subject of their village, on the work that they did there, on smuggling,
their principal sources of employment, &c. &c. They answered my
questions with the loquacity common to country rustics. The next day our
guards were replaced by some others who were inhabitants of the same
village. "In my business of a roving merchant," I said to these last, "I
have been at Cadaquès;" and then I began to talk to them of what I had
learnt the night before, of such an individual, who gave himself up to
smuggling with more success than others, of his beautiful residence, of
the property which he possessed near the village,--in short, of a number
of particulars which it seemed impossible for any but an inhabitant of
Cadaquès to know. My jest produced an unexpected effect. Such
circumstantial details, our guards said to themselves, cannot be known
by a roving merchant; this personage, whom we have found here in such
singular society, is certainly a native of Cadaquès; and the son of the
apothecary must be about his age. He had gone to try his fortune in
America; it is evidently he who fears to make himself known, having been
found with all his riches in a vessel on its way to France. The report
spread, became more consistent, and reached the ears of a sister of the
apothecary established at Rosas. She runs to me, believes she recognizes
me, and falls on my neck. I protest against the identity. "Well played!"
said she to me; "the case is serious, as you have been found in a vessel
coming to France; persist in your denial; circumstances may perhaps take
a more favourable turn, and I shall profit by them to insure your
deliverance. In the mean time, my dear nephew, I will let you want for
nothing." And truly every morning M. Berthémie and I received a
comfortable repast.

The church having become necessary to the garrison to serve as a
magazine, we were moved on the 25th of September, 1808, to a Trinity
fort, called the _Bouton de Rosas_, a citadel situated on a little