"Sire, I should not wish to make a mistake; is there no other sign by
which I may know this carriage?"

"It will bear, in all probability, the arms of monsieur le cardinal."

"That is sufficient, sire," replied the officer, fully instructed in the
object of his search. He put his horse to the trot, and rode sharply on
in the direction pointed out by the king. But he had scarcely gone five
hundred paces when he saw four mules, and then a carriage, loom up from
behind a little hill. Behind this carriage came another. It required
only one glance to assure him that these were the equipages he was in
search of; he therefore turned his bridle, and rode back to the king.

"Sire," said he, "here are the carriages. The first, as you said,
contains two ladies with their _femmes de chambre_; the second contains
the footmen, provisions, and necessaries."

"That is well," replied the king in an agitated voice. "Please to go and
tell those ladies that a cavalier of the court wishes to pay his respects
to them alone."

The officer set off at a gallop. "_Mordioux!_" said he, as he rode on,
"here is a new and honorable employment, I hope! I complained of being
nobody. I am the king's confidant: that is enough to make a musketeer
burst with pride."

He approached the carriage, and delivered his message gallantly and
intelligently. There were two ladies in the carriage: one of great
beauty, although rather thin; the other less favored by nature, but