BIGGLES DELIVERS THE GOODS

A 'Biggles Squadron' Story

by Captain W. E. Johns

CONTENTS – Page 5

ILLUSTRATIONS – Page 6

I. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR (Pages 7 - 14)

Biggles is introduced in this book as "Biggles - Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, D.S.O., D.F.C., to give him his proper name and rank". Biggles is called to meet with Air Commodore Raymond of Air Intelligence at the Air Ministry. He is taken to an ante-room where Raymond asks him if he knows a Chinaman called Li Chi. Biggles does. He first meet him around 1934/35 when he found him adrift in the Indian Ocean (the events of which were related in 'Biggles Flies Again' in a story called 'The Oriental Touch'). Biggles tells Raymond the tale of how he rescued Li Chi who called himself Ho Sing (actually Johns gets this wrong - in the original story he called himself Hoi Sing). It turned out he was Li Chi, a wanted man. For saving his life, Li Chi gave Biggles two pearls which they later sold in Paris for £8,000. Raymond tells Biggles that Li Chi is here - in his office now. He has come with an idea about rubber and claimed that he knew Biggles. "While men are decent to me I try to be decent to them, regardless of race, colour, politics, creed or anything else" asserted Biggles curtly. "I've travelled a bit, and taking the world by and large, it's my experience that with a few exceptions there's nothing wrong with the people on it, if only they were left alone to live as they want to live". Biggles goes to meet Li Chi with Raymond and Li Chi says that his plan is to provide Britain with rubber from Malaya. Biggles asks how this is to be accomplished.