Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/119

 elapsed before we could indulge any reasonable hopes of success; the pavement stones under the door, were about ten inches square, and so closely bound together, that it was a most difficult, and very tedious process. About a quarter of an hour had been thus employed, when we were alarmed by a sudden noise, similar to the distant report of a gun, echoing in tremulous reverberations through the arched passage, and, as the sound became fainter, it resembled the cautious opening of the great gate, creating a belief that we were discovered. We jumped up, drew back towards the bridge, intending, if possible, to steal past the gens d'armes, and slip down the piles into the canal, but the noise subsiding, we stood still, fancying we heard the footsteps of a body of men. The recollection of the barbarous murders at Bitche, on a similar occasion, instantly presented itself to my sensitive imagination; it is impossible to describe the conflicting sensations which rushed upon my mind during this awful pause: fully impressed with the conviction of discovery,