and childish credulity? So might it be; but what was most real, was the

existence of these very fears; the staring looks of horror, the faces pale

even to ghastliness, the voices struck dumb with harrowing dread, of those

among us who saw and heard these things. Of this number was Adrian, who

knew the delusion, yet could not cast off the clinging terror. Even

ignorant infancy appeared with timorous shrieks and convulsions to

acknowledge the presence of unseen powers. We must go: in change of scene,

in occupation, and such security as we still hoped to find, we should

discover a cure for these gathering horrors.

On mustering our company, we found them to consist of fourteen hundred

souls, men, women, and children. Until now therefore, we were undiminished

in numbers, except by the desertion of those who had attached themselves to

the impostor-prophet, and remained behind in Paris. About fifty French

joined us. Our order of march was easily arranged; the ill success which

had attended our division, determined Adrian to keep all in one body. I,

with an hundred men, went forward first as purveyor, taking the road of the

Cote d'Or, through Auxerre, Dijon, Dole, over the Jura to Geneva. I was to

make arrangements, at every ten miles, for the accommodation of such

numbers as I found the town or village would receive, leaving behind a

messenger with a written order, signifying how many were to be quartered

there. The remainder of our tribe was then divided into bands of fifty

each, every division containing eighteen men, and the remainder, consisting

of women and children. Each of these was headed by an officer, who carried

the roll of names, by which they were each day to be mustered. If the

numbers were divided at night, in the morning those in the van waited for

519

The Last Man