CHAPTER III.

SHOWING HOW THE KING OF FRANCE WENT UP A LADDER.


The King descended into the garden. Proceeding cautiously along
the terraced walk, he came to the wall immediately below the
windows of Madame. To the left were two windows, concealed by
vines. They opened into the apartments of La Valliere.

The King sighed.

"It is about nineteen feet to that window," said the King. "If I
had a ladder about nineteen feet long, it would reach to that
window. This is logic."

Suddenly the King stumbled over something. "St. Denis!" he
exclaimed, looking down. It was a ladder, just nineteen feet long.

The King placed it against the wall. In so doing, he fixed the
lower end upon the abdomen of a man who lay concealed by the wall
The man did not utter a cry or wince. The King suspected nothing.
He ascended the ladder.

The ladder was too short. Louis the Grand was not a tall man. He
was still two feet below the window.

"Dear me!" said the King.