Page:Statement of the attempted rescue of General Lafayette from Olmutz.djvu/14

 They had procured passports, and taken every possible precaution. They were not able to take a led horse (as it has been suggested they did) because it would have excited suspicion, and they had tried and ascertained that one of their horses would carry double. Their plan was that General Lafayette should ride one horse and his two friends follow on the other, until near Hoff, when Mr. Huger should get off and walk, while the two gentlemen would go to the Inn, and Dr. Bollman would order out his carriage to the door. When the two gentlemen were seated in it, Dr. Bollman would recollect something left, and dispatch the servant to seek for it, while Mr. Huger, who would be at hand, was to have quietly stepped into the coachman’s place, and driven off, leaving the groom to his fate; and once off, the rest would have been clear. But to return to the scene two or three miles from the Fortress of Olmutz. The young men rode so far without seeing the phæton they expected, that they thought they must have missed it, and returned towards the town, as it was possible some different road might have been taken that day, and they were arranging how they might account for their return; but on their way they saw such a party approaching, as they expected, a phæton with