The Three Musketeers

looked round them with astonishment, for they sought vainly in their minds to know who this other person could be.
    At this moment Planchet brought out Athos's house; the Musketeer leaped lightly into the saddle.
    "Wait for me," cried he, "I will soon be back," and he set off at a gallop.
    In a quarter of an hour he returned, accompanied by a tall man, masked, and wrapped in a large red cloak.
    Lord de Winter and the three Musketeers looked at one another inquiringly. Neither could give the others any information, for all were ignorant who this man could be; nevertheless, they felt convinced that all was as it should be, as it was done by the order of Athos.
    At nine o'clock, guided by Planchet, the little cavalcade set out, taking the route the carriage had taken.
    It was a melancholy sight—that of these six men, traveling in silence, each plunged in his own thoughts, sad as despair, gloomy as chastisement.

65 TRIAL
    It was a stormy and dark night; vast clouds covered the heavens, concealing the stars; the moon would not rise till midnight.
    Occasionally, by the light of a flash of lightning which gleamed along the horizon, the road stretched itself before them, white and solitary; the flash extinct, all remained in darkness.
    Every minute Athos was forced to restrain d'Artagnan, constantly in advance of the little troop, and to beg him to keep in the line, which in an instant he again departed from. He had but one thought—to go forward; and he went.
    They passed in silence through the little village of Festubert, where the wounded servant was, and then skirted the wood of Richebourg. At Herlier, Planchet, who led the column, turned to the left.
    Several times Lord de Winter, Porthos, or Aramis, tried to talk with the man in the red cloak; but to every interrogation which they put to him he bowed, without response. The travelers then comprehended that there must be some reason why the unknown preserved such a silence, and ceased to address themselves to him.
    The storm increased, the flashes succeeded one another more rapidly, the thunder began to growl, and the wind, the precursor of a hurricane, whistled in the plumes and the hair of the horsemen.
    The cavalcade trotted on more sharply.
    A little before they came to Fromelles the storm burst. They spread their cloaks. There remained three leagues to travel, and they did it amid torrents of rain.
    D'Artagnan took off his hat, and could not be persuaded to make use of his cloak. He found pleasure in feeling the water trickle over his burning brow and over his body, agitated by feverish shudders.
    The moment the little troop passed Goskal and were approaching the Port, a man sheltered beneath a tree detached himself from the trunk with which he had been confounded in the darkness, and advanced into the middle of the road, putting his finger on his lips.
    Athos recognized Grimaud.
    "What's the manner?" cried Athos. "Has she left Armentieres?"
    Grimaud made a sign in the affirmative. D'Artagnan groaned his teeth.
    "Silence, d'Artagnan!" said Athos. "I have charged myself with this affair. It is for me, then, to interrogate Grimaud."
    "Where is she?" asked Athos.
    Grimaud extended his hands in the direction of the Lys. "Far from here?" asked Athos.
    Grimaud showed his master his forefinger bent.
    "Alone?" asked Athos.
    Grimaud made the sign yes.
    "Gentlemen," said Athos, "she is alone within half a league of us, in the direction of the river."
    "That's well," said d'Artagnan. "Lead us, Grimaud."
    Grimaud took his course across the country, and acted as guide to the cavalcade.
    At the end of five hundred paces, more or less, they came to a rivulet, which they forded.
    By the aid of the lightning they perceived the village of Erquinheim.
    "Is she there, Grimaud?" asked Athos.
    Grimaud shook his head negatively.
    "Silence, then!" cried Athos.
    And the troop continued their route.
    Another flash illuminated all around them. Grimaud extended his arm, and by the bluish splendor of the fiery serpent they distinguished a little isolated house on the banks of the river, within a hundred paces of a ferry.
    One window was lighted.
    "Here we are!" said Athos.
    At this moment a man who had been crouching in a ditch jumped up and came towards them. It was Mousqueton. He pointed his finger to the lighted window.
    "She is there," said he.
    "And Bazin?" asked Athos.
    "While I watched the window, he guarded the door."
    "Good!" said Athos. "You are good and faithful servants."
    Athos