
A vivid portrait of turn‑of‑the‑century intrigue unfolds through a series of true‑to‑life episodes that range from high‑stakes gambling tables in Spa to daring rescues on misty mountain roads. The narrator’s witty observations on the allure of chance, the perils of speculation, and the shadowy world of illicit wagers set the stage for a cascade of uncanny incidents—fraudulent wine‑hamper schemes, vanished diamonds, and a baffling postal‑stamp puzzle. Each tale is anchored in the bustling cafés and smoky clubs of Europe, where charm and danger walk hand in hand.
Beyond the glitter of the roulette wheel, the collection weaves together daring escapes, unexpected betrayals, and the quiet heroism of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Listeners will be drawn into a world where a single misstep can turn a leisurely hunt for ortolans into a life‑threatening accident, and where the line between luck and folly blurs. The stories capture the restless spirit of an age obsessed with risk, inviting you to taste the suspense and wit of each remarkable dilemma.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (262K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Jwala Kumar Sista and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain works at The National Library of Australia.)
Release date
2020-04-20
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A Scottish writer with a taste for unusual ideas, best remembered today for an early invasion tale that imagines London threatened through a Channel Tunnel. Much of his work was nonfiction, but his fiction still gives a glimpse of late Victorian anxieties and imagination.
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