Two were seized upon by the king and D'Artagnan, two others by Manicamp and Malicorne, while a groom belonging to the stables mounted the fifth.

The cavalcade set off at a gallop.

D'Artagnan had been very careful in his selection of the horses; they were the very animals for distressed lovers--horses which did not simply run, but flew.

Within ten minutes after their departure, the cavalcade, amidst a cloud of dust, arrived at Chaillot.

The king literally threw himself off his horse; but notwithstanding the rapidity with which he accomplished this maneuver, he found D'Artagnan already holding his stirrup.