Chapter 60 - Page 2

Upon this they began to reflect. Immediately afterwards,
however, the intendant added, that without anticipating M. Fouquet's
orders, he knew his master sufficiently well to be aware that he took an
interest in every gentleman in the king's service, and that, although he
did not know the new-comers, he would do as much for them as he had done
for the others."

"Excellent! and I trust that the promises were followed up; I desire, as
you know, that no promise should ever be made in my name without being
kept."

"Without a moment's loss of time, our two privateers, and your own
horses, were placed at the disposal of the officers; the keys of the
principal mansion were handed over to them, so that they made up hunting-
parties, and walking excursions with such ladies as are to be found in
Belle-Isle; and such other as they are enabled to enlist from the
neighborhood, who have no fear of sea-sickness."

"And there is a fair sprinkling to be met with at Sarzeau and Vannes, I
believe, your eminence?"

"Yes; in fact all along the coast," said Aramis, quietly.

"And now, how about the soldiers?"

"Everything precisely the same, in a relative degree, you understand; the
soldiers have plenty of wine, excellent provisions, and good pay."

"Very good; so that - "

"So that this garrison can be depended upon, and it is a better one than
the last."

"Good."

"The result is, if Fortune favors us, so that the garrisons are changed
in this manner, only every two months, that, at the end of every three
years, the whole army will, in its turn, have been there; and, therefore,
instead of having one regiment in our favor, we shall have fifty thousand
men."

"Yes, yes; I knew perfectly well," said Fouquet, "that no friend could be
more incomparable and invaluable than yourself, my dear Monsieur
d'Herblay; but," he added, laughing, "all this time we are forgetting our
friend, Du Vallon; what has become of him? During the three days I spent
at Saint-Mande, I confess I have forgotten him completely."

"I do not forget him, however," returned Aramis. "Porthos is at Saint-
Mande; his joints are kept well greased, the greatest care is being taken
care of him with regard to the food he eats, and the wines he drinks; I
advise him to take daily airings in the small park, which you have kept
for your own use, and he makes us of it accordingly. He begins to walk
again, he exercises his muscular powers by bending down young elm-trees,
or making the old oaks fly into splinters, as Milo of Crotona used to do;
and, as there are no lions in the park, it is not unlikely we shall find
him alive. Porthos is a brave fellow."

"Yes, but in the mean time he will get bored to