Magazine Review: High Adventure #126 Adventure Fiction Spectacular
This issue of the pulp reprint magazine concentrates on stories of adventure around the world. Three of the stories are by “Major” George Fielding Eliot, who was born in Brooklyn, raised in Australia, fought at Gallipoli and was a Canadian Mountie before settling down in the U.S. to a long writing career.
“Arms for Ethiopia” Lawrence Ward is the college-educated son of a gun-runner, who’s come to Africa to assist his father in smuggling weapons into Ethiopia in contravention of international sanctions. When his father is badly wounded in a mysterious assault, the capable but somewhat naive Lawrence must complete the mission against all odds. This 1936 story leaves out the reason Emperor Haile Selassie needed the arms; the Italian government wanted to expand its power and was about to invade Ethiopia from its territory in Eritrea.
The period racism is toned way down in this particular story, although Somalians might bridle at being described as stereotypically arrogant. Our hero is quick to pick up on local customs and figure out how to navigate them, while being blind to the treachery of his fellow Westerners.
On the other hand, Lawrence and his father are criminals looking to make a big score. The only thing that makes them the good guys is that they keep their word.
“The Lorelei of Lille” is a fact-based story of Louise de Bettignies. who served the Allies as a spy during World War I. When she arrived as a refugee in England, the interviewing officer was struck by her intelligence and observational skills. She was sent back to France to gather information on troop movements and artillery emplacements, and served extraordinarily well as the leader of the “Alice Dubois” spy network. Eventually she was caught and imprisoned by the Germans, dying of incompetent medical care before the war was over. Mr. Eliot may have cribbed much of this story from the book Queen of Spies by Major Thomas Coulson which was also published in 1935. It’s still one of the rare pulp stories starring a woman of action.
“Siamese Sorcery” takes place in Siam (modern-day Thailand) as financially embarrassed American Bill Dorrance investigates a cry for help. It turns out that there’s a dying Englishman to rescue, and this sets Bill on a quest for an Emerald Buddha statue. Bill and the English people in the story are blind to the racism and religious prejudice that convinces them it’s A-okay to steal a religious artifact from the local priests. The temple is guarded by panthers, which presents some logistical difficulties.
Fortunately for Bill, he doesn’t have to deal with the larger implications of his actions, as an Annamese gangster nicknamed the Toad kills off all the priests in an effort to secure the statue for himself. Too bad for the Toad he’s never studied Shakespeare, as that is the final clue needed. There’s a couple of missing pages toward the beginning of the story, so it doesn’t flow as well as it should.
“The Trail of Fortune” is by John Murray Reynolds, who is best known for creating Tarzan knock-off Ki-Gor. Aelward of Colchester is a Saxon driven out of his homeland by the Norman conquerors, so he and his friends go a-Viking, eventually ending up in the Varangian Guard of Byzantium in Constantinople (now Instanbul.) Aelward soon finds himself falling afoul of Clitus, an ambitious naval Strategos, and having warm feelings towards Princess Maran. When Clitus strands the Varangian Guard in Laodicea of Phonecia (modern Beirut), Aelward must find a way back to Constantinople before the treacherous warlord has a chance to overthrow the emperor.
Lots of exciting battle in this one, and the only story this issue where romance plays a major part.
Overall, a fun fast-paced issue, but the cultural blinders in a couple of stories may diminish the pleasure of some readers.
