"The cavalier had not time even to throw himself off his horse, and so fell with it. I observed the impression of his leg, which, with a great effort, he was enabled to extricate from under the horse. The spur, pressed down by the weight of the animal, had plowed up the ground." "Very good; and what did he do as soon as he rose up again?" "He walked straight up to his adversary." "Who still remained upon the verge of the forest?" "Yes, sire. Then, having reached a favorable distance, he stopped firmly, for the impression of both his heels are left in the ground quite close to each other, fired, and missed his adversary." "How do you know he did not hit him?" "I found a hat with a ball through it." "Ah, a proof, then!" exclaimed the king. "Insufficient, sire," replied D'Artagnan, coldly; "it is a hat without any letters indicating its ownership, without arms: a red feather, as all hats have: the lace, even, had nothing particular in it." "Did the man with the hat through which the bullet had passed fire a second time?" "Oh, sire, he had already fired twice." "How did you ascertain that?" "I found the waddings of the pistol." "And what became of the bullet which did not kill the horse?" "It cut in two the feather of the hat belonging to him against whom it was directed, and broke a small birch at the other end of the open glade." "In that case, then, the man on the black horse was disarmed, while his adversary had still one more shot to fire." "Sire, while the dismounted rider was extricating himself from his horse, the other was reloading his pistol. Only, he was much agitated while he was loading it, and his hand trembled greatly." "How do you know that?" "Half the charge fell to the ground, and he threw the ramrod aside, not having time to replace it in the pistol." "Monsieur d'Artagnan, it is marvelous what you tell me." "It is only close observation, sire, and the commonest highwayman would do as much." "The whole scene is before me from the manner in which you relate it." "I have, in fact, reconstructed it in my own mind, with merely a few alterations." "And now," said the king, "let us return to the dismounted cavalier. You were saying that he had walked toward his adversary while the latter was loading his pistol." "Yes; but at the very moment he himself was taking aim, the other fired." "Oh!" said the king; "and the shot?" "The shot told terribly, sire; the dismounted cavalier fell upon his face, after having staggered forward three or four paces." "Where was he hit?" "In two places; in the first place, in his right hand, and then, by the same bullet, in his chest." "But how could you ascertain that?" inquired the king, full of admiration. "By a very simple means; the butt-end of the pistol was covered with blood, and the trace of the bullet could be observed with fragments of a broken ring. The wounded man, in all probability, had the ring-finger and the little finger carried off."