And this, of course, showed them all he had so unjustly suffered, and they could well understand then why he associated with well-known Nihilists, 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 least the son of one, and obtained his wealth directly from America.
Try their best, however, they could not entrap him so that the German authorities would molest him, for in a very short time he was surrounded by as faithful a set of detectives as those employed by the Russian police, and the game soon became diamond cut diamond.
But while all these moves were being made–one to find out what the other was doing–other and unsuspected moves were being made which were to astound the world.
Suddenly, and without any visible or traceable reason, the spirit of Russian Nihilism began to flame again, and with greater fierceness than ever before.
Nihilist papers and documents, printed both in the Russian and Polish languages, were scattered broadcast, and in such a secret manner that the police were wholly at fault, and the despots of Russia began to tremble as they had never done before.
Money seemed to be plentiful, and a more perfect organization effected than were the Russian police.
Day by day it grew, and a dread uncertainty pervaded the society of the aristocrats, and the utmost precautions were taken to protect the life of the Czar Alexander and the royal family.
Now and then the police would discover Nihilists at work; but all the branches worked independently, and the detection of one could not lead to what the others were doing.
But what astonished and bothered the Russian police was the simple perfection to which the Nihilists had been reduced in their way of working, showing unmistakably that a skillful organizer was at their head.