Oh! oh!" cried he, all at once starting up, "that is a gigantic idea, _mordioux!_ and perhaps my fortune depends, at least, upon that idea!" After this exclamation, the officer arose and marched, with his hands in the pockets of his _justaucorps_, about the immense ante-chamber that served him as an apartment.

The wax-light flamed furiously under the effects of a fresh breeze, which stole in through the chinks of the door and the window, and cut the _salle_ diagonally.
It threw out a reddish, unequal light, sometimes brilliant, sometimes dull, and the tall shadow of the lieutenant was seen marching on the wall, in profile, like a figure by Callot, with his long sword and feathered hat.
"Certainly!" said he, "I am mistaken if Mazarin is not laying a snare for this amorous boy.

Mazarin, this evening, gave an address, and made an appointment as complacently as M.Daangeau himself could have done--I heard him, and I know the meaning of his words.

'To-morrow morning,' said he, 'they will pass opposite the bridge of Blois.' _Mordioux!_ that is clear enough, and particularly for a lover.

That is the cause of this embarrassment; that is the cause of this hesitation; that is the cause of this order--'Monsieur the lieutenant of my musketeers, be on horseback to-morrow at four o'clock in the morning.' Which is as clear as if he had said,--'Monsieur the lieutenant of my musketeers, to-morrow, at four, at the bridge of Blois,--do you understand ?' Here is a state secret, then, which I, humble as I am, have in my possession, while it is in action.