o execute his act of
devotion. The deed was not free from danger: there were but two means of
egress, one by way of the door, which would lead to the fugitive's
falling immediately into the hands of the enemy; the other by jumping
from a rampart so high that the enemy had not set a guard there. Sand
without a moment's hesitation went to the rampart, where, always
religious, even in his childish pleasures, he made a short prayer; then,
without fear, without hesitation, with a confidence that was almost
superhuman, he sprang to the ground: the distance was twenty-two feet.
Sand flew instantly to Wonsiedel, and reached it, although the enemy had
despatched their best runners in pursuit. Then the garrison, seeing the
success of their enterprise, took fresh courage, and united their efforts
against the besiegers, hoping everything from Sand's eloquence, which
gave him a great influence over his young companions. And, indeed, in
half an hour he was seen reappearing at the head of some thirty boys of
his own age, armed with slings and crossbows. The besiegers, on the
point of being attacked before and behind, recognised the disadvantage of
their position and retreated. The victory remained with Sand's party, and
all the honours of the day were his.

We have related this anecdote in detail, that our readers may understand
from the character of the child what was that of the man. Besides, we
shall see him develop, always calm and superior amid small events as amid
large ones.

About the same time Sand escaped almost miraculously from two dangers.
One day a hod full of plaster fell from a scaffold and broke at his feet.
Another day the Price of Coburg, who during the King of Prussia's stay at
the baths of Alexander, was living in the house of Sand's parents, was
galloping home with four horses when he came suddenly upon young Karl in
a gateway; he could not escape either on the right or the left, without
running the risk of being crushed between the wall and the wheels, and
the coachman could not, when going at such a pace, hold in his horses:
Sand flung himself on his face, and the carriage passed over him without
his receiving so much as a single scratch either from the horses or the
wheels. From that moment many people regarded him as predestined, and
said that the hand of God was upon him.

Meanwhile political events were developing themselves around the boy, and
their seriousness made him a man before the age of manh