cheered again and again, shook hands with one another, and flung their
caps into the air. Everyone was delighted, for everyone was fond of
Tell and Walter. It also pleased them to see the Governor disappointed.
He had had things his own way for so long that it was a pleasant change
to see him baffled in this manner. Not since Switzerland became a
nation had the meadow outside the city gates been the scene of such
rejoicings.

Walter had picked up the apple with the arrow piercing it, and was
showing it proudly to all his friends.

"I told you so," he kept saying; "I knew father wouldn't hurt me.
Father's the best shot in all Switzerland."

"That was indeed a shot!" exclaimed Ulric the smith; "it will ring
through the ages. While the mountains stand will the tale of Tell the
bowman be told."

Rudolph der Harras took the apple from Walter and showed it to Gessler,
who had been sitting transfixed on his horse.

"See," he said, "the arrow has passed through the very centre. It was a
master shot."

"It was very nearly a 'Master Walter shot,'" said Rosselmann the priest
severely, fixing the Governor with a stern eye.

Gessler made no answer. He sat looking moodily at Tell, who had dropped
his cross-bow and was standing motionless, still gazing in the
direction in which the arrow had sped. Nobody liked to be the first to