We came, at last, to the post-house, where I was taken into a room;
the Cossack placed himself with his musket under the open door, so
as to keep his eye continually on me; and the other man, who, from
his dark-green velvet facings, I supposed to be one of the Emperor's
officers, remained some time in the room. At the end of half an
hour, the post-master, or whoever he was, came to examine me, and to
hear an account of the achievements of my captors, who hastened,
with laughing countenances, to give a complete statement of what had
happened.
I was obliged to pass the night, under strict guard, upon a wooden
bench, without either a wrapper or a mantle with me, and suffering
from hunger and thirst. They neither gave me a coverlet nor a piece
of bread; and when I merely rose from the bench to walk up and down
the room, the Cossack rushed in immediately, seized my arms, and led
me back to the bench, telling me, at the same time, that I must
remain there quietly.
Towards morning they brought me my luggage, when I showed them my
papers, and was set at liberty.
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