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conqueror laughs, and we Frenchmen ought not to allow stupid infidels to triumph over our faults. Do you clearly understand what I am saying to you, Raoul? God forbid I should encourage you to avoid encounters.โ€

โ€œI am naturally prudent, monsieur, and I have very good fortune,โ€ said Raoul, with a smile which chilled the heart of his poor father; โ€œfor,โ€ the young man hastened to add, โ€œin twenty combats through which I have been, I have only received one scratch.โ€

โ€œThere is in addition,โ€ said Athos, โ€œthe climate to be dreaded: that is an ugly end, to die of fever! King Saint-Louis prayed God to send him an arrow or the plague, rather than the fever.โ€

โ€œOh, monsieur! with sobriety, with reasonable exerciseโ€”โ€

โ€œI have already obtained from M. de Beaufort a promise that his dispatches shall be sent off every fortnight to France. You, as his aide-de-camp, will be charged with expediting them, and will be sure not to forget me.โ€

โ€œNo, monsieur,โ€ said Raoul, almost choked with emotion.

โ€œBesides, Raoul, as you are a good Christian, and I am one also, we ought to reckon upon a more special protection of God and His guardian angels. Promise me that if anything evil should happen to you, on any occasion, you will think of me at once.โ€

โ€œFirst and at once! Oh! yes, monsieur.โ€

โ€œAnd will call upon me?โ€

โ€œInstantly.โ€

โ€œYou dream of me sometimes, do you not, Raoul?โ€

โ€œEvery night, monsieur. During my early youth I saw you in my dreams, calm and mild, with one hand stretched out over my head, and that it was which made me sleep so soundlyโ€”formerly.โ€

โ€œWe love each other too dearly,โ€ said the comte, โ€œthat from this moment, in which we separate, a portion of both our souls should not travel with one and the other of us, and should not dwell wherever we may dwell. Whenever you may be sad, Raoul, I feel that my heart will be dissolved in sadness; and when you smile on thinking of me, be assured you will send me, from however remote a distance, a vital scintillation of your joy.โ€

โ€œI will not promise you to be joyous,โ€ replied the young man; โ€œbut you may be certain that I will never pass an hour without thinking of you, not one hour, I swear, unless I shall be dead.โ€

Athos could contain himself no longer; he threw his arm round the neck of his son, and held him embraced with all the power of his heart. The moon began to be now eclipsed by twilight; a golden band surrounded the horizon, announcing the approach of the day. Athos threw his cloak over the shoulders of Raoul, and led him back to the city, where burdens and porters were already in motion, like a vast ant-hill. At the extremity of the plateau which Athos and Bragelonne were quitting, they saw a dark shadow moving uneasily backwards and forwards, as if in indecision or ashamed to be seen. It was Grimaud, who in his anxiety had tracked his master, and was there awaiting him.

โ€œOh! my good Grimaud,โ€ cried Raoul, โ€œwhat do you want? You are come to tell us it is time to be gone, have you not?โ€

โ€œAlone?โ€ said Grimaud, addressing Athos and pointing to Raoul in a tone of reproach, which showed to what an extent the old man was troubled.

โ€œOh! you are right!โ€ cried the comte. โ€œNo, Raoul shall not go alone; no, he shall not be left alone in a strange land without some friendly hand to support him, some friendly heart to recall to him all he loved!โ€

โ€œI?โ€ said Grimaud.

โ€œYou, yes, you!โ€ cried Raoul, touched to the inmost heart.

โ€œAlas!โ€ said Athos, โ€œyou are very old, my good Grimaud.โ€

โ€œSo much the better,โ€ replied the latter, with an inexpressible depth of feeling and intelligence.

โ€œBut the embarkation is begun,โ€ said Raoul, โ€œand you are not prepared.โ€

โ€œYes,โ€ said Grimaud, showing the keys of his trunks, mixed with those of his young master.

โ€œBut,โ€ again objected Raoul, โ€œyou cannot leave monsieur le comte thus alone; monsieur le comte, whom you have never quitted?โ€

Grimaud turned his diamond eyes upon Athos and Raoul, as if to measure the strength of both. The comte uttered not a word.

โ€œMonsieur le comte prefers my going,โ€ said Grimaud.

โ€œI do,โ€ said Athos, by an inclination of the head.

At that moment the drums suddenly rolled, and the clarions filled the air with their inspiring notes. The regiments destined for the expedition began to debouch from the city. They advanced to the number of five, each composed of forty companies. Royals marched first, distinguished by their white uniform, faced with blue. The ordonnance colors, quartered cross-wise, violet and dead leaf, with a sprinkling of golden fleurs-de-lis, left the white-colored flag, with its fleur-de-lised cross, to dominate the whole. Musketeers at the wings, with their forked sticks and their muskets on their shoulders; pikemen in the center, with their lances, fourteen feet in length, marched gayly towards the transports, which carried them in detail to the ships. The regiments of Picardy, Navarre, Normandy, and Royal Vaisseau, followed after. M. de Beaufort had known well how to select his troops. He himself was seen closing the march with his staffโ€”it would take a full hour before he could reach the sea. Raoul with Athos turned his steps slowly towards the beach, in order to take his place when the prince embarked. Grimaud, boiling with the ardor of a young man, superintended the embarkation of Raoulโ€™s baggage in the admiralโ€™s vessel. Athos, with his arm passed through that of the son he was about to lose, absorbed in melancholy meditation, was deaf to every noise around him. An officer came quickly towards them to inform Raoul that M. de Beaufort was anxious to have him by his side.

โ€œHave the kindness to tell the prince,โ€ said Raoul, โ€œthat I request he will allow me this hour to enjoy the company of my father.โ€

โ€œNo, no,โ€ said Athos, โ€œan aide-de-camp ought not thus to quit his general. Please to tell the prince, monsieur, that the vicomte will join him immediately.โ€ The officer set off at a gallop.

โ€œWhether we part here or part there,โ€ added the comte, โ€œit is no less a separation.โ€ He carefully brushed the dust from his sonโ€™s coat, and passed his hand over his hair as they walked along. โ€œBut, Raoul,โ€ said he, โ€œyou want money. M. de Beaufortโ€™s train will be splendid, and I am certain it will be agreeable to you to purchase horses and arms, which are very dear things in Africa. Now, as you are not actually in the service of the king or M. de Beaufort, and are simply a volunteer, you must not reckon upon either pay or largesse. But I should not like you to want for anything at Gigelli. Here are two hundred pistoles; if you would please me, Raoul, spend them.โ€

Raoul pressed the hand of his father, and, at the turning of a street, they saw M. de Beaufort, mounted on a magnificent white genet, which responded by graceful curvets to the

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