[General silence.]
Who was it? I will know.
[Friesshardt steps forward.]
And who art thou?
And why hast thou this man in custody?
[Gives his falcon to an attendant.]
FRIESS.
Dread sir, I am a soldier of your guard.
And station'd sentinel beside the cap;
This man I apprehended in the act
Of passing it without obeisance due,
So as you ordered, I arrested him,
Whereon to rescue him the people tried.
GESSL. (after a pause).
And do you, Tell, so lightly hold your King,
And me, who act as his viceregent here,
That you refuse obeisance to the cap,
I hung aloft to test your loyalty?
I read in this a disaffected spirit.
TELL.
Pardon me, good my lord! The action sprung
From inadvertence,—not from disrespect.
Were I discreet, I were not Wilhelm Tell.
Forgive me now—I'll not offend again.
GESSL. (after a pause).
I hear, Tell, you're a master with the bow,
From every rival bear the palm away.
WALT.
That's very truth, sir! At a hundred yards
He'll shoot an apple for you off the tree.