The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-12-20
CCopyrlght. 1918. by w. G. ChapmanD

II
Iomatic clubs of Europe. Gre
tied by Dvornak, that BRILL
.IH ant and erratic genius whose
IkG .,otribes against democracy
Ia stirred all the courts OF
.Inon, II had become organ
"a in single year IN every country
'.sen Spain and the Urals' hihgS
k.ome members of 1t, and the
hacked by the most powerful
seorces had acquired immunity
governments and threatened 10
80 its will upon the civilized
Ia Then the inevitable happened,
"so,s arose, base men perverted
.,rs 70 their own ends; the best |
.nspt abandoned it in disgust, a
.'anter-organization of Western rul-
y vas initiated, and, after the issue |
hrng for months in the balance,
.cales fell, and the league became |
| accredited.
And up and down Europe. travelling
nom court to court, cohort OF pala-
~. each fighting singly and whole
.s.r,odlv strove for the two factions.
THAT the league was planning a
...norste stroke in order to regain
a. farmer influence was the sub
...,ce Of a conversation between
lord Claude Tresham, secretary to
a, cabinet Of kings which had fought
-. league successfully, and Paul
,.ne the young American million
.,rs as they sat together in the palm
nam Of the Hotel des Anglais, at
Geneva, and looked out at the snowy
.,ested mountains. 1t seemed 80
,s.ceful there: ii was incredible TO
p.ul that in a little space of time he
vould once more be plunged into the
urtex Of political passions and fur
bus rivalries
Pants wits had been sharpened In
many fights when he was serving the
hague. He had been induced to
mace his fortune and his services at
its disposal by the Princess Clothilde
NJ Austria, the guiding spirit of the
society. When he came to under
stand that he was but tool In the
hands of an INSCRIPTIONS woman,
whom. nevertheless, he had grown to
love with a passion which, he knew,
would last during the remainder or
his life; when, too. he understood
m shame and humiliation, that the
high motives of the league were
sbams masking criminal designs, he
offered his services to Lord Tresham,
10 fight his former friends. He had
performed several missions with hon.
or. he had met Clothilde herself In
battles of wits and worsted her; but
each encounter only drove home more
deeply the shaft of the pitiless archer
> who wounded him to the heart.
I For this reason he fought the more
daringly. He had become, next to
Tresham, the opposing organization
most powerful agent. The hatred
the league felt for him was i'm
placable and relentless; and Clothilde
finding herself unable to regain his
confidence and ignorant of the depth
Of his passion for her, in spite OF his
establishment. had leagued herself
with his most bitter enemies anc
pledged herself to carry out their pur
pose.
Tresham had summoned Paul tC
Switzerland to undertake a mission
which was to overthrow the leagues
last remnants of power and influence
IN Europe. He explained it to him il
the afterglow of the glorious Angus
evening.
"The league has one prop. Paul,
he said, land you are to kick it away
The kaiser has long abandoned 1t
80 has Alfonso of Spain. its leadin
western ally. But in the realm o
the Tsar the league still rest
supreme. The Russian agent Of tina
INSCRIPTIONS association is Apollodt
rus, the monk who has obtained s
strong hold over the people an
over the superstition-ridden Nichola
II, As you undoubtedly know. thi
Apollodorus, whose headquarters ar
In the monastery at Nishikoff, Is tn
latest Of a long train of charlatan
who have duped Nicholas with spiri
ualistic phenomena At Nishikof
they say, he calls up the ghost of h
majesty the late Alexander Ill, an
this spectral adviser, whose counse
are, Of course. always those OF Tn
league. and who is, in reality, I'll
medium Apollodorus himself, direc
the policy of the whole realm of Ru
sia. Paul. did you ever turn the dar
lantern on a spirit at a seance?"
Il did," said Paul. 'chuckling ov'
the remembrance 1T was in my &C
iege days. l exposed the 'notoriol
Brale, who had fooled many leadir
people in New York. and Photographic
MIN with a calcium light, caperiI
round the room in fifteen yards
crash towelling"
That. Paul. is exactly what you a
TO do TO Apollodorus," answered Lo
Claude. "You can imagine the seen
the Tsar, wildly credulous, his atter
ants secretly sceptical. but outward
believers, and just little bit inclin
TO mystical Interpretation of {
phenomena because of the inhere
human tendency to self-deception.
can obtain admittance for y
through friends at st. Petersbul
You will, then, attend the seance wi
dark lantern under your coat, I
pose the fraud at the psychologist