"But surely, if we were embarking on such an expedition, we ought to have brought our muskets?"
"Porthos, you are a goose! What would be the good of burdening ourselves with anything so useless?"
"I should hardly think that a heavy musket, a dozen cartridges, and a powder flask would be useless when one is in the presence of an enemy."
"Dear me!" said Athos, "didn't you hear what D'Artagnan was saying?"
"What did D'Artagnan say?" asked Porthos.
"He said that during last night's attack eight or ten Frenchmen were killed, and as many Rochellois."
"Well?"
"Well, hasn't everybody been too busy ever since to think of stripping the dead bodies?"
"What then?"
"What then? Why, we shall find their muskets, their flasks, and their cartridges, all waiting for us; and instead of four muskets and twelve charges, there will be fifteen pieces and a hundred bullets."