CHAPTER XV


There is not much more of the story of William Tell. The death of
Gessler was a signal to the Swiss to rise in revolt, and soon the whole
country was up in arms against the Austrians. It had been chiefly the
fear of the Governor that had prevented a rising before. It had been
brewing for a long time. The people had been bound by a solemn oath to
drive the enemy out of the country. All through Switzerland
preparations for a revolution were going on, and nobles and peasants
had united.

Directly the news arrived that the Governor was slain, meetings of the
people were held in every town in Switzerland, and it was resolved to
begin the revolution without delay. All the fortresses that Gessler had
built during his years of rule were carried by assault on the same
night. The last to fall was one which had only been begun a short time
back, and the people who had been forced to help to build it spent a
very pleasant hour pulling down the stones which had cost them such
labour to put in their place. Even the children helped. It was a great
treat to them to break what they pleased without being told not to.

"See," said Tell, as he watched them, "in years to come, when these
same children are gray-haired, they will remember this night as freshly
as they will remember it to-morrow."

A number of people rushed up, bearing the pole which Gessler's soldiers