The Clio messenger., 1921-11-24

NEW or us with red blood In our
veins ever lose our interest In
deeds of valor and adventure
and Dumas Is master In his delinea-
tion Of soldiers OF fortune-their fatal
craftsmanship. their matchless WELD.
ing of sword and rapier. and their
hairbreadth escapes.
In "Twenty Years After" he pre-
sents his "Three Musketeers" some
what more matured and not as rollick-
Ing as when we met them In their early
manhood, but just as ready to cham
pl0n the needy and unfortunate.
Louis XIII Of France is dead. His
son, the king, Is but ten years of age.
The mighty Richelieu is in his grave.
Mazarin Is cardinal, and though but a
ghost of his illustrious predecessor, he
holds almost absolute control over the
queen-Anne Of Austria.
The conditions are opportune for q
story of personal daring and bloody en-
counter.
Mazarin is an italian and is uni
versally hated. Paris Is leagued
against the ministry, and the soldiers
Of the royal guard are attacked and
their lieutenant - Cummings - Is
wounded. Everywhere there are fore
bodings and cries of "Down with MAJ
arin." The cardinal DISCUSSES himself
and inspects the city. He finds the
"Frondeurs"-the insurrectionists-in
full sway. Somehow he must secure
trusty servants or downfall awaits
him. D'Artagnan, the lieutenant of
the musketeers, Is recommended, to-
gether with his three sturdy col
leagues. Count de Rochefort Is brought
from confinement In the Bastile to tes-
tify to D'Artagnan's allegiance. and
Is freed by the mob while being taken
back to prison. Mazarin Is In despair
and tells the queen that "the whole
world conspires to break their bonds"
and D'Artagnan is directed to find his
three friends and attach them to the
royal service. Aramis-Abbe D'Her-
blay-is an ecclesiastic In love with
Madame de Longueville. He hates the
cardinal and refuses.
Porthos-the giant-livlng In lux
ury as Monsieur de Valon de Bracieux
de Pierrefonds, desires above all else
to be baron. He enllsts.
Athos-Monsieur de la Fere-re-
formed from drink and devoted to a
young ward-Viscount de Bragelonne
lis still. as of old. a noble-minded
lover Of the people, and will not serve
the cardinal.
Two for and two against Mazarin,
therefore the musketeers make their
way to Paris, where there Is great
excitement because OF prophecy that
Due de Beaufort-the grandson of
Henry Nv and the idol Of the populace
will escape from the dungeon Of Vim
cennes before Whltsuntide. Beaufort
hates Mazarin and uses ingenious
means OF ridiculing him. Grimaud, a
servant o. Athos, is set to guard him,
and he, with Count de ROchefort, ef-
feet his escape; and D'Artagnan and
Porthos, seeking to recapture him,
have an encounter In which they are
taken prisoner by Athos and Aramis,
DuI dEb set lTtt uilu lhC ipui biChSt
mutual friendship. Meanwhile the
preparations for insurrection are in
tensified and a new ally Of the popu-
lace cause is found In Able Scarron
-"the queens invalid" who is in con-
troll OF the mendlcants of Paris, and
whose pension has been cut Off by
Mazarin. Another important charac-
ter Is also introduced at this juncture
IA wounded soldier calls for priest,
and he who responds proves to be the
Monk Mordaunt, a desperate charac-
ter whose sole aim is to avenge the
death of his mother, In which the
Three Musketeers" participated
Learning from the man to whom he
minIstered that he had been the ex-
ecutloner Of Mllady. Mordaunt stabs