Grimaud abruptly announces that about twenty-five men are approaching. Athos has Grimaud place all the dead bodies outside and put muskets in their hands. Meanwhile, they finish their breakfast and see that they have probably ten more minutes before they can win their bet. They conceal themselves and carefully take aim at the approaching soldiers, kill several of them, and then, as the rest try to approach the bastion, they push over a rotting wall on them — killing or drowning most of them in the moat. Then they return gloriously to camp.
On the way, they wonder how they will get some money — and at this point they remember d'Artagnan's diamond ring. They convince him that since the queen gave it to him, it would be an honor to the queen if he were to sell it to help Buckingham, the queen's lover, and the money could also help rescue Constance Bonacieux, the queen's loyal servant.
They persuade Aramis to write a letter to de Winter and one to Madame de Chevreuse, using elegant, arabesque phrases so if the letter is confiscated or captured, the enemy (or the cardinal) will not understand the contents. Then they send Planchet and Bazin on the important errands, promising them extra money if they return at a specifically designated time. D'Artagnan has now been officially declared a musketeer, so the four musketeers while away their time, waiting for the servants to return. Not long afterward, both servants return on the designated day at the designated time.
