The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-05
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try to stop them. for his spies were watchful and their errand would be suspected. But one of the four might survive to place the Queens note in | the hand of Buckingham.
 In Chantilly stranger at the inn fixed a quarrel upon Porthos and in- vited him to walk in the garden" with
 him. Kill the fellow and rejoin us
 as soon as you can," cried Athos. A league beyond Beauvais the three travellers came upon some workmen engaged in repairing the road. As they passed, the pretended workingmen seized muskets hidden behind bank | bush of Monsigneur le Cardinal. A ball hit Aramis in the shoulder and l another stretched Mousqueton, Por- | thoss valet, on the ground with a | wound in his thigh. Aramis was stifl | riding with his comrades when they | cleared the ambush, but so badly
 wounded was he that they had to leave
 him at the next inn and left there also. | his valet, Bazin, to attend him. BaZin
 had proved himself nuisance in a | skirmish.
 They reached Amiens at midnight and | alighted at the inn of the Lis dor. | When Athos went to pay the bill next
 morning the host accused him of trying | to pass bad coin, and called for help. A band of armed men rushed in upon the Musketeer.
 T am takenw shouted Athos. Go on, d'Artagnan! Spur! Spurw
 Leaving Athos fighting desperately against odds, d'Artagnan and his
 iackey, Planchet, sprang upon the two horses which stood ready at the inn door and galloped away. Their ow-
 horses had been tempered with durin the night as had the horses of all tn nF nvtx ThA which they rode away were, they right ly surmised. the property of emissaries of the Cardinal just then busy superin- tending the capture of Athos. Fast | the long road swept away beneath the l flying feet of the appropriated steeds and dArtagnan and Planchet arrived
 at St. Omer without once drawing rein. A hundred paces from the gates of Calais d'Artagnan's horse sunk under him and the horse of Planchet refused to move further. Leaving their nags l on the highroad the two men ran to- ward the port. As they did so they | observed a gentleman whose boots and ! apparel gave evidence that he had
 ridden far and hard also making to the port and evidently in great haste As. l they came up to him he was trying to
 engage from a ship-master passage to | England.
 Nothing would be easier" said the 1 ship captain: my vessel is ready to
 sail. but this morning there arrived by
 express an order that no one should be
 allowed to cross without express per
 mission of the Cardinal"
 Y have that permission" said the
 stranger, handing the captain a paper
 which the latter examined and then
 handed back with directions to have 1t countersigned by the governor of the port, who was at his country house,
 quarter of a league from the city. D'Artagnan and Planchet followed
 the gentleman and the lackey who | accompanied him, and setting upon Governors house, placed the gentleman
 hors du combat and tied the lackey to | tree. Then the Gascon took from
 the wounded and insensible stranger
 the coveted pass.
 It was made out in the name of Count | de Wardes, and by that name d'Artag-
 nan presented himself before the Cover
 nor. obtained his countersign, and thus
 armed had no difficulty in passing
 over to England. When Buckingham
 read the Queens letter he was filled
 with alarm, which changed into ter
 TOT when, upon examining the studs, l he discovered that two of them were
 missing. But the brilliant favorite of
 Charles I. was quick to meet and over
 come an occasion. Seating himself at | his desk he hastily wrote and sent off
 an order commanding that no ship leave
 the shores of England until further
 notice without his special permission. Then he sent for the jeweler and said | to him: Make two diamond studs l exactly like these ten; have them done day after tomorrow and I will give
 you six thousand pistoles. Meantime, you are my prisoner. Fit up your
 workshop here; send for what material
 and assistance you require" After d'Artagnan, bearing twelve
 diamond studs exactly alike, had sailed | from London the embargo was removed
 and a ship on which Milady was a pas | senger followed close on the one which bore the Gascon.
 | At the ball the Queen wore her
 diamond studs set in a shoulder knot. I The Cardinal drew near the King and placed in his hand small Casket con-
 taining two diamond studs.
 | 'T think, if you will count them, you will find that HerMajesty wears only ten studs" said he. Ask her who
 could have stolen these two" The King. always morbidIy jealous,
 at once approached the Queen and
 counted the studs she wore. There
 were twelve. He called the Cardinal
 to him and asked severely, What does | this mean?"
 Armand Duplessis was never caught
 napping-at least, by man of the Kings calibre "It means" replied 1 the Cardinal with a low bow. that was desirous of presenting these two
 studs to Her Majesty, and that not
 daring to offer them myself, I adopted | this manner of inducing her to accept
 them"
 And l am the more grateful to Your | Eminence," replied Anne of Astria, | shooting a look of intelligence and l triumph at the Cardinal. from being certain that these two studs have cost you as dearly as all the others cost His
 Majesty"
 After that night d'Artagnan wore on | his finger a magnificent diamond. the l gift of a queen. His three friends
 being recovered of their wounds and | freed from their other misfortunes
 soon rejoined him, and the four "ruffled
 1t" again in the streets of Paris.
 One day Athos told d'Artagnan what
 he had kept hidden from all others
 the secret of his life. He was, indeed
 a great noble. the Count de la t'ere
 Some years before he had been trapped | into a marriage with a beautiful woman
 who turned out to be an abandoned
 creature, branded upon the shoulder
 with a fleur de lys, the mark of a com
 mon thief. Upon learning all her
 wicked history the Count had hanged her with his own hands to a tree in his
 park, and then, letting it be supposed
 that he was dead, had joined the Mus keteerS under the name of Athos.