Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/235

Rh if I should be released before them, the first use I would make of my liberty, would be to labour to the utmost to procure theirs. At the same time, for celebrating so happy an event, I ordered three small pieces of candle to be lighted, and made astonishing largesses to the soldiers, in wine, shirts, handkerchiefs, &c.

I went to bed very late, and for once it was joy which prevented me from sleeping. It was now for the last time that I rested upon that miserable bed. My long sufferings, the end of which I did not expect so soon, were to be finished in a few hours; I was to be free, to see men again, to see, above all, my friends, and soon my parents? With what joy, mingled with affecting feelings, did I anticipate the moment when I should be able to embrace them. I got up very early, ordered my servant to pack up the few things I had, and waited with the greatest impatience the happy arrival of Makarow. I received from Bonneau a letter full of anxiety, enclosing