Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/179

 to the beach, most anxiously watching the roll of every wave; but, as if fortune had doomed us to be the shuttle-cock of her caprice, our hopes appeared excited only to put to proof our patience and perseverance; the water receded, without reaching a single vessel. Very bad weather setting in, attended with heavy falls of snow and hail, rendered night excursions to any distance, almost impracticable.

Madame Derikre proposed our being below at night, for the covering of the loft being nothing but open tiling, through which the wind blew from three sides, we were frequently benumbed with cold, particularly as we dare not move about, to take exercise. This offer was readily accepted, one keeping watch at the door all night, regularly relieved, and occasionally assisted by our friend Fox. Being now more comfortably lodged, we forsook the loft entirely; occupying, in the day, a place about eight feet by four, with a door opening directly upon the wood. Many schemes were suggested, but none sufficiently feasible to induce us to shift our quarters,