CXXII. The Grotto 497 CXXIII. An Homeric Song 501 CXXIV. The Death of a Titan 504 CXXV. The Epitaph of Porthos 508 CXXVI. The Round of M. de Gesvres 511 CXXVII. King Louis XIV. 514 CXXVIII. The Friends of M. Fouquet 518 CXXIX. Porthos' Will 522 CXXX. The Old Age of Athos 525 CXXXI. The Vision of Athos 527 CXXXII. The Angel of Death 531 CXXXIII. The Bulletin 533 CXXXIV. The last Canto of the Poem 536 EPILOGUE 539 THE DEATH OF D'ARTAGNAN 549 * * * * * LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I.--_Frontispiece._--Hardly had the ladder been properly placed than the king began to ascend. II.--As the rain dripped more and more through the foliage of the oak, the king held his hat over the head of the young girl. III.--D'Artagnan, reclining upon an immense straight-backed chair, with his legs not stretched out, but simply placed upon a stool, formed an angle of the most obtuse form that could possibly be seen. IV.--De Guiche turned round also, and, at the moment the horse was quiet again, he fired, and the ball carried off De Wardes' hat from his head. V.--Athos broke his sword across his knee, slowly placed the two pieces upon the floor, and saluting the king, who was almost choking from rage and shame, he quitted the cabinet. VI.--Raoul, presenting his pistol, threw himself on the leader, commanding the coachman to stop. VII.--Aramis saw that the young man was stretched upon his bed, his face half-concealed by his arms. VIII.--"You will look through the opening, which answers to one of the false windows made in the dome of the king's apartment. Can you see?" IX.--"What is this, monsieur, and what is the meaning of this jest?" "It is no jest," replied in a deep voice the masked figure that held the lantern. X.--The king entered into the cell without pronouncing a single word: he was pale and haggard. XI.--They saw, by the red flashes of the lightning against the violet fog which the wind stamped upon the bankward sky, they saw pass gravely at six paces behind the governor, a man clothed in black and masked by a visor of polished steel, soldered to a helmet of the same nature, which altogether enveloped the whole of his head. XII.--The Deathbed of Athos--"Here I am!" THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE. CHAPTER I.