The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-05-26
The Man
Who Stole
The Earth"
By W. Holt Whi.s
CHAPTER LxvI.-(con.Inued.)


The blood rushed TO his face. and
then receded again.
No" he said 20 himself slowly. Il
cannot do that War on men is one
is another"
Then he cell 10 reasoning with him.
self, and. as was customary with him
he argued his conscience down. He
proved that the end justified the
| means. He satisfied himself that in
kidnapping The czareyitch he would be
justified. irasmuch as IL would in
reality be the saving OF immense
3 oloodShed and the saving OF immense
treasure which would otherwise DC
spent on war
None the less. ii seemed a heartless
and coldblooded thing to do.
To steal the baby cZareyitch. the
boy for whose birth there had been
offered up million prayers the boy
on whom was conferred the hopes and
happiness OF one of the greatest rulers
OF mankind. II was ruthless plan.
IL Is hard thing for a father to
! lose a son. II Is infinitely harder for
king to lose an heir; though this is
fact sometimes lost sight OF by
ordinary folk.
Yet he would do 1t, He would do It,
He shut his teeth on il
! He would be as gentle as he could
in the matter He would see TO II that
there was no unnecessary cruelty
! but IL must be done
Once the czareyitch WAS In his pos
session, the rest would be simple The
armies OF Russia would melt away
from his frontiers, and II the armies
OF Russia melted away. so would the
armies OF France in like manner dis
appear.
That only left Germany to be reck-
oncd with.
II was an astonishing thing, but
true. that baby would hold the bal
rance Of the worlds war or peace II
was an astonishing thing, but very
human and one that On the imagina
tive side appealed to Strong i'm
mensely
Yes-he argued his conscience
steadily down--it seemed a cowardly
thing To do. 1t was like hitting below
the belt
But he argued with himself the
more. and killed entirely the last
scrap OF lingering scruple.
The question now was in what man
ner the daring theft should be accom-
! plished. And here his knowledge of
the life OF st. Petersburg came read
/ lily To his aid
II was Sunday, and he could be In
st Petersburg within an hour In an
hours time the cars children, dress
ed In white furs, would be taking their
Sunday drive along the bank OF the
Neva.
A thousand eyes would watch their
progress AT every yard there would
be a policeman In disguise-men in
civilian dress with revolvers In their
pockets.
Some way ahead OF the sleigh carry.
ing the royal children there would be
three Cossacks. Three Cossacks
would ride behind.
But there would be a convenient
distance between the Cossacks and
the sleigh. The Russian government
system has an eye 10 effect. The
children's drive was to a large extent
engineered with an eye TO effect.
II looked so safe, SO childlike, SO en-
tirely bland
And yet. while the poor little mites
drove up and down the bank OF the
Neva on a Sunday afternoon, two
royal parents suffered an agony OF
fear. and the minds OF the greater OF
ficials I'm the capital OF the Russian
empire were I'll at ease.
II was possible, OF course, that as
strong had been in st. Petersburg in
the morning, the drive would be can.
celled. But this was doubtful, be.
cause OF the Russian officialdom's eye
for effect.
From that standpoint 1t would be a
magnificent thing to send the chill.
dren, all unconscious OF the risks they
ran. upon their Sunday drive, In order
to reassure the public mind.
Ito he Continued.J