"Mordioux!" cried D'Artagnan. "I am tricked. Ah! blockhead, brute,triple fool that I am! But those laugh best who laugh last. Oh, duped,duped like a monkey, cheated with an empty nutshell!" And with a heartyblow bestowed upon the nose of the smirking valet de chambre, he madeall haste out of the episcopal palace. Furet, however good a trotter,was not equal to present circumstances. D'Artagnan therefore took thepost, and chose a horse which he soon caused to demonstrate, withgood spurs and a light hand, that deer are not the swiftest animals innature.

  CHAPTER 74. In which D'Artagnan makes all Speed, Porthos snores, andAramis counsels