"Exactly the same thing with the galloping to and fro of the horses, and the other indications of a struggle. It was the struggle of De Guiche against the wild boar, and absolutely nothing else; only the struggle was a long and a terrible one, it seems." "Ah! ah!" continued D'Artagnan. "And when I think that I almost believed it for a moment; but, then, you speak with such confidence." "I admit, sire, that I must have been very short-sighted," said D'Artagnan, with a readiness of humor which delighted the king. "You do admit, then?" "Admit it, sire, most assuredly I do." "So that now you see the thing--" "In quite a different light to what I saw it half an hour ago." "And to what, then, do you attribute this difference in your opinion?" "Oh! a very simple thing, sire; half an hour ago I returned from the Bois-Rochin, where I had nothing to light me but a stupid stable lantern--" "While now?" "While now, I have all the wax-lights of your cabinet, and more than that, your majesty's own eyes, which illuminate everything, like the blazing sun at noon-day." The king began to laugh, and Saint-Aignan broke out into convulsions of merriment. "It is precisely like M. Valot," said D'Artagnan, resuming the conversation where the king had left off; "he has been imagining all along, that, not only was M. de Guiche wounded by a bullet, but still more, that he extracted it even from his chest." "Upon my word," said Valot, "I assure you--" "Now, did you not believe that?" continued D'Artagnan. "Yes," said Valot, "not only did I believe it, but at this very moment I would swear it." "Well, my dear doctor, you have dreamed it." "I have dreamed it!" "M. de Guiche's wound--a mere dream; the bullet a dream. So take my advice, and say no more about it." "Well said," returned the king; "M. d'Artagnan's advice is very good. Do not speak of your dream to any one, M. Valot, and upon the word of a gentleman, you will have no occasion to repent it. Good evening, gentlemen; a very sad affair indeed is a wild-boar hunt!" "A very serious thing indeed," repeated D'Artagnan, in a loud voice, "is a wild-boar hunt!" and he repeated it in every room through which he passed, and left the chateau, taking Valot with him. "And now we are alone," said the king to Saint-Aignan, "what is the name of De Guiche's adversary?" Saint-Aignan looked at the king. "Oh! do not hesitate," said the king: "you know that I must forgive." "De Wardes," said Saint-Aignan. "Very good," said Louis XIV.; and then hastily retiring to his own room, added to himself, "To forgive is not to forget." CHAPTER XXVII. SHOWING THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING TWO STRINGS TO ONE'S BOW.