.

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 front jingle together, a melancholy presentiment seemed to eclipse the delight Planchet had promised himself for the morrow.

But the grocer had a heart of gold, ever mindful of the good old times--a trait that carries youth into old age.

So Planchet, notwithstanding a sort of internal shiver, checked as soon as experienced, received Porthos with respect, mingled with the tenderest cordiality.

Porthos, who was a little cold and stiff in his manners at first, on account of the social difference existing at that period between a baron and a grocer, soon began to soften when he perceived so much good-feeling and so many kind attentions in Planchet.