about midnight
The Count d'Artois and all his attendants ran away in their fright , and never stopped on the road till they reached Paris , which they did in about a fortnight ; this dreadful conflagration had such an effect upon them that they were incapable of taking the least refreshment for three months after , but , chameleon-like , lived upon the air . _ If any gentleman will say he doubts the truth of this story , I will fine him a gallon of brandy and make him drink it at one draught . _ About two months after I had done the besieged this service , one morning , as I sat at breakfast with General Elliot , a shell -LRB- for I had not time to destroy their mortars as well as their cannon -RRB- entered the apartment we were sitting in ; it lodged upon our table : the General , as most men would do , quitted the room directly ; but I took it up before it burst , and carried it to the top of the rock , when , looking over the enemy 's camp , on an eminence near the sea-coast I observed a considerable number of people , but could not , with my naked eye , discover how they were employed . I had recourse again to my telescope , when I found that two of our officers , one a general , the other a colonel , with whom I spent the preceding evening , and who went out into the enemy 's camp about midnight as spies , were taken , and then were actually going to be executed on a gibbet . I found the distance too great to throw the shell with my hand , but most fortunately recollecting that I had the very sling in my pocket which assisted David in slaying Goliath , I placed the shell in it , and immediately threw it in the midst of them : it burst as it fell , and destroyed all present , except the two culprits , who were saved by being suspended so high , for they were just turned off : however , one of the pieces of the shell fled with such force against the foot of the gibbet , that it immediately brought it down . Our two friends no sooner felt _ terra firma _ than they looked about for the cause ; and finding their guards , executioner , and all , had taken it in their heads to die first , they directly extricated each other from their disgraceful cords , and then ran down to the sea-shore , seized a Spanish boat with two men in it , and made them row to one of our ships , which they did with great safety , and in a few minutes after , when I was relating to General Elliot how I had acted , they both took us by the hand , and after mutual congratulations we retired to spend the day with festivity . _ An interesting account of the Baron 's ancestors -- A quarrel relative to the spot where Noah built his ark -- The history of the sling , and its properties -- A favourite poet introduced upon no very reputable occasion -- queen Elizabeth 's abstinence -- The Baron 's father crosses from England to Holland upon a marine horse , which he sells for seven hundred ducats .