Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/207

 *out apprehension, that they might suspect I intended to desert them; and, should any thing occur to cause the capture of either party during our separation, the report of such a disgraceful act might be circulated, without my ever being able to prove its fallacy: but the evident necessity for some decided step, and the conscious rectitude of my intention, presently dissipated such thoughts, and created a cheering presentiment that my plans would lead to some favourable result. At length, my mind became wholly absorbed in the consolation which this feeling afforded, and I lay meditating schemes for the guidance of the future, till about four o'clock, scarcely able to close my eyes: at that hour, I gently tapped at Madame Derikre's window; she immediately equipped me in the same dress I had worn to Blankenberg on the 15th of December, and furnished me with a carpenter's rule, line, and chalk, &c. After taking some refreshment, we set out "tête-a-tête," for Bruges. At dawn of day, we separated, keeping about a hundred yards apart, and entered the