Part 83 (2/2)
”Captain Groslow”
The shudder of the three an to make some impression on them
”Groslow!” said Aramis; ”the devil!
”Who is this Groslow?” asked Porthos ”I don't remember him”
”Groslow is theready to break ours”
”Oh! oh!”
”And do you knoho is his lieutenant?”
”His lieutenant? There is none,” said Athos ”They don't have lieutenants in a felucca manned by a crew of four”
”Yes, but Monsieur Groslow is not a captain of the ordinary kind; he has a lieutenant, and that lieutenant is Monsieur Mordaunt”
This time the musketeers did more than shudder--they almost cried out Those invincible men were subject to a mysterious and fatal influence which that name had over them; the mere sound of it filled them with terror
”What shall we do?” said Athos
”We must seize the felucca,” said Aramis
”And kill hinan ”Those casks which I took for casks of port wine are filled with powder When Mordaunt finds himself discovered he will destroy all, friends and foes; and oneither to Heaven or to hell”
”You have some plan, then?” asked Athos
”Yes”
”What is it?”
”Have you confidence in me?”
”Give your orders,” said the three nan went toward a very sh He turned it gently on its hinges
”There,” he said, ”is our road”
”The deuce! it is a very cold one, my dear friend,” said Aramis
”Stay here, if you like, but I warn you 'twill be rather too warm presently”
”But we cannot swiboat is yonder, lashed to the felucca We will take possession of it and cut the cable Come, my friends”
”A moment's delay,” said Athos; ”our servants?”
”Here we are!” they cried
Meantithe shutters, had disclosed to the of the
Those who have once beheld such a spectacle know that there is nothing , with its deafening roar, its dark billows beneath the pale light of a wintry !” cried D'Artagnan; ”if we hesitate ill the servants do?”
”I do not hesitate, you know,” said Grimaud
”Sir,” interposed Blaisois, ”I warn you that I can only swim in rivers”
”And I not at all,” said Mousqueton
But D'Artagnan had now slipped through the
”You have decided, friend?” said Athos
”Yes,” the Gascon answered; ”Athos! you, who are a perfect being, bid spirit triumph over body Do you, Aramis, order the servants Porthos, kill every one who stands in your way”
And after pressing the hand of Athos, D'Artagnan chose a moment when the shi+p rolled backward, so that he had only to plunge into the water, which was already up to his waist
Athos followed hiain on the waves; the cable which tied the boat to the vessel was then seen plainly rising out of the sea
D'Artagnan swa himself by this rope, his head alone out of water
In one second Athos joined him
Then they saw, as the felucca turned, two other heads peeping, those of Aramis and Grimaud
”I am uneasy about Blaisois,” said Athos; ”he can, he says, only swim in rivers”
”When people can swim at all they can swim anywhere To the boat! to the boat!”
”But Porthos, I do not see hi--he swims like Leviathan”
In fact, Porthos did not appear; for a scene, half tragedy and half comedy, had been perforhtened by the noise of the sea, by the whistling of the wind, by the sight of that dark water yawning like a gulf beneath the forward