Part 25 (1/2)
”We surrender! We are ready to lay down our arms!” shouted the Bavarians to the Tyrolese, who were still thinning their ranks by the deadly fire of their rifles and their terrible b.u.t.t-end blows.
”Very well, lay down your arms,” cried Andrews Hofer, in a powerful voice. ”Stop, Tyrolese! If they surrender, n.o.body shall hurt a hair of their heads, for then they are no longer our enemies, but our brethren.--Lay down your arms, Bavarians!”
The Tyrolese, obedient to the orders of their commander, stopped the furious slaughter, and gazed with gloomy eyes at their hated enemies.
There was a moment of breathless silence, and then the Bavarian officers were heard to command in tremulous voices, ”Lay down your arms!”
And their men obeyed readily. Three hundred and eighty soldiers, and nine officers, laid down their arms here on the plain of the Sterzinger Moos, and surrendered at discretion to the Tyrolese.
[Footnote: ”Gallery of Heroes: Andrews Hofer,” p. 3l.]
On seeing this, the Tyrolese burst into loud cheers, and Andreas Hofer lifted his beaming eyes to heaven. ”I thank Thee, Lord G.o.d,”
he said; ”with Thy a.s.sistance we have achieved a victory. It is the first love-offering which we present to fatherland and our Emperor Francis.”
”Long live the Tyrol and our Emperor Francis!” shouted the Tyrolese, enthusiastically.
The Bavarians stood silent, with downcast eyes and pale faces, while the active Tyrolese lads hastily collected the arms they bad laid down and placed them on one of the wagons, from which they had quickly removed the hay.
”What is to be done with our prisoners, the Bavarians?” said Anthony Sieberer to Andreas Hofer. ”We cannot take them with us.”
”No, we cannot, nor will the enemy give us time for doing so,”
replied Hofer. ”Anthony Wallner has informed me that a strong corps of Bavarians and French is approaching in the direction of the Muhlbacher Klause. They must not meet us here on the plain, for a fight under such circ.u.mstances would manifestly be to our disadvantage. They would be a great deal stronger here than we. But in the mountains we are able to overcome them. They are the fortresses which the good G.o.d built for our country; and when the enemy pa.s.ses, we shall attack and defeat him.”
”And shall we take the prisoners with us into the mountains, commander?”
”No, we will not, for we cannot guard them well up there, and they would escape. We will not take the prisoners with us, but convey them to the Baroness von Sternberg at Castle Steinach. She is ardently devoted to our cause, and loves the Tyrol and the emperor.
She will take care of the prisoners, and they will be unable to escape from the large tower, the Wolfsthurm, on the crest yonder, which you can see from here.”
”But who is to convey the prisoners to Castle Steinach? Are we all to march thither and deliver them before advancing farther?”
”No, no, Anthony Sieberer; we have not time for that. We must bury the corpses here quickly, and remove every trace of the contest, in order that the French, on arriving here, may not discover what has occured, and that we are close by. Only thirty of our men shall escort the prisoners to Castle Steinach.”
”Only thirty, commander? Will that be sufficient for three hundred and eighty prisoners? If they should attack our men on the road, they would beat them, for they would be twelve to one.”
”That is true,” said Andreas Hofer in confusion; ”what are we to do to get a stronger escort for the prisoners?”
He stroked his beard nervously, as was his wont in moments of great excitement, and he glanced uneasily, now here, now there. All at once a smile illuminated his face.
”I have got it,” he said merrily. ”Look there, Sieberer, look there.
What do you see there?”
”The women who have accompanied us, and who are kissing Eliza Wallner and Anna Gamper for their heroic conduct.”
”The women shall help our thirty sharpshooters to escort the prisoners to Castle Steinach. Our women have brave hearts and strong arms, and they know how to use the rifle for the fatherland and the emperor. Let them, then, take some of the arms which we have conquered, and, jointly with thirty of our men, escort the prisoners to the good Baroness von Sternberg. Oh, Lizzie Wallner, Lizzie Wallner!”
”Here I am, commander,” cried Eliza, hastening to Andreas Hofer with flushed cheeks and beaming eyes.
He patted her cheeks smilingly. ”You are a brave, n.o.ble girl,” he said, ”and none of us will ever forget what you have done to-day; and the whole Tyrol shall learn what a splendid and intrepid girl you are. But I wish to confer a special reward on you, Lizzie; I wish to appoint you captain of a company, and your company is to consist of all those women.”