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"Ask him if I am," said Hofer, smiling and pointing to Sieberer. "That is unnecessary," she replied calmly; "I see that you are Andreas Hofer. You look precisely as my father described you to me. There is the long beard, the crucifix, the saint's image on your breast; and there are the kind eyes, and the whole dear face. God bless you, Andreas Hofer!
Yes, we are in the service of God, our emperor, and the beloved Tyrol." "And God and the emperor have imposed on Andreas Hofer the duty of acting at the same time as prophet of the Lord and as captain of the emperor. Go, then, Andreas, and do your duty!" said Sieberer, solemnly. "I shall do my duty bravely and faithfully to the last!" exclaimed Hofer, enthusiastically.
In fact, a large, motley mass was to be seen moving up in the distance yonder; yes, they were Bavarian soldiers, and they were drawing nearer and nearer. "Hurrah! the Bavarians are coming, the struggle begins," exclaimed Anthony Sieberer, joyously; and the Tyrolese encamped below echoed his shout with loud exultation: "The Bavarians are coming! The struggle begins!"
Come, Lizzie, we will go down to Sieberer and the other captains, and give them my orders. I hope there will be four lads intrepid enough to drive the hay-wagons toward the enemy." "There will be!" exclaimed Eliza, enthusiastically. "It is only necessary for one to risk his life, and drive the first wagon. The other wagons will be covered by the first.
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."
"If you really ask yourself such questions, and have lost your courage, then we are all lost," said Sieberer, gloomily. "It is Andreas Hofer in whom the men of the Passeyr valley believe, and whom they are following into the bloody struggle.
At length they reached the gorge, and Andreas Hofer was just about entering it with the others, when Anthony Sieberer, Jacob Eisenstocken, and a few other prominent Tyrolese, stepped to him and kept him back with tender violence. "A general does not accompany his soldiers into the thickest of the fight," said Eisenstocken. "That is not his province.
"Joseph Speckbacher will leave the Tyrol?" murmured Andreas Hofer, mournfully. "And he is not the only one, Andreas: Aschbacher, Puechler, Sieberer, and many other brave captains of the Tyrolese, will likewise leave with the Austrians. All have asked me to implore you to follow their example, and flee from the perils menacing you all. Oh, believe them, believe me, Andreas!
"Well, you are a pious man, Andy," said Sieberer, with a reproachful glance," and yet you have forgotten what our Redeemer said to the Pharisees." "What do you mean, Anthony? Tell me, if it will comfort me."
He has to direct the battle with his head, but not to fight it out with his arm." "But bear in mind that Bonaparte does not leave his soldiers even in battle," said Andreas Hofer, trying to push them aside and advance. "No, dearest commander," exclaimed Anthony Sieberer, "you must not go down with the men.
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