TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been placed at the end of the book. There are only two in this book. Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. Pg vi: ‘William II.’ replaced by ‘Wilhelm II.’. Pg vii: page no. ‘256’ replaced by ‘254’, and ‘258’ replaced by ‘256’. Pg 188: ‘William II.’ replaced by ‘Wilhelm II.’. Pg 303: ‘Guiseppe Sarto’ replaced by ‘Giuseppe Sarto’. [Illustration: “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.”] Secret History of To-Day Being Revelations of a Diplomatic Spy By Allen Upward Author of “Secrets of the Courts of Europe” “Treason,” etc. Illustrated G. P. Putnam’s Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press 1904 CONTENTS 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