e was with Lafayette when he was
arrested and was bidden to look after his master's belongings; so he
was separated from him for several days. This gave him an excellent
opportunity to escape, but he refused to take advantage of it. Of his
own accord he joined Lafayette once more, and during the whole long
season of his captivity he gave ample proof of his devotion. He
possessed a rare inventive genius and was constantly on the alert to
devise means for making the prisoners comfortable and to find out ways
for carrying on secret correspondence. He invented a special language
known only to himself and to the prisoners, and also a unique
gesture-language. He whistled notes like a captive bird; with varied
modulations he conveyed to the prisoners whatever news he could ferret
out. Prison life proved to be bad for him, and his health was several
times endangered. For a fancied offense he was once confined in total
darkness for three months. But none of his sufferings dashed his gay
spirits. He was constantly sustained by a buoyant cheer, and his
wonderful devotion should win him a place among heroes. After the five
years of captivity were over, Lafayette made Felix the manager of his
farm at La Grange. He filled this position with success and probity.

It was through the fiat of Napoleon Bonaparte that the removal of
Lafayette from Olmuetz was made possible. Bonaparte was influenced by a
long-sighted policy; he desired to win to himself the man of so unique
a personality. He was also spurred on by various writers and
diplomats, by representatives of the French Directory, and by
Brigadier General Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke, who was for a time
governor of Vienna and who won the title of "the incorruptible" from
Napoleon. President Washington's dignified and effective letter to the
Emperor of Austria is believed to have left its mark; and in a
thousand ways public opinion had awakened to the ignominy of leaving
such a man as Lafayette in prison. Lafayette disliked to be indebted
to anybody but himself for an escape from his dungeon; but he
willingly admitted that he owed much to his devoted wife whose many
letters imploring help for her husband were among the causes that
unlocked the double-barred doors of Olmuetz.

When finally released, Lafayette was taken in a carriage from Olmuetz
to Dresden, thence by way of Dresden, Leipzig, and Halle to Hamburg,
where the American consul received him. So wearied was Madame de
Lafa