Andreas Hofer | Page 8

him and his advisers to
utter that word," said Nugent. "Austria can no longer retrace her steps;
she must advance. Austria must lead Germany in the sacred struggle for
liberty; she can no longer retrace her steps."
"God grant that your words may be verified!" cried John, lifting his
tearful eyes to heaven; "God grant that--"
A low rapping at the door leading to the small secret corridor caused
the archduke to pause and turn his eyes with a searching expression to
this door.
The rapping was repeated, more rapidly than before.
"It is Hormayr," exclaimed the archduke, joyfully; and he hastened to
the secret door and opened it quickly.
A tall young man, in the uniform of an Austrian superior officer,
appeared in the open door. The archduke grasped both his hands and
drew him hastily into the cabinet.
"Hormayr, my friend," he said, breathlessly, "you have returned from
the Tyrol? You have succeeded in fulfilling the mission with which I
intrusted you? You have carried my greetings to the Tyrolese? Oh,
speak, speak, my friend! What do my poor, deserted Tyrolese say?"
Baron von Hormayr fixed his flashing dark eyes with an expression of
joyful tenderness on the excited face of the archduke.
"The Tyrolese send greeting to the Archduke John," he said; "the

Tyrolese hope that the Archduke John will deliver them from the
hateful yoke of the Bavarians; the Tyrolese believe that the hour has
arrived, when they may recover their liberty; and to prove this- -"
"To prove this?" asked the archduke, breathlessly, when Hormayr
paused a moment.
"To prove this," said Hormayr, in a lower voice, stepping up closer to
the prince, "some of the most influential and respectable citizens of the
Tyrol have accompanied me to Vienna; they desire to assure your
imperial highness of their loyal devotedness, and receive instructions
from you."
"Is Andreas Hofer, the landwirth, among them?" asked the archduke,
eagerly.
"He is, and so are Wallner and Speckbacher. I bring to your imperial
highness the leading men of the Tyrolese peasants, and would like to
know when I may introduce them to you, and at what hour you will
grant a private audience to my Tyrolese friends?"
"Oh, I will see them at once!" exclaimed John, impatiently. "My heart
longs to gaze into the faithful, beautiful eyes of the Tyrolese, and read
in their honest faces if they really are still devoted and attached to me.
Bring them to me, Hormayr; make haste-- but no, I forgot that it is
broad daylight, and that the spies watching me have eyes to see, ears to
hear, and tongues to report to the emperor as dreadful crimes all that
they have seen and heard here. We must wait, therefore, until the spies
have closed their eyes, until dark and reticent night has descended on
earth, and--. Well, Conrad, what is it?" the archduke interrupted himself,
looking at his valet de chambre, who had just entered hastily by the
door of the anteroom.
"Pardon me, your imperial highness," said Conrad; "a messenger of her
majesty the empress is in the anteroom. Her majesty has ordered him to
deliver his message only to the archduke himself."
"Let him come in," said the archduke.
Conrad opened the door, and the imperial messenger appeared on the
threshold.
"Her majesty the Empress Ludovica sends her respects to the
archduke," said the messenger, approaching the archduke respectfully.
"Her majesty thanks your imperial highness for the book which you
lent her; and she returns it with sincere thanks."

An expression of astonishment overspread John's face, but it soon
disappeared, and the archduke received with a calm smile the small
sealed package which the messenger handed to him.
"All right," he said; "tell her majesty to accept my thanks."
The messenger returned to the anteroom, and Conrad closed the door
behind him.
"Place yourself before the door, Nugent, that nobody may be able to
look through the key-hole," whispered John, "for you know that I do
not trust Conrad. And you, Hormayr, watch the secret door."
The two gentlemen hastened noiselessly to obey. The archduke cast a
searching glance around the walls, as if afraid that even the silken
hangings might contain somewhere an opening for the eyes of a spy, or
serve as a cover to an ear of Dionysius.
"Something of importance must have occurred," whispered John;
"otherwise the empress would not have ventured to send me a direct
message. I did not lend her a book, and you know we agreed with the
ladies of our party to communicate direct news to each other only in
cases of pressing necessity. Let us see now what it is."
He hastily tore open the sealed package and drew from it a small
prayer-book bound in black velvet. While he was