"_Heisel, cut loose!_" A few quick ringing strokes of an axe were followed by a thundering crash, as though the very hills were giving way, and down rushed rocks, trees, and masses of earth, darkening the air, and the next instant burying the affrighted Saxons in heaps, or sweeping them down into the river. Cries of agony and wild despair echoed the next instant through the defile, mingled with hoarse shouts and the tramp of cavalry. A trooper dashed madly along the bridge; but before he could gallop over it, the burning beams gave way under him, and he was swept with them down the river. Some of the Saxons attempted to force a passage; others to ascend the rocks; but, weakened in numbers, and daunted by the formidable nature of the warfare, they finally gave way and retreated up the valley of the Eisach, while the Tyrolese harassed them with scattered shots, and finally retired to Brixen. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XVI. THE THIRD VICTORY OF BERG ISEL. The numbers of the peasantry accumulated during the night. Hofer and Speckbacher were on the Jauffen, and thousands flocked to their standard. The rage of the Duke of Dantzic, when he heard of the defeat of the Saxons in the gorge of the Eisach, was extreme. He refused to believe the road impassable, and sent Count Arco in a carriage, with only two outriders, to install himself governor of Brixen. The count came back more quickly than he went. The duke, foaming with rage, set out on the foolish journey himself; declaring he would date his despatches "Botzen" before he was a league out of Innsbruck. "Better wait till we are there," suggested one of his officers. He told the innkeeper's wife at Sterzing that "he was going to chew up the cursed peasants;" but he did not get as far as the Saxons had done. The rear of his detachment was attacked by a body of Tyrolese with great fury, and completely routed; they tore the dragoons from their horses, and killed them with the butt-ends of their muskets. The whole division dispersed; and the duke made the best of his way to Innsbruck, which he ignominiously entered, disguised as a common trooper. And thus his hopes of chewing up the peasantry were, for the season, defeated. Seventeen hundred Bavarians, advancing from Landeck towards Prutz, with the design of falling on the rear of Hofer's troops near Sterzing, were intercepted by a body of Tyrolese, who, after an obstinate fight of several hours, compelled them to retreat with great loss. At break of day the peasants recommenced their fire; but, finding the Bavarians would not answer it, a pause of several hours ensued, at the end of which the Tyrolese, impatient of inaction, mustered to the number of about three hundred, armed with pitchforks, pikes, and scythes; and shouting loudly, precipitated themselves towards the enemy.