BIGGLES OF THE SPECIAL AIR POLICE

by Captain W. E. Johns

II. THE CASE OF THE MANDARIN’S TREASURE CHEST (Pages 31 – 54)

“How would you like to undertake a treasure-hunt?” Air-Commodore Raymond, head of the Special Air Police, put the question half jokingly to his operational chief, Air Detective-Inspector Bigglesworth. Biggles reply is in four words “I wouldn’t like it”. When Raymond asks Biggles why, Biggles tells him “Because records show that treasure-hunting isn’t the fun most people imagine. To start with, the treasure is always in an ungetatable place. Having got there it’s usually somewhere else – that is, if it exists at all. And lastly, you can rely absolutely on at least one unforeseen snag arising to throw your plans out of gear. All most people get at the finish is hard work, with heat-stroke or frost-bite thrown in, according to locality, to make them wish they’d stayed at home. That, stripped of its romance, is treasure-hunting”. Raymond tells Biggles the treasure in this case is unusual and invites him to meet “A charming Chinese gentleman by the name of Mr. Wung Ling. He’s been at Oxford studying medicine for three years, so he speaks English fluently. I’ve asked him to come here to meet you”. Wung Ling arrives. “Everything about him was Western. Biggles judged him to be not more than twenty”. Wung Ling explains that he is from an old family in China that lived at Pao-Tan, in the province of Kweichow, “not far from the place the Burma Road makes a sudden turn to the north near Chungking”. (Kweichow is now called Guizhou and is a landlocked province in the southwest region of China). Long ago, his family were rich and amassed a collection of antique treasures such as works of art and literature including ancient manuscripts, porcelain, lacquer and bronze work, carved ivory and jade. If these things were lost, they could never be replaced. “They belong to all people, because they represent the highest achievements of mankind, of culture, through the ages”. When the Japanese invaded China, Wung Ling helped his father bury the items in a chest in their garden. Last year, his father invited him back from studying medicine in England, but the Communist invasion started. “The rest of the story I know from an old servant who, when the country fell, fled to Hongkong. (Johns spells this without a gap between words). He died soon afterwards. Our house was destroyed and my father died in the ruins. Wung Ling doesn’t want the things the chest contains, but wants to give it to the British Museum, who will pay the expenses of an expedition to collect it and also pay for Wung Ling to complete his studies and qualify as a doctor. The suggestion is that Biggles and his team fly to China, with Wung Ling, to recover the chest. Biggles asks questions about the landscape to ascertain where he could land. Wung Ling cannot be sure how many people will be there as war may have depopulated the land. Biggles asks “Assuming that some people are still there, would they receive you with friendliness or hostility?” The reply is “Any old inhabitants would die for me, but for newcomers I could not speak. The only safe way would be to regard everyone there as an enemy”. Biggles checks a map and notes the nearest jumping-off place is Hong-Kong. Air-Commodore Raymond suggests it would be better to start from India and follow the Burma Road. By using the Wellington with the extra tankage they should be all right for fuel, he adds. Biggles agrees to go. (The next part of the story is prefixed with a “II”). “Out in happy Mandalay, Where the flying fishes play, And the dawn comes up like thunder, Out of China across the way”. Ginger remembers Kipling’s famous lines as he looks out from the Wellington as dawn breaks over China. (The poem “Mandalay” by Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936) was written around March/April 1890). They have flown from Dum-Dum aerodrome, Calcutta, for seven hours and hope to arrive at their destination at dawn or just after. Biggles tells Ginger “You’d better fetch Wung now” (which of course, is a mistake, as Chinese family names come first and their actual names are second. So really, he would be called ‘Ling’ if you were being familiar). Wung Ling is onboard dressed in traditional Chinese dress, thinking this the right and proper way to present himself at the home of his honourable ancestors, and there may also be an advantage if Chinese people are in possession of the land. Biggles sees the Burma Road and the landmark where it abruptly turns north. He turns his engines off to glide down to land. “The next half hour would probably see the success or failure of the expedition”. Ginger can see villages but there is an absence of smoke and no signs of life. “A patch of white near one of them Ginger knew from experience to be opium-poppies in flower”. Wung Ling is not able to locate the site of his home. Biggles lands in a flattened crop of barley. When on the ground, Wung Ling notes that the river has changed its course and the trees of his garden are no longer there, but he knows where he is. Algy is designated to stay with the machine and Bertie to man the gun-turret, in case of trouble. Ginger takes a pick and spade and goes with Biggles and Wung Ling to view the undulating land. A horseman suddenly appears about half a mile ahead. “The man let out a shout, fired a quick shot from the rifle he carried and galloped away”. Within a minute more men are on the scene. Wung Ling thinks the men might be servants of one of the northern war-lords who were overrunning the country, seeking plunder. Ginger is sent to tell Algy in the aircraft to bring it nearer, then keep watch. Wung Ling is unable to find the place the treasure chest is buried quickly as the place has been “razed literally to the ground”. Eventually the site of the garden is located, then the stump of the mulberry tree and then the site has to be cleared of rubbish before digging can begin. Ginger says he can see the head of a man watching them about five hundred yards away. Biggles uses a pick and Wung Ling uses a spade to dig down to the chest and they reach it, but they can’t get it out without freeing the sides first. A shot is fired at the diggers. “Okay, if that’s how they want it,” shouted Biggles. “Tell Algy to turn the machine until Bertie can bring his gun to bear. If there’s any more shooting, or if they try to get nearer, Bertie can give them a squirt to see how they like it”. Another shot leads to Bertie shooting back. Their party is then attacked from three sides at once. Bullets fly thick and fast and several hit the aircraft. Suddenly the tail guns start firing and Ginger, realising that Algy has manned them, moves to take up a position in the cockpit, so they can move fast when the time comes. From the east comes a broad black cloud, bearing down on them at an alarming speed and Ginger presumes it to be a thunder cloud. At last, Biggles and Wung Ling get the chest out of the ground and taking a side handle each, the two men struggle to carry it to the aircraft. (The scenes of digging out the chest and carrying it to the aircraft are the memorable dust jacket covers on the first two versions of this ubiquitous book). Biggles and Wung Ling get the chest into the plane and slam the doors. Suddenly, the storm cloud hits with a crash as if the machine is being plastered with bullets and they realise the cloud is a swarm of locusts! Ginger can only stare at Biggles helplessly. “Even Biggles looked pale, and more than slightly harassed”. Biggles eases the throttle forward and makes a blind take-off, with noises rising to a deafening crescendo which abruptly stops and light floods into the cockpit. Locusts dead and alive are whirled away by air pressure. “Trust a treasure-hunt to produce something out of the ordinary”, Biggles said grimly. Five minutes later, well clear of the swarm, Biggles lands to check the plane over for damage. The windscreen and gun-turrets are wiped down. Biggles tells his comrades. “I’ve never been in a such a flap in my life”. “And there the story of the recovery of the Chinese treasure-chest can end, for the return trip was made without incident and need not be described. Later on, Doctor Wung Ling received a token payment for his works of art from the authorities at the British Museum, where they may now be seen, and this enabled him to complete his studies”. (The character of Wung Ling also appears in BIGGLES FOLLOWS ON published in June 1952, which is significantly before SPECIAL AIR POLICE was published in September 1953. I know from correspondence in my possession that Johns finished writing FOLLOWS ON by 9^th July 1951, even though it was not published until June 1952. The point is that this short story, creating the character of Wung Ling, must have been written around June 1951 if not earlier).