One Night the Graf Was Prevailed Upon to Tell His Story 461 The Sitting-Room of the Bismarck 462 I Noticed a Profile Silhouetted against the Window 463 St. Francis of the Bunk-House 464 They Sat on Their Rumps Outside the Circle of Kafirs 467 EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FIVE ARTICLES A DISCLOSURE OF THE SECRET POLICIES OF RUSSIA BY GENERAL KUROPATKIN Once in a generation the intimate and vital secrets of a great nation may be made public through one of the little circle of men to whom they are entrusted; but rarely, if ever, till the men are dead, and the times are entirely changed. Beginning next month, McCLURE'S MAGAZINE will present to the reading world a striking exception to this rule. It will print for the first time a frank and startling official revelation of the present political plans and purposes of Russia--the great nation whose guarded and secret movements have been the concern of modern European civilization for two centuries. [Illustration: GENERAL ALEXEI NICHOLAEVITCH KUROPATKIN] General Kuropatkin--Minister of War and later Commander-in-Chief of the Russian forces in the great and disastrous Manchurian campaign--became a target for abuse at the close of the Russo-Japanese War. He returned to St. Petersburg and constructed, from the official material accessible to him, an elaborate history of the war, and a detailed statement of the condition, purposes, and development of the Russian Empire. Documents and dispatches endorsed "Strictly Confidential," matters involving the highest officials, information obviously intended for no eyes but those of the innermost government circles, are laid forth with the utmost abandon in this work. No sooner had it been completed, than it was confiscated by the government. Its manuscript has never been allowed to pass out of the custody of the Czar's closest advisers. An authentic copy of this came into the hands of McCLURE'S MAGAZINE this spring; it is not essential and obviously would not be wise to state just how. George Kennan, the well-known student of Russian affairs, now has it in his possession and is engaged in translating and arranging material taken from it for magazine publication. A series of five or six articles, constructed from Kuropatkin's 600,000 words, will be issued in McCLURE'S, beginning next month. These will contain astonishing revelations concerning matters of great international importance, and accusations that are audacious to the point of recklessness. LETTERS TO THE CZAR