D'Artagnan, the King Maker

About this issue

This 1901 Street & Smith edition presents an historical novel by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Henry L. Williams. The narrative opens in mid-seventeenth-century Spain near San Sebastian, at the coastal hamlet of Las Salinas. The story depicts the rise and decline of a salt-making settlement, where fishermen and workers built a thriving community until competing claims on the salt trade—from the provincial governor Don Nuestradamus Palliro, a local nobleman, and the Church—sparked conflict. When authorities attempt to extract taxes, the saltmakers resist and eventually abandon the settlement, even demolishing the inn intended to serve as a garrison. The text establishes a desolate, storm-battered landscape as backdrop for D'Artagnan's arrival, promising adventures involving Portuguese succession and the restoration of the Braganza dynasty, with appearances by the musketeer Porthos. The preface emphasizes Dumas's characteristic action-driven narrative style and his recurring hero's wit and loyalty.