The Secret Adversary

PROLOGUE IT was 2 p.m. on the afternoon of May 7, 1915. The _Lusitania_ had been struck by two torpedoes in succession and was sinking rapidly, while the boats were being launched...

“TOMMY, old thing!” “Tuppence, old bean!” The two young people greeted each other affectionately, and momentarily blocked the Dover Street Tube exit in doing so. The adjective “o...

TUPPENCE turned sharply, but the words hovering on the tip of her tongue remained unspoken, for the man’s appearance and manner did not bear out her first and most natural assumpti...

THE moment was not quite so triumphant as it ought to have been. To begin with, the resources of Tommy’s pockets were somewhat limited. In the end the fare was managed, the lady re...

THE next day passed slowly. It was necessary to curtail expenditure. Carefully husbanded, forty pounds will last a long time. Luckily the weather was fine, and “walking is cheap,” ...

“WELL,” said Tuppence, recovering herself, “it really seems as though it were meant to be.” Carter nodded. “I know what you mean. I’m superstitious myself. Luck, and all that sor...

A veil might with profit be drawn over the events of the next half-hour. Suffice it to say that no such person as “Inspector Brown” was known to Scotland Yard. The photograph of Ja...

WHITTINGTON and his companion were walking at a good pace. Tommy started in pursuit at once, and was in time to see them turn the corner of the street. His vigorous strides soon en...

TAKEN aback though he was by the man’s words, Tommy did not hesitate. If audacity had successfully carried him so far, it was to be hoped it would carry him yet farther. He quietly...

WHEN Tommy set forth on the trail of the two men, it took all Tuppence’s self-command to refrain from accompanying him. However, she contained herself as best she might, consoled b...

TUPPENCE betrayed no awkwardness in her new duties. The daughters of the archdeacon were well grounded in household tasks. They were also experts in training a “raw girl,” the inev...

DRESSED appropriately, Tuppence duly sallied forth for her “afternoon out.” Albert was in temporary abeyance, but Tuppence went herself to the stationer’s to make quite sure that n...

FRIDAY and Saturday passed uneventfully. Tuppence had received a brief answer to her appeal from Mr. Carter. In it he pointed out that the Young Adventurers had undertaken the work...

SIR James brushed past Julius and hurriedly bent over the fallen woman. “Heart,” he said sharply. “Seeing us so suddenly must have given her a shock. Brandy--and quickly, or she’l...

NOTHING was more surprising and bewildering to Tuppence than the ease and simplicity with which everything was arranged, owing to Sir James’s skilful handling. The doctor accepted ...

JULIUS sprang up. “What?” “I thought you were aware of that.” “When did she leave?” “Let me see. To-day is Monday, is it not? It must have been last Wednesday--why, surely--yes...

FROM a darkness punctuated with throbbing stabs of fire, Tommy dragged his senses slowly back to life. When he at last opened his eyes, he was conscious of nothing but an excruciat...

THE troubles of the future, however, soon faded before the troubles of the present. And of these, the most immediate and pressing was that of hunger. Tommy had a healthy and vigoro...

BAFFLED for the moment, Tommy strolled into the restaurant, and ordered a meal of surpassing excellence. His four days’ imprisonment had taught him anew to value good food. He was...

“MY train got in half an hour ago,” explained Julius, as he led the way out of the station. “I reckoned you’d come by this before I left London, and wired accordingly to Sir James....

IN the street they held an informal council of war. Sir James had drawn a watch from his pocket. “The boat train to Holyhead stops at Chester at 12.14. If you start at once I think...

FOR a moment or two they stood staring at each other stupidly, dazed with the shock. Somehow, inexplicably, Mr. Brown had forestalled them. Tommy accepted defeat quietly. Not so Ju...

THE Prime Minister tapped the desk in front of him with nervous fingers. His face was worn and harassed. He took up his conversation with Mr. Carter at the point it had broken off....

AFTER ringing up Sir James, Tommy’s next procedure was to make a call at South Audley Mansions. He found Albert discharging his professional duties, and introduced himself without ...

IN his suite at Claridge’s, Kramenin reclined on a couch and dictated to his secretary in sibilant Russian. Presently the telephone at the secretary’s elbow purred, and he took up...

HER arm through Jane’s, dragging her along, Tuppence reached the station. Her quick ears caught the sound of the approaching train. “Hurry up,” she panted, “or we’ll miss it.” Th...

SIR James’s words came like a bomb-shell. Both girls looked equally puzzled. The lawyer went across to his desk, and returned with a small newspaper cutting, which he handed to Jan...

THE supper party given by Mr. Julius Hersheimmer to a few friends on the evening of the 30th will long be remembered in catering circles. It took place in a private room, and Mr. H...

“THAT was a mighty good toast, Jane,” said Mr. Hersheimmer, as he and his cousin were being driven back in the Rolls-Royce to the _Ritz_. “The one to the joint venture?” “No--the...