e mounted the rampart and, never stopping to gauge its height,
sprang down into the moat, landing upon his feet in the bottom of the dry
ditch. Faster still, he flew to the second rampart and scaled it as he had
done the first, clambering up by means of projecting stones and
interstices.

It was just past noon; the sun blazed full upon the scene and every one
within the prison stood astounded at the miraculous flight in which Trenck
seemed to fairly soar through the air. Those of the soldiers whom Trenck
had not overthrown pursued, but with little hope of overtaking him. Their
guns were unloaded so that they were unable to shoot after him. Not a
soldier dared to risk trying to follow him by the road he had taken, over
the ramparts and moats; for, without that passion for liberty which lent
wings to the prisoner there was no hope of any of them scaling the walls
without killing himself a dozen times over.

They were, therefore, compelled to make use of the regular passages to the
outer posterns and these latter being located at a considerable distance
from the prisoner's avenue of escape, he was certain, at the pace he was
maintaining, to gain at least a half-hour's start over his pursuers.

Once beyond the walls of the prison, with the woods close by, it seemed as
if Trenck's escape was assured beyond doubt.

He had now come to a narrow passageway leading to the last of the inner
posterns which pierced the walls. Here he found a sentinel on guard and
the soldier sprang up to confront him. But a soldier to overcome was not
an obstacle to stop the desperate flight of the baron. He struck the man
heavily in the face with his sword, stunning him and sending him rolling
in the dust.

Once through the postern there now remained only a single palisade or
stockade--a great fence constructed of iron bars and iron trellis-work,
which constituted the outermost barrier between the fleeing prisoner and
liberty. Once over that iron palisade he had only to dash into the woods
and disappear.

But it was ordained that Trenck was not to overcome this last obstacle,
simple as it appeared. At a fatal moment, his foot was caught between two
bars of the palisade and he was unable to free himself.

While he was engaged in superhuman but futile efforts to release his foot,
the sentinel of the passage, who had picked himself up, ran through the
postern toward the palisade, followed by another soldier from the
garrison. Together they fell