On the broad bastion, at a little distance from the Porta Ceresa, the commanding officer halted his men. The grenadiers formed a square open in the rear; twelve men and a corporal stepped forward, while Hofer remained standing in the centre. The drummer then offered him a white handkerchief to bind his eyes, and told him that it was necessary to kneel down, but Hofer declined the handkerchief, and peremptorily refused to kneel, observing that he was used to stand upright before his Creator, and in that posture he would deliver up his spirit to Him. He cautioned the corporal to perform his duty well, at the same time presenting him with a piece of twenty kreuzers, and having uttered a few words by way of farewell, expressive of his unshaken attachment to his native country, he pronounced the word Fire! with an unshaken voice. His death was not instantaneous, for at the first shot he sank only to his knees; a merciful shot, however, at last despatched him. The spot on which he fell is still considered sacred by his countrymen and companions in arms (_Memoirs_ from the German, 1820). His wife and children were allowed to return to Austria, and Buonaparte gave them a pension and afterwards permitted the widow, at her earnest wish, to go back to the valley where she had lived. The conqueror behaved generously enough, now that the man who had given him so much trouble was out of the way. In 1823 Hofer’s body was brought back to the Tyrol, and now a marble monument in Innsbruck commemorates this brave and upright man. It was after the fall of Buonaparte that the Tyrol reverted to its ancient rulers, the House of Hapsburg. CHAPTER XIII THE MOUNTAIN PASSES