They then
ordered his majesty, fainting as he was, to mount another and spur it
over. The conspirators had no sooner passed the ditch, and saw their
king fall insensible on the neck of his horse, than they tore from
his breast the ribbon of the black eagle, and its diamond cross.
Lukawski was so foolishly sure of his prisoner, dead or alive, that
he quitted his charge, and repaired with these spoils to Pulaski,
meaning to show them as proofs of his success. Many of the other
plunderers, concluding that they could not do better than follow
their leader's example, fled also, tired of their work, leaving only
seven of the party, with Kosinski at their head, to remain over the
unfortunate Stanislaus, who shortly after recovered from his swoon.
"The night was now grown so dark, they could not be sure of their
way; and their horses stumbling at every step, over stumps of trees
and hollows in the earth, increased their apprehensions to such a
degree, that they obliged the king to keep up with them on foot. He
literally marked his path with his blood; his shoes having been torn
off in the struggle at the carriage. Thus they continued wandering
backward and forward, and round the outskirts of Warsaw, without any
exact knowledge of their situation. The men who guarded him at last
became so afraid of their prisoner's taking advantage of these
circumstances to escape, that they repeatedly called on Kosinski for
orders to put him to death.
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