Sword fights, adventure, spying, chivalry: The Three Musketeers will appeal to everyone who likes a fast-paced and thrilling story. Here is the first adventure of those three brave men, with their companion D'Artagnan who was more daring than any of them.

The Three Musketeers

by Alexandre Dumas

One morning in April, 1625, the little French town of Meung was in a state of great excitement. In those times, fighting was common in France. The King fought the ambitious Cardinal Richelieu, who wanted to be as powerful as the King himself. Noble families fought among themselves, and Spain was always ready to wage war. Few days passed without trouble in some town or another.

On this particular day, a crowd had gathered outside the Inn. The cause of all the stir was the arrival of a young man. He was riding the oddest horse the townspeople had ever seen. It looked so comical that many of them wanted to laugh. Only the length of the sword at the young man's side, and the proud gleam in his eye, stopped them from doing so.

The young man was called D'Artagnan. He was on his way to Paris, where he hoped to fulfil his dearest wish—to become a King's Musketeer. His father had given him a letter to Monsieur de Tr‚ville, an old friend who was now Captain of the Musketeers.

As he dismounted, D'Artagnan caught sight of a gentleman with a scar on his temple sitting at the Inn's open window. He was talking to two others. They were laughing, and D'Artagnan was sure they were laughing at him.

This was more than he could bear.

"Tell me what you are laughing at, sir," he called furiously. "Then we will laugh together."

"I was not speaking to you, sir."

"Are you laughing at me?" demanded D'Artagnan, drawing his sword.

"I laugh as I please," the man replied, turning away and re-appearing in the doorway.

Angrily, D'Artagnan lunged at him. Startled, the other man drew his sword. At the same moment, the innkeeper and several onlookers, anxious to prevent a fight, fell upon D'Artagnan. He was knocked senseless in the struggle, and carried indoors for attention. When the innkeeper returned, the gentleman with the scar asked how the young man was.

"He will soon recover," replied the innkeeper. "I don't know who he is, sir, "but he carries a letter to Monsieur de Tr‚ville in Paris."

"Indeed!" The other man became alert. "I would like to know what is in that letter. He is a nuisance, this young man. Please make out my bill. I am leaving. I must meet Milady and I do not wish her to be seen by him."

Soon afterwards, partly recovered, D'Artagnan limped into the courtyard. The first thing he saw was the gentleman, talking to a beautiful young woman in a carriage.

"What are the Cardinal's orders?" she was asking.

"You must return at once to England. Keep watch on the Duke of Buckingham. As soon as he leaves London, inform the Cardinal. I am returning to Paris."

D'Artagnan rushed forward.

"Stand and fight, sir!" he demanded. "Would you dare run away from me in front of a woman?"

Seeing her companion lay his hand on his sword, Milady touched his arm.

"Remember, delay could ruin our plans."

"You're right," he agreed. "Go on your way, and I will go on mine."

With that, the carriage moved off, the driver cracking his whip. The gentleman jumped on his horse and galloped away in the opposite direction.

"Coward!" D'Artagnan called after him, but he was gone.

D'Artagnan was ready to leave for Paris when he found his letter to Monsieur de Tr‚ville was missing.

"My letter! It's gone!"

The innkeeper hastened to protect himself.

"That gentleman must have taken it, sir. He showed great interest in it."

The letter seemed to be gone for good. All D'Artagnan could do was hope Monsieur de Tr‚ville would see him without it.

Monsieur de Tr‚ville was a close friend of King Louis XIII. In those troubled times the ruler of France needed this brave man at this side. Tr‚ville led the King's Musketeers, a band of bold men dedicated to protect their King.

Cardinal Richelieu, who had almost as much power in the country as the King himself, also had his own men—the Cardinal's Guards. He and the King constantly boasted to one another about their men's courage, and secretly encouraged them to fight.

Monsieur de Tr‚ville's headquarters was always full of Musketeers. When D'Artagnan arrived, he made his way through them, his heart beating with excitement. He was allowed in to see Monsieur de Tr‚ville, but had to wait. The Captain was scolding three of his men.

"Athos! Porthos! Aramis! I hear you were fighting in the streets and were arrested by the Cardinal's Guards. This will not do!"

"But they attacked us!" they protested. "We fought back, and escaped."

"The Cardinal didn't tell me that," murmured Monsieur de Tr‚ville. "However, I will not allow my men to risk their lives for nothing. The King needs his brave Musketeers. Now you may go, and I will see this young man."

Eagerly, D'Artagnan explained who he was. Monsieur de Tr‚ville smiled.

"I liked your father. What can I do for his son?"

D'Artagnan explained that he had come to Paris to join the Musketeers.

"That won't be possible right away," the Captain told him. "I'm afraid no one becomes a Musketeer without first serving in a less important regiment. But I will do this for you. I will send you to the Royal Academy, where you will learn horsemanship and swordsmanship. Let me know how you are getting on."

Thanking Monsieur de Tr‚ville, D'Artagnan left, excited over his good luck. On the way out he had the misfortune to meet, one after the other, the three Musketeers he had seen in the Captain's room. Still smarting from the scolding they had received, they took offence easily. D'Artagnan upset them all so much that he found himself facing three duels. The first was to be with Athos at noon, the second with Porthos at one o'clock, and the third with Aramis at two!

Dismayed, D'Artagnan said to himself: "I can't draw back. But at least if I am killed, I shall be killed by a Musketeer!"

D'Artagnan knew no one in Paris. He went to meet Athos alone, determined to fight well. When Athos arrived, he brought the other two Musketeers with him. All three were astonished to see that it was the same young man they were to fight, one after the other.

"Now that you are here, gentlemen," D'Artagnan said, "I wish to apologise."

At the word "apologise" he saw contempt appear in their faces. They thought him a coward. His hot blood rose.

"You don't understand! I apologise only in case I am unable to fight all three of you. Monsieur Athos has the right to kill me first. And now—on guard!"

With the most gallant air possible, D'Artagnan drew his sword. Athos had just drawn his when a company of the Cardinal's Guards appeared.

"Sheathe your swords!" called Porthos and Aramis together, but it was too late.

"Fighting, Musketeers?" cried one of the Guards mockingly. "You know that isn't allowed. Put up your swords. You're under arrest!"

"Never!" called the three Musketeers. "There may only be three of us, but we will fight."

"You are wrong—there are four of us," D'Artagnan said quietly. "Try me."

"What's your name, brave fellow?" asked Athos.

"D'Artagnan, monsieur."

"Well, then, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, forward!"

Swords clashed and men cried out as they fought fiercely to and fro. The Cardinal's Guards were also good swordsmen, but at last they were beaten off. Afterwards, the four returned to Monsieur de Tr‚ville's headquarters, arm in arm.

D'Artagnan's heart swelled with pride.

"I am not yet a Musketeer, but at least I must be an apprentice."

The affair caused a great fuss. Monsieur de Tr‚ville scolded his Musketeers in public, but congratulated them in private. The King heard of it and was so impressed by D'Artagnan's bravery that he placed him as a cadet in the Guards of Monsieur d'Essart.

From then on D'Artagnan and the three Musketeers were the greatest of friends. D'Artagnan learned about life in Paris, and about the Court of King Louis XIII and the lovely Queen Anne. He was happy, and looked forward to the day when he too would become a Musketeer.

One day, while D'Artagnan was resting in his lodgings, his landlord, Monsieur Bonacieux, came upstairs to see him.

"I have heard you are a brave young man, D'Artagnan. I need help. Constance, my wife, has been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?"

"My wife is seamstress to the Queen," Monsieur Bonacieux explained. "She is more than that. She is one of the few people the Queen can trust."

D'Artagnan had heard a great deal about the Queen. She was a lonely woman. Everyone knew that the King no longer loved her. The Cardinal had once cared for her, but she had rejected him. Now he plotted jealously against her. The English Duke of Buckingham, a powerful man in the government of his own country, had fallen deeply in love with her. But England and France were not friendly.

Monsieur Bonacieux sighed.

"I think my wife was kidnapped to see if she would tell the Queen's secrets. Only the other day she told me the Queen is frightened. She thinks the Cardinal has written to Buckingham in her name, to lure him to Paris and into a trap."

"You think the Cardinal has taken your wife?"

"I fear so," replied Monsieur Bonacieux. "One of his men was seen when she was carried off. He was a gentleman with a scar on his temple."

D'Artagnan started up.

"That sounds like the man I met at Meung!" he exclaimed.

"Will you help me?" begged Monsieur Bonacieux. "You are always with the Musketeers, who are enemies of the Cardinal. I thought you and your friends, while helping the Queen, would be glad to spoil his plans."

"I will do what I can," D'Artagnan agreed. "And if the man who carried off your wife is the man I think he is, I will be revenged for what happened to me at Meung!"

D'Artagnan lost no time in telling Athos, Porthos and Aramis of the disappearance of Constance Bonacieux.

"This woman is in trouble because of her loyalty," he told them. "I am also anxious about the Queen's safety."

I have heard people say she loves our enemies, the Spanish and the English," said Athos.

"Spain is her own country," D'Artagnan reminded him. "It is only natural that she should love the Spanish. As for the English—only one Englishman is involved, Buckingham, the King of England's chief minister. Now the Cardinal and his men seem to be using his admiration for the Queen in some wicked plot."

The Cardinal was their true enemy, the friends agreed. If they could spoil his plans, it would be worth risking their heads. The missing Constance Bonacieux was the key to the whole intrigue. She must be found, and they would do it together.

The four men stretched out their hands and shouted in one voice:

"All for one, and one for all!"

D'Artagnan's task was to keep watch on Monsieur Bonacieux's apartments from his own room on the upper floor. Monsieur Bonacieux had been arrested, and the Cardinal's Guards were using his house as a trap. Anyone arriving there was taken away for questioning to see what they knew of the Queen's affairs.

Late one night, D'Artagnan heard cries from downstairs. Realising it was a woman's voice, he drew his sword and rushed to the rescue. The woman was Constance Bonacieux herself! She had escaped, and returned home. The Cardinal's men had followed her, but surprised by D'Artagnan's attack, they ran away.

"Thank you for saving me!" cried Constance Bonacieux. "Now I must go—there is something I have to do for the Queen."

A few hours later, D'Artagnan was astonished to see her in a dark street. She was with a Musketeer who looked like Aramis. What were they doing? D'Artagnan hurried up to speak to them, and found the man was a stranger, disguised in a Musketeer's uniform. He was the English Duke of Buckingham! Constance Bonacieux was taking him to a secret meeting at the Louvre with the Queen.

"Please don't give us away," Madame Bonacieux begged. "You can ruin us all."

D'Artagnan shook the Duke's hand.

"I will make sure you reach the Louvre safely."

At the Louvre, Madame Bonacieux led the Duke into a quiet drawing room. Buckingham had come to Paris in answer to a message, supposed to be from the Queen. On his arrival in the city, he had learned the message was a trap, set by the Cardinal.

Although the English Duke knew he was in danger, he refused to return to London without seeing the Queen. He waited, unafraid, while the trusted Constance Bonacieux brought her mistress to see him.

Buckingham turned as the Queen came into the room, her lovely face pale. She implored the Duke to return to England and safety. She made him promise not to see her secretly again. It was too dangerous.

"Come as an ambassador, with guards to defend you," she said. "Then I will know you are safe."

"Very well," Buckingham agreed. "Please give me something of yours, perhaps a ring or a chain. I will wear it to remember you."

Queen Anne thrust a rosewood casket into his hands.

"Take this, and go, before it is too late!"