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Tell begged the tyrant not to have him make this test of his skill . What if the boy should move ? What if the bowman's hand should tremble ? What if the arrow should not carry true ? " Will you make me kill my boy ? " he said . " Say no more , " said Gessler . " You must hit the apple with your one arrow . If you fail , my soldiers shall kill the boy before your eyes . " Then , without another word , Tell fitted the arrow to his bow . He took aim , and let it fly . The boy stood firm and still . He was not afraid , for he had all faith in his father's skill . The arrow whistled through the air . It struck the apple fairly in the center , and carried it away . The people who saw it shouted with joy . As Tell was turning away from the place , an arrow which he had hidden under his coat dropped to the ground . " Fellow ! " cried Gessler , " what mean you with this second arrow ? " " Tyrant ! " was Tell's proud answer , " this arrow was for your heart if I had hurt my child . " And there is an old story , that , not long after this , Tell did shoot the tyrant with one of his arrows ; and thus he set his country free . ARNOLD WINKELRIED . A great army was marching into Switzerland . If it should go much farther , there would be no driving it out again . The soldiers would burn the towns , they would rob the farmers of their grain and sheep , they would make slaves of the people . The men of Switzerland knew all this . They knew that they must fight for their homes and their lives . And so they came from the mountains and valleys to try what they could do to save their land . Some came with bows and arrows , some with scythes and pitchforks , and some with only sticks and clubs . But their foes kept in line as they marched along the road . Every soldier was fully armed . As they moved and kept close together , nothing could be seen of them but their spears and shields and shining armor . What could the poor country people do against such foes as these ? " We must break their lines , " cried their leader ; " for we cannot harm them while they keep together . " The bowmen shot their arrows , but they glanced off from the soldiers ' shields . Others tried clubs and stones , but with no better luck . The lines were still unbroken . The soldiers moved steadily onward ; their shields lapped over one another ; their thousand spears looked like so many long bristles in the sunlight . What cared they for sticks and stones and huntsmen's arrows ? " If we cannot break their ranks , " said the Swiss , " we have no chance for fight , and our country will be lost ! " Then a poor man , whose name was Arnold Winkelried , stepped out .
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