He pointed to Tell.

"Bind him," he said to the soldiers.

The soldiers advanced slowly, for they were loath to bind the man who
had just saved them from destruction. But the Governor's orders must he
obeyed, so they came towards Tell, carrying ropes with which to bind
him.

Tell moved a step back. The ship was gliding past a lofty rock. It was
such a rock as Tell had often climbed when hunting the chamois. He
acted with the quickness of the hunter. Snatching up the bow and quiver
which lay on the deck, he sprang on to the bulwark of the vessel, and,
with a mighty leap, gained the rock. Another instant, and he was out of
reach.

Gessler roared to his bowmen.

"Shoot! shoot!" he cried.

The bowmen hastily fitted arrow to string. They were too late. Tell was
ready before them. There was a hiss as the shaft rushed through the
air, and the next moment Gessler the Governor fell dead on the deck,
pierced through the heart.

Tell's second arrow had found its mark, as his first had done.

[Illustration: PLATE XV]