"No," he said; "it can't be done. The tyrant has convinced me."

   "I knew he would," said Arnold of Melchthal.

   "Then I think you might have warned me," snapped Arnold of Sewa,
dancing with the pain of his burnt finger.

   "Was it hot?"

   "Boiling."

   "Ah!"

   "Then he really won't let us off the taxes?" asked the crowd in
disappointed voices.

   "No."

   "Then the long and short of it is," said Walter Fürst, drawing a deep
breath, "that we must rebel!"

   "Rebel?" cried everybody.

   "Rebel!" repeated Walter firmly.

   "We will!" cried everybody.

   "Down with the tyrant!" shouted Walter Fürst.

   "Down with the taxes!" shrieked the crowd.

   A scene of great enthusiasm followed. The last words were spoken by

   Werner Stauffacher.

   "We want a leader," he said.

   "I don't wish to thrust myself forward," began Arnold of Sewa, "but I
must say, if it comes to leading—"

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