His retrograde course surprised those whom he met; At a short distance from the royal headquarters, he met his father, who was alarmed to see him pass thus without stopping, and supposed that he was wounded and that his horse was running away. But Mario shouted: "Nothing! nothing!" and vanished in a cloud of dust. At first he was turned away from the king's tent; he at once determined upon his course of action and hastened to the cardinal's. The cardinal had already been exposed to so many attempts at assassination that it was no easy matter to obtain access to him. But the despatches which Mario waved above his head, and the excellent young man's winning countenance suddenly inspired the great minister with entire confidence. He summoned him to his presence and took the package, which Mario, in his haste, did not think to present to him with one knee on the ground. [Footnote 10: Henri Martin, _History of France_.] LXXII The cardinal read the despatch. It contained some good news: perhaps a report of the small number of troops that Gonzalez of Cordova had before Casal; perhaps of a conspiracy of the queens against the power which saved France. Whatever it may have been, the cardinal folded the despatch with a shrewd smile and looked up at Mario, saying: "Propitious fate has ordained everything so well to-day, that it has chosen an archangel for messenger. Who are you, monsieur, and how does it happen that you are the bearer of such a despatch?" "I am a volunteer," Mario replied. "I took this despatch from the hand of a dying man, which was held out to me in the midst of our pursuit of the enemy. He said to me: 'The king's service before everything.'--I could not obtain access to the king, so I thought I would seek access to your eminence." "So you thought that it was all the same, in the sense that the king can have no secrets from the minister?" "I thought that he should have none," replied Mario, calmly. "What is your name?" "Mario de Bois-Doré." "Your age?" "Nineteen years." "Were you at La Rochelle?" "No, monseigneur." "Why not?" "I do not care to fight against those of the Reformed religion." "Are you one of them?" "No, monseigneur." "But you approve of them?" "I pity them." "If you have any favor to ask of me, do it quickly, for time is precious." "Give us days like this often, that is all that I ask," replied Mario; and, in his eagerness not to waste the cardinal's time, he took his leave without observing that His Eminence was inclined to speak further with him. But other duties demanded the great minister's attention. He turned to something else and forgot Mario. On the following day, as they were pitching their camp at Suse, Mario thought that he saw Monsieur Poulain pass dressed as a countryman. He called him, but received no reply.