Before I thought of an alternative, a gateway flanked by huge round towers appeared before us, and we pulled up suddenly, a confused jostling mass in the narrow way; while some words passed between the Vidame and the Captain of the Guard.

A pause of several minutes followed; and then the gates rolled slowly open, and two by two we passed under the arch.
Those gates might have belonged to a fortress or a prison, a dungeon or a palace, for all I knew.
They led, however, to none of these, but to an open space, dirty and littered with rubbish, marked by a hundred ruts and tracks, and fringed with disorderly cabins and make-shift booths.

And beyond this--oh, ye gods! the joy of it--beyond this, which we crossed at a rapid trot, lay the open country! The transition and relief were so wonderful that I shall never forget them.

I gazed on the wide landscape before me, lying quiet and peaceful in the sunlight, and could scarce believe in my happiness.

I drew the fresh air into my lungs, I threw up my sheathed sword and caught it again in a frenzy of delight, while the gloomy men about me smiled at my enthusiasm.