moves more quickly than the clouds or the birds; D’Artagnan is the wind which carries them.”

“A strange man!”

“I tell you, he is superhuman, monsieur. He is of my own age, and I have known him these five-and-thirty years.”

“Well?”

“Well, listen to my calculation, monsieur. I send M. du Vallon off to you two hours after midnight. M. du Vallon was eight hours in advance of me; when did M. du Vallon arrive?”

“About four hours ago.”

“You see, then, that I gained four upon him; and yet Porthos is a staunch horseman, and he has left on the road eight dead horses, whose bodies I