46 THE BASTION SAINT-GERVAIS
On arriving at the lodgings of his three friends, d'Artagnan found themassembled in the same chamber. Athos was meditating; Porthos wastwisting his mustache; Aramis was saying his prayers in a charminglittle Book of Hours, bound in blue velvet.
"Pardieu, gentlemen," said he. "I hope what you have to tell me is worththe trouble, or else, I warn you, I will not pardon you for making mecome here instead of getting a little rest after a night spent in takingand dismantling a bastion. Ah, why were you not there, gentlemen? It waswarm work."
"We were in a place where it was not very cold," replied Porthos, givinghis mustache a twist which was peculiar to him.
"Hush!" said Athos.
"Oh, oh!" said d'Artagnan, comprehending the slight frown of theMusketeer. "It appears there is something fresh aboard."
"Aramis," said Athos, "you went to breakfast the day before yesterday atthe inn of the Parpaillot, I believe?"
"Yes."
"How did you fare?"
"For my part, I ate but little. The day before yesterday was a fish day,and they had nothing but meat."
"What," said Athos, "no fish at a seaport?"
"They say," said Aramis, resuming his pious reading, "that the dykewhich the cardinal is making drives them all out into the open sea."
"But that is not quite what I mean to ask you, Aramis," replied Athos."I want to know if you were left alone, and nobody interrupted you."
"Why, I think there were not many intruders. Yes, Athos, I know what youmean: we shall do very well at the Parpaillot."
"Let us go to the Parpaillot, then, for here the walls are like sheetsof paper."
D'Artagnan, who was accustomed to his friend's manner of acting, and whoperceived immediately, by a word, a gesture, or a sign from him, thatthe circumstances were serious, took Athos's arm, and went out withoutsaying anything. Porthos followed, chatting with Aramis.
On their way they met Grimaud. Athos made him a sign to come with them.Grimaud, according to custom, obeyed in silence; the poor lad had nearlycome to the pass of forgetting how to speak.
They arrived at the drinking room of the Parpaillot. It was seveno'clock in the morning, and daylight began to appear. The three friendsordered breakfast, and went into a room in which the host said theywould not be disturbed.
Unfortunately, the hour was badly chosen for a private conference. Themorning drum had just been beaten; everyone shook off the drowsiness ofnight, and to dispel the humid morning air, came to take a drop at theinn. Dragoons, Swiss, Guardsmen, Musketeers, light-horsemen, succeededone another with a rapidity which might answer the purpose of the hostvery well, but agreed badly with the views of the four friends. Thusthey applied very curtly to the salutations, healths, and jokes of theircompanions.
"I see how it will be," said Athos: "we shall get into some prettyquarrel or other, and we have no need of one just now. D'Artagnan, tellus what sort of a night you have had, and we will describe oursafterward."
"Ah, yes," said a light-horseman, with a glass of brandy in his hand,which he sipped slowly. "I hear you gentlemen of the Guards have been inthe trenches tonight, and that you did not get much the best of theRochellais."
D'Artagnan looked at Athos to know if he ought to reply to this intruderwho thus mixed unasked in their conversation.
"Well," said Athos, "don't you hear Monsieur de Busigny, who does youthe honor to ask you a question? Relate what has passed during thenight, since these gentlemen desire to know it."
"Have you not taken a bastion?" said a Swiss, who was drinking rum outof a beer glass.
"Yes, monsieur," said d'Artagnan, bowing, "we have had that honor. Weeven have, as you may have heard, introduced a barrel of powder underone of the angles, which in blowing up made a very pretty breach.Without reckoning that as the bastion was not built yesterday all therest of the building was badly shaken."
"And what bastion is it?" asked a dragoon, with his saber run through agoose which he was taking to be cooked.
"The bastion St. Gervais," replied d'Artagnan, "from behind which theRochellais annoyed our workmen."
"Was that affair hot?"
"Yes, moderately so. We lost five men, and the Rochellais eight or ten."
"Balzempleu!" said the Swiss, who, notwithstanding the admirablecollection of oaths possessed by the German language, had acquired ahabit of swearing in French.
"But it is probable," said the light-horseman, "that they will sendpioneers this morning to repair the bastion."
"Yes, that's probable," said d'Artagnan.
"Gentlemen," said Athos, "a wager!"
"Ah, wooi, a vager!" cried the Swiss.
"What is it?" said the light-horseman.
"Stop a bit," said the dragoon, placing his saber like a spit upon thetwo large iron dogs which held the firebrands in the chimney, "stop abit, I am in it. You cursed host! a dripping pan immediately, that I maynot lose a drop of the fat of this estimable bird."
"You was right," said the Swiss; "goose grease is kood with basdry."
"There!" said the dragoon. "Now for the wager! We listen, MonsieurAthos."
"Yes, the wager!" said the light-horseman.
"Well, Monsieur de Busigny, I will bet you," said Athos, "that my threecompanions, Messieurs Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan, and myself, willgo and breakfast in the bastion St. Gervais, and we will remain there anhour, by the watch, whatever the enemy may do to dislodge us."
Porthos and Aramis looked at each other; they began to comprehend.
"But," said d'Artagnan, in the ear of Athos, "you are going to get usall killed without mercy."
"We are much more likely to be killed," said Athos, "if we do not go."
"My faith, gentlemen," said Porthos, turning round upon his chair andtwisting his mustache, "that's a fair bet, I hope."
"I take it," said M. de Busigny; "so let us fix the stake."
"You are four gentlemen," said Athos, "and we are four; an unlimiteddinner for eight. Will that do?"
"Capitally," replied M. de Busigny.
"Perfectly," said the dragoon.
"That shoots me," said the Swiss.
The fourth auditor, who during all this conversation had played a mutepart, made a sign of the head in proof that he acquiesced in theproposition.
"The breakfast for these gentlemen is ready," said the host.
"Well, bring it," said Athos.
The host obeyed. Athos called Grimaud, pointed to a large basket whichlay in a corner, and made a sign to him to wrap the viands up in thenapkins.
Grimaud understood that it was to be a breakfast on the grass, took thebasket, packed up the viands, added the bottles, and then took thebasket on his arm.
"But where are you going to eat my breakfast?" asked the host.
"What matter, if you are paid for it?" said Athos, and he threw twopistoles majestically on the table.
"Shall I give you the change, my officer?" said the host.
"No, only add two bottles of champagne, and the difference will be forthe napkins."
The host had not quite so good a bargain as he at first hoped for, buthe made amends by slipping in two bottles of Anjou wine instead of twobottles of champagne.
"Monsieur de Busigny," said Athos, "will you be so kind as to set yourwatch with mine, or permit me to regulate mine by yours?"
"Which you please, monsieur!" said the light-horseman, drawing from hisfob a very handsome watch, studded with diamonds; "half past seven."
"Thirty-five minutes after seven," said Athos, "by which you perceive Iam five minutes faster than you."
And bowing to all the astonished persons present, the young men took theroad to the bastion St. Gervais, followed by Grimaud, who carried thebasket, ignorant of where he was going but in the passive obediencewhich Athos had taught him not even thinking of asking.
As long as they were within the circle of the camp, the four friends didnot exchange one word; besides, they were followed by the curious, wh
o,hearing of the wager, were anxious to know how they would come out ofit. But when once they passed the line of circumvallation and foundthemselves in the open plain, d'Artagnan, who was completely ignorant ofwhat was going forward, thought it was time to demand an explanation.
"And now, my dear Athos," said he, "do me the kindness to tell me wherewe are going?"
"Why, you see plainly enough we are going to the bastion."
"But what are we going to do there?"
"You know well that we go to breakfast there."
"But why did we not breakfast at the Parpaillot?"
"Because we have very important matters to communicate to one another,and it was impossible to talk five minutes in that inn without beingannoyed by all those importunate fellows, who keep coming in, salutingyou, and addressing you. Here at least," said Athos, pointing to thebastion, "they will not come and disturb us."
"It appears to me," said d'Artagnan, with that prudence which allieditself in him so naturally with excessive bravery, "that we could havefound some retired place on the downs or the seashore."
"Where we should have been seen all four conferring together, so that atthe end of a quarter of an hour the cardinal would have been informed byhis spies that we were holding a council."
"Yes," said Aramis, "Athos is right: ANIMADVERTUNTUR IN DESERTIS."
"A desert would not have been amiss," said Porthos; "but it behooved usto find it."
"There is no desert where a bird cannot pass over one's head, where afish cannot leap out of the water, where a rabbit cannot come out of itsburrow, and I believe that bird, fish, and rabbit each becomes a spy ofthe cardinal. Better, then, pursue our enterprise; from which, besides,we cannot retreat without shame. We have made a wager--a wager whichcould not have been foreseen, and of which I defy anyone to divine thetrue cause. We are going, in order to win it, to remain an hour in thebastion. Either we shall be attacked, or not. If we are not, we shallhave all the time to talk, and nobody will hear us--for I guarantee thewalls of the bastion have no ears; if we are, we will talk of ouraffairs just the same. Moreover, in defending ourselves, we shall coverourselves with glory. You see that everything is to our advantage."
"Yes," said d'Artagnan; "but we shall indubitably attract a ball."
"Well, my dear," replied Athos, "you know well that the balls most to bedreaded are not from the enemy."
"But for such an expedition we surely ought to have brought ourmuskets."
"You are stupid, friend Porthos. Why should we load ourselves with auseless burden?"
"I don't find a good musket, twelve cartridges, and a powder flask veryuseless in the face of an enemy."
"Well," replied Athos, "have you not heard what d'Artagnan said?"
"What did he say?" demanded Porthos.
"d'Artagnan said that in the attack of last night eight or ten Frenchmenwere killed, and as many Rochellais."
"What then?"
"The bodies were not plundered, were they? It appears the conquerors hadsomething else to do."
"Well?"
"Well, we shall find their muskets, their cartridges, and their flasks;and instead of four musketoons and twelve balls, we shall have fifteenguns and a hundred charges to fire."
"Oh, Athos!" said Aramis, "truly you are a great man."
Porthos nodded in sign of agreement. D'Artagnan alone did not seemconvinced.
Grimaud no doubt shared the misgivings of the young man, for seeing thatthey continued to advance toward the bastion--something he had till thendoubted--he pulled his master by the skirt of his coat.
"Where are we going?" asked he, by a gesture.
Athos pointed to the bastion.
"But," said Grimaud, in the same silent dialect, "we shall leave ourskins there."
Athos raised his eyes and his finger toward heaven.
Grimaud put his basket on the ground and sat down with a shake of thehead.
Athos took a pistol from his belt, looked to see if it was properlyprimed, cocked it, and placed the muzzle close to Grimaud's ear.
Grimaud was on his legs again as if by a spring. Athos then made him asign to take up his basket and to walk on first. Grimaud obeyed. Allthat Grimaud gained by this momentary pantomime was to pass from therear guard to the vanguard.
Arrived at the bastion, the four friends turned round.
More than three hundred soldiers of all kinds were assembled at the gateof the camp; and in a separate group might be distinguished M. deBusigny, the dragoon, the Swiss, and the fourth bettor.
Athos took off his hat, placed it on the end of his sword, and waved itin the air.
All the spectators returned him his salute, accompanying this courtesywith a loud hurrah which was audible to the four; after which all fourdisappeared in the bastion, whither Grimaud had preceded them.
Les trois mousquetaires. English Page 47