[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] [Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or software or any other related product without express permission.] This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. ANDREAS HOFER An HISTORICAL NOVEL by Lousia Muhlbach CONTENTS. CHAPTER I 1809 II The Emperor Francis III The Courier and the Ambassador IV The Emperor and his Brothers V The Performance of "The Creation" VI Andreas Hofer VII Andreas Hofer at the Theatre VIII Consecration of the Flags, and Farewell IX Tis Time! X Anthony Wallner of Windisch-Matrey XI The Declaration of Love XII Farewell! XIII The Bridegroom XIV The Bridge of St. Lawrence XV The Bridge of Laditch XVI On the Sterzinger Moos XVII The Hay-Wagons XVIII Capture of Innspruck XIX The Capitulation of Wiltau XX Eliza Wallner's Return XXI The Catastrophe XXII Eliza and Ulrich XXIII The Triumph of Death XXIV The Archduke John at Comorn XXV The Emperor Francis at Wolkersdorf XXVI The Reply of the King of Prussia XXVII The Battle of Wagram XXVIII The Armistice of Znaym XXIX Hofer and Speckbacher XXX The Capuchin's Oath XXXI The First Battle XXXII The Fifteenth of August at Innspruck XXXIII Andreas Hofer, the Emperor's Lieutenant XXXIV The Fifteenth of August at Comorn XXXV A Day of the Emperor's Lieutenant XXXVI The Lovers XXXVII Elza's Return XXXVIII The Wedding XXXIX The Treaty of Peace XL Dreadful Tidings XLI Betrayal and Seizure of Hofer XLII The Warning XLIII The Flight XLIV Andreas Hofer's Death CHAPTER I. 1809. The year 1809 had come; but the war against France, so intensely longed for by all Austria, had not yet broken out, and the people and the army were vainly waiting for the war-cry of their sovereign, the Emperor Francis. It is true, not a few great things bad been accomplished in the course of the past year: Austria had armed, organized the militia, strengthened her fortresses, and filled her magazines; but the emperor still hesitated to take the last and most decisive step by crowning his military preparations with a formal declaration of war.