I was twice
obliged to be from my master's the whole night, the city gates
having been shut before I could reach them. The reader may imagine
what treatment this procured me the following mornings; but I was
promised such a reception for the third, that I made a firm resolution
never to expose myself to the danger of it. Notwithstanding my
determination, I repeated this dreaded transgression, my vigilance
having been rendered useless by a cursed captain, named M. Minutoli,
who, when on guard, always shut the gate he had charge of an hour
before the usual time. I was returning home with my two companions,
and had got within half a league of the city, when I heard them beat
the tattoo; I redouble my pace, I run with my utmost speed, I approach
the bridge, see the soldiers already at their posts I call out to them
in a suffocated voice- it is too late; I am twenty paces from the
guard, the first bridge is already drawn up, and I tremble to see
those terrible horns advanced in the air which announce the fatal
and inevitable destiny, which from this moment began to pursue me.
I threw myself on the glacis in a transport of despair, while my
companions, who only laughed at the accident, immediately determined
what to do. My resolution, though different from theirs, was equally
sudden: on the spot, I swore never to return to my master's, and the
next morning, when my companions entered the city, I bade them an
eternal adieu, conjuring them at the same time to inform my cousin
Bernard of my resolution, and the place where he might see me for
the last time.
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