River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-12-11

every conversation in the dip
lomatic clubs of Europe. Gre
ated by Dyornak, that brllli-
k1 ~ ant and erratic genius whose
diatribes against democracy
had stirred all the courts of
the continent, it had become organ
lied in single year in every county
between Spain and the Urals. Kings
had become members OF it, and the
league, backed by the most powerful
OF Influences, had acquired immunity
from governments and threatened to
impose it's will upon the civilized
world Then the inevitable happened.
Factions arose. base men perverted
liz aims to their own ends; the best
clement abandoned it in disgust, a
INSTRUMENTATION OF Western rul-
ers was initiated and, after the issue
had hung for months in the balance,
the scales fell, and the league became
discredited
And up and down Europe, travelling
from court to court. cohort OF paIa-
dns, each fighting singly and whole
heartedly, stroye for the two factions.
That the league was planning a
desperate stroke in order to regain
ts former influence was the sub
stance Of a conversation between
Lord Claude Gresham, secretary to
The cabinet OF kings which had fought
lhe league successfully. and Paul
Lane, the young American million
ARE, as they sat together in the palm
room Of the Hotel des Anglais, at
Geneva, and looked out at the snowy
crested mountains. It seemed so
peaceful there; it was incredible to
Paul that in a little space of time he
would once more be plunged into the
vortex of political passions and fur
ious rivalries
Pauls wits had been sharpened in
many fights when he was serving the
league. lie had been induced to
place his fortune and his services at
its disposal by the Princess Clothilde
Of 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 of
his, life; when, too. he understood,
in shame and humiliation, that the
high motives OF the league were
shams masking criminal designs he
offered his services to Lord Tresham,
to 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.
For this reason he fought the more
daringly Tie 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 and
pledged herself to carry out their pur-
pose.
Tresham had summoned Paul to
Switzerland to undertake mission
which was TO overthrow the leagues
last remnants OF power and influence
in Europe He explained it to him in
the afterglow Of the glorious August
evening
III
ne said and YOU are to kick ii away.
The kaiser has long abandoned it;
so has Alfonso of Spain. its leading
western ally But in the realm of
the Tsar the league still rests
supreme. The Russian agent of that
INSCRIPTIONS association is Apollodo-
rus. the monk who has obtained so
strong hold over the people and
over The uperstition-ridden Nicholas
IT. AS you undoubtedly know. this
ApollodCrus. whose headquarters are
in the monastery at Nishikoff. is the
latest Of long train of charlatans
who have duped Nicholas with spirit
ualistic phenomena AT Nishikoff,
they say. he calls up the ghost of his
majesty the late Alexander Ill, and
this spectral adviser. whose counsels
are. of course. always those of the
league. and who is in reality the
medium Apollodorus himself. directs
the policy Of the whole realm OF Rus
STA Paul. did you ever turn the dark
lantern on a spirit at a seance?"
Il did" said Paul. chuckling over
the remembrance. 1T was i'll my col
1ege days | exposed the notorious
Brale, who had fooled many leading
people in New York. and photogra pied
him with a calcium light. capering
round the room in fifteen yards of
crash towelGng,"
THAT. Paul is exactly what you are
to do 20 Apollodorus. answered Lord
Claude You can imagine the scene:
the Tsar. wildly credulous his attend
ants secretly sceptical. but outwardly
believers. and just a little bit inclined
to a mystical Interpretation Of the
phenomena because Of the inherent
human tendency to self-deception.
can obtain admittance for you
through friends at St. Petersburg.
You will. then. attend the seance with
dark lantern under your coat, eX-
pose the fraud at the psychological
moment. and obliterate the leagues
influence in Russia in a flood of ridi-
Guile. Once Nicholas has left it, we
shall hear very little more about it."