r will."

At length, when De Pechels' house had been thoroughly stripped, and
the dragoons had decamped elsewhere, he received an order to return,
in order to entertain another detachment of soldiers. The criminal
judge, who had possession of the keys, entered the house, and found it
in extreme disorder. "I was obliged to remain in it," says De Pechels,
"amidst dirt and vermin, in obedience to the Intendant's orders,
reiterated in the strictest manner by the criminal judge, that I
should await the arrival of a fresh party of lodgers, who accordingly
came on the day following."

The new party consisted of six soldiers of the regiment of fusiliers,
who called themselves simply "missionaries," as distinct from the
"booted missionaries" who had just left. They were savage at not
finding anything to plunder, their predecessors having removed
everything in the shape of booty. The fusiliers were shortly followed
by six soldiers of Dampier's regiment, who were still more ferocious.
They gave De Pechels and his wife no peace day or night; they kept the
house in a constant uproar; swore and sang obscene songs, and carried
their insolence to the utmost pitch. At length De Pechels was forced
to quit the house, on account of his wife, who was near the time of
her confinement. These are his own words:--

"For a long time we were wandering through the streets, no one daring
to offer us an asylum, as the ordinance of the Intendant imposed a
fine of four or five hundred livres[89] upon any one who should
receive Protestants into their houses. My mother's house had long been
filled with soldiers, as well as that of my sister De Darassus; and
not knowing where to go, I suffered great agony of mind for fear my
poor wife should give birth to her infant in the street. In this
lamentable plight, the good providence of God led us to the house of
Mdlle. de Guarrison, my wife's sister, from whence, most fortunately,
a large number of soldiers, with their officers, were issuing. They
had occupied it for some time, and had allowed the family no rest. Now
they were changing their quarters, to continue their lawless mission
in some country town. The stillness of the house after their departure
induced us to enter it at once, and hardly had my wife accepted the
bed Mdlle. de Guarrison offered her, than she was happily delivered of
a daughter, blessed be God, who never leaves Himself without a witness
to those who fear His name.

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