BIGGLES - SECRET AGENT
Book First Published in May 1940 - 255 pages
This story was first published, in ten parts, as CASTLE SINISTER
in Modern Boy, issues 78 to
87, dated 12th August 1939 to 14th October 1939
This is a picture of a replica of the dust wrapper to give an
example of what it was like. The
original price of the first edition was 4 shillings.
CHAPTERS
Click on any chapter for a summary of the events in that chapter or
see the general story summary below
VI – WHAT HAPPENED AT THE VAULT
VII – STRANGE BIRDS IN THE FOREST
X – VON STALHEIN PLAYS A TRUMP CARD
Professor
Max Beklinder has disappeared. He is the inventor of Linderite explosive, a
Lucranian by birth but British by naturalization. The Professor was working on
a secret poison gas for the British when he was reported as having been killed
in a car accident in Unterhamstadt in Lucrania. Biggles is sent to find out if
he is really dead and if not, to get him back. Algy flies over to Lucrania and
Biggles and Ginger parachute down. They intend to pose as British tourists and
try to establish the truth about the Professor's death. It's not long before
they discover the Professor's Morris Ten car completely undamaged, hidden in a
nearby castle. Staying at a hotel in Unterhamstadt, Biggles and Ginger set off
to explore the vault where the Professor is supposedly buried. In his coffin,
they find only books, but a mysterious girl has followed them. The girl is
staying at Biggles and Ginger's hotel. The local police raid the hotel and
capture the "girl" and it turns out that it is really a man in
disguise - Beklinder's son. Lucrania is under the heel of one of its
neighbours, and a native of that country is in charge of the police. Erich von
Stalhein is at the hotel checking the names of the guests and is surprised to
encounter two of his old foes. With minutes to spare, Biggles and Ginger escape
into a secret passage that leads from room 17 in the hotel to the castle. The
passage leads behind the castle walls and Ginger comes across a spy hole into a
room that is being used as von Stalhein's office. To Ginger's astonishment he
sees that Algy is a prisoner! Von Stalhein also has Professor Beklinder as a
prisoner. The Professor threatens von Stalhein with some powerful explosive he
has made but von Stalhein has a trump card to play in the form of Beklinder's
captured son. Beklinder has to hand the explosive over. Von Stalhein plans to
take the Beklinders away and Biggles and Ginger know they must stop this. They
capture the car taking the Beklinders out of the castle and race to find Algy's
plane but it is too late as von Stalhein has had the plane removed. Biggles has
a plan and tells Ginger that he and the Beklinders must meet him at a certain
rendezvous at 12.20 a.m. In the meantime they are to hide up at the vault while
Biggles tries to organise some transport. In the vault, the Professor tells
Ginger that there is also a secret passage from the vault to the castle. Using
this, Ginger returns to rescue Algy, something he succeeds in doing with a bit
of help from Beklinder's explosive. Ginger and Algy rush to the vault and find
that the Beklinders have already set off. Catching up with them, the four men
wait at the rendezvous, but already the soldiers are out tracking them with
dogs. Meanwhile Biggles has gone to Prenzel, as he knows that a regular mail
plane leaves for Croydon at midnight. He hopes to persuade the pilot to help
him. Things don't quite go to plan and Biggles has to steal the plane. He flies
to the rendezvous and is just in time to load his passengers aboard and make a
desperate flight back to England.
Click here to see the story illustrations from the original HARDBACK first edition of this book
Biggles - Secret Agent
Publication Details - published by Oxford University Press
The spine and cover illustrations from the original Oxford first
edition
Frontispiece
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Dust jacket of the 1960 Brockhampton Press reprint (NB – This is
one of only FOUR Oxford books that were reprinted by Brockhampton Press)
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Frontispiece of the 1960 Brockhampton Press reprint
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