to St Denis in a car, pinioned, so that I could not move, and to Louvres the escort never took eyes off me. These arrangements announced the rigours in store for me, and I roused all the energy that had already so often procured me my liberty.
We had been put into the clock-house of Louvres, now transformed into a prison, where they brought me two mattresses, a counterpane, and sheets, which, cut and fastened together, would help us to descend into the church-yard. A bar was cut with the knives of three deserters confined with us, and at two o'clock in the morning I made the first attempt, and having reached the extremity of the rope, I perceived that it was nearly fifteen feet from the ground; hesitation availed nought, and I let go, but, as in my fall at the ramparts at Lille, I sprained my left leg so severely, that I could scarcely walk; however, I attempted to climb the walls of the churchyard, when I heard the key turn quietly in the lock. It was the jailor and his dog, who had noses alike for following a scent: the jailor, at first, passed beneath the cord without seeing it; and the mastiff near a ditch in which I lay, without smelling me. Having gone the round, they retired, and I thought that my companions would follow my example, but no one appearing, I climbed the wall and got into the plain. The pain of my foot became more and more acute, but I bore the pain, and courage giving me strength, I made considerable progress. I had nearly advanced a quarter of a league, when I suddenly heard the sound of the tocsin. It was in the middle of May. At the earliest dawn, I saw several armed peasants go out of their dwellings and spread themselves over the plains. They were probably ignorant of what was the cause of disturbance, but my sore leg was a token that might make me suspected. My face was unknown: in all probability, the first persons who met me would secure my person. Had I been in full possession of my limbs, I could have distanced all pursuit; I must yield at present; and scarcely had I got on two hundred paces, when overtaken by the gen-
