Produced by ellinora, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) The World’s Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service Agents [Illustration: THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRÉ (_See page 67_)] _The_ WORLD’S GREATEST MILITARY SPIES _and_ Secret Service Agents By GEORGE BARTON Illustrated [Illustration] THE PAGE COMPANY BOSTON * MDCCCCXVIII _Copyright, 1917, by_ THE PAGE COMPANY _All rights reserved_ First Impression, October, 1917 Second Impression, July, 1918 TO WILLIAM J. FLYNN CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE WHOSE UNTIRING EFFORTS RID THIS COUNTRY OF FOREIGN SPIES DURING THE WORLD’S GREATEST WAR INTRODUCTION The romance of war in its most thrilling form is exemplified in this narrative of the adventures of “The World’s Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service Agents.” Much has been published upon the subject of espionage, and the memoirs and secret histories of the courts of Europe give us instances of men and women who have gained favor and money, if not honor and glory, by selling back-stairs gossip concerning their fellow creatures; but the aim of the present work has been rather to relate the big exploits of those who faced great personal danger and risked their lives for the sake of flag and country. Each story is complete in itself, and yet forms a link in the chain of narratives which illustrates the startling and unexpected manner in which battles have been lost and won through the shrewdness and the courage of military spies at various times in different countries of the world. All spies are not admirable. Indeed, some whose deeds are herein related seem despicable. The use of the word “spy” in this series is in its broadest, and usually its best, sense. In all of the great wars of history there have been spies, scouts, emissaries and others still with no very well defined status, who have rendered invaluable service to their governments. A spy is liable to death; a scout, if captured, has the rights of a prisoner of war, but an emissary is rather political than military, and is sent to influence secretly the opposition rather than to bring information concerning the movements of troops.