n him for crimes which after all the
young man had never committed.

Trenck's first confinement was in 1746, when he was thrown into the
Castle of Glatz, on a charge of corresponding with his cousin and
namesake, who was in the service of the Empress Maria Theresa, and of
being an Austrian spy. At first he was kindly treated and allowed to
walk freely about the fortifications, and he took advantage of the
liberty given him to arrange a plan of escape with one of his
fellow-prisoners. The plot was, however, betrayed by the other man, and
a heavy punishment fell on Trenck. By the King's orders, he was promptly
deprived of all his privileges, and placed in a cell in one of the
towers, which overlooked the ramparts lying ninety feet below, on the
side nearest the town. This added a fresh difficulty to his chances of
escape, as, in passing from the castle to the town, he was certain to be
seen by many people. But no obstacles mattered to Trenck. He had money,
and then, as now, money could do a great deal. So he began by bribing
one of the officials about the prison, and the official in his turn
bribed a soap-boiler, who lived not far from the castle gates, and
promised to conceal Trenck somewhere in his house. Still, liberty must
have seemed a long way off, for Trenck had only one little knife
(_canif_) with which to cut through everything. By dint of incessant and
hard work, he managed to saw through three thick steel bars, but even
so, there were eight others left to do. His friend the official then
procured him a file, but he was obliged to use it with great care, lest
the scraping sound should be heard by his guards. Perhaps they wilfully
closed their ears, for many of them were sorry for Trenck; but, at all
events, the eleven bars were at last sawn through, and all that remained
was to make a rope ladder. This he did by tearing his leather
portmanteau into strips, and plaiting them into a rope, and as this was
not long enough, he added his sheets. The night was dark and rainy,
which favoured him, and he reached the bottom of the rampart in safety.
Unluckily, he met here with an obstacle on which he had never counted.
There was a large drain, opening into one of the trenches, which Trenck
had neither seen nor heard of, and into this he fell. In spite of his
struggles, he was held fast, and his strength being at last exhausted,
he was forced to call the sentinel, and at midday, having been left in
the drain for hours to m