The Conspirators — Robert W. Chambers / Robert William Chambers

According to “The Blue Book of Fiction, A List of Novels Worth Reading Chosen From Many Literatures”, by Hamilton W. Mabie (1911), “The Conspirators” is one of the must-reads of American Literature. Author Robert W. Chambers, born in Brooklyn, New York, was a prolific novelist and short story writer in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, and art nouveau. “The Conspirators” is well written, witty, and humorous �" a thoroughly good tale of diplomacy, conspiracy, romance, and adventure.

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Here is an excerpt:

In the astonished silence that ensued, the United States, ignoring its traditional policy, executed an unobtrusive masterpiece of diplomacy neither noticed nor understood by anybody except the government officials directly concerned. And yet it was exquisitely original and almost Asiatic in its complicated simplicity. It was this:

An American Commissioner had been named and sent to Luxembourg, ostensibly en route for the Antwerp Exhibition. Once in Luxembourg, however, he was quietly received as the accredited representative of the United States, the first foreign minister to the independent state of Luxembourg.

This unprecedented action signified the unmistakable decision of the United States that Luxembourg was to remain an independent country; it made clear to Germany that any imperial action towards the acquisition of Luxembourg would be considered as an act of conquest on the part of Germany towards a free and friendly state.

The blow fell hard on William; he had expected to have some moral excuse for action. Now he had none. This diplomatic slap in the face did not sweeten his disposition. To smite him was an awful thing; the United States government knew that, and waited for a Teutonic upheaval. And the sensational press and the prying public never imagined that the United States and Germany stood on the brink of war.

Affairs were at this stage when I was ordered to Washington. Affairs remained in that state until, to the admiration and amusement of the few officials who enjoyed the confidence of the Executive, it was hinted that the President had decided to send a military attaché to the Legation at Luxembourg. I was to be that attaché, not because I possessed the slightest diplomatic ability, but because I spoke Dutch, French, and Flemish, and was not ignorant of the Walloon dialect. So, one beautiful morning in August, after a rambling and tedious lecture from the Secretary of War, I packed my grip and climbed aboard a B. & O. train for New York.

A week later I was in Paris.

An hour later I was in trouble.


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