Page:Statement of the attempted rescue of General Lafayette from Olmutz.djvu/12

 “Take care not to mistake Bournonville for Bancal for me. They ride on the days I do not, the one at two, the other at four. I wish you may have pocket pistols for me when I am on horse-back, till then I want them not, and the corporals own sword will be more than sufficient. I ardently hope for an answer my dear friend, and I will be every day ready for the execution. I am going to owe you a thousand times more than life; but do not miss this excellent opportunity; this is certainly immanquable, I think. And suppose these governments were to open the door, who knows what they can do.

Adieu, my dear friend, I wish you could know as I do the two men who accompany me. Write if you can by the Doctor; I can also drop a line from the phaeton, but any day you make the attempt, next Sunday or any day after that I shall be ready. Adieu.”

Dr. Bollman then asked Mr. Huger’s assistance in attempting the liberation of General Lafayette, but did not attempt to conceal that there would be danger and difficulty in the enterprise. The offer was immediately accepted, and the comrades proceeded to carry out Dr. Bollman’s well arranged plans. They tried in vain to procure a third person, and in October, (1794) left Vienna with a light travelling carriage and two riding horses, intending to appear in the character of a young Englishman and his travelling tutor, for which parts both were well fitted. Dr. Bollman taking the entire direction, and his knowledge of the language, and the roads, and all his arrangements being judiciously contrived to avoid giving