I, among others, fell under this menace of death.
I deserved to die, and should have resigned myself to the
guillotine but for you. From the course taken by public events, I
knew you would be saved; and although your safety was the work of
circumstances, still I had a hand in rendering it possible at the
outset; and a yearning came over me to behold you both free again
with my own eyes--a selfish yearning to see in you a living,
breathing, real result of the one good impulse of my heart, which
I could look back on with satisfaction. This desire gave me a new
interest in life. I resolved to escape death if it were possible.
For ten days I lay hidden in Paris. After that--thanks to certain
scraps of useful knowledge which my experience in the office of
secret police had given me--I succeeded in getting clear of Paris
and in making my way safely to Switzerland. The rest of my story
is so short and so soon told that I may as well get it over at
once. The only relation I knew of in the world to apply to was a
cousin of mine (whom I had never seen before), established as a
silk-mercer at Berne. I threw myself on this man's mercy. He
discovered that I was likely, with my business habits, to be of
some use to him, and he took me into his house. I worked for what
he pleased to give me, traveled about for him in Switzerland,
deserved his confidence, and won it.
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