The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père, and was first serialized in March–July 1844 in the newspaper Le Siècle. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. D'Artagnan is not one of the musketeers of the title; those are his friends Athos, Porthos and Aramis, inseparable friends who live by the motto «all for one, one for all» («tous pour un, un pour tous»), a motto which is first put forth by d'Artagnan. The d'Artagnan Romances are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas telling the story of the musketeer d'Artagnan from his humble beginnings in Gascony to his death as a marshal of France in the Siege of Maastricht in 1673. The three novels are: The Three Musketeers, set in 1625. Twenty Years After, set in 1648. And The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, set between 1660 and 1673, this vast novel has been split into four volumes; The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Ten Years Later, Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask.
In five minutes three were slightly wounded, one on the hand, another on the ear, by the defender of the stair, who himself remained intact—a piece of skill which was worth to him, according to the rules agreed upon, three turns of favor.