take any chances with him. If
that wire had been left there for a little time longer he would have
gone dead lame, and would perhaps have been ruined for life."

Wellington said that at Waterloo the hottest of the battle raged round
a farmhouse, with an orchard surrounded by a thick hedge, which was so
important a point in the British position that orders were given to
hold it at any hazard or sacrifice. At last the powder and ball ran
short and the hedges took fire, surrounding the orchard with a wall of
flame. A messenger had been sent for ammunition, and soon two loaded
wagons came galloping toward the farmhouse. "The driver of the first
wagon, with the reckless daring of an English boy, spurred his
struggling and terrified horses through the burning heap; but the
flames rose fiercely round, and caught the powder, which exploded in an
instant, sending wagon, horses, and rider in fragments into the air.
For a instant the driver of the second wagon paused, appalled by his
comrade's fate; the next, observing that the flames, beaten back for
the moment by the explosion, afforded him one desperate chance, sent
his horses at the smoldering breach and, amid the deafening cheers of
the garrison, landed his terrible cargo safely within. Behind him the
flames closed up, and raged more fiercely than ever."

At the battle of Friedland a cannon-ball came over the heads of the
French soldiers, and a young soldier instinctively dodged. Napoleon
looked at him and smilingly said: "My friend, if that ball were
destined for you, though you were to burrow a hundred feet under ground
it would be sure to find you there."

When the mine in front of Petersburg was finished the fuse was lighted
and the Union troops were drawn up ready to charge the enemy's works as
soon as the explosion should make a breach. But seconds, minutes, and
tens of minutes passed, without a sound from the mine, and the suspense
became painful. Lieutenant Doughty and Sergeant Rees volunteered to
examine the fuse. Through the long subterranean galleries they hurried
in silence, not knowing but that they were advancing to a horrible
death. They found the defect, fired the train anew, and soon a
terrible upheaval of earth gave the signal to march to victory.

At the battle of Copenhagen, as Nelson walked the deck slippery with
blood and covered with the dead, he said: "This is warm work, and this
day may be the last to any of us in a moment. But, mark me