Page:Cesare Battisti and the Trentino.djvu/37

 had succeeded in securing an advanced position, but a deep curtain of gunfire forbade any communication with the units in the rear and completely isolated the company. This enabled the Austrians to surround these heroes and capture them after they were greatly reduced in numbers.

Battisti and Filzi kept on fighting miraculously to the very last without receiving a scratch. They were made prisoners. They knew what kind of death was in store for them; they might have put an end to their lives, but they did not. It was rumored that a renegade recognized them. I do not know. Such infamous betrayal was not necessary, as Battisti was altogether too universally known; he could not rely on his incognito, nor was he the man to deny his identity if questioned. He consciously entered the path of martyrdom, unhesitatingly, of his own free will.

The Austrians expressed indecent joy at the conspicuous capture — they lost no time in sending the prisoner to Trento. A Czech corporal, who later deserted to our side, reported that he had seen him on the road between Trento and Calliano,

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