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Young Folks Treasury, Volume 2 (of 12) by Various

V >> Various >> Young Folks Treasury, Volume 2 (of 12)




The soldier hurried away.

"Bind the boy to that tree," said Gessler, pointing to a tall
lime-tree near by.

Two soldiers seized Walter and bound him fast to the tree. He was
not in the least afraid, but stood up against the trunk straight and
quiet. Then, when the apple was brought, Gessler rode up to him and,
bending from the saddle, himself placed the apple upon his head.

All this time the people crowded round silent and wondering, and Tell
stood among them as if in a dream, watching everything with a look of
horror in his eyes.

"Clear a path there," shouted Gessler, and the soldiers charged among
the people, scattering them right and left.

When a path had been cleared, two soldiers, starting from the tree to
which Walter was bound, marched over the ground, measuring one hundred
paces, and halted. "One hundred paces, my lord," they said, turning to
Gessler.

Gessler rode to the spot, calling out, "Come, Tell, from here you
shall shoot."

Tell took his place. He drew an arrow from his quiver, examined it
carefully, and then, instead of fitting it to his bow, he stuck it in
his belt. Then, still carefully, he chose another arrow and fitted it
to his bow.

A deep silence fell upon every one as Tell took one step forward. He
raised his bow. A mist was before his eyes, his arm trembled, his bow
dropped from his hand. He could not shoot. The fear that he might kill
his boy took away all his skill and courage.

A groan broke from the people as they watched. Then from far away
under the lime-tree came Walter's voice, "Shoot, father, I am not
afraid. You cannot miss."

Once more Tell raised his bow. The silence seemed deeper than ever.
The people of Altorf knew and loved Tell, and Fuerst, and little
Walter. And so they watched and waited with heavy hearts and anxious
faces.

"Ping!" went the bowstring. The arrow seemed to sing through the
frosty air, and, a second later, the silence was broken by cheer after
cheer. The apple lay upon the ground pierced right through the center.

One man sprang forward and cut the rope with which Walter was bound to
the tree; another picked up the apple and ran with it to Gessler. But
Tell stood still, his bow clutched in his hand, his body bent forward,
his eyes wild and staring, as if he were trying to follow the flight
of the arrow. Yet he saw nothing, heard nothing.

"He has really done it!" exclaimed Gessler in astonishment, as he
turned the apple round and round in his hand. "Who would have thought
it? Right in the center, too."

Little Walter, quite delighted, came running to his father. "Father,"
he cried, "I knew you could do it. I knew you could, and I was not a
bit afraid. Was it not splendid?" and he laughed and pressed his curly
head against his father.

Then suddenly Tell seemed to wake out of his dream, and taking Walter
in his arms he held him close, kissing him again and again. "You are
safe, my boy. You are safe," was all he said. But strong man though
he was his eyes were full of tears, and he was saying to himself, "I
might have killed him. I might have killed my own boy."

Meanwhile Gessler sat upon his horse watching them with a cruel smile
upon his wicked face. "Tell," he said at last, "that was a fine shot,
but for what was the other arrow?"

Tell put Walter down and, holding his hand, turned to Gessler, "It is
always an archer's custom, my lord, to have a second arrow ready," he
said.

"Nay, nay," said Gessler, "that answer will not do, Tell. Speak the
truth."

Tell was silent.

"Speak, man," said Gessler, "and if you speak the truth, whatever it
may be, I promise you your life."

"Then," said Tell, throwing his shoulders back and looking straight at
Gessler, "since you promise me my life, hear the truth, if that first
arrow had struck my child, the second one was meant for you, and be
sure I had not missed my mark a second time."

Gessler's face grew dark with rage. For a moment or two he could not
speak. When at last he did speak, his voice was low and terrible, "You
dare," he said, "you dare to tell me this! I promised you your life
indeed. Your life you shall have, but you shall pass it in a dark and
lonely prison, where neither sun nor moon shall send the least glimmer
of light. There you shall lie, so that I may be safe from you. Ah,
my fine archer, your bows and arrows will be of little use to you
henceforth. Seize him, men, and bind him, lest he do murder even now."

In a moment the soldiers sprang forward, and Tell was seized and
bound.

As Gessler sat watching them, he looked round at all the angry faces
of the crowd. "Tell has too many friends here," he said to himself.
"If I imprison him in the Curb of Uri, they may find some way to help
him to escape. I will take him with me in my boat to Klissnacht. There
he can have no friends. There he will be quite safe." Then aloud he
said, "Follow me, my men. Bring him to the boat."

As he said these words, there was a loud murmur from the crowd. "That
is against the law," cried many voices.

"Law, law?" growled Gessler. "Who makes the law, you or I?"

Walter Fuerst had been standing among the crowd silent and anxious. Now
he stepped forward and spoke boldly. "My lord," he said, "it has ever
been a law among the Swiss that no one shall be imprisoned out of his
own canton. If my son-in-law, William Tell, has done wrong, let him be
tried and imprisoned here, in Uri, in Altorf. If you do otherwise you
wrong our ancient freedom and rights."

"Your freedom! your rights!" said Gessler roughly. "I tell you, you
are here to obey the laws, not to teach me how I shall rule." Then
turning his horse and calling out, "On, men, to the boat with him," he
rode towards the lake, where, at a little place called Fliielen, his
boat was waiting for him.

But Walter clung to his father, crying bitterly. Tell could not take
him in his arms to comfort him, for his hands were tied. But he bent
over him to kiss him, saying, "Little Walter, little Walter, be brave.
Go with thy grandfather and comfort thy mother."

So Tell was led to Gessler's boat, followed by the sorrowing people.
Their hearts were full of hot anger against the tyrant. Yet what could
they do? He was too strong for them.

Tell was roughly pushed into the boat, where he sat closely guarded on
either side by soldiers. His bow and arrows, which had been taken from
him, were thrown upon a bench beside the steersman.

Gessler took his seat. The boat started, and was soon out on the blue
water of the lake. As the people of Altorf watched Tell go, their
hearts sank. They had not known, until they saw him bound and a
prisoner, how much they had trusted and loved him.




III

THE ESCAPE OF WILLIAM TELL


On the lakes of Switzerland storms of wind arise very quickly. The
Swiss used to dread these storms so much that they gave names to the
winds as if they were people. The south wind, which is the fiercest,
they called the Foehn. There used to be a law that when the Foehn arose,
all fires were to be put out. For the wind whistled and blew down the
wide chimneys like great bellows, till the fires flared up so fiercely
that the houses, which were built of wood, were in danger of being
burned to the ground. Now one of these fierce storms arose.

No one noticed when Gessler's boat pushed off from the shore how dark
the sky had grown nor how keenly the wind was blowing. But before the
boat had gone very far the waves began to rise, and the wind to blow
fiercer and fiercer.

Soon the little boat was tossing wildly on great white-crested waves.
The rowers bent to the oars and rowed with all their might. But in
spite of all they could do, the waves broke over the boat, filling
it with water. They were tossed here and there, until it seemed every
minute that they would sink.

Pale with fear, the captain stood at the helm. He was an Austrian who
knew nothing of the Swiss lakes, and he had never before been in such
a storm. He was helpless, and he knew that very soon the boat would be
a wreck.

Wrapped in his mantle, Gessler sat silent and still, watching the
storm. He, too, knew the danger.

As the waves dashed over him, one of Gessler's servants staggered to
his master's feet. "My lord," he said, "you see our need and danger,
yet methinks there is one man on board who could save us."

"Who is that?" asked Gessler.

"William Tell, your prisoner," replied the man. "He is known to be one
of the best sailors on this lake. He knows every inch of it. If any
one can save the boat, he can."

"Bring him here," said Gessler.

"It seems you are a sailor as well as an archer, Tell," said Gessler,
when his prisoner had been brought before him. "Can you save the boat
and bring us to land?"

"Yes," said Tell.

"Unbind him, then," said Gessler to the soldier, "but mark you, Tell,
you go not free. Even although you save us, you are still my prisoner.
Do not think to have any reward."

The rope which bound Tell's hands was cut, and he took his place at
the helm.

The waves still dashed high, the wind still howled, but under Tell's
firm hand the boat seemed to steady itself, and the rowers bent to
their work with new courage and strength in answer to his commanding
voice.

Tell, leaning forward, peered through the darkness and the spray.
There was one place where he knew it would be possible to land--where
a bold and desperate man at least might land. He was looking for that
place. Nearer and nearer to the shore he steered. At last he was quite
close to it. He glanced quickly round. His bow and arrows lay beside
him. He bent and seized them. Then with one great leap he sprang
ashore, and as he leaped he gave the boat a backward push with his
foot, sending it out again into the stormy waters of the lake.

There was a wild outcry from the sailors, but Tell was free, for no
one dared to follow him. Quickly clambering up the mountain-side, he
disappeared among the trees.

As Tell vanished, Gessler stood up and shouted in anger, but the
little boat, rocking and tossing on the waves, drifted out into the
lake, and the Austrian sailors, to whom the shore was unknown, dared
not row near to it again, lest they should be dashed to pieces upon
the rocks. Even as it was, they expected every moment that the boat
would sink, and that all would be drowned. But despair seemed to
give the sailors fresh strength, and soon the wind fell and the waves
became quieter. A few hours later, wet, weary, but safe, Gessler and
his company landed on the shore of Schwyz.

[Illustration: WILLIAM TELL AND HIS FRIENDS.]




IV

TELL'S SECOND SHOT


As soon as Gessler landed, he called for his horse, and silent and
gloomy, his heart full of bitter hate against Tell and all the Swiss,
he mounted and rode towards his castle at Kuessnacht.

But Tell's heart, too, was full of hate and anger. That morning he had
been a gentle, peace-loving man. Now all was changed. Gessler's cruel
jest had made him hard and angry. He could not forget that he might
have killed his own boy. He seemed to see always before him Walter
bound to the tree with the apple on his head. Tell made up his mind
that Gessler should never make any one else suffer so much. There was
only one thing to do. That was to kill Gessler, and that Tell meant to
do.

If Gessler escaped from the storm, Tell was sure that he would go
straight to his castle at Kuessnacht. There was only one road which led
from the lake to the castle, and at a place called the Hollow Way
it became very narrow, and the banks rose steep and rugged on either
side. There Tell made up his mind to wait for Gessler. There he meant
to free his country from the cruel tyrant.

Without stopping for food or rest, Tell hurried through the woods
until he came to the Hollow Way. There he waited and watched. Many
people passed along the road. There were herds with their flocks, and
travelers of all kinds, among them a poor woman whose husband had
been put in prison by Gessler, so that now she had no home, and had to
wander about with her children begging. She stopped and spoke to Tell,
and the story she told of Gessler's cruelty made Tell's heart burn
with anger, and made him more sure than ever that the deed he meant to
do was just and right.

The day went on, and still Gessler did not come, and still Tell
waited. At last he heard the distant tramp of feet and the sound of
voices. Surely he had come at last. But as the sounds came nearer,
Tell knew that it could not be Gessler, for he heard music and
laughter, and through the Hollow Way came a gaily dressed crowd. It
was a wedding-party. Laughing and merry, the bride and bridegroom
with their friends passed along. When they were out of sight the wind
brought back the sound of their merry voices to Tell, as he waited
upon the bank. They, at least, had for a time forgotten Gessler.

At last, as the sun was setting, Tell heard the tramp of horses, and a
herald dashed along the road, shouting, "Room for the governor. Room,
I say."

As Gessler came slowly on behind, Tell could hear him talking in a
loud and angry voice to a friend. "Obedience I will have," he was
saying. "I have been far too mild a ruler over this people. They grow
too proud. But I will break their pride. Let them prate of freedom,
indeed. I will crush--" The sentence was never finished. An arrow
whizzed through the air, and with a groan Gessler fell, dead.

Tell's second arrow had found its mark.

Immediately everything was in confusion. Gessler's soldiers crowded
round, trying to do something for their master. But it was useless. He
was dead. Tell's aim had been true.

"Who has done this foul murder?" cried one of Gessler's friends,
looking round.

"The shot was mine," answered Tell, from where he stood on the high
bank. "But no murder have I done. I have but freed an unoffending
people from a base and cowardly tyrant. My cause is just, let God be
the judge."

At the sound of his voice every one turned to look at Tell, as he
stood above them calm and unafraid.

"Seize him!" cried the man who had already spoken, as soon as he
recovered from his astonishment. "Seize him, it is Tell the archer."

Five or six men scrambled up the steep bank as fast as they could. But
Tell slipped quietly through the bushes, and when they reached the top
he was nowhere to be found.

The short winter's day was closing in fast, and Tell found it easy to
escape in the darkness from Gessler's soldiers. They soon gave up the
chase, and, returning to the road, took up their master's dead body
and carried it to his castle at Kuessnacht There was little sorrow
for him, for he had been a hard master. The Austrian soldiers did not
grieve, and the Swiss, wherever they heard the news, rejoiced.

As soon as he was free of the soldiers, Tell turned and made for
Stauffacher's house. All through the night he walked, until he came
to the pretty house with its red roofs and many windows which had made
Gessler so angry.

Now there was no light in any of the windows, and all was still and
quiet. But Tell knew in which of the rooms Stauffacher slept, and he
knocked softly upon the window until he had aroused his friend.

"William Tell!" said Stauffacher in astonishment. "I heard from Walter
Fuerst that you were a prisoner. Thank Heaven that you are free again."

"I am free," said Tell; "you, too, are free. Gessler is dead."

"Gessler dead!" exclaimed Stauffacher. "Now indeed have we cause for
thankfulness. Tell me, how did it happen?" and he drew William Tell
into the house.

Tell soon told all his story. Then Stauffacher, seeing how weary he
was, gave him food and made him rest.

That night Tell slept well. All next day he remained hidden in
Stauffacher's house. "You must not go," said his friend, "Gessler's
soldiers will be searching for you." But when evening came Tell crept
out into the dark again, and kind friends rowed him across the
lake back to Flueelen. There, where a few days before he had been a
prisoner, he landed, now free.

Tell went at once to Walter Fuerst's house, and soon messengers
were hurrying all through the land to gather together again the
Confederates, as those who had met on that eventful night were called.

This time they gathered with less fear and less secrecy, for was
not the dreaded governor dead? Not one but was glad, yet some of the
Confederates blamed Tell, for they had all promised to wait until the
first of January before doing anything. "I know," said Tell, "but he
drove me to it." And every man there who had left a little boy at home
felt that he too might have done the same thing.

Now that Tell had struck the first blow, some of the Confederates
wished to rise at once. But others said, "No, it is only a few weeks
now until New Year's Day. Let us wait."

So they waited, and everything seemed quiet and peaceful in the land,
for the Emperor sent no governor to take Gessler's place, as he was
far away in Austria, too busy fighting and quarreling there to think
of Switzerland in the meantime. "When I have finished this war," he
said, "it will be time enough to crush these Swiss rebels."






HERO OF PERSIA




RUSTEM

ADAPTED BY ALFRED J. CHURCH




I

THE SEVEN ADVENTURES OF RUSTEM


King Keikobad died, and his son Kaoues sat upon his throne. At first
he was a moderate and prudent prince; but finding his riches increase,
and his armies grow more and more numerous, he began to believe that
there was no one equal to him in the whole world, and that he could
do what he would. One day as he sat drinking in one of the chambers
of his palace, and boasting after his custom, a Genius, disguised as
a minstrel, came to the King's chamberlain, and desired to be admitted
to the royal presence. "I came," he said, "from the country of the
Genii, and I am a sweet singer. Maybe the King, if he were to hear me,
would give me a post in his court."

The chamberlain went to the King, and said, "There is a minstrel at
the gate; he has a harp in his hand, and his voice is marvelously
sweet."

"Bring him up," said the King.

So they brought him in, and gave him a place among the musicians,
and commanded that he should give them a trial of his powers. So the
minstrel, after playing a prelude on his harp, sang a song of the land
of the Genii.

"There is no land in all the world" this was the substance of his
song--"like Mazanderan, the land of the Genii. All the year round the
rose blooms in its gardens and the hyacinth on its hills. It knows no
heat nor cold, only an eternal spring. The nightingales sing in its
thicket, and through its valleys wander the deer, and the water of its
stream is as the water of roses, delighting the soul with its perfume.
Of its treasures there is no end; the whole country is covered with
gold and embroidery and jewels. No man can say that he is happy unless
he has seen Mazanderan."

When the King heard this song, he immediately conceived the thought
of marching against this wonderful country. Turning, therefore, to his
warriors, he said: "We are given over to feasting; but the brave must
not suffer himself to rest in idleness. I am wealthier and, I doubt
not, stronger than all the kings that have gone before me; it becomes
me also to surpass them in my achievements. We will conquer the land
of Genii."

The warriors of the King were little pleased to hear such talk from
his lips. No one ventured to speak, but their hearts were full of
trouble and fear, for they had no desire to fight against the Genii.

"We are your subjects, O King," they said, "and will do as you
desire." But when they were by themselves, and could speak openly,
they said one to another, "What a trouble is this that has come of
our prosperous fortune! Unless by good fortune the King forgets this
purpose of his, we and the whole country are lost. Jemshid, whom the
Genii and the Peris and the very birds of the air used to obey, never
ventured to talk in this fashion of Mazanderan, or to seek war against
the Genii; and Feridun, though he was the wisest of kings, and skilful
in all magical arts, never cherished such a plan." So they sat,
overwhelmed with anxiety.

At last one of them said, "My friends, there is only one way of
escaping from this danger. Let us send a swift dromedary to Zal of the
white hair, with this message: 'Though your head be covered with dust,
do not stay to wash it, but come.' Perhaps Zal will give the King
wise advice, and, telling him that this plan of his is nothing but a
counsel of Satan, will persuade him to change his purpose. Otherwise
we are lost, small and great."

The nobles listened to this advice, and sent a messenger to Zal,
mounted on a swift dromedary.

When Zal heard what had happened, he said:

"The King is self-willed. He has not yet felt either the cold or the
heat of the world. He thinks that all men, great and small, tremble
at his sword, and it must needs be that he learn better by experience.
However, I will go; I will give him the best advice that I can. If he
will be persuaded by me, it will be well; but if not, the way is open,
and Rustem shall go with his army." All night long he revolved these
matters in his heart. The next morning he went his way, and arrived at
the court of the King.

The King received him with all honor, bade him sit by his side, and
inquired how he had borne the fatigue of his journey, and of the
welfare of Rustem, his son. Then Zal spoke:

"I have heard, my lord, that you are forming plans against the land of
the Genii. Will it please you to listen to me? There have been mighty
kings before you, but never during all my years, which now are many,
has any one of them conceived in his heart such a design as this. This
land is inhabited by Genii that are skilful in all magical arts. They
can lay such bonds upon men that no one is able to hurt them. No sword
is keen enough to cut them through; riches and wisdom and valor are
alike powerless against them. I implore you, therefore, not to waste
your riches, and the riches of your country and the blood of your
warriors, on so hopeless an enterprise."

The King answered, "Doubtless it is true that the kings my
predecessors never ventured to entertain such a plan. But am I not
superior to them in courage, in power and wealth? Had they such
warriors as you, and Rustem your son? Do not think to turn me from my
purpose. I will go against the country of these accursed magicians,
and verily I will not leave one single soul alive in it, for they are
an evil race. If you do not care to come with me, at least refrain
from advising me to sit idle upon my throne."

When Zal heard this answer, he said: "You are the King, and we are
your slaves. Whatever you ordain is right and just, and it is only by
thy good pleasure that we breathe and move. I have said what was in my
heart. All that remains now is to obey, and to pray that the Ruler of
the world may prosper your counsels."

When he had thus spoken, Zal took leave of the King, and departed for
his own country.

The very next day the King set out with his army for the land of the
Genii, and, after marching for several days, pitched his tent at the
foot of Mount Asprus, and held a great revel all the night long with
his chiefs. The next morning he said, "Choose me two thousand men who
will break down the gates of Mazanderan with their clubs. And take
care that when you have taken the city you spare neither young nor
old, for I will rid the world of these magicians." They did as the
King commanded, and in a short space of time the city, which was
before the richest and most beautiful in the whole world, was made
into a desert.

When the King of Mazanderan heard of these things he called a
messenger, and said: "Go to the White Genius and say to him, 'The
Persians have come with a great army and are destroying everything.
Make haste and help me, or there will be nothing left to preserve.'"

The White Genius said, "Tell the King not to be troubled; I will see
to these Persians."

That same night the whole army of King Kaoues was covered with a
wonderful cloud. The sky was dark as pitch, and there fell from it
such a terrible storm of hailstones that no one could stand against
them. When the next morning came, lo! the King and all that had
not fled--for many fled to their own country--or been killed by
the hailstones, were blind. Seven days they remained terrified and
helpless. On the eighth day they heard the voice, loud as a clap of
thunder, of the White Genius.

"King," said he, "you coveted the land of Mazanderan, you entered the
city, you slew and took prisoners many of the people; but you did not
know what I could do. And now, see, you have your desire. Your lot is
of your own contriving."

The White Genius then gave over the King and his companions to the
charge of an army of twelve thousand Genii, and commanded that they
should be kept in prison, and have just so much food given them as
should keep them alive from day to day. Kaoues, however, contrived to
send by one of his warriors a message to Zal the White-haired, telling
him of all the troubles that had come upon him. When Zal heard the
news he was cut to the heart, and sent without delay for Rustem.
"Rustem," said he, "this is no time for a man to eat and drink and
take his pleasure. The King is in the hands of Satan, and we must
deliver him. As for me, I am old and feeble; but you are of the age
for war. Saddle Raksh, your horse, and set forth without a moment's
delay. The White Genius must not escape the punishment of his misdeeds
at your hands."

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