Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century

head, a terrible accident would undoubtedly have occurred. Policeman number B 17822 took the villain prisoner, but he knocked the guardian of the law down and escaped, accompanied by a ragged old fellow who seemed to have been his accomplice. It is believed that the purpose of the thieves was to rob the occupants of the carriage, as the taller one approached the ladies, but just then his companion saw the policeman coming and gave him warning, and they fled together. Prince Cabano is naturally very much incensed at this outrage, and has offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension of either of the ruffians. They have been tracked for a considerable distance by the detectives; but after leaving the elevated cars all trace of them was suddenly and mysteriously lost. The whip was subsequently found on Bomba Street and identified. Neither of the criminals is known to the police. The taller one was quite young and fairly well dressed, and not ill-looking, while his companion had the appearance of a beggar, and seemed to be about seventy years of age. The Chief of Police will pay liberally for any information that may lead to the arrest of the robbers.

  "There," said my companion, "what do you think of that?"

  I need not say that I was paralyzed with this adroit mingling of factand falsehood. I realized for the first time the perils of mysituation. I was a stranger in the great city, without a friend oracquaintance, and hunted like a felon! While all these thoughtspassed through my brain, there came also a pleasing flash ofremembrance of that fair face, and that sweet and gentle smile, andthat beaming look of gratitude and approval of my action in whippingthe brutal driver. But if my new acquaintance was right; if neithercourts nor juries nor newspapers nor public opinion could be appealedto for justice or protection, then indeed might I be sent to prisonas a malefactor, for a term of years, for performing a most righteousact. If it was true, and I had heard something of the same sort in myfar-away African home, that money ruled everything in this greatcountry; and if his offended lordship desired to crush me, he couldcertainly do so. While I was buried in these reflections I had notfailed to notice that an electric bell rang upon the side of thechamber and a small box opened, and the young gentleman advanced andtook from the box a sheet of tissue paper, closely written. Irecognized it as a telegram. He read it carefully, and I noticed himstealing glances at me, as if comparing the details of my appearancewith something written on the paper. When he finished he advancedtoward me, with a brighter look on his face, and, holding out hishand, said:

  "I have already hailed you as my benefactor, my preserver; permit menow to call you my friend."

  "Why do you say so?" I asked.

  "Because," he replied, "I now know that every statement you made tome about yourself is literally true; and that in your personalcharacter you deserve the respect and friendship of all men. You lookperplexed. Let me explain. You told me some little time since yourname and place of residence. I belong to a society which has itsramifications all over the world. When I stepped out of this room Isent an inquiry to the town near which you reside, and asked if sucha person as you claimed to be lived there; what was his appearance,standing and character, and present residence. I shall not shock yourmodesty by reading the reply I have just received. You will pardonthis distrust, but we here in the great city are suspicious, andproperly so, of strangers, and even more so of each other. I did notknow but that you were in the employment of the enemies of oursociety, and sought to get into my confidence by rendering me aservice,--for the tricks to which the detectives resort are infinite.I now trust you implicitly, and you can command me in everything."

  I took his hand warmly and thanked him cordially. It was impossibleto longer doubt that frank and beaming face.

  "But," I said, "are we not in great danger? Will not that hackman,for the sake of the reward, inform the police of our whereabouts?"

  "No!" he said; "have no fears upon that score. Did you not observethat I permitted about a dozen hacks to pass me before I hailed theone that brought us here? That man wore on his dress a mark that toldme he belonged to our Brotherhood. He knows that if he betrays us hewill die within twenty-four hours, and that there is no power onearth could save him; if he fled to the uttermost ends of the earthhis doom would overtake him with the certainty of fate. So have nouneasiness. We are as safe here as if a standing army of a hundredthousand of our defenders surrounded this house."

  "Is that the explanation," I asked, "of the policeman releasing hisgrip upon my coat?"

  "Yes," he replied, quietly.

  "Now," said I, "who is this Prince Cabano, and how does he happen tobe called Prince? I thought your Republic eschewed all titles ofnobility."

  "So it does," he replied, "by law. But we have a great many titleswhich are used socially, by courtesy. The Prince, for instance, whenhe comes to sign his name to a legal document, writes it JacobIsaacs. But his father, when he grew exceedingly rich and ambitious,purchased a princedom in Italy for a large sum, and the government,being hard up for money, conferred the title of Prince with theestate. His son, the present Isaacs, succeeded, of course, to hisestates and his title."

  "'Isaacs," I said, "is a Jewish name?"

  "Yes," he replied, "the aristocracy of the world is now almostaltogether of Hebrew origin."

  "Indeed," I asked, "how does that happen?"

  "Well," he replied, "it was the old question of the survival of thefittest. Christianity fell upon the Jews, originally a race ofagriculturists and shepherds, and forced them, for many centuries,through the most terrible ordeal of persecution the history ofmankind bears any record of. Only the strong of body, the cunning ofbrain, the long-headed, the persistent, the men with capacity to livewhere a dog would starve, survived the awful trial. Like breeds like;and now the Christian world is paying, in tears and blood, for thesufferings inflicted by their bigoted and ignorant ancestors upon anoble race. When the time came for liberty and fair play the Jew wasmaster in the contest with the Gentile, who hated and feared him.

  "They are the great money-getters of the world. They rose fromdealers in old clothes and peddlers of hats to merchants, to bankers,to princes. They were as merciless to the Christian as the Christianhad been to them. They said, with Shylock: 'The villainy you teach meI will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better theinstruction.' The 'wheel of fortune has come full circle;' and thedescendants of the old peddlers now own and inhabit the palaces wheretheir ancestors once begged at the back doors for secondhand clothes;while the posterity of the former lords have been, in many cases,forced down into the swarming misery of the lower classes. This is asad world, and to contemplate it is enough to make a man aphilosopher; but he will scarcely know whether to belong to thelaughing or the weeping school--whether to follow the example ofDemocritus or Heraclitus."

  "And may I ask," I said, "what is the nature of your society?"

  "I cannot tell you more at this time," he replied, "than that it is apolitical secret society having a membership of millions, andextending all over the world. Its purposes are the good of mankind.Some day, I hope, you may learn more about it. Come," he added, "letme show you my house, and introduce you to my mother."

  Touching a secret spring in the wall, a hidden door flew open, and weentered a small room. I thought I had gotten into the dressing-roomof a theater. Around the walls hung a multitude of costumes, male andfemale, of different sizes, and suited for all conditions of life. Onthe table were a collection of bottles, holding what I learned werehair dyes of different colors; and there was also an assortment ofwigs, beards and mustaches of all hues. I thought I recognized amongthe former the coarse white hair of the quondam beggar. I pointed itout to him.

  "Yes," he said, with a laugh, "I will not be able to wear that forsome time to come."

  Upon another table there was a formidable array of daggers, pistolsand guns; and some singular-looking iron and copper things, which hetold me were cartridges of dynamite and other deadly explosives.

  I realized that my compan
ion was a conspirator. But of what kind? Icould not believe evil of him. There was a manliness and kindlinessin his face which forbade such a thought; although the square chinand projecting jaws and firm-set mouth indicated a nature that couldbe most dangerous; and I noticed sometimes a restless, wild look inhis eyes.

  I followed him into another room, where he introduced me to asweet-faced old lady, with the same broad brow and determined, butgentle, mouth which so distinguished her son. It was evident thatthere was great love between them, although her face wore a troubledand anxious look, at times, as she regarded him. It seemed to me thatshe knew he was engaged in dangerous enterprises.

  She advanced to me with a smile and grasped both my hands with