The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1916-03-24
brother-not OF royal blood. but the

bastard OF a serving woman-Freder-
lex. he is called. 1t may be within the
purpose of my foster brother that that
boy shall be brought up as the king.
IN case /, myself, should fall. He is
not fit to rule. He is not your king.
But signed hereunto is the name and
the seal, unmistakable, done in my
blood and his, of your king, Michael
the First. and Of your future king,
Michael the Second, my son. He is
as yet too young fully to know the
gravity Of these presents. But by this
sign you shall know your ruler, shall
these presents come to you, we'll be-
loved.
In the name Of God, amen! Mi
chael, Rex"
Below this signature of Michael
the Good" said the measured voice
Of Count Frederick, there is another
Observation-Disclosures the Second, Rex.
Gentlemen, there are two signatures
to these scripts, and there are two
seals"
A sigh Of wonder, almost Of conster-
nation, came from those assembled.
The only protest was from the hud-
died object in the farther corner of
the room. where still remained Mi
chael. the drunken.
What then, the guard" he
shrieked. Treason to me-after him,
men! This pretender-what is it that
he says? What pinot has he?-what
proof
This proof. sir" said Count Fred.
erick, coldly. and approached to him
the broad page of the parchment
sheet.
Michael gazed stupidity at what he
saw, uncomprehending. Others gazed
also, and at first could make nothing
of what was there. Count Frederick
went
Il recall now, a. l see this page"
said he, this writing of the king, my
father-you hear me, gentlemen-my
father!
Il recall that l saw him place be.
meath the great seal, that other seal
done in his own blood. / saw him
draw the blood from his own arm and
put his thumb in it, and place it here,
thus sealing this document with the
unmistakable seattle one alone
which cannot show a mistaken iden-
tity.
And here, gentlemen, beneath that
other line of signature. which you
have heard and seen, there is another,
a smaller. a very small seal of a SINH
lar sort. 1t is the print of a human
thumb-the thumb Of a boy, of a baby
"a baby then, a man now-who re-
calls that scene vaguely. And here
is the proof. Gentlemen. I recall now,
it was my father made this mark; but
1t was his great hands which took my
little n and dipped my thumb in the
blood which he drew from nv arm,
and set it here below that name which
he has written, Michael the Second
Gentlemen, who then is your
king"
Even yet they could not grasp the
full significance of what they heard,
and again the voice of Count Freder-
lex resumed:
Go, now, gentlemen, send out your
agents quickly. Bring here those men
OF science skilled in the reading of
such things as these. 1t was Bertillon
who developed that science of infalli-
BILE identification. It was he who
showed that each man carries with
him, in his person, from his cradle to
his grave, that unmistakable seal
which Identifies him infalliblv.
Now bring here your men Of sci
ence. Here is my hand as God made
it. and as my father held 1t in his so
many years ago. Small then-larger
and stronger now! God grant it be
strong enough today to do what my
father did, and do it well. And may my
mind have justice and liberty before
1t always. as those things were before
his.
Gentlemen, you know the history
OF this kingdom as well as l. You
know the long regency following the
Gretzhonen a You know why that
regency was established. Rumor vas
that King Michael died like a king,
in his WI bed. The truth was other
wise. He was murdered here in the
vault below by the men of his own
foster brother.
If that be true-and as God is my
witness, | believe it to be true-then
we well may guess which boy was
brought up under the regent to take
the place Of a king. That was not my
sef-others, relatives of mine, reared
me. as you know, until l am what you
know. And yonder man-this drunken
waster-not even the son Of lawful
wedlock, never the son of a queen
that man, he was the one accepted as
your king! Treason. you say-why,
there was treason to every human be-
ing who lived on Gretzhoffen soil,
when that pretender took the throne!
las for you, sir" and he stepped
over to lay an iron hand on the shout
der Of the covering man who sank
back upon his seat, your day is done.
| do not say you were a party to this
II only say. you must 60. For the