.

The King and the Lieutenant.
As soon as the king saw the officer enter, he dismissed his _valet de chambre_ and his gentleman.
"Who is on duty to-morrow, monsieur ?" asked he.
The lieutenant bowed his head with military politeness, and replied, "I am, sire." "What! still you ?" "Always I, sire." "How can that be, monsieur ?" "Sire, when traveling, the musketeers supply all the posts of your majesty's household; that is to say, yours, her majesty the queen's, and monsieur le cardinal's, the latter of whom borrows of the king the best part, or rather the numerous part, of the royal guard." "But in the interims ?" "There are no interims, sire, but for twenty or thirty men who rest out of a hundred and twenty.

At the Louvre it is very different, and if I were at the Louvre I should rely upon my brigadier; but, when traveling, sire, no one knows what may happen, and I prefer doing my duty myself." "Then you are on guard every day ?" "And every night.

Yes, sire." "Monsieur, I cannot allow that--I will have you rest." "That is very kind, sire; but I will not." "What do you say ?" said the king, who did not at first comprehend the full meaning of this reply.
"I say, sire, that I will not expose myself to the chance of a fault.

If the devil had a trick to play on me, you understand, sire, as he knows the man with whom he has to deal, he would chose the moment when I should not be there.