The Iola register., 1902-08-01

good soldier, as this man is. The trade
requires no conscience. / saw Kilziar
commit n murder for greed and at
tempt another for mere anger and that
stamps him indelibly to my eye. But
for his own personal merits he is moth
Ing to me. 1t is only because his char
acter affects your personal safety and
the success Of the cause to which you
have devoted yourself that | speak Of
him."
MY personal safety is not worth
speaking Of" replied Vera, except as
1t may affect the cause. Yet you are
insane to suppose that Kilziar's abs
surd love for me is in any way n
monaco"
~ had not that in mind" answered
Darrell earnestly. 1T Is the conduct
of this war that makes me shudder
for you, that forces me to warn you,
though l have neither right nor au-
thority to do So"
"And what have you to say Of the
conduct Of the war?" she asked. "Have
we not met with successT
"Vera," he said, what is the object
of this struggle"
ITO free my country"
"Is it free? Have you driven the
Russians out of it?"
1--WE shall" she cried, "and in the
meantime"-
"In the meantime" snid Darrell,
'yOu are engaged in an utterly hope
less war of invasion. What was your
hope in this campaign2 To take STAY
ropol? l will grant that you might
conceivably succeed. Even so, you
could not have dreamed of going fur.
ther, and you certainly could not have
expected to hold the place indefinitely
without anything that could be called
| q line Of communications, without pos
sibility of reinforcement, with only
the resources Of the city itself to de-
pend upon. A successful retreat would
have been your best expectation"-
"Why not termsr demanded Vera,
rising. do you think our successes
would have won us no consideration
mot on Russian SOIL" answered Oar
rell. EVERY success you win outside
your own borders is an obstacle in the
way of your liberty. You cannot con-
quer Russia. Your only chance was to
persuade her that the recOnquest Of
Circassa at this time would cost too
much In men and treasure. What does
the government in ST. Petersburg care
about the loss of GredskOv as a mill
tary incident? Nothing. But as an
act demanding reprisals the taking Of
that city assumes importance. 1t Is
the same with Vladikaukas, and the
taking Of Stavropol would make your
cause hopeless"
"Prince Kilziar does not think so."
said Vera, pale with excitement.
prince Kilziar has never had any
other opinion" rejoined Darrell. "He
is a soldier, a man of long experience
in war, familiarly acquainted with Rus
sian governmental policy. Vera, when
such a man moved your army beyond
the boundary Of the country you were
fighting to free he proved that he was
not a patriot. The soldier of freedom
resents aggression. He takes up arms
for the purpose of expelling tyrants;
he defends his own land; he stands up
on his rights and strives TO win the re-
spect of the world. But TO rush out of
his own country, leaving its strongest
fortified places still in the hands of the
intruder, to invade the territory of a
monstrous power like Russia, with no
hope except to inflict certain amount
Of injury and then withdraw - this
could not he the act of trained sol
dier who was also a patriot. To Kill
ziar the military principles and the
policies involved were plain as one plus
one makes two. lie did not organize
this campaign in the interests of Cir
cassa."
'Tn whose, thenT she cried.
''In his own, Vera" replied Darrell,
"for loot There was a rich treasure in
Gredskov, imperfectly guarded through
Russian oversight. Kilziar knew of it,
and now he has 1t absolutely in his
hands"
"Why notT' demanded Vera. "Will
not money help our cause"
"My child" he rejoined without
meaning to use the term which made
the princess red with wrath, "is it con
celvable that Russia will permit you to
hOld tlls sumF III is mere item in the
bill that you must settle. Your whole
policy should have been to secure the
easiest terms, and this is the way to get
the hardest. Your only problem was
this: How much can make it cost Rus
sia TO retake Circassia in proportion to
the injury which she has suffered in the
loss of it? The lighter the injury the
better for you"
81 have heard that the Americans
considered money above all things
Vera began, but Darrell interrupted her
with groan.
"Let me hasten to make an end OF
this" he cried. II have not forfeited
your regard and suffered the misery
that torments a gloomy prophet with
| out definite object You will send an