THE MAN IN" THE IRON" MASK. 427 men, and carriage, then, crossing his arms upon his swell- ing chest;
- When will it be my turn to depart? said he, in an
agitated voice. *^What is there left for man after youth, after love, after glory, after friendship, after strength, after riches? That rock, under which sleeps Porthos, who pos- sessed all T have named; this moss, under which repose Athos and Kaoul, who possessed still much more! He hesitated a moment, with a dull eye; then, drawing himself up:
- 'Forward! still forward!" said he. When it shall be
time God will tell me, as He has told others!" He touched the earth, moistened with the evening dew, with the ends of his fingers, signed himself, as if he had been at the henitier of a church, and retook, alone — ever alone — the road to Paris. EPILOGUE. Four years after the scene we have just described two horsemen, well mounted, traversed Blois early in the morn- ing, for the purpose of arranging a birding party which the king intended to make in that uneven plain which the Loire divides in two, and which borders on the one side on Meung, on the other on Amboise. These were the captain of the king's harriers and the governor of the falcons, personages greatly respected in the time of Louis XIIL, but rather neglected by his successor. These two horsemen, having reconnoitered the ground, were returning, their observa- tions made, when they perceived some little groups of soldiers, here and there, whom the sergeants were placing at distances at the openings of the inclosures. These were the king's musketeers. Behind them came, upon a good horse, the captain, known by his richly embroidered uni- form. His hair was gray, his beard was becoming so. He appeared a little bent, although sitting and handling his horse gracefully. He was looking about him watchfully. Monsieur d'Artagnan does not get any older," said the captain of the harriers to his colleague, the falconer; "with ten years more than either of us, he has the seat of a young man on horseback." "That is true," replied the falconer. "I don't see any
change in him for the last twenty years."
