Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1909
Blake: In THE MERVYN MYSTERY (the third story to feature George Marsden Plummer), Sexton Blake is engaged to marry Lady Marjorie Dorn. He breaks it off (amicably) after realising that his profession is incompatible with any passion other than that for justice.
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,075 · 2/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Artist; How I escaped the Electric Chair; Wonderful '09s; Peter Pan Tales; Ringing in the New; The Old Mooremanack; 44 Goals - Nil!; Gossip; I Hereby Resolve; Should We Believe in Fairies?; My New Year's Party; When the Old Year Died; Chain Maker and Wearer; Editorial Chat; Other Steinheil Shocks; My Life; Greed!; Notes For Nineteen-Nine.
Notes: Jervis, a lawyer, advertises for a man named John Welford to come forward, as he is due an inheritance. He receives a response and goes to the stated address where he is told by the landlady that Welford will return at half past seven. Jervis waits but Welford doesn't show up ... and doesn't the next day, either. The landlady has no idea where her tenant goes each day or what his job is. The police are consulted but fail to locate him, so Jervis consults Sexton Blake. The criminologist examines Welford's lodgings and finds a green stain on a jacket, a matchbox, and four tramway tickets. The landlady tells him that her tenant had got the stain from a freshly painted lamp-post. From this and the other clues, Blake is able to identify the street to which the man commutes every day. Odours emanating from the jacket also tell him that Welford works with chemicals. The landlady immediately identifies a local professor of chemistry as the probable employer. Blake and Jervis visit this man but he denies any knowledge of Welford. He does, however, point to a house across the road where Sir Charles Clutton lives. Clutton is an eccentric who spends all his time trying to discover the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life. Blake and Jervis investigate the property and discover Welford half starved and locked in a laboratory building in the garden. Clutton's eccentricity, it turns out, has turned into madness, and he'd conceived the notion that Welford was trying to steal his elixirs. Welford is set free. Clutton is located in London and placed into an asylum.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,076 · 9/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Our First Line; How I Wrote the £100-Story; Football Farces; To Thwart Thieves; Typing Like Lightening; "No" - Sniff - "Thanks!"; The Wallabies; The Pensioners; 1919's First Craze; Gossip; Merrily Widowed; The Anagrammers; Making An S. A. Officer; Seething India; The Lost Legion; Editorial Chat; Greed!; January Jottings.
Notes: On the night following a County Ball, Lord Lingdale can't sleep and, upon looking out of the window, sees a man creeping across the grounds toward Lingdale Castle. He hears a tinkle of broken glass and realises that a burglar is entering — intent, no doubt, on stealing the famous Lingdale diamonds from the safe in the library. Grabbing a poker, he quietly stalks down to that room but, when he attempts to enter, finds that the door has been locked. He applies his shoulder to it, bursts in, and is immediately struck unconscious. Sexton Blake is called. He quickly spots that the room was broken into through the French windows — but from the inside! While investigating the grounds, the detective notices that he is being watched from a window. Surreptitiously taking out his handkerchief, he makes a show of examining it, as if it were an item of freshly discovered evidence. The watcher reacts by exiting the castle and approaching to ask what Blake is doing. Blake responds by telling the man that he's about to go borrow a bloodhound, as he has an item the dog can use for scent. He then makes a show of leaving but, as a matter of fact, merely hides, waits until he sees the man depart, then follows him. He is led to a gamekeeper's cottage and there witnesses his suspect and his compatriot (who had approached the castle to receive the stolen diamonds) making their getaway plans. His false evidence has led him to the to the two culprits, both of whom end up in prison.
Trivia: As is usual with these ANSWERS stories, there is no sign or mention of Tinker ... or of Pedro: Blake must "borrow" a bloodhound.
Rating: ★★★★☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,077 · 16/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Fights; The Struggles of Others; The Chancellor's Changes; Among the Injuns; The Hoax Superlative; Age 15, Salary £5,000; Cup-Tie Sensations; 8 Hours in a Coalmine; H.R.H. the Cabin-Boy; Gossip; Great Quakes; The Mystery of the Heliotrope Coal-cellar; That Typewriting Girl; A Rustic... Mr. Answers; Editorial Chat; The Salvationists Abroad; Greed!; Snow-Flakes.
Notes: Mrs Wellings calls on Sexton Blake after, the day before, receiving a telegram from her son, Ralph, a professional photographer who works for a company in Berlin. The missive states that he is due to arrive at Victoria at 7.50 but she should not meet him as he is engaged on business for his employer. He would, however, visit her in the afternoon. Despite the instruction, Mrs Wellings had gone to meet him at the train station. She was too late but saw him, with another man, pass her in a car. Since then, she's heard nothing from him. She begs Blake to find him. By questioning first station porters and then a police constable, the detective identifies the company that supplied the car and — from the manager of that business — the address of the client who hired it. However, when he goes to that premises, he discovers that it's unfurnished and apparently uninhabited. He breaks in and finds Ralph bound and gagged in one of the rooms. The young man reveals that he has been sent by his company to photograph the British Crown Jewels by special arrangement. He was picked up at the station by the Keeper of the Regalia. However, this man proved to be an impostor who, with a colleague, overpowered him. The two men, Gunning and Hoffman, are members of an international gang of thieves. Gunning has gone to the Tower, masquerading as Ralph, with the intention of stealing the Cullinan Diamond from the royal collection. Blake races to the Tower, where Gunning has already knocked the real Keeper of the Regalia unconscious. As the thief makes his getaway with the diamond, Blake intercepts him. A Tower guard seizes Hoffmann. The diamond is recovered and the crooks are arrested.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,078 · 23/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; If An Earthquake Came to London; Some of My Stories; Whose Money?; Painting the Academy Picture; Everybody's Friend; Bow-Wow!; Guarding H. M.'s Gems; Mr. Answers - Pensioner; "Swag" For Sale; Gossip; A Man of Iron; In the Stilly Night; The Broken Wedding-Day; Taxi-Cab Tales; Cold-Weather Diet; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Cinders and Ashes.
Notes: Ralph Carter is a bank clerk who, on four days of the week, acts as assistant-cashier at the head office in Morehampton and who, on Mondays and Fridays, is in charge of a small sub-branch in the tiny market town of Cronfield, ten miles away. Carter travels between these locations by train and, because he often carries up to two thousand pounds with him, he keeps a revolver in his pocket. One evening, after completing his work at Cronfield, and while on his way to the train station, he purchases a couple of pheasants as a present for a friend. He then boards the train and begins the journey home. The train steams through the two-mile-long Morehampton Tunnel, crosses the bridge over the River More, and arrives at Morehampton. However, while it was in the tunnel, a passenger had heard a gunshot; when it was on the bridge, a man at the riverside below had seen something drop from the train into the water; and as it approached its destination and slowed down, a passenger saw someone jump from it and disappear into the woods bordering the track. At the station, the compartment that Carter had occupied is found to be splashed with blood, there's a dropped knife, Carter's revolver, his hat and umbrella, and all the signs of a considerable struggle. It seems clear that someone stabbed him, threw him from the train, and made off with the cash. The director of the bank, however, feels uncertain, so asks Sexton Blake to investigate. The detective arrives at Morehampton the next morning and is informed that Carter's slashed coat has been found in the river. Despite this evidence, when he examines the scene of the crime, Blake quickly establishes that the blood is not human. It is pheasant blood! Beginning with this fact, he is able to reconstruct how Carter faked the entire scene. He sends a message to Tinker, directing him to send Pedro. The bloodhound tracks his prey to a quarry. In making his getaway, Carter had fallen into it and been knocked unconscious. He is arrested.
Trivia: In contrast to the issue before last, Tinker is mentioned and Pedro makes an appearance.
Rating: ★★★★☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,079 · 30/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Confessions of a Lady Swindlers; The Romance of Mansion House Funds; Private Croesus; Tales of the rails; Don't Be a Grocer; Dr. Shaw's Assistant; (Loud Laughter); Asleep in Their Coffins; Chat From Across the Seas; On Tramps and Tramping; Condemned!; Sale-Oh!; Elsie's Acre; 5,000 Cats for Yokohama; Bringing the Prisoner Home; The Woes of Wives; Gone Away; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Answers' Finals.
Notes: Doctor Shaw has a large practice in Hillsborough and another, smaller one, in Hampton Wingrave. The latter, which operates from a small house, is looked after by a housekeeper, Mrs Prince, and run by a qualified assistant, Bentley. One evening, while Mrs Prince is out, a well-dressed man is seen to call at the house. Later, he is spotted running away from it. The house burns to the ground. Bentley, missing, is presumed to have been murdered by the visitor and his corpse burnt to ash. Doctor Shaw wires for Sexton Blake. When the detective arrives, Shaw reveals that Bentley, who had worked for him for a month, had been handed his notice owing to incompetence, a gambling habit, and an addiction to alcohol. Prior to his employment, he had been in Canada for five years. Shaw reveals a curious fact: Bentley's terrier had been tied up in the yard shortly before Mrs Prince departed yet, this morning, the day after the murder, it had been found out on the moors with its throat slashed. The rope by which it was secured behind the house had been gnawed through. Blake wires for Pedro and uses a cap worn by Bentley to put the bloodhound on the scent. The detective explains that the man who called on Bentley probably brought news that caused Shaw's assistant to take instant flight. Bentley's dog broke free and followed him and was killed by its master, who didn't want it with him. Pedro follows a trail that indicates how their quarry must have got lost in the fog on the moors before sheltering in a gamekeeper's hut. Realising that, as the fog has only just cleared, Bentley can only be a short way ahead, Blake and Shaw hasten on until they come to a farmhouse and there catch their man, who is knocked unconscious while trying to get away. Upon returning to the town, they are met by the well-dressed man. Introducing himself as Jackson, a Canadian on a visit to England, he tells them that Bentley used to work for him, along with a man named Parker. When Jackson had decided to look Bentley up, he'd been astonished to find the house door opened by Parker. It turns out that Parker — who had but little medical knowledge — had been passing himself off as Bentley. When the impostor had found himself discovered and fled, Jackson was left bewildered, but then had to run to catch a train, little imagining that, by doing so, he would become a murder suspect! The fire, it is assumed, had broken out by accident.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,080 · 6/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; A Cry From the Counter; Football Bombshells; Thirty Years of Theatre Yarns; Bad Budgets; Hush-sh-s-s-sh!; 'Scuse Me, My Car!; To Meet the King; For Summer, 1910; Confessions of a Lady Swindler; Christabel Jones M. P.; Answers for the Home; My Compensation Cases; The Toothache Stakes; The Deserter; Amusement - East and West; Safe and Sound; I Will!; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Facts for Feb.
Notes: A very brief and straightforward “locked room” mystery. A hermit, known to have hoarded a small fortune, inhabits an isolated cottage at the top of a cliff. One day, during a three-day long rainstorm, the local police officer is passing when he hears the man screaming for help. The cottage, however, has barred windows and locked doors, so it is not until a blacksmith with a sledgehammer can be summoned that entry is gained. The hermit is found unconscious, his money stolen. How, though, did the burglar get out? Sexton Blake is summoned and makes a strange discovery: the cistern below the house shows signs of having been nearly full, yet is now more than half empty, which seems impossible considering the relentless rain. This clue, of course, leads to a solution, the capture of the crook, and the recovery of the money.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,081 · 13/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; 27 Years at Scotland Yard; Humours of Royal Visits; Great Stakes!; The Moving Death; The Navy Yesterday and Today; Missing!; Gossip; Getting Roosevelt Ready; Coming Down; Confessions of a Lady Swindler; The Lady "Screever"; Naughty M.P.s; Arming the P.C.s; The Arch Traitor; I Search for the Successful Face; Dick's Sacrifice; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Short Talks.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,082 · 20/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Should We All Be Teetotal?; Anarchists and Scotland Yard; Learning to be Kings; N.S.C. Tales; The Play's the Thing; The Widow; Capital Quarrels; Gossip; Confessions of a Lady Swindler; On Witching Wheels; On Valentine's Day; Continents to Let; Jilted!; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Bull's-Eyes.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,083 · 27/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Next Great War by H. G. Wells; Our Lodger; Any Shares Today, Sir?; Two Week Ends; On Baldness by Rip; Good Gracious!; Some of My Cases; An Englishman's Home; Fighting the "Flue"; Confessions of a Lady Swindler; The Outcome of an Income; The Syndicate; Wireless Romances; Gossip; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Pancakes.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,084 · 6/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Pte Answers Territorial; Work as a Royal Bodyguard; If the Pro.s Struck; Making a Judge; Chat From Across the Sea; Confessions of a Lady Swindler; Big Bill; Zealous Mr. Selous; A Territorial Terror; John Birch's Experiment; The Man Bird; Race-Traitors; Mr. Ghost M.P.; Editorial Chat; Greed! It's a Fact That.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,085 · 13/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Income 'Tecs; Financial Fortresses; The Crimp; Rates, Please!; I Start for canada; Keeping it Dark; My Brief Life; Spring, Spring, Harbottle's Spring; The Bomb; Gossip; Work as a Royal Bodyguard; Editorial Chat; Workhouse Worries; Alderman to Alter Men; Greed!; Breezes.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,086 · 20/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Jurymen Who Jib; Emigrants Beware; Where Rooseveldt Will Roost; Tax-Tactics; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; Man the Lifeboat; Too Young at 40? The House That Harbottle Built; The Mascot; Tales of Poor Streets; Death by Post; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Shots.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,087 · 27/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Do Parents Know Best?; Why We Object to Territorials; Out of the Mouths; Wasted Lives; My Football Career; Stranger Than Fiction; Salute!; Sport's Tyrants; Baby's Magna Charta; From the Land of Mystery; The Night Out; Graham's Grand National; Some Moving Stories; How Do They Know?; Gossip; In Beautiful Bulgaria; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Corner-Kicks.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,088 · 3/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Invaders; Ambulance Amenities; Risks of the Race-Course; Busy Mr. Longlocks; Getting Ready for the Race; When We Strike; My Voyage to Canada; Brown Bill Sykes; Is Red Hair Beautiful? Incomes of To-Day; R. H. Straightens Up; The Shepherd's Crook; Busking; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; A Footballer's Pranks; Gossip; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Special Lines.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,089 · 10/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Fined For Sneezing; Good Eggs; His Majesty's W. P. B.; Bill Sike's Bill-o'-Fare; A Dockyard day; £500 Not Out; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; Striking Strikes; Now They're Married; Their Daylight Ideas; A Nice Quiet Holiday; After Many Years; Exquisite Ettiquette; Some Navy Notes; Gossip; The Ladies' Idol; Doing the Doctor; Nearest the Pole; Hermits of the Zoo; Editorial Chat; Greed!; Dreadnoughts.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,090 · 17/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Murder Most Foul; After Many Months; My Life; Law in the Air; Would You be Successful? Buried alive! The Kidnapper; Ruses on the Road; How Not To Pop; In the Miracle City; Doubles at Dulham; Still Waters; When the Colonies Helped; Cooling the Coolies; Royal Housekeeping; Libel!; Chat From Across the sea; The Burning of Uncle Abe; Hospital Hoaxers; Editorial Chat; Welcome Little Stranger; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; Buns.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,091 · 24/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; Huge Holidays; Studious Strikers; No! Not Half a Crown; Budget Night; My Tour; Our Cup Fights; Like a Tiger Today; The Memories of Mace; My Life; Tea Shop; Under The Red Nose; Not Wanted By the Police; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; Gossip; The Sporting Spirit; After Many Years; Trouble on Trouble; Editorial Chat; What's the Matter with Smith; At St. George's Hanover Square; The Other Woman; How Germany Prepares for War; Finals.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,092 · 1/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Invaders; What Will These Australians Do?; Why Not Tax Clothes?; Life on a Dreadnought; Grow your Own Physic; Four Good Books; The Bo-Tree of Knowledge; The Broker and the Broke; In Camera; The Spy; Happy Thoughts; My Life; Bombardments Warranted Harmless; Salt Your Carnations; Gossip; Come at Once; Fortunes for Fortunes; Editorial Chat; In Germany; Azeff, Anarchist and Spy; By-the-Way.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,093 · 8/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Builders of Ships; Mr. Freezer; What it's All About; Sentence Quashed; I Conduct; The Value of Brains; Life on a Dreadnought; My Marathon; A Scouting Outing; Her Wedding Day; What I Think of Wheat Kings; The Sins of Charity; Editorial Chat; The Invaders; May Flowers.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,094 · 15/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Builders of Ships; Hints For Housewives; How Do, Mr. Mahershalalhasbah; Komical Kricketers; Very Grand Opera; The Men Who Broke the Bank; Cabby; Fun at the Photographers; Pee-eep! Pee-eep!; Life on a dreadnought; My Marathon; Our Weekend Cottage; Pride - And Richard Summerscale; Street Music; Editorial Chat; Worst Aid to the Injured; Turkish Delights; The Invaders; Topsy-Turvy Turkey; How's That?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,095 · 22/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Builders of Ships; Are You a "Gabby Old Guy"?; Our Best Sportsman; Wicket Tricks; For Identification; £1,000 a Year for Faking Photos; On a Cruise; My Mistakes; Some Canadian Experiences; The Man Who Made the Budget; The Dark Lantern; The Reformation of Trotter; Somebody's Darling; The Fortune Finders; The Sack; Tracking the D. S. Windells; Editorial Chat; Chat From Across the Sea; The Invaders; Nuts and May.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,096 · 29/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Sensational Derbies; Builders of Ships; Summerline Spooks; The Tournament; Mr. Answers Wiggle-Woggles; Trees That Fight Fire; In the Slot; Are You an Esquire; Should Girls Have Dowries?; The Dark Lantern; An Institution That Has Already Made History; A Derby Favourite; The Villain of the Piece; Rockefeller's Recollections; Editorial Chat; The Case of Mr. Seymour; About the Australians; Things They Don't Do at the 'Varsity; Wild Men of the Woods; The Invaders; Derby Winners.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,097 · 5/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Birthday Storyettes; 21 Years of Answers; 21!; A Memory; G. P. O. Peace; The Temptation of Alec Proctor; Birthday Gossip; Old China; My Life; To-Day and Tomorrow; No Time to Marry; The Dark Lantern; Ping's Polly; When I Was 21; Weeping June; A Prince Among Ventriloquists; The Beth Din; Builders of Ships; Mr. Answers Perfume Merchant; Pistols and Poker; In Hottest London; Sports at Dulham; All's Well That Ends Well; 40 Years at the 300; Going West; Between the Lines; Walker, Brighton; The Blue Carnation; Keeping Love Sweet; How I Would Captain England; Pictures of Great Price; The Voice of the Charmer; Pain and Pleasure; Rare Bits About Rabbits; Je-ames!; Penalty, £5; Birthday Chat; Nothing to Say; Bouncing Back to Life; Call Mr. Whale; The Invaders; Happy Returns.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,098 · 12/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Builders of Ships; To-day and To-morrow; A Pioneer of the Press; Our Empire's "Dailies"; The Angel Baritone; My Life; Riding the High Horse; Why I Don't Like Cricket; A Royal Footman Talks; The Dark Lantern; To Horse! To Horse!; Postman's Knock; Mr. Answers - Salmon Fisher; Editorial Chat; They Never Returned; Flogged!; Gossip; On the Road; The Invaders; P.S.
Notes: According to Lofts and Adley, this marks Andrew Murray's first appearance as a Blake author.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,099 · 19/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Builders of Ships; Millionaires Unawares; To-day and to-morrow; Mr. Limes' Answers; Early Birds; My Life; How I Would Feed the Australians; The Dark Lantern; Ascot and After; Cut Out; The Compleat Angler; That Tree Feller; On the Carpet; Gossip; Prospecting; How's That?; Tugs; Editorial Chat; The Invaders; Cherry-Stones.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,100 · 26/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Empire and Yourself; Dead Men's Gold; P.L.A.; Bumble v. Everybody; Saving Cuts; To-day and To-morrow; My Life; Their Summer Resort - Gaol!; Racing at 110 Miles an Hour; The Fascinating S/E; Miscellania; Night Birds; Jury Disagreed; The Problem; I Join a Circus; Editorial Chat; Hoaxing Monarchs; 4/- A Run; Gossip; Builders of Ships; Sun-Spots.
Notes: A week after depositing his wife's jewels at the bank, Lord Arlingford returns to collect them. The manager, Upton Greig, leads him down to the vault, opens the massive double-locked door and the grille beyond, and takes down Arlington's safe deposit box from a shelf. He unlocks it, opens the lid and discovers that the jewels are gone! Sexton Blake is called in. He learns that one deposit was made in the vault after that of Lord Arlington — a large plate-chest belonging to a Mr and Mrs Matheson Finch. This, it turns out, is empty apart from lumps of pig-iron weighing about hundred and forty pounds. It also has air-holes. Blake remains at the bank until, later, a carriage arrives to collect the chest. It is delivered to a house where Bill Matheson Finch and a thug named Josh determine to bury it come nightfall. In the meantime, they take refuge in the local pub. When they return, the chest is wide open, the stolen jewels have been removed from a hiding place under the hearth, and Sexton Blake is pointing a pistol at them. Having caught the thieves, Blake explains to Grieg how they had committed the crime and how he had used the same method to catch them.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ A pleasingly ingenious tale.
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,101 · 3/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; 8 Hours Wi' Geordie; Coal-Mining Miscellanies; Fifty Fat years; A Boxer's Bothers; Caning T.R.H.; To-day and To-morrow; People I've Worried; Form No.6; Things I Remember; Chat From Across the Seas; Their Tightest Tight Corners; Making My Garden Pay; Thought of - Going Home; The Dark Lantern; Tennis Tantrums; The Half-Crown Millionaire; Such Shocking Sharks; 5 to 1 Abcess on the Jaw; Which City's Oldest? When Cricket was a Crime; Editorial Chat; Builders of Ships; Clinchers.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,102 · 10/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Henley History; When You Travel by the Train; Managing the Press Manager; Brighton- A.D. 1809; The Real Sham Fights; To-day and To-morrow; White Rabbits for Silence; Forward!; The Summer Scoff; Wanderers on Wheels; So Like the Prince; The Dark Lantern; A Pic-nic Preamble; The Hero; Wo-man the Lifeboat!; Gossip; Mr Answers, Longshoreman; Rites and Wrongs; Editorial Chat; Builders of Ships; Driftweed.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,103 · 17/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Channel Swims; Marrying in Haste; The Sale Swindle; Getting Busy at Bisley; To-day and To-morrow; Special from the Oval; Soap; Soda; and Starch; Contraband Mr Wun Lung; Gossip; Convict Comicalities; A Touch of Hay Fever; 21 Years with the Colours; Scout Stories; The Fly-By-Nights; After Dinner and Afterwards; The One Week; From Pawnshop to Palace; T.R.H.'s Holidays; Editorial Chat; Builders of Ships; Bisley Bulls.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,106 · 7/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Royal Cowes; My Life; The Summer Girl; Fun with the Territorials; Road Law; Bondage; C11 In Memoriam; Big Deals; Golden Golf; Gossip; A Rapid career; A Rum Regatta; Love's Madness; From Pit to Parliament; At Waterloo; 1809 B.T. (Before trippers); Should the Budget Pass?; Editorial Chat; Strictly Correct; I Fly; P.O. Pranks; Builders of Ships; Ripples.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,107 · 14/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Miner Minors; The King Forbids; We-Won't-Eat!; Our German Cousins; Death in the deeps; Bondage; Why I Don't Hustle; Chat From Across the Seas; Snapshots by the Sea; Thrilling Lives; Golden Sands; A Rapid career; A Sketching Skirmish; For Services Rendered; Three Rounds With Corbett; My Life; New Chums; Editorial Chat; The Man From Cook's; Fashions For All; Magic!; Builders of Ships: Golden Grains.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,108 · 21/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; How I Became World's Champion; The Great Unpaid; Taking the Cure; Holiday Heroes; Bondage; Plain Tales from the Plains; All Abroad; Preparing the "Pro"; Gossip; A Rapid Career; A Home From Home; The Man Who Remembered; Bart K. or Brighton; Dusty and Musty; What We Think of Holidays; Editorial Chat; Mr. Baboon, Witness; In Stormy Barcelona; The Flyer; London Per Megaphone; Builders of Ships; Shingle.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,109 · 28/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Big Money of Pugilism; Shocking Ships; The Persecution of Mr. Popp; The Japs at Home; Bondage; Pickers of Fruit; Tommies Who Tantalise; Gossip; The Contract Angler; Real Jam; Rapid Careers; Shifting Sands; A Day Tripper; Haunting the House; The Dip de Lux; Harvest Customs; Getting Fit for the 1st; Ready! Go!; Editorial Chat; When Royaly Dines; Who Froze Her Knee; Fifty Years Forgotten; Builders of Ships; Gleanings.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,110 · 4/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Cabinet Photographs; Splendid September; Land-Ho!; My Life; Tommy, Make Room for Your Uncle; Fresh Fish! All Alive, Oh!; Getting Ideas; In Gay Paree; 61 Rounds with Peter Jackson; Gossip; A Rapid Career; The Sea-side Circus; That Bounder Grabb; On Fatigue; Riches in Rubber; Leatherchasing v. Work; Booming a Club; Editorial Chat; From 'Varsity to Gutter; Unexpected, Rather!; Conscription's Comic Side; Bondage; Our "Bag".
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,111 · 11/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Poached Partridges; The Long Vac; Automo-Bills; Why I Am An M.P.; How Walking Sticks Speak; My Championship Fight With John L.; Recollections; Strenuous Crops; A Woman in the Wilderness; The Poor Dukes; The Born Flirt; Rapid Careers; Cartridge v. Partridge; The Interrupted Harvest; Tommy's Perks; Just As You Are For 9d; Lots in a Name; The Story of British India; As Once 'Twas Played; Proposals By Post; Editorial Chat; Bondage; Last Lines.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,112 · 18/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Life in Brixton Gaol; Who's Who in the F.A.; The Sound of the Shofar; Seaside Uncles; Pensions at 55; Fighting the Flames; Recollections of the Sea; Curious Corps; How I Became World's Champion; Gossip; Football News; Home Sweet Home; Our Short Story; Can We Invent?; All Done By Dummies; Brave Women and Brave Men; The Woman in the Case; The Sad Side of Cinematographs; Editorial Chat; The Story of the Motor Car; Bondage; Stubble.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,113 · 25/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Life in Brixton Gaol; Have an Orange, Winston?; Am I Well Paid?; Special, Please!; The Story of the North Pole; A Clown's Recollections; Working a Ring; Faking a Fight; On Being Dead-Broke; Cubbing; Rapid Careers; To the Frozen North; The Lancashire Lassie; Why Stewards Smile; Going! Going!! Gone!!!; Prison Professionals; The Phantom Board; My Early Beginnings; Editorial Chat; Bondage; Gum Drops.
Notes: This shares the same title as the story in ANSWERS issue 1,222 (1911) but is a different yarn.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,114 · 2/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; A Day in an Explorer's Life; My Views of the Crisis; After Many Weeks; My Life in Brixton Gaol; Walker, Brighton; Millions in Thrills; More Recollections; Semi-Colonitis!; How I Lost the Championship; Tips About Tips; Chat From Across the Sea; Etukishook & Co.; Fame in the Flames; The Great Tetterby Feud; Australia's Plague; Domesday's Coming!; My Early Beginnings; All Night in the House; Editorial Chat; The Story of Newgate; Bondage; Eskimettes.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,115 · 9/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; A Day in an Explorer's Life; The Very Devil; Seen the Comet? Lonely Furrow to Witness Branch; A Man's Game; The Rent Man's A-Comin'!; Gossip; The Luxury Bird; Training in Secret; Pictures in Plants; For the Lonely Only; Where Floods are Fierce; Rapid careers; The Dulham Aviation Week; After the Annual; £.s.d of a General Election; Poachers of the Sea; How the Players Play; Editorial Chat; Bondage; Real Sexton Blakes; Right- Answers Says No; The New Boy.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,116 · 16/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; What Socialism Would Be Like; Figuratively Speaking; Fish - and the Fine Frenzy; Kidnapped!; Blackmail; Pen Pictures; 30 Years Playgoing; Football Bombshells; My Final Fight; The Poverty Problem; The Lazy Work-Hard; Dress That Denotes Duty; The Sheep Romance; A Wife's Windfall; The First Reserve; "Lags" That Don't Lag; Literature in Little; Told of Gretna Green; Editorial Chat; The Story of London's Coal; Bondage; My Life by a Speech; Comets; Cures You Can Try.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,117 · 23/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; About the Aviators; Beautiful Blackpool; How to Earn £10,000 a Year; Football Pitfalls; The Author; Fighting the Flu; Gossip; Free-Lance Luck; Blackmail (Story Supplement); Spy; Catastrophes in the Kitchen; Mr. Answers - Oyster Fisher; That Wave of Love; Rapid Careers; A House to Order; The Flat; Nursing the Constituency; Bill Sikes, Ltd; Southward Ho!; Editorial Chat; Bondage; Aeroplanes Explained; Short Flights; Wives No-one Wants.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,120 · 13/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Blackmail; Lords Versus Commons; The Thumper of Tubs; Don't Marry Your Landlady; In the City of Steel; Mrs Harbottle, Suffragette; Assisted by Barker, A.B.; Jeff; Football deadheads; In the Name of the Law; Editorial Chat; Is Machinery a Benefit; Mr Answers Assists the Lord Mayor; The Cashier's Cross Roads; With the Totters; My Life; Bondage; Impatient Patients; Bow Bells; The Baby Beautiful.
Notes: The presence of Blake's "manservant" Simmons identifies this as a Cecil Hayter story, as he also appeared in THE PROBLEM OF THE RIVETED SAUCER (PENNY PICTORIAL issue 543, 1909), which is attributed to that author.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,121 · 20/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Blackmail; The Unspeakable Brute; The Want Works; Not In-vinc-ible; Insurance Iniquities; Accompanist, Mr.-; Wrinkles on Rinking; Behind Sealed Doors; Harbottles Happy Evenings; The Subjugation of Bert; My Philanthropist; Editorial Chat; Beware False Fivers; The Kerbstone Star; Footer Spies; Mr Answers - Sphinx; Pinned in the Mine; Bondage; Washing-Day Secrets; November Notes; Then and Now.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,122 · 27/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Cabinet Minister Criminal; Whist-Drive Jokers; Famous Football Managers; What Flying Men Make; Time-Stealers; Blackmail; The Farthest North Doctor; Collecting the Chorus; The Man Who Washed the Kaiser; Graft v. Craft; The Escape; Bores; Back to the Land; Can She Sue?; Editorial Chat; The Gold Hunters; Homeless But Happy; Tommy Atkins, Editor; The Old Mo; Real Hard-tack; Other Barcelonas; Muffins and Crumpets; The Food Fakers.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,123 · 4/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Mt Defence; Robert Reflects; Wit of Westminster; From Factory to Footlights; Blackmail; What I Think of London; Famous Football Managers; The Whiskers of the Great; Dulham v. Mugford; The Capitalist; Chat From Across the Sea; The Burning Beds; Mother of the Navy; Editorial Chat; The Overlander; The Story of the Bank of England; Our Own Lynch Law; Tat-Tats; How to be Lucky.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,124 · 11/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Christmas Storyettes; Fog-Bound at Levelstoke; Some Dickens Christmases; Bilderby the Brave; Dinners Under Difficulties; The Christmas Laureate; Famous Football Managers; The Locket; The Eights; Chubby's Little Present; I Hold a Warrant; Can We Communicate with the Dead?; The Christmas Tree Box; Gaol Ghosts; The P.C.'s Goose; Holly For Gout; How it Feels to be a Hero; Golden Goose Clubs; Christmas B.C.; Prey, Silence, Gentlemen!; A Patchwork Pudding; Mr. Answers' Dream; The Xmas Bell; Our Bountiful Lady Mayoress; Holidays for Husbands; Christmas in Poetry; Fame Via the Law Courts; Posters I Have Perpetrated; Christmas Gossip; Blackmail; Christmas Chat.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,125 · 18/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; How to Become an Election Officer; The Good Old Days; £1000,000 on the Slate; Fifty Foggy Days; Why Not Winter Holidays?; "Bear-Garden," Strand, W.C.; Babies Bought and Sold; Town Doubles; Mr Answers at Sea; Shadowing the Suspect; A Sportsman's Recollections; Perpetual Puzzles; The Congo Crime; Podsnap for Dulham; A Lucky Revenge; The 2s/6 Hop; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Night With Velveteens; Christmas Crackers; How Footballers Advertise.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,126 · 25/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Life Story of Warder X; Christmas in the Mill; The 'Sub's' Christmas; Famous Football Managers; The Stolen Years; Three Shillings; Catches That Catch Votes; Blackmail; A Christmas Carol; A White Xmas; Gossip; H.M.'s Gunner; Trousers For Christmas-Boxes; Editorial Chat; Learning My Part; Critical for the Critics; All Done By Electricity; Christmas Extra Specials; Xmas and the Digestion.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Vol. 8 Issue 405 · 13/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: With Nelson to Trafalgar by Andrew and C. Geoffrey Murray Gray; Your Editor's Den (ed.); A Lad o' Liverpool by Allan Blair; The Gypsy of St. Simeon's by David Goodwin; Doolittle the Ventriloquist by Anon.; A Son of the Sword by Capt. W. Blake; The Rival Cinematographists by Sidney Drew.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 72 · Jan. 1909 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of a serial that ran in THE BOYS' HERALD issue 212 to 232 in 1907.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 88 · Jul. 1909 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: D. D. Fitzsimmons
Other content: None
Notes: Sexton Blake is in the Arctic north of Russia with Sir Richard Losely and a guide named Troubletummy. They are exploring a remote region where mammoths are rumoured to still exist. After fighting off a pack of wolves, they're joined by Tinker and Lobangu, who set up a base camp while Blake and Losely follow a trail of huge animal footprints. In a cave, the two explorers find piles of mammoth tusks and the body of a Russian that has been preserved for a hundred years. The dead man's notes reveal that he had seen a living mammoth. With Losely immobilised by frostbite, Blake continues the journey alone but is stricken with snow blindness. Pat, his lead husky, comes to the rescue and while the hound leads the detective back to camp, they have a close encounter with a huge beast. Losely shoots at it and, in the morning, when they are joined by Tinker and Lobangu, they follow a trail of blood that leads them to a river valley. As the weather warms, they follow the water towards the Arctic Ocean, surviving bear attacks and various mishaps until they become separated and Blake and Losely fall into the hands of an esquimeaux tribe. This tribe treats them badly until Tinker, Lobangu and Troubletummy arrive and the latter acts as peacemaker. Taking two guides with them, the explorers trek to a nearby valley where they pick up the trail of another mammoth. When they catch up with it, it proves to be a youngster, which they nickname 'Little Tommy'. However, its youth doesn't make it any less dangerous, as it quickly proves by killing one of the guides before trapping the rest of the group in a cave. After a battle of wits and the arrival of a full-grown behemoth, they escape over a rock face and use fire to trap the animals in the valley. They then return to the esquimeaux tribe to gather further supplies and reinforcements before going back to hunt the adult mammoth. A savage battle ensues; four of the esquimeaux are killed and Losely is injured before Blake manages to bring down their quarry. After they skin the mammoth and set off for base camp, their supplies go adrift in a thick fog and are destroyed by Little Tommy. With nothing to sustain them, they are in serious trouble, so Lobangu races off alone to try to reach the esquimeaux settlement. After escaping a pack of wolves, he comes through and rescues his companions. Losely decides to 'donate the mammoth skin to the nation'.
Rating: ★★★★★
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 96 · Sep. 1909 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. George Marsden Plummer, Rupert Forbes, and the latter's servant Tony, escape from Starkmoor Prison and begin a campaign against Sexton Blake and the wealthy socialites of London. Disguised as the secretly murdered Mr. Richard Mervyn, the miserly uncle of the wealthy Lady Marjorie Dorn (to whom Sexton Blake is engaged to be married!), and his business associate, they begin to illegally acquire great wealth. When they try to shoot Tinker before then invading Blake's Baker Street home to demand a truce, the detective responds by declaring war. The two villains beat a hasty retreat but return later to make a murder attempt. It fails. Blake repeatedly foils their various schemes as they commence their campaign against the financial institutions of the city. Then he discovers that their prime target is his own fiancé. When he tries to trap them in their lair he is tricked and imprisoned in a cellar. After making an explosive exit (literally), the detective races to a masked ball where Forbes has been impersonating him with the intention of abducting Lady Marjorie. He arrives too late; the dastardly act has been committed and the guests are in a state of confusion. Fortunately Pedro hits on the trail and Blake and Tinker set off in pursuit. The bloodhound leads them to the river but there the chase ends — the villains have got away in a boat. Plummer and Forbes have set up base on a secluded island — the 'Kennel' — in the river. There, Plummer reveals his plan to marry Irma Cunningham, the woman who will inherit the estates of the Earl of Sevenoaks once the latter has been killed. Forbes, meanwhile, schemes against his partner, intending to reap the full rewards of their criminal activities himself. Plummer abducts Irma and flees to the offices of Richard Mervyn where he mysteriously vanishes. While the detective ponders over this, Tinker slips away to explore around the Kennel and discovers that the villainous duo are living on a submarine which they use to travel along an underground river passing beneath the Mervyn building. Forbes now initiates the biggest heist of all by impersonating the governor of the Bank of England. He makes off with two million but Blake, Tinker and Inspector Martin are close behind and catch up with the villains at the Kennel in time to rescue the imprisoned Lady Dorn and Irma Cunningham. The bad blood brewing between Plummer and Forbes erupts. The latter attacks Plummer and knocks him unconscious into the submarine which promptly sinks. Forbes runs from the detectives but is set upon by his own guard dogs and killed. Blake reveals that the criminal had been his fag at school. He breaks off his engagement to Lady Dorn.
Trivia: Rupert Forbes cuts off two of his own fingers in order to disguise himself as a man whose hand is thus disfigured. Plummer has an Australian accent. Blake's consulting room and sitting room are separate entities according to this author; visitors must cross the former to get to the latter. The detective's bedroom is on the same floor, adjoining the sitting room. Blake employs an actor named Fred Jocelyn to impersonate him. He states that Jocelyn has done so on stage in 'Sexton Blake' and 'Hush Money'. Both of these were real-life plays which toured theatres at the time of this story's publication. However, the most remarkable item of trivia presented in this novel concerns the detective's attitude to relationships. For a start, he's engaged. Furthermore, he's worrying about his fiancé, Lady Dorn: '... and for perhaps the first time in his life he was confronted with the practical proof that a great passion is irreconcilable with a life devoted to work; he must either serve love or science. There was no middle way. He must give up his life's work or give up Lady Dorn.'
Rating: ★★★★★ Possibly the best ever Sexton Blake story, this is incredibly well-written, gripping with every single paragraph (how about this for an example of sheer brilliance: Tinker is '... wrinkling his brows in a way that might have excited a chimpanzee to envy, emulation, and sudden death'). There are too many good things to say about the tale to fit here but highlights include frequent acknowledgements that Blake's good luck is uncanny, a brilliant portrayal of the great detective, his thought processes and his relationship with Tinker, and a thoroughly convincing picture of the psychopathic Plummer.
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 102 · Nov. 1909 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: For the past three years, 15-year-old Sexton Blake has been living in Martello Tower in the Millhove district, near the south east coast, with his guardian and tutor, Dr. Lanchester. One night, Blake comes home and finds that Lanchester has been murdered. Following instructions left in a letter, the boy puts himself in the care of two of the doctor's friends. They arrange for him to be sent to school and, in due course, Blake finds himself enrolled in St. Anne's College. He quickly gets on the wrong side of the resident bully, Wightman, but makes friends with Richard 'Spots' Losely, for whom he fags. His first night is disturbed by an intruder, a scar-faced man who tries to get through the window. Blake sees him off but is left wondering whether the man had been one of his guardian's killers. A few days later, a rumour spreads through the school that the resident ghost has been seen. Blake and Losely investigate and find a secret passage running from the school to an underground chamber then on to a cave on the seafront. This is being used by a pair of criminals — Francois and Jean — who appear to be blackmailing the Headmaster. The two boys try to intercept the villains after seeing them take money from the school safe but they are captured and taken out to sea. They escape overboard and are picked up by French fishermen and landed at Dunkirk. Knowing that this is where the villains have their base, they decide to track them down. Blake snatches back the money from them and the lads make their way home. Their next confrontation with the villains ends in quicksand, with one of the men sinking under and Blake escaping by the skin of his teeth. The schoolboy eventually discovers that his headmaster had once been friends with Francois and that the latter was the man who murdered his — Blake's — parents. Dr. Lanchester had gathered infallible evidence of this crime and was, in consequence, killed. The headmaster was targeted thanks to his association with Blake. The criminal is finally cornered and makes a run for it across the Channel where he sinks and is presumed drowned.
Trivia: This is a reprint of a BOYS' HERALD serial which ran between issues 238 and 262 in 1908. It was also reprinted as BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY 2nd series issue 388 (1933). The review is based on a reading of that issue.
Rating: ★★★★★
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 105 · Dec. 1909 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: None
Notes: After the new gym teacher at St. Anne's attempts to kill Sexton Blake, the young schoolboy realises that his arch-foe, Francois Laroux, is still alive. When he witnesses the new innkeeper in the local village signalling to a ship one night, Blake begins to suspect that the man, the gym teacher and Francois are all one and the same. The innkeeper, it turns out, is also under observation by a young girl who, to Blake's surprise, turns out to be a slightly built man in disguise; an agent who calls himself Smithers. Francois captures Smithers and takes him aboard the ship but when a storm strikes and the vessel sinks, Blake rescues his new ally. A schoolboy named Ogle then disappears. Blake and Richard 'Spots' Losely trace him to an old house that belongs to his father but instead of finding him there they are confronted by a strange ape-like apparition. They make their escape and return a couple of nights later, accompanied by a local doctor named Livesey. They discover a network of smugglers' tunnels under the building and in them a stash of counterfeit money. Following the tunnels towards the sea, they become trapped in a blowhole. Blake is caught by the rushing water shot out to sea but he survives and manages to rescue his friends. The next night they return to the house once again and capture the ape creature, which turns out to be Ogle's father, masked and driven insane by a head injury. The following evening, Smithers seeks Blake's assistance. He needs to get to London but is being pursued by Francois' men. Blake tries to help him but they both fall into the enemy's hands and are ordered to be killed. However, unknown to Francois, one of his henchmen helps the two boys to escape. Overhearing that young Ogle is captive at Francois' Dunkirk house, Blake, Smithers and Livesey race across the Channel and rescue him. It turns out that Francois is Ogle's half-uncle and has been plotting to gain inheritance of the Ogle estate. Foiled by Blake, the villain dies in a blazing inferno.
Trivia: This is a reprint of a BOYS' HERALD serial which ran between issues 263 and 278 in 1908. It was also reprinted as BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY 2nd series issue 392 (1933).
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 287 · 16/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Dicky Denver, Bar-boy by Reginald Wray; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph; The Scourge of the Skies by Andrew Gray; The War of the Mills by David Goodwin.
Notes: From the editorial: 'How Sexton Blake Met Tinker. If my friends have not yet read this week's chapters of "Sexton Blake at Oxford," I want to call their special attention to the fact that in the instalment printed this week it is related how Sexton Blake met Tinker, and how the friendship began between the great detective and his assistant. From the time that, as an urchin of nine, or something thereabout, Blake made Tinker's acquaintance, the two have worked together in innumerable criminal cases in all parts of the world, as my readers doubtless know. Therefore, the event is of considerable importance to all admirers of the feats of Sexton Blake and his boy assistant, Tinker.'
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 288 · 23/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Cliveden Caterers by Charles Hamilton; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph; The Scourge of the Skies by Andrew Gray; The War of the Mills by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 289 · 30/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Travelling Pantomime by Atherley Daunt; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph; The Scourge of the Skies by Andrew Gray.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 290 · 6/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The Great Highfield Mystery by Leonard Hart; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph; The Scourge of the Skies by Andrew Gray.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 291 · 13/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; Throw For Throw by A. S. Hardy; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 292 · 20/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The Two Buglers by Captain L. Bradford; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 293 · 27/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown but almost certainly H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Jim Graham, Gymnast by Ambrose Earle; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 294 · 6/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Two Boys in Bulgaria by John Stanton; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin; The Rook Patrol by Richard Randolph.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 296 · 20/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The New Cleaner by Reginald Wray; The Rook Patrol Richard Randolph; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 297 · 27/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; Through Many Perils by Anon.; The Rook Patrol Richard Randolph; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 298 · 3/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The Two Brothers by Ambrose Earle; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 299 · 10/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The New School Teacher by Anon.; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 300 · 17/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; Cockrane's Great Invention by Anon.; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 302 · 1/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew; Green as Grass by Cedric Wolfe; The Invasion That Failed by Ambrose Earle; Sons of the Tide-way by David Goodwin.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 307 · 5/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Cad of St. Corton's by David Goodwin; The Boxing Champion by Andrew Gray; The Rival Patrols by Richard Randolph; Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 309 · 19/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown but almost certainly E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); With Staff and Haversack by Vesey Deane; The Cad of St. Corton's by David Goodwin; The Boxing Champion by Andrew Gray; Well Played! by Ambrose Earle; Man Against Monster by Sidney Drew.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 6 Issue 312 · 10/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown but almost certainly E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Cad of St. Coxton's by David Goodwin; The Boxing Champion by Andrew Gray; The Lone Rider by Henry Connor; With Staff and Haversack by Vesey Deane.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 326 · 16/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Val the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; Fiddler Dick by Atherley Daunt; The cad of St. Coxton's by David Goodwin; The Liberty Mine by Denis Dent; Hidden Millions by Cecil Hayter.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 327 · 23/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: None
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Val the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; A Britisher's Way by Anon.; The cad of St. Coxton's by David Goodwin; Fiddler Dick by Atherley Daunt; Hidden Millions by Cecil Hayter.
Notes: Final instalment.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 329 · 6/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); My Troop of Boy Scouts by Anon.; Hidden Millions by Cecil Hayter; Val the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; The White Patch by Ellis Ellson; Fiddler Dick by Atherley Daunt; The Cad of St. Corton's by David Goodwin.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story. Lofts and Adley list Maxwell Scott's first appearance in THE BOYS' HERALD as occurring on 17/11/1909. The issues I own contradict this.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 330 · 13/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); My Troop of Boy Scouts by Anon.; Val the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; The Secret Lock by Percy Longhurst; Fiddler Dick by Atherley Daunt; The Cad of St. Corton's by David Goodwin.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 332 · 27/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Val, The Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; The Troublesome Twins by Jack North; The Wrong Trail by Andrew Gray; The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayte.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 333 · 4/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Val, The Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayter; The Mutineers by Harcourt Burrage; The Troublesome Twins by Jack North.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 335 · 18/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); Val, The Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; The Artful Pettefer by C. L. Pearce; The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayter; The Troublesome Twins by Jack North.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 506 · 6/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Lady Molly's friend, Irma Morrison, has been accused of poisoning her husband. Without consulting him first, Molly imperiously assigns Sexton Blake to the case. Irma had been more or less forced into marriage with Henry Morrison by her family. He turned out to be incredibly mean, keeping her a virtual prisoner in their shared home — Thorncote — and dismissing all the staff apart from his housekeeper, Mrs Clarke. Six months ago his health had broken down and Irma was forced to nurse him. Then, after dinner one day, he collapsed and died. The verdict was poisoning — and due to the strange disappearance of the glass in which Irma usually gave him his medicine, suspicion fell upon her. When she later stated that she had accidentally broken it and thrown the pieces into the fire, the suspicion intensified. Now, Lady Molly tells Blake, she is sure to be arrested. The police are only waiting for the post-mortem to be performed. Sexton Blake travels to Thorncote and meets Irma. Her story is slightly different: she didn't break the glass accidentally but on purpose, flinging it into the fire after her husband swore at her. The detective examines the body and discovers that a key has been forcibly removed from Mr Morrison's watch chain. This, he finds, fits a hidden safe which has been emptied. In the garden, he finds some freshly dug roots in a corner of the green house. He keeps these, then, returning to the house, asks Irma to serve him a meal identical to that served to her husband. After examining the repast, the detective asks his hostess to pretend to faint. Puzzled, she does so, and Blake quickly calls for the housekeeper. While the servant is occupied, he slips up to her room and recovers a battered box. This, he reveals to the two women, contains money stolen from the safe. Clarke was the killer and the poison had been in the horseradish sauce she served to her master.
Trivia: Lady Molly says to Blake, "I am the one person in the world who can make you do what you don't want to."
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 509 · 27/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake is on holiday in Borchester when he is asked by Inspector Truce of Scotland Yard to investigate the theft of two bars of platinum from a local exhibition. A man wearing a checkered coat had broken the case of the display, grabbed the bars and raced away. The guard, a man named Spalding, and many of the townsfolk gave chase but, behind a row of cottages by a railway track, the thief vanished. Blake examines the revolver which the fugitive had discarded after shooting at Spalding. Then, when Truce arrests a man found wearing the coat, the detective insists that he is innocent and should be freed. Gaining possession of the coat, he buys many like it and sells them door-to-door. These actions baffle Truce but, the next day, it all becomes clear when Blake leads the police to the culprit and explains how the mysterious getaway had been done.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 514 · 3/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This was reprinted as an extra story in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series, issue 161 (Feb. 1021).
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 515 · 10/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Canon Wimberley, the cousin and heir to Lord Wayne, is found in his library, dead from a snake bite. On examining the body, Blake is puzzled to find that the puncture wounds are too far apart. He discovers that Wimberley had received a small box of bird bones through the post, obviously sent in connection with his interest in taxidermy and ornithology. The bones are on the victim's workbench and, when Blake examines them, he sees that one of them has been booby-trapped with a rattlesnake's tooth, the venom sac intact. On a silk cord around Wimberley's neck, he finds a small key, which fits an antique silver casket. Inside, there are papers marked "Only to be opened after my death." They are an account of how, forty years ago in Mexico, Wimberley had joined a society of political agitators known as the Black Diamond and had been selected to murder a tyrannical government official. He would forfeit his own life if he failed to do so. Refusing, he'd fled the country. Blake traces the seller of the rattlesnake and, from him, the buyer, a Mexican named Manuel Yturbe, who had been the president of the society. This man is located and accused. He confesses and commits suicide.
Trivia: This story was included as an extra in THE GOLDEN CASKET; OR, THE SECRET OF THE SAHARA (THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series, issue 164, 1921) and was also included in the anthology VINTAGE DETECTIVE STORIES (1987). In addition, it apparently appeared in a 1930 anthology edited by Dorothy L. Sayers, though I have no further information about that.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 522 · 29/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: After being out of favour with Lady Molly for several weeks due to his refusal to search for a missing dog, Sexton Blake receives from her a peremptory summons to Ulfreston Golf Club. Molly is one of the guests at a house party being held there. Mrs Avalon Smith, Miss Lethbridge and Lady Molly had been in a changing room preparing for a game of golf. Mrs Smith had placed her jewels, including the famous Cortez ruby, in a locker before leaving for the course with Miss Lethbridge. Lady Molly had lagged behind somewhat, having mislaid a club. She had then left and locked the dressing room door behind her. When the ladies returned, the ruby was gone. The windows remained sealed and the door had not been tampered with. Naturally, the finger of suspicion is pointing at Lady Molly. Worse, one of the gentlemen guests, Captain Sinclair, discovers that Molly's locker key also fits Mrs Smith's locker, which can't be said for any of the other keys. Blake begins his investigation and narrows the suspects down to three men. That evening, he lies in wait and follows a shadowy figure out onto the course, watching as the man retrieves the gemstone from a hollow in a tree trunk. Blake pounces, snatches the ruby and knocks the thief out. Later, he explains to the gathered party-goers who the culprit is and how that person committed the theft.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 523 · 5/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Mr Allen, the manager of a chain of grocery stores has been found shot through the heart. The circumstances of his death suggest suicide but there are enough inconsistencies to convince Sexton Blake that something is amiss. Accompanied by Bathurst, he investigates the scene and his curiosity is aroused by the news that an attempt was made to rob the business's safe a year previously. It had failed on account of the fact that Allen never stored the shops' takings in the safe, preferring to hide them elsewhere. With this clue as his linchpin, Blake is able to reconstruct the events that led to the murder and identify the killer.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 524 · 12/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake learns from a newspaper that a young man of his acquaintance — Jack Harland — appears to have been lost at sea after taking a swim from his boat. However, as the detective points out to Bathurst, it is extremely unlikely that this is the fact of the matter, as Harland couldn't swim and thus wouldn't have voluntarily left the boat. Travelling to the scene of the 'accident' — Peveril Bay — Blake and Bathurst begin to hunt for the body, which they eventually find washed up some miles down the coast. Harland, they discover, had been shot in the back and his shirt, through which the bullet must have passed, is missing. Upon the arrival of the victim's sister, Blake gathers the family in their library and identifies the killer, explaining the method and motive of the crime.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 525 · 19/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: A cigar-shaped airship has been spotted in the vicinity of the East Coast but the authorities believe it to be a hoax. This opinion is supported by the discovery of a large, long kite crashed in a field. The Chinese lanterns attached to it, when lit, would give it the appearance of the craft that so many people have reported seeing. Bathurst agrees with the general view but Sexton Blake has a different opinion. The two men travel to the scene of the sightings, taking with them a couple of powerful air-guns. Blake postulates that the airship is real and is an experimental craft which the Germans are using to spy. The kite, he says, was placed purposely to throw the authorities off the track. He is proven right that night, when he and Bathurst catch German kite-fliers in the act. Four nights later the real airship arrives and is promptly shot down. Blake takes custody of the flying machine and its crew — two Germans — are summarily dismissed.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 527 · 3/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: What's Wrong With Our Land Forces? by En Avant; His Better Nature by Captain G. A. Hope; In Exile by Lionel Cooke; Half-Time by Bart Kennedy; Pleasantly Situated by Ernest E. Joyce; Sidelights on the Turf (article); The Peacemaker by W. Freeman; The Mariner's Nightmare by H. J. Shepstone; Down Under by Thos. Richards, M. P.; The Last Experiment by Minnie Herbert; Tales of the Fleet by John Goodwin; Tinker's Double (article); Love and War by Herbert King; Barbara's Bet by J. S. Cox; The Other Woman by Mark English; A Monarch of the Road by John Tregellis; The Raid on Number 12 by Herbert Jamieson; Off the Beaten Track by 'Bohemian'; The Kallemba by F. Morton Howard; Tramway Troubles by G. T. Jackson, J.P.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 528 · 10/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Down Under by Thomas Richards, M. P.; A Family Portrait by Radcliffe Martin; What's Wrong With Our Land Forces? by En Avant; The Bounders by Gertrude Lone; Balloon-Racing by C. S. Rolls; The Simple Life by Percy Middleton; The Other Woman by Mark English; The Troubles of a Canadian Settler by T. W. Bennett; The Warship Pirate by John Goodwin; For Her Sake by John J. Armstrong.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 529 · 17/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: The Race For Ships (article); The Castaways by William Freeman; Down Under by Thomas Richards, M. P.; Mistress of the Seas by John Goodwin; Without the Limelight by Cicely Hamilton; What's Wrong With Our Land Forces? by En Avant; The Other Woman by Mark English; Beauty of Form and Strength of Build (article); £5,000 a Year at Fifteen (article); Forging Ahead! by T. W. Bennett.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 531 · 31/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake and Bathurst travel to the Halz caves in the Ardennes to investigate the death of a young man named Derrick Younger. Although the fatality was apparently an accident, Younger's aunt believes otherwise. Blake quickly identifies the fact that the spot where Younger vanished — supposedly falling into an underground river — doesn't ring true ... in fact, he must have disappeared farther back along the cave system. This means that he took a route other than the established one, with his companion, a man named Main. Blake follows this same route and finds the body — Young has been murdered! A trail of evidence leads back to the culprit, whom the detective exposes and hands over to the authorities.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 534 · 21/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Two of the Best by Nora Pitt-Taylor; Down Under by Thos. Richards. M. P.; The Agony Ad by John J. Armstrong; Apartments (article); Lower-Deck Yarns by John Goodwin; A Lass o' the Loom by Henry Farmer; What's Wrong with the Army? by En Avant; On the Lonely Prairie by Anon.; House Hunting by Ernest E. Joyce; A Friend in Need by Lionel Cooke.
Notes: "Late last year" Sexton Blake began to construct his own aeroplane. The prototype is now complete and the only people who know of its existence, apart from Blake, are Bathurst and a dumb mechanic — a Swede named Olsen. The machine is housed in a hanger on a marsh to the east of London. When Blake arrives there, he informs Bathurst that he has been followed and may have been overheard when offering the 'plane to Sir John Renshaw, of the War Office. Bathurst drives away dressed as the detective, while Blake himself waits in the hanger for the expected break-in. Though he hears someone fiddling with the hanger door's lock, the person appears to give up, defeated by the surprisingly simple security. The next morning, on the train back to town, someone in a carriage ahead of the detective throws a torn-up letter from the window and fragments of it are blown into Blake's carriage. On these, he sees fragments of words written in French, plus the crest of the club where he had met with Sir John. Upon arrival in London, Blake makes his way to the club, where he encounters a man named Orloff. They dine together and, as Blake leaves, he purposely allows himself to drop a letter, which Orloff picks up after the detective has left. That evening, Blake, with Bathurst as passenger, takes his aeroplane for a test flight. It's a complete success, and the 'plane and its blueprints are handed over to the War Office. As for the spy, Orloff, he has followed the false information that Blake planted in the letter and is kicking his heels in Yorkshire, awaiting a test flight that will never happen there!
Trivia: "Even before the days when Count Zeppelin built his first dirigible, and sailed it across Lake Constance, Blake, in his spare time, had devoted a great deal of his attention to the study of aeronautics ... When he first evolved the germ of his central idea, the Wilbur Wrights, Blérots, and Lathams of present fame were still unknown. But Blake was at that time a poor, and very much overworked man, with no money to expend on the necessary experiments, and no time to get into them as fully as he wished." Sexton Blake's design is very unusual: the twin propellers are positioned horizontally beneath the wings; making the machine more like a helicopter or gyroscope than an aeroplane. This endeavour is probably the prototype of the Grey Panther, the monoplane that Blake flies during the pre-war years and the engine of which would later be used for his car (which bore the same name).
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 541 · 9/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is reprinted in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 273, 1923.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 545 · 6/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is the first of a short sequence of tales in which Sexton Blake pits his wits against Marston Hume, a man who could be considered one of the first super-criminals of the saga (only George Marsden Plummer precedes him). Hume is a very well-respected criminal lawyer; cold, calculating and immensely skilful. Physically he is described in terms that could also apply to the Blake of the 1920s: tall, spare but athletic, with chiselled features, a thin-lipped mouth and hair that recedes over the temples. The story itself is entirely devoid of action and takes the form of a conversation held between Hume, Blake and two others in a gentlemen's club. They are discussing the death of Hume's aunt; a woman who was so afraid of burglars that she went to extraordinary lengths to secure her house. But despite these precautions — the bolts, locks and alarms — someone managed to enter the house undetected, murder her in her bed, and make off with some valuable jewellery. Hume, who stands to inherit his aunt's remaining fortune, describes in great detail how the crime might have been committed. Blake is in complete agreement with his theories because he knows that the methods described were, in fact, the ones employed ... by Marston Hume himself! Furthermore, he realises that murder was the motive rather than robbery. Hume, he deduces, wanted the inheritance not the jewels and has disposed of the latter so they cannot be traced back to him. Hume is aware that Blake knows he committed the crime and intellectually taunts the detective with the fact that no proof will ever be found. They part with Blake vowing to one day catch this most cunning of criminals.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ The opening shots of the battle between Marston Hume and Sexton Blake are subtle but uneventful. Nevertheless, Hume immediately engages the attention and promises far better things to come.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 546 · 13/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: The second encounter between Marston Hume and Sexton Blake is sparked by the theft of a large diamond. Once again, the two men encounter one another in the club. Hume is reading a newspaper and notes that the Bara Diamond is due to be delivered to Belgium, where it will be given as a gift to King Leopold. Several days later, the diamond is snatched en route without the courier noticing until the time of delivery. How this was achieved is a great mystery for every precaution had been taken; a decoy was sent to distract any thieves who fancied their chances, while the diamond itself was hidden in a camera carried by a seemingly uninvolved tourist. Blake informs Bathurst that he is convinced that Hume committed the crime and determines to find out how. Once he has deduced the method, he visits Hume to confront him. Cool as ever, Hume practically admits to the crime but without presenting the detective with any solid evidence. Once again, Blake is helpless and cannot prosecute. To add further insult, Hume later sends him a token that proves his guilt ... though not legally.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★☆☆ The battle hots up and Blake loses the first round!
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 547 · 20/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake announces to his friend Bathurst that he finally has indisputable proof of Marston Hume's crimes. It seems a financier named Maxwell has been found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft. He had been in receipt of a report about a mining company; an exposure of its crooked dealing and unstable finances. This report was missing and, near the corpse, the detective had discovered a cuff-link belonging to Hume. Furthermore, Hume was seen leaving the building shortly after the murder by a man named Simmons. The criminal has made £32,000 selling shares in the mining company and Blake is convinced that Hume killed Maxwell, stole the document, and used the knowledge gained from it to make his gains on the stock market. With Bathurst, he visits Simmons' house intending to take the man to see Hume in order to make a positive identification. That will be enough to charge Hume with the murder. But the two men find Simmons strangled to death. They race to confront Hume who is relaxing with a friend. Blake accuses him of the murder, which he pinpoints as having occurred at 4pm. Unfortunately, Hume has an iron-clad alibi; his friend confirms that they have been talking together since 3.45pm. The detective is defeated ... not knowing that, in fact, Hume had fooled his rather absent-minded friend by tampering with the clock hands before later returning them to the correct time.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Blake is defeated again! The mini-series continues to improve as the duel between the detective and the arch-villain intensifies. Up until this episode, Hume was merely a thief ... now he's a murderer, too.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 548 · 27/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake is called to meet with Sir Richard Courtland, permanent secretary to the head of the Design Department of the Admiralty. Sir Richard has noticed that plans and papers are being tampered with in his office and, as he is about to be entrusted with top secret documents concerning new naval defences, he is understandably worried. The documents will be stored in his large safe and despite the fact that the building is well-guarded by police patrols, he is convinced that they will be stolen. Blake discovers that Sir Richard is being spied upon from a property on the other side of the street. He arranges to spend the night in the office and, from his hiding place behind a door, observes as someone breaks in. The intruder proves to be none other than Marston Hume. The villain uses duplicate keys to open the door and the safe and begins rifling through the various papers. Taking some to examine by the light from the window, he passes out of the detective's sight. The next moment, the door shielding Blake is slammed shut and locked. It takes some time before Blake manages to attract the attention of the caretaker, who releases him. The detective takes a cab, rouses Bathurst from his sleep, and orders him to keep a watch on Hume's residence. Later, the two men enter the apartment and Blake confronts his opponent, demanding, at gunpoint, the return of the plans. Rather than hand them over, Hume drops them into the fireplace where they burn, thus destroying any evidence against himself. However, Blake notices a camera in a corner and realises that the criminal has photographed the documents. He puts a bullet through it, shattering the plates. Now the two men are "quits".
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★★☆ More action is introduced with this episode and, by this point, the Blake/Hume duel is addictive.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 549 · 4/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake informs Bathurst that Marston Hume has taken an isolated studio in Fulham. The detective is sure that the criminal is up to something and keeps watch on the premises over the next four days. Nervous tension and chain-smoking cause Blake's health to suffer until, finally, the case starts moving when Hume buys a ticket for passage to Constantinople. Blake rests while Bathurst takes over the stake-out. Unfortunately, Hume gives him the slip for three hours early in the morning. Bathurst returns to the studio where a witness tells him that Hume had returned in an inebriated — or possibly injured — state and was helped into the building by his chauffeur. Bathurst reports all this back to Blake. A few days later, Mrs. Soames calls on the detective and asks him to find her husband. Mr. Soames had just been released from prison and, upon arriving in London, was picked up by a chauffeur and hasn't been seen since. He had served time after being found guilty of destroying or hiding the Will of a certain Mr. Margison. He insisted on his innocence and, as Blake investigates, it becomes apparent that Soames had been set up by Hume so that the latter might profit from the money which, in the absence of the Will, automatically went to to Margison's nephew. Now, it seems, Hume is trying to do away with Soames before the truth comes out and the detective is certain that the "drunk" man seen by the witness was actually Soames and the chauffeur Hume. Blake and Bathurst race to the studio where they find a note waiting from Hume informing them that he has left for the continent a day earlier than he had planned. Of Soames, there is no sign. Blake appears to have a near breakdown at this point; laughing hysterically and looking like a broken man. He reveals to Bathurst the reason for his shock: Hume has disposed of the body of Soames in a bath of acid.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★★☆ Though short (like all the Penny Pictorial tales), this has the power to shock by virtue of its entirely unexpected gruesome ending. It's also fascinating to witness Blake in such a state of nervous tension. Remember, these Pictorial cases are supposed to occur during a period when the detective was under orders from his doctors. Something had obviously pushed him to the edge (see THE SEXTON BLAKE TIMELINE for the possibilities) and time away from his Baker Street practice was called for. But Blake, it appears, has a total inability to stay away from crime-fighting. In this story, the cost is obvious and he comes close to cracking again.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 550 · 11/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Lady Molly invites Sexton Blake to a party; a gathering of friends over a period of days. She also invites Marston Hume, little suspecting that the two men are deadly foes. Throughout the course of the party, the two men attempt to out-vie each other in billiards, shooting, piquet and socialising, with Blake usually coming out on top. But much to his disgust, he soon finds his opponent transferring his attentions to the hostess. The detective warns Hume to leave within the next three days or face having his past crimes declared in front of all the guests. A couple of days later, Lady Molly receives a beautiful Louis Quinze snuff-box in the post. The accompanying letter states that, as she is a well-known collector of such things, she may like to buy it. Apparently, there is a trick in the manner of opening it. Molly tries but cannot move the lid. She requests help and hands the box to Marston Hume who is equally unsuccessful. Next, she gives it to Blake. He opens it, managing to avoid the booby-trap that would have plunged a poison needle into his finger. But later, while demonstrating the mechanism to another guest, he is nudged by Hume and his finger is pricked. Later, in his room, the detective is stricken. He just manages to call his valet and Colonel Maxwell, giving them instructions to help treat him, and thus cheats an otherwise certain death. In the morning he reveals to Colonel Maxwell that Hume had been responsible for the poisoning. Maxwell determines to throw Hume out of the house but finds that the villain has already bolted.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ This time it's personal. The duel has escalated to the point where Hume now wants Blake dead. This, his first attempt, is a fairly mild affair but entertaining, nevertheless.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 551 · 18/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Mr. Rawn, a crooked financier, asks Blake for protection during the course of a nefarious deal. Blake gives him a point blank refusal ... until he realises that Marston Hume may be involved. Having changed his mind, the detective moves to Rawn's mansion and settles into his role of bodyguard. With his employer being an enthusiastic motorist, Blake soon finds himself being driven around the countryside at high speed. One day, they stop at a tavern and, while the detective is distracted by a telephone call, Rawn is given instructions, ostensibly from Blake, to drive home. Once he sees that the financier has gone, Blake gives chase and finds the car, empty, by the side of the road. Rawn has been abducted! Blake realises that Hume has snatched the man and will deliver the financier to his enemies in return for a large fee. He deduces that a small yachting club on the nearby coast is the most likely drop-off point and races there in a hired vehicle. Hume has already come and gone and Blake finds Rawn in the hands of two thugs. A brief brawl ensues, the heavies are overcome, and Blake takes Rawn home. The detective regards the case as a draw; he confounded Hume's scheme but, once again, the villain got away.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ This story is so slight it barely exists.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 552 · 25/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sir Richard Lawley calls Sexton Blake to his offices. Lawley is involved in a company called Tuxon, which harvests various resources from a chain of small islands. Someone, it appears, is selling off big blocks of shares, causing the company to become unstable as rumours spread suggesting that the business may have been adversely affected by the recent Hayti earthquake. Blake is certain that Marston Hume is the man behind a scheme; making money out of the false information. He visits his opponent and provokes him into an attack which ends when Blake snaps handcuff's onto Hume's wrists, binds his ankles and locks him in the bedroom. Later, Bathurst arrives with Lawley who declares that the company is about to collapse. Blake points out that this is based on the false rumours spread by Hume and recommends that Lawley buys up as many shares as possible. For a day and a half, the detective holds Hume prisoner and at the end of that time the true state of affairs regarding the islands comes to light. All is well and rich new deposits have been discovered. The upshot of this is that the company prospers while Hume is financially ruined. Blake frees him ... and leaves Hume with murder in his eyes.
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Another low-key story but one that has a satisfying ending as Blake finally scores against his adversary.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 274 · 9/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: Sentenced For Life by Allan Blair
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 122 as THE GAMBLER'S RUSE and PENNY POPULAR issue 123 as FOUL PLAY (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 275 · 16/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: Sentenced For Life by Allan Blair
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 125 as THE MAN FROM WINNEPEG (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 276 · 23/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Sentenced For Life by Allan Blair
Notes: The Colonial Secretary commissions Sexton Blake to investigate the disappearance of Prince Ribat, an ally of the British, who vanished while en route to Sakoolu in Borneo to take up his post as rajah. In his absence, it's likely that the throne will be seized by Orang Rue, a Dyak chief who opposes the British. Blake, Tinker and Pedro voyage to Singapore and, from there, to the tiny Borneo port of Balu. During this latter stage of their journey, it becomes evident that they are much disliked by Padroni, the captain of the Cobra, the steamer giving them passage, and they feel immense relief when they finally arrive at their destination. A friendly native boy named George Washington — nicknamed "Wash" — helps them ashore, in the processes rescuing Pedro from a hungry shark. They are then greeted by an unscrupulous American, Nathan P. Squance, who invites them to stay in his "hotel," which proves to be little more than a shack. He informs them that Prince Ribat drowned while sailing from Singapore, that the British Resident in Sakoolu has been killed, and that Orang Rue has taken the throne. Blake is suspicious of this news; it seems to him that Squance wants to keep him away from Sakoolu. While they settle into their room, Blake notices that Wash is wearing a belt of British design stamped with the badge of a famous public school. He starts to question the boy about it but Squance is eavesdropping and orders a murderous Dyak named Kraja to shoot Wash with a blowpipe before he can tell the detective anything. When Wash collapses, Blake acts quickly, administering an antidote from the small stash of medical supplies he's brought with him. During the night, Padroni comes ashore and he and Squance discuss how Blake might ruin their plans to get Orang Rue into power, a move that would give them control over Sakoolu's pearl fisheries. They send a Chinaman, Chang, to slit Wash's throat before he can recover and divulge the origin of his belt. Pedro, fortunately, sends the assassin packing. Squance and Padroni start to batter at the barricaded door. Blake and his companions cut a hole in the roof and escape. Kraja pursues them but the detective tackles him on a rope bridge and throws him into a raging river. There now commences a long and gruelling trek on foot to Sakoolu, during which Wash reveals that he was a deck boy on the Cobra when that ship gave Prince Ribat passage to Borneo. However, instead of taking him to Sakoolu, Padroni had left the prince castaway on a small island just off the coast. The man's possessions had then been divided among the crew, which is how Wash came by the belt. After enduring terrible thirst, Blake, Tinker, Pedro and Wash arrive at the town, where they find that, as suspected, Squance's report was all lies. They warn the British Resident, Burton, that Orang Rue might attack at any moment. Defences are erected and the townsmen are rapidly trained in military discipline. When the enemy forces arrive, they encounter far greater resistance than they were prepared for and, in a pitched battle — which includes Sexton Blake stabbing Orang Rue to death — they are defeated. Squance and Padroni arrive, expecting to find the town fallen but they fall into a trap and are swept to their death in the river. Blake and Tinker rescue Prince Ribat from his island prison and he takes his rightful position as leader and British ally.
Trivia: My copy is missing its cover. This story was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 124 as RESTORING A KINGDOM (1915).
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 277 · 30/1/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Sentenced For Life by Allan Blair
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. In the past, this story has been mistakenly attributed to Norman Goddard.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 278 · 6/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. P.
Other content: Sentenced For Life by Allan Blair; Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 126 as FOILED AT THE FINISH (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 280 · 20/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 128 as A FRESH START (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 281 · 27/2/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. The story features Will Spearing. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 127 as CLEARING HIS NAME (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 284 · 20/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 130 as RUN TO EARTH (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 285 · 27/3/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 129 as THE SIGNAL OF DISTRESS (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 289 · 24/4/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. The story features Will Spearing. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 131 as THE WRONG MAN (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 290 · 1/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Sexton Blake, Tinker, Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu are on the Pacific island of Fiawai where two tribes, the Niana and the Loholoos are at war with each other. Blake & Co. are there to end the warfare and annex the island for Britain before the Germans get their hands on the rich deposits of gold which exist there. The German party on the island is led by an agent named Wernher. After Lobangu fights a duel with a Nianan warrior, the Englishmen gain the tribe's trust and plan to help them fight the Loholoos. Sexton Blake and Lobangu set off to scout the gold deposits but come under attack and are captured by Wernher. Sir Richard and Tinker mount a successful rescue mission and the English party is victorious in the subsequent war with the Loholoos. During the fighting, the enemy tribe appears to be led by a wounded and stretcher-bound Wernher but this proves to be a trick. The German is, in fact, leaving the island in order to jump Blake and Losely's claim on the gold deposits. With the islanders agreeing to ally themselves with Britain, Blake and Losely feel it is safe to leave Tinker and Lobangu in charge while they themselves set off in pursuit of Wernher. After being slowed by an erupting volcano, they almost lose track of their opponent, dropping behind him during the race to the Australian port of Dugong. Upon arrival there, a man named Hankins assists them as they continue their pursuit over land. At Dugong, they learn that they are too late — Wernher has registered his claim. Blake confronts the German and receives a bullet in the leg, though Wernher is also badly injured. Unexpectedly, Tinker and Lobangu come to the detective's assistance. They have been racing after him to tell him the good news: Wernher has claimed the wrong stretch of land and now has ownership of nothing but volcanic rock!
Trivia: During the course of this adventure an unwilling Tinker has a half-completed native design tattooed onto his chest.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 291 · 8/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 132 as COLONEL TANFORD'S VALOUR (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 292 · 15/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 133 as THE WONDER GUN (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 293 · 22/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 134 as THE ISLE OF MYSTERY (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 294 · 29/5/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 135 as RIVALS FOR FORTUNE (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 295 · 5/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. The story features Will Spearing. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 136 as SIMON LEACH — SWINDLER (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 297 · 19/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 137 as THE HIDDEN HEIRESS (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 298 · 26/6/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 138 as AN ERRAND OF JUSTICE and PENNY POPULAR issue 139 as HIS OWN BETRAYER (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 299 · 3/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 140 as REAPING THE WHIRLWIND (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 300 · 10/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 142 as THE FATAL VERDICT and PENNY POPULAR issue 143 as RESTORED TO HIS SON (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 301 · 17/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 164 as BIRDS OF A FEATHER and PENNY POPULAR issue 165 as IN CONVICT'S GUISE (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 302 · 24/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. One week after his arrest, George Marsden Plummer escapes from Maidstone Gaol, vowing to destroy all the evidence against him and revenge himself on the seven people involved in his earlier downfall. After making an initial attempt on Blake's life, the master-crook takes refuge in a monastery for five days before making off with seventy thousand pounds from its safe. He rents a house, Rose Cottage, near Clapham Common and from here visits a seedy pub named the Devil's Kitchen where he hires the services of a forger, Jimmy Cavendish. With this man's help, he kidnaps his first victim, Dr. Fleming, who had helped Blake to capture him when he and the detective first crossed swords. Plummer ties Fleming to one of seven beds in the cellar of Rose Cottage and reveals to Cavendish that when he has all his enemies, he intends to hang them. Blake manages to trace Plummer's movements to the Devil's Kitchen and there accosts him. However, Plummer makes his escape and the furious detective blames Tinker for the fouled mission. The villain next tricks the man he had previously tried to murder, the current Earl of Sevenoaks, and his young wife, into his grasp. Once again, he succeeds, and even has the temerity to send Blake a telegram: "Try again. G. M. P." By this point the detective has gained help from Sir Richard Losely. Blake surmises that Plummer intends to use Cavendish's sister, Irma, as some sort of lure and so sets a team of watchers onto her. Tinker gains access to her house and hears a discussion between Irma and her brother in which it is revealed that, by an amazing coincidence, they belong to the same family as Plummer. If he and the current Earl were to die, Jimmy Cavendish would inherit the title. Blake, meanwhile, appears to walk straight into Plummer's trap and joins the other captives in the cellar. But, of course, Blake has arranged things so they aren't as they seem and the story ends with Plummer once again behind bars. However, the charge is that of kidnapping; as far as his previous murders are concerned, he manages to destroy the evidence.
Trivia: This story commences just a week after the end of THE MAN FROM SCOTLAND YARD. Plummer is 'barely thirty-six' ... which, as we know he was born in 1875, means that the events recounted here occurred not long before publication. Back when he was in the police force, he received a serious blow to the head in the line of duty and had to be trepanned before a metal plate was then fitted.
Sexton Blake, we learn, has a legion of trackers, watchers and followers at his disposal. The detective has a scar on the back of his wrist.
Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 148 as THROUGH PRISON BARS and PENNY POPULAR issue 149 as A FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE (both 1915).
Rating: ★★★★★ A fantastic and very well-written tale which sees all the familiar protagonists at their best. Pedro, in particular, has some very notable scenes.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 303 · 31/7/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.; Cricket Chums by Charles Hamilton
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 141 as UNVEILING THE PAST (1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 305 · 14/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Convict 99 by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 146 as THE RIVER-HOUSE MYSTERY and PENNY POPULAR issue 147 as POLICE-CONSTABLE TINKER (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 307 · 28/8/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: Griggs's Glider by Anon.
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 156 as THE SECRETARY'S RUSE and PENNY POPULAR issue 157 as TINKER'S DARING (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 308 · 4/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: None
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 160 as FOOLING WITH FATE and PENNY POPULAR issue 161 as THE ROAD TO RUIN (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 310 · 18/9/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: In Chicago, a Chinaman named Li Fong boards a train bound for New York. From there, he will voyage to England where his daughter, Lotus Flower, is waiting. En route, after being robbed of his ticket and money, he is ejected from the train and left on the American prairie. In New York, Fenlock Fawn is asked to locate and arrest him. Apparently, Li Fong had been caught embezzling the Chinese Government and was sent the Yellow Cord. Rather than following the custom and strangling himself with it, he'd taken flight and is now thought to be hiding in New York's Chinese quarter. A week goes by and Fawn makes no progress, so the Chinese Minister issues an edict that no countryman of Li Fong's should harbour him, on pain of death. Four months later, Li Fong arrives in the quarter and is shunned by all until he is found by his faithful servant, Wang, who he had long ago left in charge of Lotus Flower. After assuring him that his child is safe in England, Wang smuggles him onto a London-bound ship. A newspaper report alerts Blake to the fugitive's imminent arrival. He knows Li Fong, having once had his life saved by him, and, owing him a debt of gratitude, manages to get him off the ship before it docks. Directed by Wang, they go to the house where Lotus Flower has been staying, only to find her gone. She has been taken by Chen Ling, Li Fong's enemy, who in China had requested to marry the girl, was refused, and in revenge framed Li Fong. Leaving the house, Blake and his companions are set upon by hired assassins. They manage to evade their assailants. Blake sends Li Fong to a country manor where he will be safe. He then sets out to locate Lotus Flower. Disguised as a Chinaman, he encounters Chen Ling in an opium den. The detective is overcome by the drug and recognised by the villain. He recovers to find himself prisoner aboard a docked ship. Pedro leads Tinker and Wang to his rescue. During the ensuing fight, Chen Ling escapes while Blake, Tinker, Pedro and Wang jump overboard to avoid a fire. Wang slips away, preferring to search for Chen Ling on his own. The bloodhound, however, already has the villain's scent and, with Tinker, sets off after him. Blake is shot at by the captain of the ship. The bullet grazes his head and he doesn't recover consciousness until the next day. He returns to Baker Street and recruits Detective-Inspector Widgeon. Pedro enters the house showing all the signs of having escaped from captivity. Blake and Widgeon follow the hound to where Tinker has been imprisoned by Chen Ling but the villain's henchmen drive them away. The captive is taken elsewhere. Five days pass, then Wang comes to Baker Street and reports that he's located Lotus Flower and Tinker and that Chen Ling intends to leave the country with the girl that night. Blake, Wang and Widgeon race to attack the new hideout. Wang is shot and falls through a trapdoor. Blake and Widgeon are captured but Wang returns with a force of men and the enemy is defeated. Lotus Flower and Tinker are rescued. Chen Ling receives a yellow cord. He takes poison and dies. The girl is reunited with her father, who receives a pardon from the Chinese Empress.
Trivia: This is William Murray Graydon at his most rambling and melodramatic. It feels very old-fashioned but is nonetheless entertaining.
My copy is missing its cover. The story was reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 166 as THE CHINESE RIVALS and PENNY POPULAR issue 167 as THE SACRED PARDON (both 1915). The review is taken from the reprint, which may differ a little from the original.
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 314 · 16/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 144 as THE PENNILESS PLAYWRIGHT and PENNY POPULAR issue 145 as THE UNFINISHED DRAMA (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 315 · 23/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This is the fourth story to feature George Marsden Plummer, following directly on after THE MERVYN MYSTERY (THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY issue 96). During that adventure, Plummer had teamed up with Rupert Forbes. By its end, the latter had been killed by savage dogs and Plummer was believed to have drowned. Now he makes his getaway and disappears into the streets of London where he disguises himself as Gilbert Messiter — a man he knows to be abroad. So perfect is his disguise, that Plummer is able to take over Messiter's house, fooling the servants into believing that their master has returned early before dismissing them. Over the next month, Plummer swindles five bankers, including Lord Killick, into investing a quarter of a million pounds each in a spurious business deal. However, he slips up when he's tempted into stealing the jewels of a society woman. This puts Sexton Blake on his track. The detective talks to Lord Killick's son and discovers that the money for the fake deal has been withdrawn and placed in a safe in Killick's home. He rushes there but arrives too late. Plummer has taken the money and kidnapped Lord Killick, who he leaves tied up in a hidden room in Messiter's house. The detective is just steps behind as Plummer twists and turns in an effort to throw him off the scent. When he finds Tinker blocking his escape route, he fools the lad into dropping his guard and kidnaps him. But Blake catches up and snaps handcuffs onto the villain. Blake and Tinker start searching for the stolen money and jewels. While their backs are turned, Plummer makes a getaway, snapping the cuffs off with an impressive display of strength. Unknown to him, though, Blake has allowed this escape and follows close behind — Plummer in a sports car, Blake and Tinker in their grey Mercedes. Out of London to Hastings they drive, towards the very spot where Plummer committed his first crime (see THE MAN FROM SCOTLAND YARD). Here, Blake humiliates the criminal by proving his superiority over him, and, though Plummer is allowed to get away, he does so a broken and penniless man.
Trivia: This story occurs one year after the first Plummer tale, THE MAN FROM SCOTLAND YARD. The stresses he has experienced since then have turned his hair white. His fate, at the end of this tale, is similar to that endured by Marston Hume during the sequence of tales by Michael Storm in the PENNY PICTORIAL.
This was reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 152 as PARTNERS IN PERIL and PENNY POPULAR issue 153 as THE DOORS OF DARTMOOR (both 1915).
Rating: ★★★★★ Another truly fantastic Blake tale from Michael Storm! A truly thrilling adventure and one that is extraordinarily well written.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 316 · 30/10/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: When Cranstone Drake loses his position as heir to a fortune due to a birth in his family, he turns to crime, and after stealing a fortune in jewels, fakes his own death. Some years later, in the guise of the masked Ace of Diamonds, he returns to England and gathers a gang. Drake then foments a dispute between two diamond syndicates, causing both to gather their resources by having diamond shipments delivered to them from South Africa via couriers. One of these couriers, Drake has assaulted and robbed. The other is intercepted by his fiancée, whom Drake has bribed, and led into a trap. He's imprisoned and divested of his fortune. Sexton Blake, consulted by both syndicates, soon detects the various deceptions that have led to the crimes. When a marksman takes a shot at him, he realises that his opponent may be more dangerous than he'd at first assumed, and so fakes his own death and continues the investigation while heavily disguised. He is assisted by the captured man's fiancee, who, betrayed by Drake, reacts with fury and leads the detective to the crook. Despite misguiding letters, traps, and hungry pythons, Blake wins through, rescues the captive, and has Drake arrested.
Trivia: Pedro has sired a puppy, also named Pedro, which is being trained in Sussex. This supports the notion that the bloodhound, as he appears through the years, is not a single dog, but a dynasty.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 318 · 13/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 154 as AT CROSSED SWORDS and PENNY POPULAR issue 155 as THE NIGHT RIDERS (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 319 · 20/11/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 150 as THE MISSING SCOUTMASTER and PENNY POPULAR issue 151 as THE MYSTERY OF HIGHDOWN HEATH (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 322 · 11/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 158 as THE RESCUER'S REWARD and PENNY POPULAR issue 159 as EXILED FROM ENGLAND (both 1915).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 323 · 18/12/1909 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 162 as RIVALS FOR THE RIGHT and PENNY POPULAR issue 163 as AN AMAZING MASQUERADE (both 1915).
Unrated