Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/194

 which not only defied repose, but threatened the most calamitous effects; indeed, the limbs were sometimes so benumbed, that it became absolutely indispensable to shake and twist ourselves about, to promote the necessary circulation of the blood. Nor did there appear any prospect of the termination of this misery, for, as the black and ponderous clouds passed swiftly over us, the wind increased, the hail beat furiously down, and the trees trembled, until the raging violence of the storm seemed to threaten the uprooting of the very wood we occupied. In this exposed situation, with variable, though piercing cold weather, we remained until the 15th, when the boy, with the help of Fox, again traced us out, and said, his mother had seen, and detailed to Moitier our exact situation; he pretended surprise, declaring that Mansell had never given him reason to suppose that he had companions, and, lamenting at the same time his inability to be of service at present, promised to assist in a day or two. This affectation of surprise, and assertion of Mansell's silence,