In which D'Artagnan seeks Porthos, and only finds Mousqueton.
When D'Artagnan had perfectly convinced himself that the absence of the Vicar-General d'Herblay was real, and that his friend was not to be found at Melun or in its vicinity, he left Bazin without regret, cast an ill- natured glance at the magnificent Chateau de Vaux, which was beginning to shine with that splendor which brought on its ruin, and, compressing his lips like a man full of mistrust and suspicion, he put spurs to his pied horse, saying, "Well, well! I have still Pierrefonds left, and there I shall find the best man and the best filled coffer. And that is all I want, for I have an idea of my own."
We will spare our readers the prosaic incidents of D'Artagnan's journey, which terminated on the morning of the third day within sight of Pierrefonds. D'Artagnan came by the way of Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Crepy. At a distance he perceived the Castle of Louis of Orleans, which, having become part of the crown domain, was kept by an old _concierge_.
This was one of those marvelous manors of the middle ages, with walls twenty feet in thickness, and a hundred in height.
D'Artagnan rode slowly past its walls, measured its towers with his eye and descended into the valley. From afar he looked down upon the chateau of Porthos, situated on the shores of a small lake, and contiguous to a magnificent forest. It was the same place we have already had the honor of describing to our readers; we shall therefore satisfy ourselves with naming it. The first thing D'Artagnan perceived after the fine trees, the May sun gilding the sides of the green hills, the long rows of feather-topped trees which stretched out towards Compiegne, was a large rolling box, pushed forward by two servants and dragged by two others.
In this box there was an enormous green-and-gold thing, which went along the smiling glades of the park, thus dragged and pushed. This thing, at a distance, could not be distinguished, and signified absolutely nothing; nearer, it was a hogshead muffled in gold-bound green cloth; when close, it was a man, or rather a _poussa_, the inferior extremity of whom, spreading over the interior of the box, entirely filled it; when still closer, the man was Mousqueton - Mousqueton, with gray hair and a face as red as Punchinello's.
"_Pardieu!_" cried D'Artagnan; "why, that's my dear Monsieur Mousqueton!"
"Ah!" cried the fat man - "ah! what happiness! what joy! There's M. d'Artagnan. Stop, you rascals!" These last words were addressed to the lackeys who pushed and dragged him. The box stopped, and the four lackeys, with a precision quite military, took off their laced hats and ranged themselves behind it.
"Oh, Monsieur d'Artagnan!" said Mousqueton, "why can I not embrace your knees? But I have become impotent, as you see."
"_Dame!_ my dear Mousqueton, it is age."
"No, monsieur, it is not age; it is infirmities - troubles."
"Troubles! you, Mousqueton?" said D'Artagnan, making the tour of the box;
"are you out of your mind, my dear friend? Thank God! you are as hearty as a three-hundred-year-old oak."
"Ah! but my legs, monsieur, my legs!" groaned the faithful servant.
"What's the matter with your legs?"
"Oh, they will no longer bear me!"
"Ah, the ungrateful things! And yet you feed them well, Mousqueton, apparently."
"Alas, yes! They can reproach me with nothing in that respect," said Mousqueton, with a sigh; "I have always done what I could for my poor body; I am not selfish." And Mousqueton sighed afresh.
"I wonder whether Mousqueton wants to be a baron, too, as he sighs after that fashion?" thought D'Artagnan.
"_Mon Dieu_, monsieur!" said Mousqueton, as if rousing himself from a painful reverie; "how happy monseigneur will be that you have thought of him!"
"Kind Porthos!" cried D'Artagnan, "I am anxious to embrace him."
"Oh!" said Mousqueton, much affected, "I shall certainly write to him."
"What!" cried D'Artagnan, "you will write to him?"
"This very day; I shall not delay it an hour."
"Is he not here, then?"
"No, monsieur."
"But is he near at hand? - is he far off?"
"Oh, can I tell, monsieur, can I tell?"
"_Mordioux!_" cried the musketeer, stamping with his foot, "I am unfortunate. Porthos is such a stay-at-home!"
"Monsieur, there is not a more sedentary man that monseigneur, but - "
"But what?"
"When a friend presses you - "
"A friend?"
"Doubtless - the worthy M. d'Herblay."
"What, has Aramis pressed Porthos?"
"This is how the thing happened, Monsieur d'Artagnan. M. d'Herblay wrote to monseigneur - "
"Indeed!"
"A letter, monsieur, such a pressing letter that it threw us all into a bustle."
"Tell me all about it, my dear friend," said D'Artagnan; "but remove these people a little further off first."
Mousqueton shouted, "Fall back, you fellows," with such powerful lungs that the breath, without the words, would have been sufficient to disperse the four lackeys. D'Artagnan seated himself on the shaft of the box and opened his ears. "Monsieur," said Mousqueton, "monseigneur, then, received a letter from M. le Vicaire-General d'Herblay, eight or nine days ago; it was the day of the rustic pleasures, yes, it must have been Wednesday."
"What do you mean?" said D'Artagnan. "The day of rustic pleasures?"
"Yes, monsieur; we have so many pleasures to take in this delightful country, that we were encumbered by them; so much so, that we have been forced to regulate the distribution of them."
"How easily do I recognize Porthos's love of order in that! Now, that idea would never have occurred to me; but then I am not encumbered with pleasures."
"We were, though," said Mousqueton.
"And how did you regulate the matter, let me know?" said D'Artagnan.
"It is rather long, monsieur."
"Never mind, we have plenty of time; and you speak so well, my dear Mousqueton, that it is really a pleasure to hear you."
