|
|
|
The Dr. Huxton Rymer Story by Josie Packman  Now, back to 1913 and the start of the story, which begins in U.J. No. 488, "When Greek meets Greek". In this tale we hear that Blake has met Rymer in New York and foiled one of his plans. He escapes from New York and boards a boat running to the small Republic of Salnarita in South America. The cargo turns out to be guns for the usual rebels in that particular country and it is here that Rymer also meets Mlle Yvonne Cartier for the first time and falls in love with her. At that time Yvonne is still the Adventuress and invites Rymer to join forces with her, but a reckless disobedience of the rules laid down by her had severed their relationship and Rymer had been set adrift but with well-lined pockets.He landed in Melbourne and set about enjoying the luxurious life he loved, but soon the demon drink overcame him and he was eventually down to his last shillings and living among the dregs of humanity. This adventure is related in the Easter Double Number of the Union Jack No. 493 called "The Diamond Dragon", a tale of Chinese intrigue in which Rymer gets involved, but after returning to England with his loot he eventually ends up in Bleakmoor Prison. These two stories pre-date the only Rymer one in the Boys' Friend Library of May 1913 entitled "The Great Mining Swindle". Rymer has been transferred to Bigmoor Prison which is supposed to have been the most secure of all the English Prisons, but he escapes with the aid of some of his criminal friends. It was during the course of this adventure that Rymer showed he still had some remnants of decency. Although in the earlier adventure with Yvonne he had tried to kill Tinker, in this one his better nature comes to the fore and he rescues Tinker from sinking to his death in the quicksands near Bigmoor Prison. One cannot but admire this man who could at one time submerge himself in medicine and surgery to help others, and then the next fall victim to drink and drugs. By now the true character of Dr. Huxton Rymer had been set by the author who then went on to enlarge on his theme. The great Doctor succumbed to the snares of drugs and in the adventure related in U.J. No. 512, dated 2 August, 1913, he continues his disastrous career by becoming involved in the plans of Prince Wu Ling (who had appeared on the scene by this time) and once again he lost the fight and ended up in another small Republic in South America. Time and again Rymer returned to that part of the world as there were ever rich pickings to be made and no extradition law existed between South America and the European countries or North America, thus making a safe haven for the wrongdoers. But the Chinese plots follow him there as told in U.J. No. 526, "The Yellow Octopus". The next adventure has already been mentioned — "The Sacred Sphere" in which we first heard about Rymer's treatise on Cancer. This was also a Christmas Double Number of the Union Jack, but although Rymer appeared to profit from his many crimes he was a spendthrift and soon ran through the money he obtained and often he was foiled by Sexton Blake from making the large coups he had planned. A gap of several months passed before another tale appeared, but it was worth waiting for. This was a Spring Double Number and the story was of such a length that the magnificent plot could be unfolded to the full. Dr. Rymer decides to use his remaining capital to return home to England and books a first class passage with the hopes that something big might turn up. It did, but vastly different to what Rymer expected. He comes into contact with a wealthy landowner, one Thomas Brail, who is suffering from Cancer, and thereby lands in a most unexpected situation. Thomas Brail is hoping to find the man who wrote the wonderful treatise on the cure of Cancer and when he learns that Rymer is that man he offers him a fantastic fee to cure Brail, a fee that should have satisfied even Rymer's craving for money. However, from the moment he first examines his patient a marvellous change comes over Rymer. Every thought of a criminal nature fled as he was gripped by his professional instincts. For part of the voyage home Rymer was satisfied to treat his patient and plan the further treatment when various drugs were available. But gradually the idea came to him for getting his hands on a larger sum than even the huge fee Thomas Brail had offered him. The criminal instincts once more came to the fore and in spite of Sexton Blake's eventual appearance on the scene Rymer did cure his victim but got away with a considerable amount of his wealth. This he was able to do because Brail was grateful to Rymer, not only had he been cured but re-united with his estranged wife and daughter. The plot of this story is far too long and complicated to tell in a few words, but if anyone is lucky enough to possess a copy or able to borrow one, of this Union Jack, then they are in for a real fine read. The number is U.J. 548, dated April 1914, and entitled "The Case of the Radium Patient". In my opinion this is one of the very best of Teed's fine tales. These double numbers of the Union Jack certainly did give the author scope for wonderful tales, as well as developing the character of Dr. Huxton Rymer to the full. Rymer disappeared abroad with his ill-gotten gains but soon gambled most of it away. In his years as a criminal he must have stolen or acquired in some way or another, a fairly large fortune but with his besetting sins of gambling, drink and drugs sank to so low a level that after certain happenings in Sydney he found it prudent to depart from that city, the only way being as a deck hand aboard the Japanese ship Kara Maru. The Kara Maru was plying as a passenger ship between Sydney and Hong Kong calling at Manila and various other islands on the way. But she was destined never to reach Hong Kong on this voyage, neither were the majority of her passengers and crew. A hurricane hit the ship during its course through the Great Barrier Reef, but one man was able to escape from the wreckage carrying with him the beautiful rare crimson pearl which had already been the cause of much bloodshed and was destined to do so once again. This adventure was told in Union Jack No. 564, dated 1 August, 1914, entitled "The Crimson Pearl". This was another of the grand 80,000 word double numbers which were such a feature of the period. It was the length of these stories which enabled Teed to enlarge on the character of Rymer, especially where he fought to outwit Blake who was often on his track. Very few of these early adventures happened in England, they were mostly set in the Far East or South America with an occasional one in New York. The descriptions by Teed of the countries and terrains in which Rymer worked helped to make one realise the true bravery and courage which Rymer sometimes had to show, gave one the real key to his character. The next four stories of Rymer's adventures are very good ones but as they are shorter tales, the themes are necessarily easier ones for Blake to settle. All four are, however, quite different in plot and location. No. 591, "The Mystery of the Banana Plantation" being a tale of chicanery in the financial world. No, 613, "Scoundrels All" is another version of the South American adventures but this time Rymer joins up with Beauremon again and other members of the "Council of Eleven". No. 618, "Sexton Blake, Pirate" is a good yarn about the activities of spies in war-time. Submarines and bullion abound and Rymer kills the spy early on in the story and makes his own plans for obtaining the bullion being sent from America to Germany. There is no doubt about it, these war years lent themselves to many a plot which would have been impossible in peace time. The last of this particular set of tales is recorded in No. 623, called "The Case of the `Frisco Leper". This tale opens with a description of the great San Francisco Exposition. Despite the war raging in Europe the state of California had decided that the Exposition could not be postponed and it was because of this decision that the appearance in San Francisco of Dr. Huxton Rymer was to be of great moment. Rymer appears to fall in with a man who is apparently a leper and the Dr. treats him after discovering that the disease was not true Leprosy, but Rymer's agile brain soon sees a way to make a profit out of this — blackmail. For what city containing thousands of people visiting the Exposition could afford to let it be known that a case of Leprosy was in the city? But Sexton Blake also turned up in San Francisco bent on catching an escaped German prisoner of war, so of course Rymer's plans as usual go awry. No wonder he has sworn to kill Blake. Yet when he gets the opportunity he does not act — the remains of his streak of decency are still there — he really admires Blake for his persistence. Our next tale is the last of Teed's Double Numbers. It is U.J. No. 685, "The Blue God" and introduces another of Teed's characters — Hammerton Palmer — who joins forces with Rymer in this tale of orchids and sapphires. Both very rare specimens. Never before had the wonderful blue orchid been seen by white men, nor had the large sapphire embedded in an idol hidden deep in the jungles of Borneo. This is a magnificent tale and once again shows the courage of the one-time brilliant surgeon in venturing into the jungle where few had gone before him. But he is a true gambler and fighter who, when bested by Blake, merely waits for the next opportunity to come along. The last tale in this section of our story of Dr. Rymer is quite a good one although it seems to be a copy of the earlier gold bullion one but with a different setting. This is what we hear of the Dr. in the last paragraph of this story: Coasting up through the Solomons was a schooner bearing Dr. Huxton Rymer and the rest of the scum who had escaped from Tahiti. Rymer had played for high stakes and had lost, but as he leaned over the rail smoking and watching the green water slush by, his face betrayed no trace of disappointment. He was too much of a gambler to reveal what he might feel, and when the hand was played it was to him dead.So there we leave him until five years in the future when once again his adventures are chronicled in the pages of the Union Jack and the Sexton Blake Library. |