William Tell Told Again

William Tell Told Again [with
accents]

The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Tell Told Again, by P. G.
Wodehouse #24 in our series by P. G. Wodehouse
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Title: William Tell Told Again
Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7298] [Yes, we are more than

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TELL TOLD AGAIN ***

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[Transcriber's note: William Tell Told Again is two children's books in
one. One is a picture book--16 full-color illustrations by Philip Dadd
described in verse by John W. Houghton. The other is a humorous
novel by P. G. Wodehouse, based on the picture book. The novel has a
lengthier storyline, a more intricate plot, and more characterization.
The bound volume intermingled the picture book with the novel,
illustrations and poems appearing at regular intervals. Most pictures
and verses were distant from the page of the novel that they reflected.
For this text version, placeholders for the illustrations (with plate
numbers) have been inserted following the paragraph in the novel that
describes the events being illustrated. The verse descriptions of the
illustrations, labelled with plate numbers, have been moved to the end
of the novel, so as not to disrupt the story. Each verse also has an
illustration placeholder that includes the phrase from the novel shown
as a description on the List of Illustrations.]
[Illustration: Frontispiece]

WILLIAM TELL TOLD AGAIN

BY P. G. WODEHOUSE

1904
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY PHILIP DADD
DESCRIBED IN VERSE BY JOHN W. HOUGHTON

[Dedication] TO BIDDY O'SULLIVAN FOR A CHRISTMAS
PRESENT

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SOMETIMES IT WAS ONLY A BIRD [Frontispiece]
GESSLER'S METHODS OF PERSUASION [Plate I]
THEY WOULD MARCH ABOUT, BEATING TIN CANS AND
SHOUTING [Plate II]
AN EGG FLEW ACROSS THE MEADOW, AND BURST OVER
LEUTHOLD'S SHOULDER [Plate III]
"HERE! HI!" SHOUTED THE SOLDIERS, "STOP!" [Plate IV]
THEY SAW FRIESSHARDT RAISE HIS PIKE, AND BRING IT
DOWN WITH ALL HIS FORCE ON TELL'S HEAD [Plate V]
"LOOK HERE!" HE BEGAN. "LOOK THERE!" SAID
FRIESSHARDT [Plate VI]
FRIESSHARDT RUSHED TO STOP HIM [Plate VII]
THE CROWD DANCED AND SHOUTED [Plate VIII]
"COME, COME, COME!" SAID GESSLER, "TELL ME ALL
ABOUT IT" [Plate IX]
"I HAVE HERE AN APPLE" [Plate X]
THERE WAS A STIR OF EXCITEMENT IN THE CROWD [Plate
XI]
A MOMENT'S SUSPENSE, AND THEN A TERRIFIC CHEER
AROSE FROM THE SPECTATORS [Plate XII]
"SEIZE THAT MAN!" HE SHOUTED [Plate XIII]
HE WAS LED AWAY TO THE SHORE OF THE LAKE [Plate XIV]
TELL'S SECOND ARROW HAD FOUND ITS MARK [Plate XV]

The Swiss, against their Austrian foes, Had ne'er a soul to lead 'em, Till
Tell, as you've heard tell, arose And guided them to freedom. Tell's tale
we tell again--an act For which pray no one scold us-- This tale of Tell
we tell, in fact, As this Tell tale was told us.

WILLIAM TELL


CHAPTER I
Once upon a time, more years ago than anybody can remember, before
the first hotel had been built or the first Englishman had taken a
photograph of Mont Blanc and brought it home to be pasted in an
album and shown after tea to his envious friends, Switzerland belonged
to the Emperor of Austria, to do what he liked with.
One of the first things the Emperor did was to send his friend Hermann
Gessler to govern the country. Gessler was not a nice man, and it soon
became plain that he would never make himself really popular with the
Swiss. The point on which they disagreed in particular was the question
of taxes. The Swiss, who were a simple and thrifty people, objected to
paying taxes of any