About noon
The object of my present endeavors was to reach England , and I journeyed northward . It was nearly a month after I had entered France that I was at a little village on the Garonne , repairing a stone wall which divided a field from the road , and I assure you I was very glad to get this job . `` It was here that I heard of the near approach of Napoleon 's army on its march into Spain ; that the news was true was quickly proved , for very soon after I had begun my work on the wall the country to the north seemed to be filled with cavalry , infantry , artillery , baggage-wagons , and everything that pertained to an army . About noon there was a general halt , and in the field the wall of which I was repairing a body of officers made a temporary encampment . `` I paid as little apparent attention as possible to what was going on around me , but proceeded steadily with my work , although I assure you I had my eyes wide open all the time . I was thinking of stopping work in order to eat my dinner , which I had with me , when a party of officers approached me on their way to a little hill in the field . One of them stopped and spoke to me , and as he did so the others halted and stood together a little way off .