"You would be quite right, if that were the case. But with me, my dear
Porthos, no politics at all, that is quite clear. You have labored hard
in fortifying Belle-Isle; the king wished to know the name of the clever
engineer under whose directions the works were carried out; you are
modest, as all men of true genius are; perhaps Aramis wishes to put you
under a bushel. But I happen to seize hold of you; I make it known who
you are; I produce you; the king rewards you; and that is the only policy
I have to do with."

"And the only one I will have to do with either," said Porthos, holding
out his hand to D'Artagnan.

But D'Artagnan knew Porthos's grasp; he knew that, once imprisoned within
the baron's five fingers, no hand ever left it without being half-
crushed. He therefore held out, not his hand, but his fist, and Porthos
did not even perceive the difference. The servants talked a little with
each other in an undertone, and whispered a few words, which D'Artagnan
understood, but which he took very good care not to let Porthos
understand. "Our friend," he said to himself, "was really and truly
Aramis's prisoner. Let us now see what the result will be of the
liberation of the captive."


Chapter IV:
The Rat and the Cheese.

D'Artagnan and Porthos returned on foot, as D'Artagnan had set out. When
D'Artagnan, as he entered the shop of the Pilon d'Or, announced to
Planchet that M. du Vallon would be one of the privileged travelers, and
as the plume in Porthos's hat made the wooden candles suspended over the