944 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



** that it was impossible for him to 

 " remember what he said a quarter 

 " of an hour bel'orc, or rest quietly 

 *' two minutes in the same place. 



" Most of the people, wlio left 

 " t!ie room with me, dispersed 

 " themselves in dift'erent parts of 

 *' the castle; the rest, sheltered with 

 *' lunbrellas, wei\t several ways, 

 *' without troubling their heads 

 *^' about mc ; and I again stood 

 ^' helpless and forlorn, under a 

 " portico, fioiiting the great s^afe. 



" Thefcar of SiJoillng my clothes 

 *' made me at first determined to 

 '* remain there, till the rain was 

 *' over ; but the wish to see my 

 *' friend, and the craving in my 

 " stomach, soon made mc alter my 

 '' intention, and after I had button- 

 *' ed my coat, and covered my 

 •' best hat with my pockct-hand- 

 " kerchief, I ran as fast as I was 

 " able across the court yard to the 

 *' guard room. I am ignorant if it was 

 " my excessive speed, which I be- 

 " lieve is something uncommon at 

 " court, or what other reason 

 *' brought the last and greatest of 

 *' all my misfortunes on mc, but 

 *' before I reached the centry box, 

 *' I heard a dog bark, and the mo- 

 ** ment after a hideous shaggy mas- 

 " tiff, of a monstrous size, rushed 

 " forward, and jumped upon me 

 " with such impetuosity, that my 

 *' feet slipped and I fell backwards. 

 " There I lay in the dirt, with the 

 *' animal's two fore-paws on my 

 *' breast: he harked and howled in 

 " the most frightful manner, and I 

 *' trembled and roared as loud as it 

 *' was possible for a person with 

 " sound lungs to roar. The centry, 

 " instead of hastening to my assis- 

 *' tance, hooted and burst oaf into 

 *■' a horse laughj and I continued to 



" scream out, help ! help ! for God's 

 " sake, help ! 



" One of the soldiers called to 

 " me, and said, ' don't be afraid, 

 " the dog won't bite you !' But 1, 

 " far from being pacified by his 

 " assurances, continued to vocife- 

 " nated, help, help ! I was at last 

 " freed from the beast's clutches, 

 " and helped up, but I was in such 

 " a tremor that I could hardly 

 " stand. I, however, hurried away 

 " as fast as 1 could, without stop- 

 " ping to thank my deliverer, or to 

 " pick up my hat. I fancied the dog 

 " was siill at my heels, avid, as 

 " soon as I recovered my breath, I 

 " ran as fast as Ihad done before, 

 " without venturing to look behind 

 " me or sideways. 



" What a miserable life a court 

 " life is ! muttered I to myself; and 

 " I am, to be sure, the stupidest 

 " and most untoward being that 

 " ever existed ; incapable of extri- 

 "• eating myself out of the least dif- 

 " ficulty: 1 believe I surely must be 

 " quite altered from my former 

 " self, and that I shall never again 

 " be what I was ? 



" In the panic I was in, it is no 

 " wonder that I missed the way 

 " Charles Thompson brought me ; 

 '• and who knows how far I should 

 " have strayed if my career had not 

 " been stopped by my running 

 " against a tree. I started, looked 

 " up, and perceived myself in a 

 " lonely place, where there were 

 " only a few miserable hovels. 



" I hastened to the first, with the 

 " intention of desiring somebody to 

 " shew me the way to town. I 

 " saw a faint glimmering of light, 

 " through the broken casement, 

 " and I gently pushed open tha 

 " door, that was unlatched ; but 



" the 



