CHAPTER FOUR

Three Duels

As d'Artagnan ran down the stairs he ran into a large Musketeer who was just coming out of another room. The man yelled out in pain and stared down at d'Artagnan.

"Excuse me," d'Artagnan said without stopping. "It is important that I move quickly."

Before d'Artagnan could walk three steps a strong hand grasped his belt and pulled him back. D'Artagnan turned around quickly and saw that the injured Musketeer Athos was holding him. The man was as white as snow.

"Sir," said Athos, taking his hand off d'Artagnan's belt, "you are not polite. I can see that you are not from the city."

D'Artagnan had already begun to turn around and run, but when Athos said these words he stopped and walked back up to him. "Though I am from the country," he replied. "I don't think that a man like you can give me lessons in good manners. If I were not running to catch someone, I would—"

"Mister man-without-manners," Athos interrupted calmly. "You can find me without running after me."

"Where, may I ask?"

"I will be behind the Carmelite Church, at noon. Just me and my sword."

"I will be there also," said d'Artagnan.

"Try not to be late. That would be polite," said Athos calmly. "I promise you that a few minutes after noon I shall cut your ears off as you run."

"We will see who runs," d'Artagnan replied. And he turned and began running down the stairs again.

He ran as fast as he could across the courtyard towards the door. Porthos was talking with another Musketeer in front of the door. Between the two Musketeers there was just enough room for d'Artagnan to pass through. But as d'Artagnan jumped between them, the wind blew Porthos' long cloak open. D'Artagnan ran straight into the cloak and fell down to the ground, pulling Porthos with him. As the two men stood up d'Artagnan saw that Porthos' fancy sword belt was fake. The front side was covered with gold, but the back was nothing but common iron.

Porthos stood up and fixed his cloak and belt and then turned to d'Artagnan and said, "You must be crazy to run into people like this."

D'Artagnan's head bowed a little and he said, out of breath, "Excuse me, I am in great hurry. I need to catch someone who—"

"Do you always close your eyes when you are running?" interrupted Porthos angrily.

"Of course not," replied d'Artagnan, annoyed. "In fact my eyes let me see what most other people cannot!"

Porthos became even angrier and walked a step toward d'Artagnan.

"I'll see you later," said the young d'Artagnan as he began to run again, "and I'll cut off your cloak and belt with my sword."

"At one o'clock, behind the Carmelite Church," Porthos yelled after him.

"Very well—one o'clock," replied d'Artagnan, and ran out into the street.

The street was empty. Because of running into Athos and Porthos, d'Artagnan had missed his chance to catch the stranger. He began walking down the street looking for him, but he was gone.

D'Artagnan recognized Aramis standing farther down the street, chatting with a group of friends. He decided to go over and talk with him.

Aramis saw d'Artagnan approaching, but he remembered that this young man had seen Mister Treville be angry at him, so he pretended that he did not see him. D'Artagnan walked up smiling and bowed deeply. Aramis nodded his head a little, but did not smile. His group of friends all immediately stopped talking.

D'Artagnan realized quickly that they did not want to talk with him. He tried to think of the least embarrassing way of leaving the situation. He then looked down and saw that Aramis had dropped his handkerchief and was standing on it. D'Artagnan reached down and pulled the handkerchief from under Aramis' shoe. "I believe, sir, that you dropped your handkerchief," d'Artagnan said politely.

D'Artagnan saw that the handkerchief was small and yellow; it did not look like a man's handkerchief. Aramis' face turned red and he pulled the handkerchief out of d'Artagnan's hand, but not before his group of friends saw the writing on it.

"A-ha!" cried one of his friends, "you and Madame de Chevreuse must be good friends if she lends you her handkerchief."

Aramis stared at d'Artagnan angrily, and then said lightly, "This handkerchief is not mine, sir. You see, mine is here in my pocket."

D'Artagnan realized that he had made a terrible mistake. He walked away and waited for Aramis' friends to leave. Then he came back towards Aramis and said: "Sir, please excuse me, I did not know—"

"Young man," Aramis replied seriously. "You have not acted like a gentleman."

"What?" cried d'Artagnan, "I was trying to help—"

"I believe that you are not a fool and that you understand that people stand on handkerchiefs for a reason. Why did you hand it to me publicly, so that a fine lady's name was shown to everyone around? It seems like I need to teach you how to act."

D'Artagnan's right hand grasped the handle of his sword.

"Not here in public, you fool!" said Aramis in a voice like a snake's. "I shall wait for you behind the Carmelite Church."

"At two o'clock," replied d'Artagnan sharply. "I suggest that you bring that handkerchief—whether it belongs to you or a lady, you will need it to stop your blood from flowing."

The two men bowed to each other and walked away. D'Artagnan, knowing that noon was close, began walking to the church.

At this time it was the custom in France that men fighting a duel would each bring two friends, called seconds, with them to the meeting place. They did this so that if they died, their friends could carry their body home. Since d'Artagnan had just arrived in Paris, he had no friends there; he went to the duel alone.

Athos was already at the church and waited in the middle of a grassy field for d'Artagnan. The church sat at one end of the field and there was forest around the rest.

"My seconds have not come yet," said Athos, "but they should arrive soon."

"I do not have seconds, sir, for I do not yet have any friends in Paris," d'Artagnan explained.

Athos looked carefully at the young man. "I feel sorry that I must kill a man as young as you," he said.

"Do not worry about that," answered d'Artagnan, "since you honor me by fighting while you are injured badly."

"The wound is painful," Athos agreed, "but I must tell you that I fight as well with my left hand as my right. Ah, I see my friends coming."

D'Artagnan turned around and saw Aramis and Porthos coming.

"These are your seconds!" he said, shocked.

"Of course they are," replied Athos, his face was surprised. "We are always together! Don't you know that the people of Paris call us the Three Musketeer Brothers?"

By this time, Porthos and Aramis had come close enough to see d'Artagnan. They stood there looking quite shocked.

"What does this mean? Who is this man to you?" asked Porthos.

"This is the man I am going to fight," answered Athos.

"What!" Porthos cried, amazed. "He is the man I am fighting as well!"

"Yes," said d'Artagnan, "but not until one o'clock."

"This is not possible," said Aramis. "He is the man who I plan to duel!"

"Our duel is not until two o'clock," d'Artagnan said calmly. "Mister Athos has the first duel and the right to kill me first. He may even do so now. Now, Mister Athos, prepare your sword!"

The two men bowed deeply to each other and pulled out their swords. But just as they touched their swords together, they heard the sound of horses quickly running. Suddenly five horsemen came out of the forest along the field's east side and rode straight toward the Musketeers.

"It's the Cardinal's Guards!" Aramis cried, "Put down your swords quickly!"

But it was already too late. The horsemen had already seen Athos and d'Artagnan fighting. Even now, the sunlight was shining off their swords brightly.

The horsemen stopped about thirty steps from them. "My God! It's Captain Jussac himself!" said Porthos.

The captain rode forward. He was tall and wore dark clothes. D'Artagnan stared at him with great interest.

Jussac looked angry as he came closer, but he had a strange smile on his face. "Fighting again, are you?" he said loudly, "You all know that dueling is not allowed by law. It is my job to stop you. Put down your swords and follow me."

Aramis smiled. "Sir," he said, copying Jussac's loud and serious voice, "we cannot put down our swords or follow you. You know that Mister Treville wouldn't like us to be arrested. Please leave now and let us handle our own affairs."

"If you disobey, we will have to use our swords to stop you," said Jussac.

"There are five of them and three of us," whispered Athos. "I think we can win."

Athos, Porthos, and Aramis quickly moved close together. Jussac raised his hand to prepare his men for battle. D'Artagnan then stepped towards the Musketeers. "Gentlemen," he said with a smile. "We are not three, but four!"

"You are not one of us," said Porthos.

"I may not have the uniform of a Musketeer," replied d'Artagnan. "But I have the heart and spirit of one."

"You are a brave man," Athos said as he grasped d'Artagnan's hand. "What is your name, sir?"

"It's d'Artagnan, sir."

"Well, then, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan. Attack!" cried Athos.

Immediately they each pulled out their swords. The four swords shined bright in the sunlight. Jussac and his men jumped down from their horses and drew their swords. For a moment they stood staring at d'Artagnan and the Musketeers; then they ran at them with loud, violent yells. Two men attacked Aramis at once, while d'Artagnan jumped forward to fight Jussac.

D'Artagnan fought like a tiger, jumping at the older man on all sides and making quick stabs with his sword. Jussac was a very experienced swordsman, but he quickly found that it took all his skill to defend himself against d'Artagnan's attack. He was used to men who fought with traditional sword styles, but d'Artagnan's method seemed to disobey all of the rules. As Jussac became tired, he made one great jump and aimed a terrible stab at d'Artagnan's heart. D'Artagnan blocked his attack and, while Jussac was recovering, pulled a knife out from his belt and pushed it through his enemy's body. He fell to the ground heavily, with a loud yell of pain.

D'Artagnan quickly turned around and looked around the field with worry. He saw that Aramis had killed one of the two guards who attacked him and was still fighting with the second.

Porthos had stabbed his enemy in the leg and, in return, had been stabbed in his arm. Neither wound was serious and the two fought even harder.

The wounded Athos was fighting bravely, but his face was very pale and he was weak.

D'Artagnan jumped to help him, yelling to the Cardinal's guard: "Face towards me, Sir guard, or I will have to kill you!"

The guard quickly turned around to fight d'Artagnan, and that very moment Athos fell down onto one knee.

"Do not kill that man, d'Artagnan," Athos asked. "He is the one who wounded me before, and I wish to kill him myself. Just take away his sword."

D'Artagnan easily hit the sword out of the guard's hand. "Good work," Athos said when he saw the man's sword fly out of his hand. The guard immediately ran over to the guard whom Aramis had killed, grasped his sword and ran back towards d'Artagnan. On his way back he met Athos, who had again stood up and wished to continue fighting.

The guard jumped at Athos, believing that he was weak and easy to defeat. With one quick movement of his arm, Athos lifted his sword and pushed it through the guard's neck.

Just at that moment Aramis hit the sword away from his enemy and pushed him down on the ground. He held his sword to the guard's throat and made him beg for mercy.

Now only Porthos was still fighting. His enemy seemed to be a very skilled swordsman, perhaps as skilled as Porthos himself. Before they could finish their fight, the wounded Jussac told the guard to stop. The man quickly jumped back, broke his sword into two pieces over his knee so that he would not have to give it to Porthos. He then threw the pieces over the church wall and stood staring at Porthos and the other Musketeers.

The Musketeers always respected bravery, even in their enemies. They bowed to him, then, they all helped him to carry the wounded and dead guards to the church, and then began walking back to the base of the Musketeers.

The four men walked together, arm in arm, and each time they saw a Musketeer, they took him in also. Soon the whole street was filled with Musketeers so, in the end, their walk became a walk of victory.

D'Artagnan walked between Athos and Porthos in the front of the group, and his heart almost exploded with joy.

(end of section)