"We must have
two gentlemen more," he said.
At that moment Doltaire entered with the old gentleman of whom
I have written. The Governor instantly brightened, and gave the
stranger a warm greeting, calling him his "dear Chevalier;" and,
after a deal of urging, the Chevalier de la Darante was seated as
one of my judges: which did not at all displease me, for I liked
his face.
I do not need to dwell upon the trial here. I have set down the
facts before. I had no counsel and no witnesses. There seemed no
reason why the trial should have dragged on all day, for I soon saw
it was intended to find me guilty. Yet I was surprised to see how
Doltaire brought up a point here and a question there in my favour,
which served to lengthen out the trial; and all the time he sat
near the Chevalier de la Darante, now and again talking with him.
It was late evening before the trial came to a close. The one
point to be established was that the letters taken from General
Braddock were mine, and that I had made the plans while a hostage.
I acknowledged nothing, and would not do so unless I was allowed
to speak freely.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173