5 Set him upon his knees and place this apple Upon his head, so that the stem may front me,— Thus, Verner; charge him to keep steady; tell him I'll hit the apple. Verner, do all this More briefly than I tell it thee. VER. Come, Albert! [Leading him out ALB. May I not speak with him before I go? VER. NO. ALB. I would only kiss his hand. VER. You must not. ALB. I must! I cannot go from him without. VER. It is his will you should. 10 20 TELL. If thou canst bear it, should not I? Go, now, My son, and keep in mind that I can shoot. Go, boy; be thou but steady, I will hit The apple. Go! God bless thee go! My bow! [The bow is handed to him Thou wilt not fail thy master, wilt thou? Thou 5 Thou art stanch-stanch. Let me see my quiver. GES. Give him a single arrow. TELL. Do you shoot? SOL. I do. TELL. Is it so you pick an arrow, friend? The point, you see, is bent; the feather jagged. That's all the use 't is fit for. GES. Let him have another. TELL. Why, 't is better than the first, 10 But yet not good enough for such an aim As I'm to take; 't is heavy in the shaft. I'll not shoot with it! see my quiver. [Breaks it [Throws it away] Let me Bring it! 'Tis not one arrow in a dozen 15 I'd take to shoot with at a dove, much less A dove like that. GES. It matters not. Show him the quiver. TELL. See if the boy is ready. [TELL here hides an arrow under his vest 20 VER. He is. TELL. I'm ready, too. [To the people] Keep silence for Heaven's sake and do not stir; and let me have Your prayers-your prayers; and be my witnesses That if his life's in peril from my hand, "T is only for the chance of saving it. GES. Go on. TELL shoots and a shout of exultation bursts from the crowd. TELL'S head drops on his bosom; he with difficulty supports himself upon his bow VER. [Rushing in with ALBERT] The boy is safe, no hair of him is touched. ALB. Thank Heaven! thank Heaven! VER. Open his vest, 15 And give him air. ALBERT opens his father's vest and the arrow drops. TELL starts, fixes his eye upon ALBERT, and clasps him to his breast TELL. My boy! my boy! GES. For what Hid you that arrow in your breast? Speak, slave! TELL. To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my boy. A COW'S PARADISE ELEANOR H. PATTERSON Washed, combed, groomed, petted, and luxuriantly stabled in winter, like the finest of our race horses, and put to graze on flowery, well-watered green fields in summer, the cows of Holland can envy no animal the world over. 5 The two lions represented upon the heraldic shield of the Netherlands might well be replaced by two great black and white Holstein-Friesian cows, for the masses of the people worship cows. Cows they watch sometimes with more care than 10 they give their own children, cows they nurse through sickness, cows they save their money to buy, and of cows they talk while awake and dream while asleep. Children are brought up with the parental rev- 15 erence for cows, and no member of the human family is thought too good to sleep under the same roof with the beloved kine. The traveler landing in Holland during the springtime will see vast herds of fine cattle in every stretch of green mead- 20 ows, and green meadows are everywhere in this flat and almost treeless country. Every shadeless field is defined by a stream of pure water flowing |