|
|
|
The Three Musketeers by Josephine Packman This article first appeared in four parts in THE COLLECTORS' DIGEST Vol. 7 issues 82 to 84 (Oct. to Dec. 1953) and Vol. 8 issue 85 (January 85). Reproduced with permission.  The Three Musketeers are now definitely working under the patronage of Cardolak, who has no more conscience than the murderous trio when seeking to obtain possession of any treasure which might take his fancy. After their last venture in France, they return to America in Cardolak's yacht, where they 'go to ground' in the millionaire's mansion in Boston, there to remain while they plan how to obtain access to the collection of jewels which have recently been offered for sale by the Government of the Caspian Republic. These jewels, once the property of the old Russian Government and valued at £20,000,000, have been brought to London by the Caspian representative. Among them is a wonderful jewelled globe of the world, and it is this globe upon which Cardolak has cast greedy eyes. He is wealthy enough to buy the globe, but such is the nature of the man that he prefers to employ the Three Musketeers and acquire the jewel by illegitimate means. The full story of this episode is related in Union Jack No. 1083, THE QUEST OF THE JEWELLED GLOBE. Cardolak sends a formal agent ostensibly to purchase the globe, but under cover of this normal procedure the Three Musketeers make their own arrangements, which result in the murder of three men. However, all these plans go astray, as the murders bring Sexton Blake on to the scene. Blake gets to work in his usual way and eventually traces the three rogues. He catches up with them at Southampton, but they manage to get aboard the Sultan which has been slowly steaming along the Channel. Blake does not intend to let them escape again, and he commandeers a coastal patrol boat in which to pursue the yacht. Unfortunately the vessels are now in French waters, and in response to an S.O.S. for further aid, French police arrive and Blake has to hand the trio over to them. Knowing there are several charges against them in France, Blake makes up his mind to see that the trio are extradited to England, there to stand their trial for murder. The jewelled globe is found on board the yacht, and Blake has the satisfaction of handing it over to Scotland Yard. It is there that the globe is examined. On pressing a diamond stud at the peak of the Himalayas, the globe opens and its secret is revealed. It is a giant diamond, before which the Koh-i—nor, the Cullinan or the Orloff pale into insignificance. It was this for which Mathew Cardolak had plotted and failed. With the Three Musketeers once again in the hands of the police, Blake hopes they will get their deserts; but alas, with the aid of their evil patron, they escape once more. Their further adventures in France are described in the Sexton Blake Library (1st series) No. 366, THE MYSTERY OF THE SEINE, and in this story it is, as always, the trio's ruthless and cold-blooded murders which bring Blake and retribution on their trail. Some years before, Cardolak had purchased a secluded villa in Poissy, a small village on the Seine, and it is here that the trio go into hiding. From this quiet spot the Three Musketeers commence a series of daring outrages which occupy the attention of the French police for some time. These acts of banditry begin with an attack on a jeweller followed by daring bank raids, in the course of which several people are callously shot down and a well known banker is held-up in his own apartments and cold-bloodedly murdered when attempting to resist. The affair of 'the robbery of Prince Borosov' finally decides M. Dupuis to ask assistance from Sexton Blake. With his usual thoroughness Blake studies the reports of all these crimes, and then he and Tinker set out to find the authors. In the course of their investigations various clues lead them to the little village of Poissy, and it is here that Tinker is the first to discover that the Three Musketeers are at work again. Tinker becomes involved in a deadly struggle with his 'Governor's' old antagonists. He escapes, however, and is thus able to report to Blake that the Three Musketeers are at the bottom of the recent series of crimes in and around Paris. Blake is soon on their trail, and once again is able to hand over the desperate trio to the French police, hoping that this time the murderous crooks will receive 'their just deserts'. After their last adventure in France and subsequent escape from the French police, the Three Musketeers appear to have retired from their murderous criminal career; but in Union Jack No. 1147, THE ADVENTURE OF THE FIVE GIANTS, they emerge from their retirement at the request of their erstwhile patron Mathew Cardolak, to embark on a fresh criminal adventure. According to a report by a party of miners in a mountainous district of Mexico, the remains of a race of giants has been discovered, and the Mexican Government has given permission for expert anthropologists to investigate the matter. Now, an ancient Chinese legend is believed by the learned men of that country — that in the long, long ago there existed a race of giants, and that the Five Giants of Sentse started upon a journey to find new lands for the Emperor, who gave each of them a jewel, known as the Five Sacred Jewels of Asia. These jewels, if found upon or near the newly discovered skeletons are worth a fortune, and are just the bait to capture the interest of Cardolak and his agents, the Three Musketeers. It is soon known that these criminals are fitting out an expedition, and an old Chinese friend of Blakes — Hong-Lo-Soo — requests his help in the matter, for the giant skeletons and the rare jewels they possibly hide are too valuable to the world for them to be destroyed and the jewels stolen by such vandals as the Three Musketeers and their unscrupulous patron. Blake naturally agrees to help his Chinese friend, and he and Tinker set out for Mexico well prepared to meet any trouble that might arise; and trouble certainly comes to them, for the Three Musketeers soon learn that the detective is on their trail, and a murderous campaign is started against Blake and Tinker. But although Blake beats them at their own game, he is not fated to meet them, for something far beyond his control takes a hand in the game. Late one night when their camp lies in slumber — except for Blake and a peon who are on guard — there is an ominous rumbling, seemingly from the bottom of an abyss near them. It awakens Tinker and the rest of the peons employed by Blake, and as the rumbling grows louder the very earth beneath them seems to rise and fall in swiftly passing waves. From across the ravine comes a low whistling sound that rises and rises to a deafening roar, culminating in a monstrous crash, with a wild burst of red flame to the East. It is an earthquake and an eruption amongst the volcanic mountains, and it is only the fact that Blake and his party are on the side of the ravine away from the upheaval that they survive. All night long a terrific storm rages, and then a bleak morning reveals the awful damage that nature has caused. Nothing more is seen of the Three Musketeers, even when, after a terrible journey, Blake and his party at last reach the cave where the giant skeletons have been discovered. Blake finds that Hong-Lo-Soo is right — for under the spot where each skeleton had lain was hidden a jewel; the Five Sacred Jewels of Asias: a giant diamond; an enormous ruby; a mammoth pearl, still enclosed in some strange sort of quartz, which Blake discovered later, served to keep it "alive"; a great sapphire and a wonderful topaz. No wonder those arch rogues coveted such beautiful jewels. A skeleton and a jewel are handed over to the care of five different museums, and Blake and Tinker return to England satisfied that they have performed a good service to the world. As for the Three Musketeers, no more was heard of them. All Blake could discover was that Cardolak's yacht was cruising in the Gulf of Mexico for some weeks, and then one day it sailed away as mysteriously as it had come. But Sexton Blake knew that if the Musketeers still lived the future would bring proof, for while those three crooks existed, some upheaval in the underworld would always cast them to the surface. This is the last story about the Three Musketeers to be recorded in the Union Jack. The remaining stories were written for the Sexton Blake Library, presumably on account of the greater scope available for a longer yarn. In No. 199 (2nd series), there appeared one of what I should like to call 'Teed's Timeless Tales'. It is a story that is as readable today as it was nearly 30 years ago, and the plot is most certainly just as topical. The title: THE GREAT CANAL PLOT is indicative of the type of story one can expect; a plot to blow up the Suez Canal, engineered by a gang of ruthless crooks, all of whom Blake has been fighting for years, and all with their own axe to grind — Wu Ling, with his desire for yellow domination over the white races; Prince Menes, head of the 'White Flag' terrorists In Egypt, aiming for the overthrow of the British — how familiar that sounds today! — Madam Goupolis, in disgrace with Prince Menes and ready to do anything to be restored to his good favours; Plummer, or Sakr-el-Droog as he was known at that time, ready for anything which would line his pockets; The Black Eagle, with his hatred toward Society in general; and, finally, Mathew Cardolak and his henchmen the Three Musketeers. This gang of international crooks descends on the ancient city of Alexandria, there to discuss in full their evil plans, but all their scheming is to avail them nothing, for already nemesis in the shape of Sexton Blake is on their track. The old familiar tale of murders and riots has already brought Blake to Egypt, determined to find some solution to the grave problem. The Three Musketeers do not play a leading part in this story, but they are included in the plot to undermine what little real peace there is in the Middle East. They are still working under the patronage of Cardolak, who's yacht Sultan is used for the meeting of this ruthless gang. Once again their plans are foiled by Blake who causes the yacht to he bombed and sunk just off the coast near Alexandria, with the whole gang of crooks aboard. However, they all seem to bear charmed lives and escape from the sinking yacht, and thus we find the same crowd turning up in yet another attempt to cause trouble in Egypt. This story, THE CASE OF THE MUMMIFIED HAND, related in Sexton Blake Library (2nd series) No. 35, is practically a continuation of No. 199 and here again the Three Musketeers do not play a leading part. Incidentally, it is in this story that we see the end of Prince Menes. He is the cause of the plot failing, and his own plans having come to grief he poisons himself. It seems that at times Teed grew tired of certain of his characters, and usually dropped them completely and without any further reference to them, but with the Three Musketeers, as also with Prince Menes, he disposes of them fairly satisfactorily. The story of how this murderous trio are finally caught is related in Sexton Blake Library (2nd series) No. 82, THE NIGHT CLUB MYSTERY. This is an enjoyable tale with plenty of action, the setting of which is in London and on the Yorkshire moors. With the invaluable help of Tinker and, for a change, Pedro, Blake finally captures the Three Musketeers. So, at last, their murderous careers are brought to a conclusion. © Josephine Packman See also: Criminal Record: The Three Musketeers |