingdom, as you have so well said, Planchet,has interested me. I, D'Artagnan, have seen him beggingassistance of Mazarin, who is a miser, and the aid of Louis,who is a child, and it appeared to me, who am acquaintedwith such things, that in the intelligent eye of the fallenking, in the nobility of his whole person, a nobilityapparent above all his miseries, I could discern the stuffof a man and the heart of a king."

Planchet tacitly approved of all this; but it did not atall, in his eyes at least, throw any light upon D'Artagnan'sidea. The latter continued: "This, then, is the reasoningwhich I made with myself. Listen attentively, Planchet, forwe are coming to the conclusion."

"I am listening."

"Kings are not so thickly sown upon the earth, that peoplecan find them whenever they want them. Now, this kingwithout a kingdom is, in my opinion, a grain of seed whichwill blossom in some season or other, provided a skillful,discreet, and vigorous hand sow it duly and truly, selectingsoil, sky, and time."

Planchet still approved by a nod of his head, which showedthat he did not perfectly comprehend all that was said.

"`Poor little seed of a king,' said I to myself, and reallyI was affected, Planchet, which leads me to think I amentering upon a foolish business. And that is why I wishedto consult you, my friend."

Planchet colored with pleasure and pride.

"`Poor little seed of a king! I will pick you up and castyou into good ground.'"

"Good God!" said Planchet, looking earnestly at his oldmaster, as if in doubt as to the state of his reason.

"Well, what is it?" said D'Artagnan; "who hurts you?"

"Me! nothing, monsieur."

"You said, `Good God!'"

"Did I?"

"I am sure you did. Can you already understand?"

"I confess, M. d'Artagnan, that I am afraid - - "

"To understand?"

"Yes."

"To understand that I wish to replace upon his throne thisKing Charles II., who has no throne? Is that it?"

Planchet made a prodigious bound in his chair. "Ah, ah!"said he, in evident terror, "that is what you call arestoration!"

"Yes, Planchet; is it not the proper term for it?"

"Oh, no doubt, no doubt! But have you reflected seriously?"

"Upon what?"

"Upon what is going on yonder."

"Where?"

"In England."

"And what is that? let us see, Planchet."

"In the first place, monsieur, I ask your pardon formeddling in these things, which have nothing to do with mytrade; but since it is an affair that you propose to me - for you are proposing an affair, are you not? - - "

"A superb one, Planchet."

"But as it is business you propose to me, I have the rightto discuss it."

"Discuss it, Planchet; out of discussion is born light."

"Well, then, since I have monsieur's permission, I will tellhim that there is yonder, in the first place, theparliament."

"Well, next?"

"And then the army."

"Good! Do you see anything else?"

"Why, then the nation."

"Is that all?"

"The nation which consented to the overthrow and death ofthe late king, the father of this one, and which will not bewilling to belie its acts."

"Planchet," said D'Artagnan, "you argue like a cheese! Thenation - the nation is tired of these gentlemen who givethemselves such barbarous names, and who sing songs to it.Chanting for chanting, my dear Planchet; I have remarkedthat nations prefer singing a merry chant to the plainchant. Remember the Fronde; what did they sing in thosetimes? Well those were good times."

"Not too good, not too good! I was near being hung in thosetimes."

"Well, but you were not."

"No."

"And you laid the foundation of your fortune in the midst ofall those songs?"

"That is true."

"Then you have nothing to say against them."

"Well, I return, then, to the army and parliament."

"I say that I borrow twenty thousand livres of M. Planchet,and that I put twenty thousand livres of my own to it, andwith these forty thousand livres I raise an army."

Planchet clasped his hands; he saw that D'Artagnan was inearnest, and, in good truth, he believed his master had losthis senses.

"An army! - ah, monsieur," said he, with his most agreeablesmile, for fear of irritating the madman, and rendering himfurious, - "an army! - how many?"

"Of forty men," said D'Artagnan.

"Forty against forty thousand! that is not enough. I knowvery well that you, M. d'Artagnan, alone, are equal to athousand men, but where are we to find thirty-nine men equalto you? Or, if we could find them, who would furnish youwith money to pay them?"

"Not bad, Planchet. Ah, the devil! you play the courtier."

"No, monsieur, I speak what I think, and that is exactly whyI say that, in the first pitched battle you fight with yourforty men, I am very much afraid - - "

"Therefore I shall fight no pitched battles, my dearPlanchet," said the Gascon, laughing. "We have very fineexamples in antiquity of skillful retreats and marches,which consisted in avoiding the enemy instead of attackingthem. You should know that, Planchet, you who commanded theParisians the day on which they ought to have fought againstthe musketeers, and who so well calculated marches andcountermarches, that you never left the Palais Royal."

Planchet could not help laughing. "It is plain," replied he,"that if your forty men conceal themselves, and are notunskillful, they may hope not to be beaten: but you proposeobtaining some result, do you not?"

"No doubt. This, then, in my opinion, is the plan to beproceeded upon in order quickly to replace his majestyCharles II. on his throne."

"Good!" said Planchet, increasing his attention; "let us seeyour plan. But in the first place it seems to me we areforgetting something."

"What is that?"

"We have set aside the nation, which prefers singing merrysongs to psalms, and the army, which we will not fight: butthe parliament remains, and that seldom sings."

"Nor does it fight. How is it, Planchet, that an intelligentman like you should take any heed of a set of brawlers whocall themselves Rumps and Barebones. The parliament does nottrouble me at all, Planchet."

"As soon as it ceases to trouble you, monsieur, let us passon."

"Yes, and arrive at the result. You remember Cromwell,Planchet?"

"I have heard a great deal of talk about him."

"He was a rough soldier."

"And a terrible eater, moreover."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why, at one gulp he swallowed all England."

"Well, Planchet, the evening before the day on which heswallowed England, if any one had swallowed M. Cromwell?"

"Oh, monsieur, it is one of the axioms of mathematics thatthe container must be greater than the contained."

"Very well! That is our affair, Planchet."

"But M. Cromwell is dead, and his container is now thetomb."

"My dear Planchet, I see with pleasure that you have notonly become a mathematician, but a philosopher."

"Monsieur, in my grocery business I use much printed paper,and that instructs me."

"Bravo! You know then, in that case - for you have notlearnt mathematics and philosophy without a little history- that after this Cromwell so great, there came one who wasvery little."

"Yes; he was named Richard, and he has done as you have, M.d'Artagnan - he has tendered his resignation."

"Very well said - very well! After the great man who isdead, after the little one who tendered his resignation,there came a third. This one is named Monk; he is an ablegeneral, considering he has never fought a battle; he is askillful diplomatist, considering that he never speaks inpublic, and that having to say `good-day' to a man, hemeditates twelve hours, and ends by saying `good-night;'which makes people exclaim `miracle!' seeing that it fallsout correctly."

"That is rather strong," said Planchet; "but I know anotherpolitical man who resembles him very much."

"M. Mazarin you mean?"

"Himself."

"You are right, Planchet; only M. Mazarin does not aspire tothe throne of France; and that changes everything. Do yousee? Well, this M. Monk, who has England ready-roasted inhis plate, and who is already opening his mouth to swallowit - this M. Monk, who says to the people of Charles II.,and to Charles II. himself, `Nescio vos' - - "

"I don't understand English," said Planchet.

"Yes, but I understand it," said D'Artagnan. "`Nescio vos'means `I do not know you.' This M. Monk, the most importantman in England, when he shall have swallowed it - - "

"Well?" asked Planchet.

"Well, my friend, I shall go over yonder, and with my fortymen, I shall carry him off, pack him up, and bring him intoFrance, where two modes of proceeding present themselves tomy dazzled eyes."

"Oh! and to mine too," cried Planchet, transported withenthusiasm. "We will put him in a cage and show him formoney."

"Well, Planchet, that is a third plan, of which I had notthought."

"Do you think it a good one?"

"Yes, certainly, but I think mine better."

"Let us see yours, then."

"In the first place, I shall set a ransom on him."

"Of how much?"

"Peste! a fellow like that must be well worth a hundredthousand crowns."

"Yes, yes!"

"You see, then - in the first place, a ransom of a hundredthousand crowns."

"Or else - - "

"Or else, what is much better, I deliver him up to KingCharles, who, having no longer either a general or an armyto fear, nor a diplomatist to trick him, will restorehimself, and when once restored, will pay down to me thehundred thousand crowns in question. That is the idea I haveformed; what do you say to it, Planchet?"

"Magnificent, monsieur!" cried Planchet, trembling withemotion. "How did you conceive that idea?"

"It came to me one morning on the banks of the Loire, whilstour beloved king, Louis XIV., was pretending to weep uponthe hand of Mademoiselle de Mancini."

"Monsieur, I declare the idea is sublime. But - - "

"Ah! is there a but?"

"Permit me! But this is a little like the skin of that finebear - you know - that they were about to sell, but whichit was necessary to take from the back of the living bear.Now, to take M. Monk, there will be a bit of scuffle, Ishould think."

"No doubt; but as I shall raise an army to - - "

"Yes, yes - I understand, parbleu! - a coup-de-main. Yes,then, monsieur, you will triumph, for no one equals you insuch sorts of encounters."

"I certainly am lucky in them," said D'Artagnan, with aproud simplicity. "You know that if for this affair I had mydear Athos, my brave Porthos, and my cunning Aramis, thebusiness would be settled; but they are all lost, as itappears, and nobody knows where to find them. I will do it,then, alone. Now, do you find the business good, and theinvestment advantageous?"

"Too much so - too much so."

"How can that be?"

"Because fine things never reach the expected point."

"This is infallible, Planchet, and the proof is that Iundertake it. It will be for you a tolerably pretty gain,and for me a very interesting stroke. It will be said, `Suchwas the old age of M. d'Artagnan,' and I shall hold a placein tales and even in history itself, Planchet. I am greedyof honor."

"Monsieur," cried Planchet, "when I think that it is here,in my home, in the midst of my sugar, my prunes, and mycinnamon, that this gigantic project is ripened, my shopseems a palace to me."

"Beware, beware, Planchet! If the least report of thisescapes, there is the Bastile for both of us. Beware, myfriend, for this is a plot we are hatching. M. Monk is theally of M. Mazarin - beware!"

"Monsieur, when a man has had the honor to belong to you, heknows nothing of fear; and when he has the advantage ofbeing bound up in interests with you, he holds his tongue."

"Very well, that is more your affair than mine, seeing thatin a week I shall be in England."

"Depart, monsieur, depart - the sooner the better."

"Is the money, then, ready?"

"It will be to-morrow, to-morrow you shall receive it frommy own hands. Will you have gold or silver?"

"Gold; that is most convenient. But how are we going toarrange this? Let us see."

"Oh, good Lord! in the simplest way possible. You shall giveme a receipt, that is all."

"No, no," said D'Artagnan, warmly; "we must preserve orderin all things."

"That is likewise my opinion; but with you, M. d'Artagnan- - "

"And if I should die yonder - if I should be killed by amusket-ball - if I should burst from drinking beer?"

"Monsieur, I beg you to believe that in that case I shouldbe so much afflicted at your death, that I should not thinkabout the money."

"Thank you, Planchet; but no matter. We shall, like twolawyers' clerks, draw up together an agreement, a sort ofact, which may be called a deed of company."

"Willingly, monsieur."

"I know it is difficult to draw such a thing up, but we cantry."

"Let us try, then." And Planchet went in search of pens,ink, and paper. D'Artagnan took the pen and wrote: - "Between Messire d'Artagnan, ex-lieutenant of the king'smusketeers, at present residing in the Rue Tiquetonne, Hotelde la Chevrette; and the Sieur Planchet, grocer, residing inthe Rue les Lombards, at the sign of the Pilon d'Or, it hasbeen agreed as follows: - A company, with a capital offorty thousand livres, and formed for the purpose ofcarrying out an idea conceived by M. d'Artagnan, and thesaid Planchet approving of it in all points, will placetwenty thousand livres in the hands of M. d'Artagnan. Hewill require neither repayment nor interest before thereturn of M. d'Artagnan from a journey he is about to takeinto England. On his part, M. d'Artagnan undertakes to findtwenty thousand livres, which he will join to the twentythousand already laid down by the Sieur Planchet. He willemploy the said sum of forty thousand livres according tohis judgment in an undertaking which is described below. Onthe day when M. d'Artagnan shall have re-established, bywhatever means, his majesty King Charles II. upon the throneof England, he will pay into the hands of M. Planchet thesum of - - "

"The sum of a hundred and fifty thousand livres," saidPlanchet, innocently, perceiving that D'Artagnan hesitated.

"Oh, the devil, no!" said D'Artagnan, "the division cannotbe made by half; that would not be just."

"And yet, monsieur; we each lay down half," objectedPlanchet, timidly.

"Yes; but listen to this clause, my dear Planchet, and ifyou do not find it equitable in every respect when it iswritten, well, we can scratch it out again: - `Nevertheless, as M. d'Artagnan brings to the association,besides his capital of twenty thousand livres, his time, hisidea, his industry and his skin, - things which heappreciates strongly, particularly the last, - M.d'Artagnan will keep, of the three hundred thousand livrestwo hundred thousand livres for himself, which will make hisshare two-thirds."

"Very well," said Planchet.

"Is it just?" asked D'Artagnan.

"Perfectly just, monsieur."

"And you will be contented with a hundred thousand livres?"

"Peste! I think so. A hundred thousand for twenty thousand!"

"And in a month, understand."

"How, in a month?"

"Yes, I only ask one month."

"Monsieur," said Planchet, generously, "I give you sixweeks."

"Thank you," replied the musketeer, politely; after whichthe two partners reperused their deed.

"That is perfect, monsieur," said Planchet, "and the late M.Coquenard, the first husband of Madame la Baronne du Vallon,could not have done it better."

"Do you find it so? Let us sign it, then." And both affixedtheir signatures.

"In this fashion," said D'Artagnan, "I shall be underobligations to no one."

"But I shall be under obligations to you," said Planchet.

"No; for whatever store I set by it, Planchet, I may lose myskin yonder, and you will lose all. A propos - peste! - that makes me think of the principal, an indispensableclause. I shall write it: - `In the case of M. d'Artagnandying in this enterprise, liquidation will be consideredmade, and the Sieur Planchet will give quittance from thatmoment to the shade of Messire d'Artagnan for the twentythousand livres paid by him into the hands of the saidcompany.'"

This last clause made Planchet knit his brows a little, butwhen he saw the brilliant eye, the muscular hand, the suppleand strong back of his associate, he regained his courage,and, without regret, he at once added another stroke to hissignature. D'Artagnan did the same. Thus was drawn the firstknown company contract; perhaps such things have been abuseda little since, both in form and principle.

"Now," said Planchet, pouring out the last glass of Anjouwine for D'Artagnan, - "now go to sleep, my dear master."

"No," replied D'Artagnan; "for the most difficult part nowremains to be done, and I will think over that difficultpart."

"Bah!" said Planchet; "I have such great confidence in you,M. d'Artagnan, that I would not give my hundred thousandlivres for ninety thousand livres down."

"And devil take me if I don't think you are right!" Uponwhich D'Artagnan took a candle and went up to his bedroom.