GIMLET'S ORIENTAL QUEST
First Published on 26th November 1948* - 191 pages
* This information is taken from a letter
from A. P. Watt & Son to W. E. Johns in my collection
Original first edition dust jacket showing the price of 6
shillings
Later edition dust jacket showing the price of 6/6
A slightly
unusual Gimlet book this, in that Gimlet makes no appearance in the story at
all until page 97 (as does Copper) and that Trapper doesn't feature in the book
at all. Cub has been invited up to Strathcarglas, Gimlet's sporting lodge in
Scotland. We are told that Trapper has returned to Canada to visit his folks
and the Copper has been delayed in attending on account of his sick mother. Cub
has gone to Scotland alone, only to find that due to a misunderstanding, the
lodge caretaker and his wife have gone on their annual visit to Edinburgh. Cub
goes to stay at the Fisher Arms Hotel in nearby Auchrory, to await the arrival
of everybody and does some fishing in the meantime. Whilst on the riverbank, he
sees something suspicious. A man is being chased by two other men, who, it is
later ascertained are named Smith and Gray. The man being chased hides
something in a hollow tree and later is found drowned in the river. The man
turns out to be Dr. Lander and Cub befriends his son Tony, as they were staying
at the same hotel. The police don't suspect foul play but Cub and Tony do and
the following day they go looking for the hollow tree. Unfortunately, due to
heavy rains, the river is in full spate and the tree is washed away before Cub
and Tony can get to it. They follow the floating tree downstream and eventually
recover a sealed box from the tree hollow. The box contains a map and ancient
Siamese writing. Tony and his father used to live in Siam. Tony then receives a
hand written letter from his father, delivered in person by his father's
solicitors, who had been instructed to do so in the event of his death. The
letter explains everything. A Siamese friend of Dr. Lander, called Kashan
Bhandu has hidden a fortune in jade and the map reveals the location. Only Kashan
and Dr. Lander knew the location and Kashan has since died at the hands of the
Japanese. In his will he has left his fortune to Dr. Lander and with the death
of Dr. Lander it now belongs to Tony. The letter reveals how Dr. Lander was
living in fear of a man called Tuanik, who is after the treasure and who then
immediately arrives at the hotel! Tuanik and his henchmen, Smith and Gray, try
to use force to get the map from Tony. Cub is hit on the head and it is at this
juncture that Gimlet and Copper arrive. Tuanik and his men leave with a fake
map. Tony agrees to go with Gimlet and his men to Siam to recover the hoard of
treasure. Borrowing Freddy Ashton's yacht, called the "Sally",
Gimlet and the others sail to Siam but they are seen on their arrival by Tuanik.
Cub and Tony go ahead to stay at a tea house called the Little Lotus Flower and
here they are kidnapped by "policemen" and taken to Tuanik to be
tortured. Gimlet and Copper save them in the nick of time. They all jump from
the window of an opium den into a Chinese junk and this is the illustration on
the cover of the book. Going on to Kashan's former residence, now in ruins and
overrun by the jungle, our heroes follow the map to the treasure. It is hidden
in a coffin in a tomb on an island guarded by a giant crocodile. Tuanik and his
two henchmen arrive and the crocodile kills Smith. Tuanik and Gray kill the
crocodile in an attempt to save their comrade and then return to Gimlet's jeep
to try ambushing our heroes once they have recovered the priceless jade
ornaments. Here they are attacked and killed by one of Kashan's loyal members
of staff. This is in revenge for Tuanik turning Kashan over to the Japanese
during the war. The treasure is recovered and later sold for nearly a quarter
of a million pounds. Tony wants to share this with the others but they refuse
and only accept what they consider to be a fair proportion for the services
rendered.
Click here to read a fascinating story about an original signed copy of Gimlet’s Oriental Quest
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
Gimlet's Oriental Quest
Subtitle - A "King of the Commandos" Adventure.
Publication Details - originally published by Brockhampton Press
Ltd.
Frontispiece
Click on the Frontispiece to enlarge it
Click on the Paperback above to find out all about the GIMLET
Armada paperbacks and see the many DIFFERENT illustrations in them
The “Hampton Library” reprint – click on the above picture to
find out more details