D'Artagnan, the King Maker — page 274: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A Corporeal Shade. 057 “Why should he not? Surely, even nuns may choose their visitors!” “Cry you mercy, noble sir! It is a begging sister- hood, and it is written, ‘Beggars should not be choosers!’”’ “Witty, but it is not charitable. For what do you want to enter the sanctuary? Are there no men to clout and claw?” ‘There are plenty of Spanish to fight, certainly, but they have sneaked into the strong-houses, do you see? We have little to force them out with! Taking the pet- ticoats—I mean, the frocks—for protection, the Gov- ernor has stored two tons of powder and three or four cartloads of pig-lead in the cloisters, with seven or eight hundred stand of arms fs “Humph!” said the honest Porthos, “that makes your disorderly conduct a military precaution 4 “Military necessity! We are not only depriving the enemy of solid comfort, but arming our side, which is lamentably deficient in firearms.” The steward intimated to Porthos that this was a self- confessed rebel, and that parley was out of place. “You are a fine though incautious speaker,” said the Frenchman, “and I am indebted to you. But, since the old man threw the key out of reach, which was his duty, why pull him about?” “The lads only sought to take the rope girdle off him to try to scale the wall, but he resisted tooth and nail, so that those who were scratched fell on him savagely. He still resists, crying out that the rope is a blessed one, having belonged to a saint of the order d “The dotard! Who would not lose a fathom of rope to save an inch of skin?” “To tell the whole tale,’ continued the youth, whose eloquence was collecting an audience around them, “the lads, finding the rope too short, were making up the deficiency with his sackcloth robe, whereupon he shrieked out that they were flaying ‘him.” “Ves, they are using their knives to undress him! They will disjoint him!” “Have no fear! Those with the knives are currie trained to shave close without harming the pelt!” ° CORNICE OOOKS (€(0)