"Having sketched out his plan, he convoked the different guerrilla chiefs and informed them of his intention. He told them that it was not his custom to have councils of war, but he thought it for once good to consult them, as upon the resolution taken must depend the fate of Sicily, and perhaps of Italy. There were only two things to be done—either to try and get possession of Palermo by a _coup de main_, or else to withdraw and begin a regular organization in the interior, and form an army. He, for his part, was for a _coup de main_, which would at once settle the fate of the island. He told them to be brief in their remarks, and not deliberate long. Most were utterly astonished at the boldness of this plan, and some made remarks about the want of ammunition for their men. They were told for the hundredth time, that it was not long shots which imposed on the well-armed Neapolitans, but a determined rush in advance—that they ought not to waste their ammunition and fire off their guns for sport, and were promised whatever could be spared. This objection being waived, all expressed more or less loudly their approbation of the plan, and were dismissed with the injunction to animate their people and keep up their courage." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VIII. "I saw Garibaldi, and watch'd him nigh; I saw the lightnings that flash from his eye: He's not of the dust of which mortals are made, And what reaches his heart will not be of lead." _Dall'Ongaro._ T. D. PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK PALERMO—NIGHT MARCH—ATTACK—BATTLE—THE BOMBARDMENT.