Boy Nihilist

by Edward Stratemeyer

place."

  He set the delicious wine before him, and Barnwell drank a heartydraught.

  "Ah! nowhere in the world can such wine be found as in Germany."

  "I am glad you think so, sir, for I hope you will stay long with us, andbe so well pleased that you will come again."

  "I shall certainly remain with you, if I ever come back again, for Ilike both you and your good frau. But to-morrow I must away to Berlin onbusiness."

  "So soon?"

  "Yes. My life is made up of business and pleasure. Business must have aninning now."

  "I am sorry, sir," said the old man, sadly.

  "Oh, well; others will come."

  "Visitors are rare here, sir. Now and then a poor artist stops here, andsometimes tourists wander this way; but it is a life-time rarity to meetwith a rich cosmopolitan like yourself, who is willing to help us alonga bit."

  "But you must be well off in any event."

  "No, sir; although we should be if the thousand marks' mortgage was paidoff."

  "When it is due?"

  "Within a week."

  "And how much have you towards it?"

  "Five hundred."

  "All right; keep the five hundred, and here are a thousand to free youfrom embarrassment," said Barnwell, counting out the bills.

  The old landlord was so overcome that he fell upon his knees speechless,seeing which, his wife ran to him, thinking him ill.

  "Oh, Gretchen! Look at him; the good American gentleman has saved us andour home!"

  "Oh, sir, what induced you?"

  "The idea of making somebody as happy as I am myself. Take it and behappy. All I ask in return is that you be good to the poor andunfortunate."

  "Oh, sir, bless you!" cried the landlord.

  "Amen! And you shall have just the nicest dinner you ever had in yourlife," said his wife, brushing the tears from her eyes and hurryingaway.

  CHAPTER XVI.

  TRUE TO HIS TRUST.

  That night, after all had retired, William Barnwell, in the privacy ofhis own chamber, untied one of the bags, and emptied its contents uponhis bed, so that the noise of the jingle might be smothered.

  He was a good judge of Russian gold, and this he found to be genuine,coined in double roubles, with dates mostly before and during the reignof Czar Nicholas, the tyrant par excellence of Russia, which is sayingmuch.

  He was a ruler who knew nothing of humanity or justice, who was quite asbad, save in form and outward show, as Catherine or her barbarianpredecessors, always excepting Peter the Great.

  It took England, France and Sardinia to teach him the rudiments ofcivilization, and even then he died a barbarian at heart, as he hadalways lived, leaving a conquered monarchy to his son, who tried toappease the world by abolishing serfdom, although he probably neverwould have done so had not the teachings of Batavsky and others takenroot in the hearts of the Russian people, creating a diversion in favorof political liberty, which he thought to smother while freeing theserfs.

  So much for history, but it had to come in, this being in nearly allrespects a historical story.

  "Slightly mildewed, but every one of them genuine," said Barnwell, afterhe had tested several thousand dollars' worth of them. "And if poor oldBatavsky's spirit is hovering near to me, and to the yellow coin hedevoted to the advancement of human liberty and equality, it shall seethat I shall prove true to my trust. To-morrow I will away to Berlin, toplace this to my credit, after which--well, after which, we shall see!"

  Then he fell into a reverie. He dreamed a thousand things and considereda thousand possibilities, but as he pushed them away for futureconsideration, the form of the beautiful Laura Clark filled his mentalvision.

  What had become of her, and what did she think of his conduct?

  Beautiful and rich, it would be strange, indeed, if she had not long agofound a mate, but he resolved to write to her father in New York,explaining the whole business, if only to clear himself of any blamethat his mysterious disappearance had produced.

  Yes; but not until after he had deposited this gold in the Royal Bank atBerlin.

  The next morning he rode away with his golden freight, and at the firstregular railroad station that he came upon he placed his wagon andhorses in the hands of the Royal Express, engaging that the wholeequipment should be delivered safely at the Royal Bank of Berlin, itbeing understood that his servant, Ulrich, should sleep in the carcontaining the horses and carriage until their safe delivery as agreedupon.

  The journey occupied two days, but at the end of it Barnwell had thesatisfaction of landing his gold in the vaults of the Royal Bank, andhaving his credit established there for an almost unlimited amount,although the old Russian coin, coming in such a strange way, excitedmuch comment with the bank officials who counted and weighed it.

  There was a mystery surrounding so much money, deposited all at once andin such a way, but the depositor proved himself all right so far as hispapers and nationality were concerned; and in a very short time youngBarnwell came to be known as the Fairies' Son, a man to whom they hadgiven unlimited wealth, every rouble of which would double itself attheir bidding.

  This, of course, did not obtain with the officers of the bank. Theysimply looked at the gold, counted and weighed.

  But Barnwell was pleased to be regarded as a Fairies' Son, for it wouldenable him to work more effectually.

  And it was not long before he became known to the Nihilists residing inBerlin, and, naturally enough, he soon became a leading man among them.

  He took modest lodgings, supporting only his servant, but in spite ofall precautions, he was shadowed by Russian police agents, who seem tobe everywhere.

  It is one of the most perfect and far-reaching police systems in theworld, and before Barnwell had been there a month they learned all abouthim.

  And this, of course, showed them all he had so unjustly suffered, andthey could well understand then why he associated with well-knownNihilists, having undoubtedly become one himself for revenge.

  But they could not penetrate the mystery of his enormous wealth, unless,indeed, he were one of those famous American bonanza kings, or at leastthe son of one, and obtained his wealth directly from America.

  Try their best, however, they could not entrap him so that the Germanauthorities would molest him, for in a very short time he was surroundedby as faithful a set of detectives as those employed by the Russianpolice, and the game soon became diamond cut diamond.

  But while all these moves were being made--one to find out what theother was doing--other and unsuspected moves were being made which wereto astound the world.

  Suddenly, and without any visible or traceable reason, the spirit ofRussian Nihilism began to flame again, and with greater fierceness thanever before.

  Nihilist papers and documents, printed both in the Russian and Polishlanguages, were scattered broadcast, and in such a secret manner thatthe police were wholly at fault, and the despots of Russia began totremble as they had never done before.

  Money seemed to be plentiful, and a more perfect organization effectedthan were the Russian police.

  Day by day it grew, and a dread uncertainty pervaded the society of thearistocrats, and the utmost precautions were taken to protect the lifeof the Czar Alexander and the royal family.

  Now and then the police would discover Nihilists at work; but all thebranches worked independently, and the detection of one could not leadto what the others were doing.

  But what astonished and bothered the Russian police was the simpleperfection to which the Nihilists had been reduced in their way ofworking, showing unmistakably that a skillful organizer was at theirhead.

  The great mystery surrounding everything completely baffled the Russianpolice, and though they half suspected Barnwell, they were not able tobring anything home to him, and he all the while maintained theappearance of a rich cosmopolitan, and if they followed him in his manyjourneyings they were unable to see that he was doing more thantraveling for pleasure.

 
; One day, while riding in "Unter Linden," who should he meet but Mr.Clark and his beautiful daughter riding in the opposite direction, buthe was so changed that neither of them recognized him, although lookingdirectly at him.

  Laura Clark was also somewhat changed, but by her being in her father'scompany, Barnwell came to the conclusion that she was yet unmarried, andhad most likely proved true to their betrothal, nearly three yearsbefore.

  He was determined to present himself, and so ordered his coachman toturn about and follow their carriage.

  In a few moments it stopped in front of a fashionable hotel, which theyentered, and were soon lost to sight.

  Calling a servant, he told him to take his card to Mr. Clark, andquietly waited in the parlor for a reply.

  Presently that gentleman came down with the card in his hand, and a lookof inquiry on his face.

  "Mr. Clark, you do not recognize me," said he, rising.

  "No, not as a young American