Norfolk day book. [volume] (Norfolk and Portsmouth Va.) 1868-1880, 1869-04-27
THE DAY BOOK.
TUESDAY MORNING, April q, 1869.
[Continued from First page. I

sixty soldiers, who were on du-
ty within and without the fort !;
furthermore the door Of the
prison was guarded by
three Jailors, two Of whom were
always on duty. 1t was neces-
sary, therefore, in the first
place, to pass before them, then
to traverse all the inner court
before the windows of the COM
mandant; having reached there,
1t was necessary to pass through
the gate where there were an
orderly and a sergeant, a gate
keeper, a sentinel, and finally,
a post of thirty men,
Not having been willing to
establish any communication
with a corruptible jailor or so,
a disguise was, Of course, ne
cessary. Now as several rooms
OF the building | inhabited were
undergoing repairs, it was easy
to take the costume OF a work.
man. Ny good and faithful
Cha's Thelin procured a blouse
and wooden shoes. | cut off
my mustache took and a board
on my shoulders.
Monday morning l saw the
workmen come in at61 o'clock.
When they We're at work
Charles took some drink to
them in a room, so as to get
them out Of my way; he was
also to call one keeper upstairs,
while doctor was talking with
the others.
Meanwhile, I was hardly out
of my room when Twas accost-
ed by a workman who followed
me, taking me for one of his
comrades; at the foot of the
staircase l found myself front
to front with keeper. Lucki-
ly l put the board before his
face and reached the court, al
ways holding the board be-
tween myself and the sentinel
and those whom ILnet.
When passing before the
first sentinel I let fall my pipe,
but | stopped to pick up the
pieces. Then l met the officer
Of the guard, but he was read
ing letter and did not notice
NE. The soldiers of the post
at the gate seemed to wonder
ct my dress; the drummer in
particular turned several times
to- look.
Meanwhile the orderlies open
ed the door and [ found myself
outside the fortress; then [ met
two workmen who were comm g
towards NE, and looked al me
attentively. l then turned the
board on their side, but they
appeared soinquisitive,I til eught
that l could not escape them,
when I heard them exclaim:
'Oh! it is Berthoud.'
Once on the outside, 1 walk
ed rapidly toward the Saint
Quentin road.
A little later Charles, who
had engaged a carriage for him
self the preceding day, over
took me, and we reached Saint
Quentin.
I passed through the town on
foot, after taking off my blouse
Charles had procured q post
carriage, under pretence of 60
ing to the races at Cambria.
Wereached Valenoiennes with
out difficulty, where I took the
railway.
had obtained a. Belgian
passport, but it has nowhere
been asked for. During this
time Conneau, always so devot-
ed, remained in prison, and
gave out that l was i'll so as to
give me time TO reach the
frontier.
l hope he will not have been
ill-treated; that would be, as
you may suppose, a great grief
for me.
But, my dear Mr., Degeorge,
if 1 experienced a lively senti-
ment Of joy when / found my
self outside the fortress, l was
very sadly impressed on pass
ing the frontier; the certainty
that the Government would
never set me at liberty, unless,
| consented to clishonor ssmyself
was necessary to decide me to
quit France; finally, it was ne
cessary that l should be urged
to this step by the desire of