Weak and uncomfortable as I was, this method of proceeding amused me. An English blackguard would have committed robbery, and taken the purse without more ado; the Frenchman, however, was more moderate, and contented himself with cheating me out of the greater part of its contents. Though the result appeared likely to be much the same, yet there were conveniences attending the Frenchman's mode of proceeding of which I did not fail to take advantage; and representing to him civilly my weak state, and the pain and discomfort which I suffered from the furious jolting of the carriage, at that quick rate of progression, I pointed out to him that the more days we were upon the journey the greater would be the amount of crowns to be given to him; and, having discovered that his orders were to carry me to Stenay, a town on the Meuse, belonging to the Prince de Condé, I did not scruple to assure him that, if he would turn the horses' heads the other way, and drive to the quarters of Monsieur de Turenne, wherever they might be, a thousand crowns and a Serjeant's post in my troop should be his immediate reward. The man expressed himself highly obliged by my polite offer, as he termed it, but informed me at the same time that he had three strong reasons for acting honestly in the present instance, and obeying the orders he had received. These were, that, in the first place, he would in all probability be hanged if he went near the quarters of Monsieur de Turenne, as he had lately come over from his army to that of the Prince de Condé; in the next place, that the other party, to which he now belonged, might sooner or later hang him if he again changed sides; and lastly, that even if he could make up his mind to run all these risks, the man who was driving had his orders also, and would not suffer him to deviate from the prescribed route.