Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/263

Rh never told them, fearing lest their indiscreet gratitude might compromise me and prevent me from serving others. I was adroit, and feared nothing, though I rarely carried any weapon except the little ’Jacob's staff' you see here—sometimes I had a pair of pistols in my pockets, but I never had occasion to use them; and I was so honest that they gave me carte blanche for my expenses and paid my accounts without examining them.

"The Committee of Public Safety often sent me on missions, with powers exceeding even those of the Representatives of the people themselves, and thus I was able to do good service by making away with documents which would have destroyed whole families. I often took away papers, when I was sure that the Committee knew nothing of the affairs to which they related, and it was in this way that I saved the lives of the Comte and Comtesse de T——, who are related to your family. Ah, why was I not able to save your unfortunate uncle? but I did not know what