Stay, stay, my friends! As yet we have not learn'd What has been done in Unterwald and Schwytz. Let's wait till we receive intelligence! RUODI. Wait, wait for what? The accursed tyrant's dead. And on us freedom's glorious day has dawn'd! MASON. How! Are these flaming signals not enough, That blaze on every mountain top around? RUODI. Come all, fall to--come, men and women, all! Destroy the scaffold! Burst the arches! Down, Down with the walls, let not a stone remain! MASON. Come, comrades, come! We built it, and we know How best to hurl it down. ALL. Come! Down with it! [_They fall upon the building on every side_.] FÜRST. The floodgate's burst. They're not to be restrained. [_Enter_ MELCHTHAL _and_ BAUMGARTEN.] MELCH. What! Stands the fortress still, when Sarnen lies In ashes, and the Rossberg's in our hands? FÜRST. You, Melchthal, here? D'ye bring us liberty? Are all the Cantons from our tyrants freed? MELCH. We've swept them from the soil. Rejoice, my friend, Now, at this very moment, while we speak, There's not one tyrant left in Switzerland! FÜRST. How did you get the forts into your power? MELCH. Rudenz it was who by a bold assault With manly valor mastered Sarnen's keep. The Rossberg I had storm'd the night before. But hear what chanced! Scarce had we driven the foe Forth from the keep, and given it to the flames, That now rose crackling upwards to the skies, When from the blaze rush'd Diethelm, Gessler's page, Exclaiming, "Lady Bertha will be burnt!" FÜRST. Good heavens! [_The beams of the scaffold are heard falling_.] MELCH. 'Twas she herself. Here had she been By Gessler's orders secretly immured. Up sprang Rudenz in frenzy. For even now The beams and massive posts were crashing down, And through the stifling smoke the piteous shrieks Of the unhappy lady. FÜRST. Is she saved? MELCH. 'Twas not a time to hesitate or pause! Had he been but our baron, and no more, We should have been most chary of our lives; But he was our confederate, and Bertha Honor'd the people. So, without a thought, We risk'd the worst, and rush'd into the flames. FÜRST. But is she saved? MELCH. She is. Rudenz and I Bore her between us from the blazing pile, With crashing timbers toppling all around. And when she had revived, the danger past, And raised her eyes to look upon the sun, The baron fell upon my breast; and then A silent vow between us two was sworn, A vow that, welded in yon furnace heat, Will last through ev'ry shock of time and fate. FÜRST. Where is the Landenberg? MELCHTHAL.