Ten Years Later

by Alexandre Dumas

  There is always something in a landing, if it be only from the smallestsea-boat--a trouble and a confusion which do not leave the mind theliberty of which it stands in need in order to study at the first glancethe new locality presented to it. The movable bridges, the agitatedsailors, the noise of the water on the pebbles, the cries andimportunities of those who wait upon the shores, are multiplied detailsof that sensation which is summed up in one single result--hesitation.It was not, then, till after standing several minutes on the shore thatD'Artagnan saw upon the port, but more particularly in the interior ofthe isle, an immense number of workmen in motion. At his feet D'Artagnanrecognized the five chalands laden with rough stone he had seen leavethe port of Pirial. The smaller stones were transported to the shoreby means of a chain formed by twenty-five or thirty peasants. The largestones were loaded on trollies which conveyed them in the same directionas the others, that is to say, towards the works of which D'Artagnancould as yet appreciate neither the strength nor the extent. Everywherewas to be seen an activity equal to that which Telemachus observedon his landing at Salentum. D'Artagnan felt a strong inclination topenetrate into the interior; but he could not, under the penalty ofexciting mistrust, exhibit too much curiosity. He advanced then littleby little, scarcely going beyond the line formed by the fishermen on thebeach, observing everything, saying nothing, and meeting all suspicionthat might have been excited with a half-silly question or a polite bow.And yet, whilst his companions carried on their trade, giving or sellingtheir fish to the workmen or the inhabitants of the city, D'Artagnan hadgained ground by degrees, and, reassured by the little attention paid tohim, he began to cast an intelligent and confident look upon the men andthings that appeared before his eyes. And his very first glance fell oncertain movements of earth about which the eye of a soldier could not bemistaken. At the two extremities of the port, in order that their firesshould converge upon the great axis of the ellipsis formed by the basin,in the first place, two batteries had been raised, evidently destinedto receive flank pieces, for D'Artagnan saw the workmen finishing theplatform and making ready the demi-circumference in wood upon whichthe wheels of the pieces might turn to embrace every direction over theepaulement. By the side of each of these batteries other workmen werestrengthening gabions filled with earth, the lining of another battery.The latter had embrasures, and the overseer of the works calledsuccessively men who, with cords, tied the saucissons and cut thelozenges and right angles of turfs destined to retain the matting ofthe embrasures. By the activity displayed in these works, already sofar advanced, they might be considered as finished: they were not yetfurnished with their cannons, but the platforms had their gitesand their madriers all prepared; the earth, beaten carefully, wasconsolidated; and supposing the artillery to be on the island, in lessthan two or three days the port might be completely armed. That whichastonished D'Artagnan, when he turned his eyes from the coast batteriesto the fortifications of the city, was to see that Belle-Isle wasdefended by an entirely new system, of which he had often heard theComte de la Fere speak as a wonderful advance, but of which he had asyet never seen the application. These fortifications belonged neither tothe Dutch method of Marollais, nor to the French method of the ChevalierAntoine de Ville, but to the system of Manesson Mallet, a skillfulengineer, who about six or eight years previously had quitted theservice of Portugal to enter that of France. The works had thispeculiarity, that instead of rising above the earth, as did theancient ramparts destined to defend a city from escalades, they, on thecontrary, sank into it; and what created the height of the walls was thedepth of the ditches. It did not take long to make D'Artagnan perceivethe superiority of such a system, which gives no advantage to cannon.Besides, as the fosses were lower than, or on a level with the sea,these fosses could be instantly inundated by means of subterraneansluices. Otherwise, the works were almost complete, and a group ofworkmen, receiving orders from a man who appeared to be conductor ofthe works, were occupied in placing the last stones. A bridge of planksthrown over the fosses for the greater convenience of the maneuversconnected with the barrows, joined the interior to the exterior. Withan air of simple curiosity D'Artagnan asked if he might be permittedto cross the bridge, and he was told that no order prevented it.Consequently he crossed the bridge, and advanced towards the group.

  This group was superintended by the man whom D'Artagnan had alreadyremarked, and who appeared to be the engineer-in-chief. A plan was lyingopen before him upon a large stone forming a table, and at some pacesfrom him a crane was in action. This engineer, who by his evidentimportance first attracted the attention of D'Artagnan, wore ajustaucorps, which, from its sumptuousness was scarcely in harmony withthe work he was employed in, that rather necessitated the costume of amaster-mason than of a noble. He was a man of immense stature and greatsquare shoulders, and wore a hat covered with feathers. He gesticulatedin the most majestic manner, and appeared, for D'Artagnan only sawhis back, to be scolding the workmen for their idleness and want ofstrength.

  D'Artagnan continued to draw nearer. At that moment the man with thefeathers ceased to gesticulate, and, with his hands placed upon hisknees, was following, half-bent, the effort of six workmen to raise ablock of hewn stone to the top of a piece of timber destined to supportthat stone, so that the cord of the crane might be passed under it. Thesix men, all on one side of the stone, united their efforts to raise itto eight or ten inches from the ground, sweating and blowing, whilst aseventh got ready against there should be daylight enough beneath it toslide in the roller that was to support it. But the stone had alreadytwice escaped from their hands before gaining a sufficient height forthe roller to be introduced. There can be no doubt that every time thestone escaped them, they bounded quickly backwards, to keep theirfeet from being crushed by the refalling stone. Every time, the stone,abandoned by them, sunk deeper into the damp earth, which rendered theoperation more and more difficult. A third effort was followed by nobetter success, but with progressive discouragement. And yet, whenthe six men were bent towards the stone, the man with the feathers hadhimself, with a powerful voice, given the word of command, "Ferme!"which regulates maneuvers of strength. Then he drew himself up.

  "Oh! oh!" said he, "what is all this about? Have I to do with men ofstraw? Corne de boeuf! stand on one side, and you shall see how this isto be done."

  "Peste!" said D'Artagnan, "will he pretend to raise that rock? thatwould be a sight worth looking at."

  The workmen, as commanded by the engineer, drew back with their earsdown, and shaking their heads, with the exception of the one who heldthe plank, who prepared to perform the office. The man with the featherswent up to the stone, stooped, slipped his hands under the face lyingupon the ground, stiffened his Herculean muscles, and without a strain,with a slow motion, like that of a machine, he lifted the end of therock a foot from the ground. The workman who held the plank profited bythe space thus given him, and slipped the roller under the stone.

  "That's the way," said the giant, not letting the rock fall again, butplacing it upon its support.

  "Mordioux!" cried D'Artagnan, "I know but one man capable of such a featof strength."

  "Hein!" cried the colossus, turning round.

  "Porthos!" murmured D'Artagnan, seized with stupor, "Porthos atBelle-Isle!"

  On his part, the man with the feathers fixed his eyes upon the disguisedlieutenant, and, in spite of his metamorphosis, recognized him."D'Artagnan!" cried he; and the color mounted to his face. "Hush!" saidhe to D'Artagnan.

  "Hush!" in his turn, said the musketeer. In fact if Porthos had justbeen discovered by D'Artagnan, D'Artagnan had just been discovered byPorthos. The interest of the particular secret of each struck them bothat the same instant. Nevertheless the first movement of the two men wasto throw their arms around each other. What they wished to conceal fromthe bystanders, was not their friendship, but their names. But, afterthe embrace, came reflection.

  "What the devil brings Porthos to Belle-Isle, lifting stones?" saidD'Artagnan; only D
'Artagnan uttered that question in a low voice. Lessstrong in diplomacy than his friend, Porthos thought aloud.

  "How the devil did you come to Belle-Isle?" asked he of D'Artagnan;"and what do you want to do here?" It was necessary to reply withouthesitation. To hesitate in his answer to Porthos would have been acheck, for which the self-love of D'Artagnan would never have consoleditself.

  "Pardieu! my friend, I am at Belle-Isle because you are."

  "Ah, bah!" said Porthos, visibly stupefied with the argument, andseeking to account for it to himself, with the felicity of deduction weknow to be peculiar to him.

  "Without doubt," continued D'Artagnan, unwilling to give his friend timeto recollect himself, "I have been to see you at Pierrefonds."

  "Indeed!"

  "Yes."

  "And you did not find me there?"

  "No, but I found Mouston."

  "Is he well?"

  "Peste!"

  "Well, but Mouston did not tell you I was here."

  "Why should he not Have I, perchance, deserved to lose his confidence?"

  "No, but he did not know it."

  "Well; that is a reason at least that does not offend my self-love."

  "Then how did you manage to find me?"

  "My dear friend, a great noble like you always leaves traces behind himon his passage; and I should think but poorly of myself, if I were notsharp enough to follow the traces of my friends." This explanation,flattering as it was, did not entirely satisfy Porthos.

  "But I left no traces behind me, for I came here disguised," saidPorthos.

  "Ah! You came disguised did you?" said D'Artagnan.

  "Yes."

  "And how?"

  "As a miller."

  "And do you think a great noble, like you, Porthos, can affect commonmanners so as to deceive people?"

  "Well, I swear to you, my friend, that I played my part so well thateverybody was deceived."

  "Indeed! so well, that I have not discovered and joined you?"

  "Yes; but how did you discover and join me?"

  "Stop a bit. I was going to tell you how. Do you imagine Mouston----"

  "Ah! it was that fellow, Mouston," said Porthos, gathering up those twotriumphant arches which served him for eyebrows.

  "But stop, I tell you--it was no fault of Mouston's because he wasignorant of where you were."

  "I know he was; and that is why I am in such haste to understand----"

  "Oh! how impatient you are, Porthos."

  "When I do not comprehend, I am terrible."

  "Well, you will understand. Aramis wrote to you at Pierrefonds, did henot?"

  "Yes."

  "And he told you to come before the equinox."

  "That is true."

  "Well! that is it," said D'Artagnan, hoping that this reason wouldmystify Porthos. Porthos appeared to give himself up to a violent mentallabor.

  "Yes, yes," said he, "I understand. As Aramis told me to come beforethe equinox, you have understood that that was to join him. You theninquired where Aramis was, saying to yourself, 'Where Aramis is, therePorthos will be.' You have learnt that Aramis was in Bretagne, and yousaid to yourself, 'Porthos is in Bretagne.'"

  "Exactly. In good truth, Porthos I cannot tell why you have not turnedconjurer. So you understand that arriving at Roche-Bernard, I heard ofthe splendid fortifications going on at Belle-Isle. The account raisedmy curiosity, I embarked in a fishing boat, without dreaming that youwere here: I came, and I saw a monstrous fine fellow lifting a stoneAjax could not have stirred. I cried out, 'Nobody but the Baron deBracieux could have performed such a feat of strength.' You heard me,you turned round, you recognized me, we embraced; and, ma foi! if youlike, my dear friend, we will embrace again."

  "Ah! now all is explained," said Porthos; and he embraced D'Artagnanwith so much friendship as to deprive the musketeer of his breath forfive minutes.

  "Why, you are stronger than ever," said D'Artagnan, "and still, happily,in your arms." Porthos saluted D'Artagnan with a gracious smile. Duringthe five minutes D'Artagnan was recovering his breath, he reflected thathe had a very difficult part to play. It was necessary that he alwaysshould question and never reply. By the time his respiration returned,he had fixed his plans for the campaign.

  CHAPTER 70. Wherein the Ideas of D'Artagnan, at first strangely clouded,begin to clear up a little.