| I | |
| PAGE | |
| THE TELEGRAM WHICH BEGAN THE BOER WAR | [1] |
| II | |
| THE BLOWING UP OF THE ‘MAINE’ | [31] |
| III | |
| THE MYSTERY OF CAPTAIN DREYFUS | [56] |
| IV | |
| WHAT WAS BEHIND THE TSAR’S PEACE RESCRIPT | [91] |
| V | |
| WHO REALLY KILLED KING HUMBERT | [120] |
| VI | |
| THE PERIL OF NORWAY | [146] |
| VII | |
| THE RUSE OF THE DOWAGER EMPRESS | [170] |
| VIII | |
| THE ABDICATION OF FRANCIS-JOSEPH | [191] |
| IX | |
| THE DEATH OF QUEEN DRAGA | [217] |
| X | |
| THE POLICY OF EDWARD VII | [242] |
| XI | |
| THE HUMBERT MILLIONS | [264] |
| XII | |
| THE BLACK POPE | [288] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | ||
| “The Kaiser was attired in his most magnificent costume, wearing the famous winged helmet on his head, and surrounded by a galaxy of ministers and great officers, all arrayed in the utmost military splendour.” | ||
| [Frontispiece] | ||
| “A glance at the cheval glass showed me a stiff, well set-up Prussian official.” | [10] | |
| “‘I have sent for you, in two words, to find out for me the authorship of this telegram,’ the Kaiser said.” | [12] | |
| “‘My God!’ he cried out. ‘Who has done this? I shall be ruined!’” | [22] | |
| “‘We shall find out whether he is a priest,’ was the retort.” | [46] | |
| “She would talk about her convent.” | [48] | |
| “‘Father Kehler has been good enough to visit a poor sailor who is lying sick on board,’ he said, in a tone evidently meant to rebuke my impertinence.” | [50] | |
| “‘As to that—impossible!’ he exclaimed with vigour. ‘That is our secret—ours, you understand.’” | [62] | |
| “‘Am I under arrest too?’ Prince Pierre demanded with some indignation.” | [72] | |
| “The Tsar now interposed in a tone of more authority than I had ventured to hope for. ‘Do you suggest, M. V——, that the whole staff of the French army are engaged in a conspiracy to forge documents?’” | [88] | |
| “‘Your Majesty must judge me by what I have done already. Two days ago you had never heard my name. Now I am here, alone with you, with a loaded revolver in my pocket.’ The Sultan started violently.” | [98] | |
| “It was a singular scene, as I stood there laying down pile after pile of greasy ten-thousand-rouble notes on a richly inlaid table.” | [106] | |
| “There at my feet, along the widening valley, lay a double line of rails, and all across the level space stretched low banks and ditches—the lines of a vast encampment, capable of accommodating half a million men.” | [116] | |
| “I walked past him without a word.” | [126] | |
| “‘I am not under anybody’s orders,’ I said, rising to my feet.” | [130] | |
| “‘You are free,’ he said briefly. ‘The right man has been arrested, too late.’” | [144] | |
| “‘Let me see your warrant,’ I said.” | [158] | |
| “He bent forward to listen, and as he did so I launched my clenched fist at his right temple with my full force.” | [164] | |
| “I watched the brave monarch read it through from beginning to end without one manifestation of dismay.” | [168] | |
| “Finally he turned his back without a word, and rushed from the room.” | [176] | |
| “ Wilhelm II. strode to me, seized me by the shoulders, and thrust me out of the room.” | [188] | |
| “‘Will you permit me to ask you,’ he said politely, ‘if you have ever done any business on behalf of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary?’” | [192] | |
| “The Emperor could not repress a slight start.” | [198] | |
| “I rode right over him.” | [212] | |
| “I took out my loaded revolver, cocked it, and advanced to the threshold.” | [232] | |
| “Queen Draga cast herself on the inanimate form on the bed, concealed the face in her arms, and allowed herself to be stabbed by a dozen bayonets.” | [240] | |
| “‘V——!’ he exclaimed, drawing back as if he had been stung.” | [250] | |
| “‘Arrest that man!’ the Kaiser commanded, without giving him time to speak.” | [254] | |
| “‘Now,’ said the Kaiser, stepping close to my side, ‘tell me the truth—the real truth, mind—and I will spare your life.’” | [256] | |
| “‘I am going to ask you to undertake a service of an unusual kind.’” | [266] | |
| “My visitor started as she heard her name, and threw up her veil with a gesture of astonishment and indignation.” | [274] | |
| “I was stopped at the barricade by a pompous sergeant of police.” | [280] | |
| “The chief detective came close up to me, put his mouth to my ear, and whispered, ‘Le drapeau blanc!’” | [284] | |
| “I found the Cardinal absorbed in the inspection of his newly arrived treasures.” | [296] | |
| “Saddened and subdued, I quitted the audience chamber of Pius X.” | [306] | |
| “‘I can only render one more service to your Majesty, and that is to advise you to make your peace with the Black Pope.’” | [308] |
I
THE TELEGRAM WHICH BEGAN THE BOER WAR
The initials under which I write these confessions are not those of my real name, which I could not disclose without exposing myself to the revenge of formidable enemies. As it is, I run a very great risk in making revelations which affect some of the most powerful personages now living; and it is only by the exercise of the utmost discretion that I can hope to avoid giving offence in quarters in which the slightest disrespect is apt to have serious consequences.
If I should be found to err on the side of frankness, I can only plead in excuse that I have never yet betrayed the confidence placed in me by the various Governments and illustrious families which have employed me from time to time. The late Prince Bismarck once honoured me by saying: ‘To tell secrets to Monsieur V—— is like putting them into a strong box, with the certainty that they will not come out again until one wants them to.’
In these reminiscences it is my object to recount some of the services I have rendered to civilisation in the course of my career, while abstaining as far as possible from compromising exalted individuals or embittering international relations.
That I am not a man who opens his mouth rashly may be gathered from the fact that, although at any time during the long struggle between Briton and Boer for the mastery in South Africa, I might have completely changed the situation with a word, that word was not uttered while a single Boer remained under arms.
In order to explain how I came to be concerned in this affair, I had better begin by giving a few particulars about myself, and the almost unique position which I hold among the secret service bureaus of Europe and America.
By birth I am a citizen of the United States of America, being the son of a Polish father, exiled on account of his political opinions, and a French mother. From my childhood I showed an extraordinary aptitude for languages, so that there is now scarcely a civilised country outside Portugal and Scandinavia in which I am not able to converse with the natives in their own tongue. At the same time, I was possessed, ever since I can remember, with a passion for intrigue and mystery. The romances of Gaboriau were the favourite reading of my boyhood, and it was my ambition to become a famous detective, the Vidocq of America.