“Is the king accustomed to give you such reasons?  No.  He says to you jauntily, ’Gentlemen, there is fighting going on in Gascony or in Flanders; go and fight,’ and you go there.  Why?  You need give yourselves no more uneasiness about this.”

“d’Artagnan is right,” said Athos; “here are our three leaves of absence which came from Monsieur de Treville, and here are three hundred pistoles which came from I don’t know where.  So let us go and get killed where we are told to go.  Is life worth the trouble of so many questions?  D’Artagnan, I am ready to follow you.”

“And I also,” said Porthos.

“And I also,” said Aramis.  “And, indeed, I am not sorry to quit Paris; I had need of distraction.”

“Well, you will have distractions enough, gentlemen, be assured,” said d’Artagnan.

“And, now, when are we to go?” asked Athos.

“Immediately,” replied d’Artagnan; “we have not a minute to lose.”

“Hello, Grimaud!  Planchet!  Mousqueton!  Bazin!” cried the four young men, calling their lackeys, “clean my boots, and fetch the horses from the hotel.”

Each Musketeer was accustomed to leave at the general hotel, as at a barrack, his own horse and that of his lackey.  Planchet, Grimaud, Mousqueton, and Bazin set off at full speed.

“Now let us lay down the plan of campaign,” said Porthos.  “Where do we go first?”

“To Calais,” said d’Artagnan; “that is the most direct line to London.”

“Well,” said Porthos, “this is my advice—­”

“Speak!”

“Four men traveling together would be suspected.  D’Artagnan will give each of us his instructions.  I will go by the way of Boulogne to clear the way; Athos will set out two hours after, by that of Amiens; Aramis will follow us by that of Noyon; as to d’Artagnan, he will go by what route he thinks is best, in Planchet’s clothes, while Planchet will follow us like d’Artagnan, in the uniform of the Guards.”

“Gentlemen,” said Athos, “my opinion is that it is not proper to allow lackeys to have anything to do in such an affair.  A secret may, by chance, be betrayed by gentlemen; but it is almost always sold by lackeys.”

“Porthos’s plan appears to me to be impracticable,” said d’Artagnan, “inasmuch as I am myself ignorant of what instructions I can give you.  I am the bearer of a letter, that is all.  I have not, and I cannot make three copies of that letter, because it is sealed.  We must, then, as it appears to me, travel in company.  This letter is here, in this pocket,” and he pointed to the pocket which contained the letter.  “If I should be killed, one of you must take it, and continue the route; if he be killed, it will be another’s turn, and so on—­ provided a single one arrives, that is all that is required.”