were exhausted, threw stones at us in
desperation.' How then, with much superior numbers and a seemingly
impregnable position, did they end in ignominious flight? The answer
may be found in the reply given to Bixio, bravest of the brave, who
yet feared, at one hotly-contested point, that retreat was inevitable.
'Here,' retorted the chief,'we _die_.' Men who really mean to conquer
or die can do miracles.

The moral effect of the victory was tremendous. The world at large had
made absolutely sure of the destruction of the expedition. 'Garibaldi
has chosen to go his own way,' said Victor Emmanuel; 'but if you only
knew the fright I was in about him and the brave lads with him!' In
Sicily, where the insurrectionary activity of April was almost totally
spent, the news sent an electric shock of revolution through the
whole island. In the mountains Rosalino Pilo still resisted, weary of
waiting for the help that came not, discouraged or hopeless, but
unyielding. Food and ammunition were almost gone; his ragged band,
held together only by the magnetism of his personal influence, began
to feel the pangs of hunger. A price was set on his head, and he was
harassed on all sides by the Neapolitan troops, whose attacks became
more frequent now that the Government realised that there was danger.
He knew nothing of Garibaldi's movements; but he was resolved to keep
his promise as long as he could: to hold out till the chief came. At
the hour when everything looked most desperate, a messenger arrived in
his camp with a letter in Garibaldi's handwriting, which bore the date
of the 16th of May. 'Yesterday,' it ran, we fought and conquered.'
Never was unexpected news more welcome. Filled with a joy such as few
men have tasted, Rosalino read the glad tidings to his men. 'The cause
is won,' he said. 'In a few days, if the enemy's balls respect me, we
shall be in Palermo.'

Meanwhile Garibaldi had occupied Calatafimi, and was proceeding
towards Monreale, from which side he contemplated a descent on the
capital. On the high tableland of Renda he met Rosalino Pilo with his
reanimated band. That day the Garibaldian army, all told, amounted to
5,000 men. On the 21st of May, Rosalino was ordered to make a
reconnaissance in the direction of Monreale; while carrying out this
order a Neapolitan bullet struck his forehead, causing almost
instantaneous death. 'I am happy to be able to give my blood to Italy,
but may heaven be propitious once for all