I was put in the Chaussée where I found a party of prisoners who had received me so well on my arrival. They were making good cheer and denied themselves nothing: for, independently of the money procure by the 'letters of Jerusalem,' they had got a supply from some females whom they knew, and who constantly visited them. Having become, as at Douai, the object of special vigilance, I still sought to escape; when at length the day arrived for the departure of the chain.
It was the 20th of November 1797: all the morning we remarked a more than usual commotion in the prison. The prisoners had not left their cells, and the gates were every moment opened and shut with much noise: the jailors went to and fro with a busy air, and they were knocking off irons, in the great court, of which the sound reached our ears. About eleven o'clock two men clothed in blue uniforms entered Fort-Mahon, where for eight days I had been replaced with the companions of my essay to escape: it was the captain of the chain and his lieutenant. "Well," said the captain, smiling in a kind of familiar way, "have we any return horses (fugitive galley-slaves)?" And whilst he spoke all pressed about, trying who should testify most respect to him. "Good day, M. Viez; good day, M. Thierry," resounded from all sides. These salutations were even repeated by the
