"Thou must needs have a finger in the pie, I warrant thee!—"
"Well, I thought, as there were so many of us, I might as well see what turned up. Well, first we cut off all their retreats, by girdling them in all round, blocking up the roads, and breaking down the bridges. Then, we opened a brisk fire on the Bavarians who were posted on the upper bridge of the Inn, and drove them from their guns."
"What then?"
"Then we rushed on, waving our hats, and shouting, 'Long live the Emperor!' striking down some of the enemy with the butt-ends of muskets, throwing others over the bridge into the water, and following the rest into the city like a swarm of bees. We soon made them feel we could sting, too. You never heard such a cracking of rifles in your life. Five thousand shooting-matches at once?—Pshaw, nothing to come near it. Then such a smoke! Then such a noise! Every one for himself and all the world else—hallooing, shouting, capering, as if they had no end to their strength, and sounding the pig-call in derision."
"I'll warrant them!"
"General Kinkel and his men were garrisoning the town; but what could they do, you know, mother? They knew the ways of the city, however—the streets, passages, gates, and so forth—better than we, so they were soon inside the houses, peppering down upon the Tyrolese from the windows. Well, now you'd surely think, that as we had the advantage of them in the open ground, the Bavarians would now have the advantage of us from the houses. Not so, mother. How it was, I know not, but they could not keep their own: our sharpshooters picked off every man-jack that showed but the tip of his nose at the windows; so at length they threw down their arms—"
"They did?"
"And cried for mercy!—Didn't we make an uproar then! However, there was still a good bit of fighting; here and there were strong posts they wouldn't give up, and stout hearts that wouldn't give in. At the barracks, I believe every man was shot down. At last, they—the Tyrolese, I should say—got to the house of the Bavarian Commander-in-Chief—Kinkel, that is,—and were calling to him to surrender, when up comes Colonel Dittfurt—"