He Has The Nerve

For wbat Bulgaria is today she is indebted almost solely to the valor and ■wisdoni and indomitable will of young Stambuloff, the prime minister. For years he has lield the whole Ruseian empire at bay single handed. The other powers of Europe sympathize with him, but give him no practical support. Open attack and secret intrigue he has alike baffled. Assassination he has defled, though it has of ten been tried against him. He has resisted Russian aggression; he has beaten Servia in the field and Greece in the courts; he has rnade his sovereign's throne secure; he has made Bulgaria a nation and created a national public spirit, and he has, at less than 40 y'eare of age, placed himself worthily in rank among the leading statesmen of Europe. One of his most dramatic passages at arms with Russia occurred during the war with Servia, when 'the czar "showed his hand" in a decidedly ofïensive manner. Stambuloff has told many times and seems never weary of telling the story of Slivnitza. In that battle the destinies of Bulgaria and Servia were to be decided. Prince Alexander had gone out to lead the Bulgarian army in person, leaving Stambuloff in charge at home. It was a brilliant day, with a cloudless sky and scarcely a breath of wind stirring. The roar of the cannon was plainly heard in the city, owingperhaps to soine peculiar condition of the air or perhaps to echoes from the mountains. At any rate it sounded much nearer than it really was, and Stambuloff and' the othc-rs thought the Servians were winning the day and were driving Prince Alexander and his army in upoc the capital. In their anxiety they applied to the Russian diplomatic agent for advice. That gentleman shrugged his shouldera and said it was no affair of his. "But," urged the Bulgarian ministers, "the Servians are almost at our gates. You could stop them with a single word if you wonld." "Yes, but that word will not be spoken, not though they were actually entering the city with your prince a prisoner, as indeed they soon will do. On one condition only will I stop them, and that ia that your beggar-of a prince shall abdicate at once." "And that," thundered Stambulofï, '■he will not do - no, not for 20Russias!" With that Stambuloff sprang inte the saddle and dashed away to the battlefield, while the Russian agent sent for his friends to come to his house and help him celébrate the defeat of the Bulgarian arinies. A few hours passed, and then the Bulgarian foreign minister got -a telegram from Stambuloff, dated on . the field of "battle, telling of Prince Alexander's magnificent victory and of the utter rout of the Servians. He hurriea v.ith it to the house of the Russian agent, arriving there in the raidst of the festivities. And when he told the news the representativa of the czai ground his teeth with rage. As the world knows, Prince Alexander lost his throne because he neglected te heed the sdvice and warnings of his prime minister. Prince Ferdinand is more wise. He puts himself f ully in the hands of Stambuloff, making the latter the real ruler of Bulgaria and the chief guardián of the throne. How daring and vigorous the minister is in his great work has again been shown in striking incidents. There was, for example, the arrest of Major Panitza, who was at the head of the most dangerous and powerful plot ever organized against the prince. Stambuloff finally settled the matter by making the arrest himself alone. At midnight he knocked at Panitza's door. The major's wife, with a loaded pistol in her hand, admitted him. Recognizing hiiii and divining his errand, she raised the weapon to fire. He looked at her, and her arm feil, and Khe turned away. Then Stambulofl: went np to Panitza's room. He found him in bed, a loaded revolver at his side. "Major Panitza," said the minister calinly, "get up, dress yourself and come with me." The desperado grasped his revolver. The minister folded his arms and iooked at him as Marius looked at the slave who came to slay him. Panitza laid down the weapon. rose, dressed himseh and followod his captor to prison.