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Show 'A : I CONDENSED ! I CLASSICS j i & i ? " $ THE THREE t $ MUSKETEERS :': ? ! X By ALEXANDRE DUMAS X A y Condensation by y ! Capt. Andre Morize X V y vi .. ....... . .X TIirouKhout bin life, Alexandre Daman bad all the heedlenn lrreaponitlhlllty of a reekleffM hoy. lie did not lnduljce In reverlea about tbe paHt or drenmn of the future. He lived spectacularly In the Dreamt. Ilia heedletmnesa Traa most emphasized empha-sized at hi palatial home, Monte Crlato, Ttbere bin love for aplendor and fala prodigality plunged him Into debt. Mont of blM vlHltors, Vf ho came oaten-Mlbly oaten-Mlbly for an boar and remained for days, were pennlleaa men nnd women, who were glad enough to find a place where they could live luxuriously for nothing. Many of theae thrlftleaa folk made Monte Crlato their home. Dumaa bad not the heart to turn them snarl be even Invented taaka ao tbey would not feel unhnppy about staying. One home-leas home-leas Tngobond wbo had a sense of bame was appeased by being told to note down each day what the thermometer ther-mometer registered. "It la moat Important Im-portant for me to be well Informed on tbU point," Dumas aaaured him. Worst of all were the actresses. A accession of them came and went, each ruling tbe house while she remained re-mained and Inviting all her friends to revel with her. Sometimes Dumas, In despair over his debts, went away, but the hangera-on remained, charging food ad wine to Dumas' account at a nearby near-by hotel. LL A UL for one; and one for f all I" This was the oath of the four comrades: of d'Artagnan, the young guardsman, and of Athos, Por-thos Por-thos and Aramls, the Three Musketeers. Mus-keteers. Only three months had d'Artagnan been In Paris, yet already he was the chosen companion of the noblest three In M. de Trevllle's picked company of musketeers. In the service of Louis XTII. A true Gascon, fiercely proud, ready to fight at a word, the eighteen-year-old provincial lad had won the respect re-spect of the glorious three by challenging challeng-ing them, and their friendship by helping help-ing them to drive off the cardinal's guards who would have arrested them for dueling. Indeed, this latter exploit ex-ploit had won for d'Artagnan more than a glance from the king himself, who was not displeased to see Richelieu's Riche-lieu's men worsted by his own. At Menng, even before reaching Paris, d'Artagnan had had an honorable honor-able encounter, his adversary being a tall, commanding stranger of olivine complexion and scarred on the cheek. - A beautiful woman had accompanied tills man. Both their faces were stamped on d'Artagnan's memory. Before he could be admitted to tie musketeers, d'Artagnan was to serve probation as a guardsman ; but already he was a musketeer in spirit and his comrades longed as keenly as he for the day when he would be allowed to Join their company. Athos, Porthos and Aramls were alike only In soldierly soldier-ly qualities. Athos was of noble bearing, bear-ing, and when he was drunk, he would talk of a secret sorrow; Porthos was a great lover of ladles, and declared that his conquests would bring his downfall ; Aramls, who had friends in the church and a sweetheart at court, pretended that he was only temporarily a musketeer, and would willingly change his plumed hat for a monk's eowl when the time came. One day d'Artagnan's landlord, Bonancleux, Bon-ancleux, burst Into the room with news that Madame Bonancleux, a pretty seamstress in the service of the queen, had Just been abducted. From the landlord's description d'Artagnan recognized rec-ognized the abductor as his man of Meung, and was anxious to help, the more so when he learned that the object ob-ject of the abduction was to force th,e lady to tell what she knew of the love affair between the queen and George YIHIers, Duke of Buckingham, who was coming secretly to Paris. It was In their resolve to protect Madame Bonancleux, for Thorn the Impressionable Im-pressionable d'Arignan had suddenly conceived an undying affection, that the four comrades came together in their oath. "Remember," said Aramls, "henceforth "hence-forth we are at issue with the Cardinal." Car-dinal." Aided by d'Artagnan, who f 'ught off the Cardinal's officers, the lady contrived con-trived to escape. He declared his love for her, but she would promise nothing. noth-ing. Next time he saw her she was conducting the Duke of Buckingham, disguised as a musketeer, toward the royal palace. If d'Artagnan had followed fol-lowed he would have learned that the queen did Indeed love Buckingham, but was loyal to the king. As a token she gave Buckingham twelve diamond studs the king had tfven her. A spy reported this to Richelieu, who saw in It an opportunity to attack the king, the queen and the duke all a once. First Richelieu asked the king to give a bollet for th-? queen and to ask her to wear the diamond studs, and then he sent a message to Lady de Winter in London, telling her to steal two of the studs from Buckingham. Bucking-ham. Learning of this plot through Madame Bonancleux, d'Artagnan resolved re-solved to serve both his lady and his queen by recovering the jewels. For London the four comrades set out. Beset by the Cardinal's men on tbe road, three were wounded, and ocly d'Artncnan reached London. Ther was Just time to replace the stolei studs and return to i'arls. whicl d'Artagnan reached on the night of the ballet, foiling Richelieu's plot. lie now set out to find his comrades. Porthos he found in bed at an Inn Aramls disputing with doctors of the ology, and Athos drunk In a wine cellar, cel-lar, airing his secret sorrow and defy-Ing defy-Ing th? landlord to eject him. In hi1 youth, Athos confessed, he had been tricked Into marriage with a beautiful fiend, who, he later discovered, carrier! on her shoulder the executioner's brand, the fleur de lys. Horror stricken, strick-en, he had slain her. In church next day d'Artagwan's eye was caught by a very beautiful lady whom he recognized as the one who had been with the stranger al Meung. Following her from the church, he saw her talking with an Englishman, and' drawing close ht heard her call this man her brother-in-law, Lord de Winter. D'Artagnan fell deeply In love will Lady de Winter, but his ardor coolec when he learned that she was a car-dlnallst car-dlnallst plotter. By a trick he ob talned from her a sapphire ring, whicl he showed to Athos. "Where did you get this?" criec Athos. "It was my mother's." D'Artagnan told him. "Renounce that woman," said Athos "She is a fatal creature." That night d'Artagnan accused Ladj de Winter of treachery. She rushes upon him and In avoiding her blow he pulled her dress from her shoulder There was the executioner's brand the fleur de lys. At this time the war between England Eng-land and France was at its height and the siege of la Rochelle was beginning. begin-ning. Richelieu, learning all thai d'Artagnan had done, tried to buy him Into his own service, D'Artagnan re fused, knowing that refusal might cost him his life. The Three Musketeer? set out now to discover the cardinal's next move. Eavesdropping, they heard Richelieu Instruct Lady de Winter t go to London and there tell Buckingham Bucking-ham to order that the English sup render, warning him that If the war continued Richelieu would expose th queen. If Buckingham refused, he was to be assassinated. For her part, the lady asked Richelieu for the death of d'Artagnan, who knew her 6ecret, and of Madame Bonancleux, who had thwarted her so often. Half an hour later Athos was alone with the woman. "The Count de la Fere," she cried, deathly pale. "Yes, my lady," said Athos. "Ton thought me dead, as I thought you dead, and the name of Athos concealed the Count de la Fere, as the name of Lady de Winter concealed Anne d Breuil." Athos took from his false wife tha (arte blanche passport Richelieu had given her and sent her to the coast, where a boat waited to take her to England. She could not disobey, knowing know-ing that Athos could expose her. Back to the siege the four comrades then went, and, In order to be together to discuss their plans, they spent aD lour in the Bastion of St Gervals, wltistandlng all assaults. Between at-t'ack.5 at-t'ack.5 they talked, and as a result they sent messages to Lord de Winter, ex-posltg ex-posltg his false sister-in-law and heiress, heir-ess, gnd to an influential friend of Aramls, asking for the name of the convent where Madame Bonancleux was "ssnflned. Thjs on her arrival in England Lady de Winter was seized and Imprisoned in htr brother-in-law's castle; but, ex-erclsmg ex-erclsmg her wiles upon her young Jailer, Jail-er, he contrived to escape, and so poisoned the Jailer's ears against Buckingham that he was ready to do her deadly work. Sent by de Winter as a uiessenger to the duke, he plunged a dagger Into Buckingham's side. De Winter arrived In London one minute too lal t'o save the duke, but a messenger mes-senger from Paris was just in time to deliver to Buckingham the queen's pledge of love. He died with the queen's name on his lips. Now iadame de Winter had fled to France--to the convent of Bethune, where Madame Bonancleux was. By poison she accomplished her purpose; and wiiyn d'Artagnan and his comrades com-rades arrived at the convent they found the body of the pretty seamstress. seam-stress. They set out in pursuit of the murderers, and when they found her they held a formal trial and com emned her to death. An executioner was found the very man who had put the brand njion her shoulder years before. be-fore. The next day d'Artagnan was arrested ar-rested and taken before the cardinal, his captor being none other than his "man of Meung," who now called himself him-self the Chevalier de Rochefort. D'Artagnan told the cardinal of the crimes of Lady de Winter, and finally produced the cardinal's own passport, absolving the bearer. , Admiration overcame anger In the cardinal. Instead of ordering d'Artagnan's d'Artag-nan's imprisonment, he wrote out there and then a lieutenant's commission commis-sion In the Musketeers. D'Artagnan offered the commission to his three friends In turn. All three refused It, protesting they did not deserve it. Besides, Be-sides, Aramls announced that he was about to enter the church, and Porthos said he was about to be married. Athos thereupon wrote upon the blank commission the name of d'Artagnan. As for Rochefort, d'Artagnan fought him many times, but at last they decided de-cided that they were both too good to die, and they became friends, Copyrlg-ht, 1919. by the Post Publishing Co. (The Boston Post). Copyright In the United Kingdom, the Dominions, Its Colonies Col-onies and dependencies, under the copyright copy-right act. by the Post Publishing Co.. I Iloston, Mass., U. 8. A. All righu re- ' nerved, j |