Mr. Standfast
by John Buchan
TO THAT MOST GALLANT COMPANY
THE OFFICERS AND MEN
OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN INFANTRY BRIGADE
on the Western Front
NOTE
The earlier adventures of Richard Hannay, to which occasional reference is madein this narrative, are recounted in The Thirty-Nine Steps andGreenmantle.
J.B.
Contents
CHAPTER I
The Wicket-Gate
I spent one-third of my journey looking out of the window of a first-classcarriage, the next in a local motor-car following the course of a trout streamin a shallow valley, and the last tramping over a ridge of downland throughgreat beech-woods to my quarters for the night. In the first part I was in aninfamous temper; in the second I was worried and mystified; but the cooltwilight of the third stage calmed and heartened me, and I reached the gates ofFosse Manor with a mighty appetite and a quiet mind.
As we slipped up the Thames valley on the smooth Great Western line I hadreflected ruefully on the thorns in the path of duty. F