Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/121

 *cite alarm. Whitehurst, with much presence of mind, stood perfectly still when he landed on the bridge, and heard the sentinel walk up to the door on the inside, and stand still also; at this time, they were not more than four feet from each other, and, had the sentinel stood listening a minute longer, he must have heard Mansell land. Three of us continued mining until half-past ten, when the first stone was raised, and in twenty minutes the second; about eleven, the hole was large enough to allow us to creep under the door; the drawbridge was up; there was, however, sufficient space between it and the door, to allow us to climb up, and the bridge being square, there was, of course, an opening under the arch: through this opening we crept, lowering ourselves down by the line, which was passed round the chain of the bridge, and, keeping both parts in our hands, landed on the "guarde fous." Had these bars