But he makes up for his harshness to owls by a great tenderness to birds that have bright plumage or sing sweetly. To all such the Euxinograd estate is a sanctuary, and is consequently the resort of feathered visitors from the whole country around. They, and the beautiful collection of caged birds which he maintains, form another interest to his life at this retreat. And so, amid his tame peasants and tame birds in the seclusion of his beautiful gardens, Ferdinand waited for the home storm to blow over, and for the storm to rise without his kingdom. We understand now that he knew as well as anyone what was preparing, for he was deep in the councils of his friend Franz Ferdinand, and not without an inkling of what was in the mind of his friend’s friend, the Kaiser. The scheme of these two dark-minded men to attack Russia through Serbia was now in course of execution. Ferdinand was still leading the simple life when the world was startled and horrified by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. Who can say where the guilt of that bloody act really lies? Its effect can be discerned by the most superficial observer. While Franz Ferdinand lived there was in Austria a rival to the Kaiser in intellect, in force of character, in the art of concentrating national effort to the furtherance of his ambitious schemes. The murder of the heir to the Austrian throne not only afforded a pretext for the attempt to inflict German predominance upon the face of Europe; it also removed from the path of Germany the one man who could have prevented Austria from sinking to the position of Germany’s vassal. When the murder was done, Ferdinand, as if by a preconceived signal, returned from his retirement to actual life. He was now prepared to embark upon his last and greatest treachery, to put into execution schemes so devious and so dishonourable that all the perfidy of his early career sinks into insignificance. His part in the drama of 1914 was set and rehearsed; he now appeared on the stage, taking his cue with a promptitude that speaks volumes for the thoroughness with which he had been rehearsed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FERDINAND THE FALSE “_Bulgaria is the final link in the chain of German Kultur and German greatness._”—THE KAISER. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXIII FERDINAND THE FALSE The murder of Franz Ferdinand and the ranging of all the Great Powers of Europe in a struggle for life or death opened up to Ferdinand a new vista of opportunity. He could see at any rate that opportunities would soon come his way to retrieve the losses of the second Balkan war. When Turkey plunged headlong into the quarrel, the opportunities of Bulgaria were multiplied tenfold, and for the first time in its existence this newest of European nations occupied a position of great importance by reason of its geographical position.