BIGGLES FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE

by Captain W. E. Johns

XIII. A CASTLE WITHOUT A NAME (Pages 150 – 159)

“Under ordinary conditions the castle would have interested Ginger immensely, particularly if he had known something about it”. The castle has been built for defence. On three sides the walls rise sheer and the narrow slits that act as windows are no less than thirty feet from the ground. There is only one approach to a single entrance and that was over a stone arched bridge over a ravine that is only wide enough for one man to cross at a time. Biggles says that at the time the castle was built, it would have been virtually impregnable. Inside, a short spiral staircase leads up to what they take to be the main chamber of the castle and in the middle of this is a well. Biggles says he would rather sleep inside the castle as it is cool. “Besides, should anything go wrong we should have a better chance in here than outside. One man could hold this place against an army”. “Let’s hope we never have to play Horatius holding the bridge” answered Ginger warmly. (Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the early Roman Republic who defended a bridge over the Tiber called the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Etruscan King Lars Porsena of Clusium in the late 6^th century BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium. By defending the narrow end of the bridge, he and his companions were able to hold off the attacking army long enough to allow other Romans to destroy the bridge behind him, blocking the Etruscans’ advance and saving the city). Going up some steps even higher in the castle, Ginger sees movement in the wilderness. Drawing Biggles attention to it, they make out a figure who they believe to be a Kurd watching the camp. Suddenly, they hear the engines of an approaching aircraft and recognise it as a Douglas. “In silence they watched the aircraft land and taxi in. Four men got out”. “Pantenelli, Festwolder and von Stalhein,” said Biggles. (“Pantenelli, Festwolder and von Stalhein, by thunder!” is the illustration opposite page 156). “The other fellow must be the transport pilot we were told about. By thunder! Lindsay was right when he said those rascals would have to do their own dirty work for a bit. They haven’t wasted any time”. The men come towards the castle. “We won’t let ‘em in” says Biggles. Ginger was not impressed. “How long can we stay here?” “If it comes to that, how long can they stay there?” asks Biggles, reminding Ginger that they have the water supply. “We look like having to do the Horatius act after all. Von Stalhein’s face should be worth looking at when he sees us” says Biggles and they go back to the bridge where Biggles leans against a side pillar. Von Stalhein sees him first. “He stopped, advanced a few paces and stopped again. All Biggles had said about his expression came true, and revealed that he had not suspected who was in the castle”. (This is a bit of a plot hole as surely von Stalhein would have been told the names of the two new men. When he heard they were called “Biggs” and “Hepple” he would have strongly suspected them straight away, knowing both Biggles and Ginger’s unusual surnames of Bigglesworth and Hebblethwaite. There is some confusion over Ginger’s “real” name. Firstly, “Ginger” is a nickname and nowhere in any Biggles book are we told his “real” first name. Ginger first appeared in the fifth Biggles book called “The Black Peril” in 1935 where his surname is spelt ‘Habblethwaite’ with an “A” as the second letter. This is the case in all versions of the Black Peril book, until the Red Fox paperback of June 1995, when they corrected it to ‘Hebblethwaite’. They did this because in “Biggles & Co” published in 1936, Johns has Biggles refer to Ginger as “Hebblethwaite” with an “E” as the second letter and Ginger’s surname is referred to as “Hebblethwaite” thereafter. It is a common typo to have Ginger’s name spelt at “Hepplethwaite” (with two P’s rather than two B’s), Johns did it himself on occasion – see “Biggles in the Blue”, chapter 1 – and I strongly suspect Johns is making the same mistake here with the surname “Hepple”. Interestingly, the surname “Hebblethwaite” is derived from the place so called near Sedbergh in Cumbria, England. A “thwaite” is derived from the Norse word for clearing or meadow and “hebble” is a dialect term for a type of plank bridge). Biggles allows von Stalhein’s party to get to the far side of the bridge and then calls out “That’s close enough”. The men gather together to talk. “From their gesticulations, and the way they looked at the bridge, it seemed that those on the far side were contemplating an attack. Biggles squashed it by giving his assurance that the first man to step on it would never take another. He held up his Luger to let them see he was armed”. As darkness begins to fall, two men are posted guard on the far side of the bridge and the rest return to their camp. “By morning they’ll be getting thirsty and be asking us for a drink,” asserted Biggles. “Tomorrow will be another day, anyhow. We’ll take it in turns to watch, and snatch a nap”.