who was appointed by the Emperor.

Austria was another of the states of the great empire, and at one time
a Duke of Austria was made ruler of Switzerland. Because of its great
beauty, this duke cast greedy eyes upon Switzerland and longed to
possess it for his very own.

But the Swiss would not give up their freedom; and three cantons, as
the divisions of Switzerland are called, joined together, and swore to
stand by each other, and never to submit to Austria.

Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were the names of these three cantons. A
little later another canton joined the three. These four cantons lie
round a lake which is called the Lake of the four Forest Cantons. When
Albrecht, Duke of Austria was chosen Emperor he said to himself that
now truly he would be lord and master of Switzerland. So he sent two
nobles to the Swiss to talk to them, and persuade them to own him as
their king.

Some of the people of Switzerland were persuaded to belong to Austria,
but all the people of the free cantons replied that they wished to
remain free.

So the messengers went back to Albrecht and told him what the
people said. When he heard the message he was very angry. "The proud
peasants," he cried, "they will not yield. Then I will bend and break
them. They will be soft and yielding enough when I have done with
them."

Months went by and the Emperor appointed no ruler over Switzerland.
At last the people, feeling that they must have a governor, sent
messengers to the Emperor, begging him to appoint a ruler, as all
the Emperors before him had done. "A governor you shall have." said
Albrecht. "Go home and await his coming. Whom I send to you, him you
must obey in all things."

When they had gone, Albrecht smiled grimly to himself. "They will not
yield," he said, "but I will oppress them and ill-treat them until I
force them to rebel. Then I will fight against them and conquer them,
and at last Switzerland will be mine."

A few days later Albrecht made his friends Hermann Gessler and
Beringer of Landenberg governors over the free cantons, telling them
to take soldiers with them to enforce the law and to tax the people in
order to pay the soldiers. "You will punish all wrong-doers severely,"
he said, "I will endure no rebels within my empire."

Hard and bitter days began when Gessler and Landenberg settled there.
They delighted in oppressing the people. They loaded them with taxes;
nothing could be either bought or sold but the