could scarcely walk at the rate of three miles an hour. Mr. Boys had also a tumour forming on his left side, which obliged him always to lie on the right, and proved the foundation of a rheumatism, to which he has ever since been subject.
“Near the gates,” continues he, “we observed a public house, and having hitherto found such places to afford relief and safety, at this hour of the night, we entered, and saw nobody but an old woman and a servant: at first they appeared somewhat surprised, but asked no questions except such as regarded our wants, frequently exclaiming ‘pauvres conscrits.’ We dried our clothes, when the sudden transition from cold to heat split Hunter’s feet; several of his nails also were loose, and Whitehurst had actually walked off two. The fire made us all so very sensitive, that we could scarcely bear our feet to the floor; but found some relief by bathing them in oil: having, however, enjoyed a comfortable supper, we lay ourselves down, keeping watch in turn, until a.m., when we paid the old woman and departed.”
Midway between Bruges and Blankenberg, Mr. Boys and his companions found a warm friend in Madame Deriske, landlady of the Raie-de-Chat, a solitary public house; by whom they were long concealed, and ultimately enabled to escape. During the time they enjoyed her protection, Mr. Boys made no less than thirteen trips to the coast, hoping to procure a vessel of some kind; but always without success. The last of these attempts may serve as a specimen of the whole.
