CHAPTER LIII.

WHAT D'ARTAGNAN AND PORTHOS EARNED BY THE SALE OF STRAW. Mazarin was anxious to set out instantly for St. Germain; but the queen declared that she should wait for the people whom she had appointed to meet her. However, she offered the Cardinal La Porte's place, which he accepted, and went from one carriage to the other. It was not without foundation that a report of the king's intending to leave Paris by night had been circulated. Ten or twelve persons had been in the secret since six o'clock, and how great soever …