Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/87

 impracticable. In this part of the fortress, which the prisoners termed the lower citadel, there are two gates—the northern, leading to the upper citadel, and the southern, to the town: at each, was a strong guard. Through the western rampart is a sally-port, which leads into an outwork, thence into a garden, forming a triangle of about half an acre, at the extreme point of which, the Escant branches off in two streams, the canal passing between the citadel and ravelin. Through this sally-port it was my intention to make an attempt, that appearing the weakest point. I meant to swim across the river, and take my clothes in an umbrella prepared for the occasion. I once tried the efficacy of this plan before many people at Verdun, which drew upon me the displeasure of the police, attended by an order not to repeat my experiments. Some few days elapsed before I ventured to communicate my intentions to any one, when I broached the subject to a brother mid, named Ricketts, who readily entered into my views, and was willing to assist me