Note 5 — Chapter X · NORTH TIROL—OBERINNTHAL. INNSBRUCK TO ZIRL AND SCHARNITZ—INNSBRUCK TO THE LISENS-FERNER.

The priest of Zirl hastened to obey the summons, and the Kaiser’s injunctions were punctually obeyed. Meantime, the miners of Schwatz were busy arranging their plan of operations—no easy matter, for they stood fifteen hundred feet above the Emperor’s ledge. But before they were ready for the forlorn attempt, another deliverer appeared upon the scene with a strong arm, supported the almost lifeless form of the Emperor—for he had now been fifty-two hours in this sad plight—and bore him triumphantly up the pathless height. There he restored him to the people, who, frantic with joy, let him pass through their midst without observing his appearance. Who was this deliverer? The traditions of the time say he was an angel, sent in answer to the Kaiser’s penitential trust in God and the prayers of the people. Later narrators say—some, that he was a bold huntsman; others, a reckless outlaw to whom the track was known, and these tell you there is a record of a pension being paid annually in reward for the service, if not to him, at least to some one who claimed to have rendered it.5