At 2 a.m., the four adventurers, accompanied by their armed servants, ride out of Paris. At the first inn where they stop, Porthos gets into an argument with a stranger; his companions are anxious to be on their way, so they tell him to "kill that man and rejoin us as soon as you can." They continue on their journey and decide to wait two hours for Porthos, but he never appears.
Later, they encounter eight or nine men working on the road, and suddenly the workmen race for the ditch, pick up their muskets, and begin firing. D'Artagnan realizes that they have ridden into an ambush, so he warns the others, urging them back. Mousqueton falls, wounded. Aramis receives wounds and can't ride any farther, so they leave him at an inn in Crevecoeur, tended to by his servant, Bazin.
The original party of eight is now reduced to four: d'Artagnan and his servant Planchet, and Athos and his servant Grimaud. At midnight they reach Amiens and stop at the Lis d'Or inn. Grimaud guards the horses while Planchet sleeps in front of the door so that d'Artagnan and Athos won't be taken by surprise. Two hours later, they are awakened by noises, and at 4 a.m., they hear more loud noises in the stable. They investigate and discover Grimaud lying unconscious with a bleeding head. Planchet goes to saddle the horses but they are still too exhausted to go any farther. Mousqueton's horse has even been bled, mistakenly, by the local veterinarian.
When Athos goes to pay the bill, the innkeeper looks at the money and declares it to be counterfeit. At this moment, four armed men rush toward him, but Athos holds them off while yelling to d'Artagnan to escape.
