who infringes them, I only determined to make my escape on the eve of
our admission to pratique.

The night being come I crept on all-fours along the briars, and I should
soon have got beyond the line of sentinels who guarded us. A noisy
uproar which I heard among the Moors made me determine to reënter, and I
found these poor people in an unspeakable state of uneasiness, thinking
themselves lost if I left; I therefore remained.

The next day a strong picquet of troops presented itself before the
mill. The manoeuvres made by it inspired all of us with anxiety, but
especially Captain Krog.[3] "What will they do with us?" he exclaimed.
"Alas! you will see only too soon," replied the Spanish officer. This
answer made every one believe that they were going to shoot us. What
might have strengthened me in this idea was the obstinacy with which
Captain Krog and two other individuals of small size hid themselves
behind me. A handling of arms made us think that we had but a few
seconds to live.

In analyzing the feelings which I experienced on this solemn occasion, I
have come to the conclusion that the man who is led to death is not as
unhappy as the public imagines him to be. Fifty ideas presented
themselves nearly simultaneously to my mind, and I did not rack my brain
for any of them; I only recollect the two following, which have remained
engraved on my memory. On turning my head to the right, I saw the
national flag flying on the bastions of Figueras, and I said to myself,
"If I were to move a few hundred metres, I should be surrounded by
comrades, by friends, by fellow citizens, who would receive me
affectionately. Here, without their being able to impute any crime to
me, I am going to suffer death at twenty-two years of age." But what