CHAPTER XXIII.
SHOWING IN WHAT WAY D'ARTAGNAN DISCHARGED THE MISSION WITH WHICH THEKING HAD INTRUSTED HIM.
While the king was engaged in making these last-mentioned arrangementsin order to ascertain the truth, D'Artagnan, without losing a second,ran to the stable, took down the lantern, saddled his horse himself, andproceeded toward the place which his majesty had indicated. According tothe promise he had made, he had neither seen nor met any one; and, as wehave observed, he had carried his scruples so far as to do without theassistance of the helpers in the stables altogether. D'Artagnan was oneof those who in moments of difficulty pride themselves on increasingtheir own value. By dint of hard galloping, he in less than five minutesreached the wood, fastened his horse to the first tree he came to, andpenetrated to the broad open space on foot. He then began to inspectmost carefully, on foot and with his lantern in his hand, the wholesurface of the Rond-point, went forward, turned back again, measured,examined, and after half an hour's minute inspection, he returnedsilently to where he had left his horse, and pursued his way in deepreflection and at a foot-pace to Fontainebleau. Louis was waiting in hiscabinet; he was alone, and with a pencil was scribbling on paper certainlines which D'Artagnan at the first glance recognized as being veryunequal and very much scratched about. The conclusion he arrived at was,that they must be verses. The king raised his head and perceivedD'Artagnan. "Well, monsieur," he said, "do you bring me any news?"
"Yes, sire."
"What have you seen?"
"As far as probability goes, sire," D'Artagnan began to reply.
"It was certainty I requested of you."
"I will approach it as near as I possibly can. The weather was very welladapted for investigations of the character I have just made; it hasbeen raining this evening, and the roads were wet and muddy--"
"Well, the result, M. d'Artagnan?"
"Sire, your majesty told me that there was a horse lying dead in thecross-road of the Bois-Rochin, and I began, therefore, by studying theroads. I say the roads, because the center of the cross-road is reachedby four separate roads. The one that I myself took was the only one thatpresented any fresh traces. Two horses had followed it side by side;their eight feet were marked very distinctly in the clay. One of theriders was more impatient than the other, for the foot-prints of the onewere invariably in advance of the other about half a horse's length."
"Are you quite sure they came together?" said the king.
"Yes, sire. The horses are two rather large animals of equalpace--horses well used to maneuvers of all kinds, for they wheeled roundthe barrier of the Rond-point together."
"Well--and after?"
"The two cavaliers paused there for a minute, no doubt to arrange theconditions of the engagement; the horses grew restless and impatient.One of the riders spoke, while the other listened and seemed to havecontented himself by simply answering. His horse pawed the ground, whichproves that his attention was so taken up by listening that he let thebridle fall from his hand."
"A hostile meeting did take place, then?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Continue; you are a most accurate observer."
"One of the two cavaliers remained where he was standing, the one, infact, who had been listening; the other crossed the open space, and atfirst placed himself directly opposite to his adversary. The one who hadremained stationary traversed the Rond-point at a gallop, abouttwo-thirds of its length, thinking that, by this means he would gainupon his opponent; but the latter had followed the circumference of thewood."
"You are ignorant of their names, I suppose?"
"Completely so, sire. Only he who followed the circumference of the woodwas mounted on a black horse."
"How do you know that?"
"I found a few hairs of his tail among the brambles which bordered thesides of the ditch."
"Go on."
"As for the other horse, there can be no trouble in describing him,since he was left dead on the field of battle."
"What was the cause of his death?"
"A ball which had passed through his temple."
"Was the ball that of a pistol or a gun?"
"It was a pistol-bullet, sire. Besides, the manner in which the horsewas wounded explained to me the tactics of the man who had killed it. Hehad followed the circumference of the wood in order to take hisadversary in flank. Moreover, I followed his foot-tracks on the grass."
"The tracks of the black horse, do you mean?"
"Yes, sire."
"Go on, Monsieur d'Artagnan."
"As your majesty now perceives the position of the two adversaries, Iwill, for a moment, leave the cavalier who had remained stationary forthe one who started off at a gallop."
"Do so."
"The horse of the cavalier who rode at full speed was killed on thespot."
"How do you know that?"
"The cavalier had not time even to throw himself off his horse, and sofell with it. I observed the impression of his leg, which, with a greateffort, he was enabled to extricate from under the horse. The spur,pressed down by the weight of the animal, had plowed up the ground."
"Very good; and what did he do as soon as he rose up again?"
"He walked straight up to his adversary."
"Who still remained upon the verge of the forest?"
"Yes, sire. Then, having reached a favorable distance, he stoppedfirmly, for the impression of both his heels are left in the groundquite close to each other, fired, and missed his adversary."
"How do you know he did not hit him?"
"I found a hat with a ball through it."
"Ah, a proof, then!" exclaimed the king.
"Insufficient, sire," replied D'Artagnan, coldly; "it is a hat withoutany letters indicating its ownership, without arms: a red feather, asall hats have: the lace, even, had nothing particular in it."
"Did the man with the hat through which the bullet had passed fire asecond time?"
"Oh, sire, he had already fired twice."
"How did you ascertain that?"
"I found the waddings of the pistol."
"And what became of the bullet which did not kill the horse?"
"It cut in two the feather of the hat belonging to him against whom itwas directed, and broke a small birch at the other end of the openglade."
"In that case, then, the man on the black horse was disarmed, while hisadversary had still one more shot to fire."
"Sire, while the dismounted rider was extricating himself from hishorse, the other was reloading his pistol. Only, he was much agitatedwhile he was loading it, and his hand trembled greatly."
"How do you know that?"
"Half the charge fell to the ground, and he threw the ramrod aside, nothaving time to replace it in the pistol."
"Monsieur d'Artagnan, it is marvelous what you tell me."
"It is only close observation, sire, and the commonest highwayman woulddo as much."
"The whole scene is before me from the manner in which you relate it."
"I have, in fact, reconstructed it in my own mind, with merely a fewalterations."
"And now," said the king, "let us return to the dismounted cavalier. Youwere saying that he had walked toward his adversary while the latter wasloading his pistol."
"Yes; but at the very moment he himself was taking aim, the otherfired."
"Oh!" said the king; "and the shot?"
"The shot told terribly, sire; the dismounted cavalier fell upon hisface, after having staggered forward three or four paces."
"Where was he hit?"
"In two places; in the first place, in his right hand, and then, by thesame bullet, in his chest."
"But how could you ascertain that?" inquired the king, full ofadmiration.
"By a very simple means; the butt-end of the pistol was covered withblood, and the trace of the bullet could be observed with fragments of abroken ring. The wounded man, in all probability, had the ring-fingerand the little finger carried off."
"As
far as the hand goes, I have nothing to say; but the chest!"
"Sire, there were two small pools of blood, at a distance of about twofeet and a half from each other. At one of these pools of blood thegrass was torn up by the clenched hand; at the other the grass wassimply pressed down by the weight of the body."
"Poor De Guiche!" exclaimed the king.
"Ah! it was M. de Guiche, then?" said the musketeer, very quietly. "Isuspected it, but did not venture to mention it to your majesty."
"And what made you suspect it?"
"I recognized the De Grammont arms upon the holsters of the dead horse."
"And you think he is seriously wounded?"
"Very seriously, since he fell immediately, and remained a long time inthe same place; however, he was able to walk, as he left the spot,supported by two friends."
"You met him returning, then?"
"No; but I observed the foot-prints of three men; the one on the rightand the one on the left walked freely and easily, but the one in themiddle dragged his feet as he walked; besides, he left traces of bloodat every step he took."
"Now, monsieur, since you saw the combat so distinctly that not a singledetail seems to have escaped you, tell me something about De Guiche'sadversary?"
"Oh, sire, I do not know him."
"And yet you see everything very clearly."
"Yes, sire, I see everything; but I do not tell all I see; and, sincethe poor devil has escaped, your majesty will permit me to say that I donot intend to denounce him."
"And yet he is guilty, since he has fought a duel, monsieur."
"Not guilty in my eyes, sire," said D'Artagnan, coldly.
"Monsieur!" exclaimed the king, "are you aware of what you are saying?"
"Perfectly, sire; but, according to my notion, a man who fights a duelis a brave man; such, at least, is my own opinion; but your majesty mayhave another; that is very natural--you are the master here."
"Monsieur d'Artagnan, I ordered you, however--"
D'Artagnan interrupted the king, by a respectful gesture. "You orderedme, sire, to gather what particulars I could, respecting a hostilemeeting that had taken place; those particulars you have. If you orderme to arrest M. de Guiche's adversary, I will do so; but do not order meto denounce him to you, for in that case I will not obey."
"Very well! Arrest him, then."
"Give me his name, sire."
The king stamped his foot angrily; but after a moment's reflection, hesaid, "You are right--ten times, twenty times, a hundred times right."
"That is my opinion, sire; I am happy that, this time, it accords withyour majesty's."
"One word more. Who assisted Guiche?"
"I do not know, sire."
"But you speak of two men. There was a person present, then, as second."
"There was no second, sire. Nay, more than that, when M. de Guiche fell,his adversary fled without giving him any assistance."
"The miserable coward!" exclaimed the king.
"The consequence of your ordinances, sire. If a man has fought well andfairly, and has already escaped one chance of death, he naturally wishesto escape a second. M. de Botteville cannot be forgotten very easily."
"And so, men turn cowards."
"No, they become prudent."
"And he has fled, then, you say?"
"Yes; and as fast as his horse could possibly carry him."
"In what direction?"
"In the direction of the chateau."
"Well; and after--?"
"Afterward, as I have had the honor of telling your majesty, two men onfoot arrived, who carried M. de Guiche back with them."
"What proof have you that these men arrived after the combat?"
"A very evident proof, sire; at the moment the encounter took place,the rain had just ceased, the ground had not had time to imbibe themoisture, and had, consequently, become damp; the footsteps sunk in theground; but, while M. de Guiche was lying there in a fainting conditionthe ground became firm again, and the footsteps made a less sensibleimpression."
Louis clapped his hands together in sign of admiration. "Monsieurd'Artagnan," he said, "you are positively the cleverest man in mykingdom."
"The very thing that M. de Richelieu thought, and M. de Mazarin said,sire."
"And, now, it remains for us to see if your sagacity is in fault."
"Oh! sire, a man may be mistaken; _errare humanum est_," said themusketeer, philosophically.
"In that case, you are not human, Monsieur d'Artagnan, for I believe younever are mistaken."
"Your majesty said, that we were going to see whether such was the caseor not."
"Yes."
"In what way, may I venture to ask?"
"I have sent for M. de Manicamp, and M. de Manicamp is coming."
"And M. de Manicamp knows the secret?"
"Guiche has no secrets for M. de Manicamp."
D'Artagnan shook his head. "No one was present at the combat, I repeat;and, unless M. de Manicamp was one of the two men who brought himback--"
"Hush!" said the king, "he is coming; remain there, and listenattentively."
"Very good, sire."
And, at the same moment, Manicamp and Saint-Aignan appeared at thethresh-hold of the door.