Page:Memoirs of a Huguenot Family.djvu/116

110 parted with it willingly, if, in the combat, I could have destroyed any of the leaders of these troops who were doing the Devil's work throughout the land.

You must know, that though I was a poor soldier on foot from my lameness, I was by no means a contemptible opponent when mounted. I was an excellent horseman, and so good a shot that I could hit a mark at twelve or fifteen paces with my horse at full gallop. One of my horses was an Arabian, remarkably fleet; if I gave him the bridle he would move with the swiftness of a race horse, stretching out his legs, and then doubling them under him, so as to bring his body very near the ground. The eyes of the rider were dazzled by the rapidity with which he passed over the ground, but there was no uneasiness from the motion. I knew that none of the dragoons could overtake me when mounted on him, and I determined, if they should pursue me, to fight like the Parthians, wait for any one of them who should distance the rest by the fleetness of his horse, shoot him, gallop off, and load my pistol to be ready for another. I scarcely feared a whole company when I was riding my Arabian, for they could not approach me in a body, and one by one, I was sure I could dispose of several of them. In addition to this, I was very well acquainted with that part of the country, which gave me a great advantage over them, and in extremity I could have availed myself of windings and thickets among the woods where they would not dare to follow. I made every preparation that I could for self-defence, but my reliance was not so much upon that as upon the protection of my Father in Heaven, whom I tried to serve to the best of my power, and who, in his infinite mercy, has upheld me through many and great dangers as well then as at other periods of my life.