Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/26

 as five days' pay, were drummed, as before, out of the village. Our march was through a rugged country, the scenery of which was very picturesque. The captain of the escort, generally keeping the interpreter by his side, occasionally (through him) entered into conversation with one or other of us; availing ourselves of a favourable opportunity, when apparently he was a little less morose than usual, we endeavoured to obtain permission to walk by ourselves, instead of being restricted to the ranks; but he was deaf to our request. We ceased to wonder that he should evince so little feeling for our situation, when he related story after story of the bloody deeds committed during the reign of terror, in which it seemed, by his own account, he had been a frequent and willing actor; he and the captain of the Rhin were, probably, fair specimens of the set of hardened miscreants which the revolution had produced, and served to show, that in those troublesome times, abandonment of principle and display of turpitude, no less than of talent, led the way to promotion and