Description

The Later India Novels Part B contains two novels, The Man of a Ghost and Worth Wile; the story of Richard Wendover. The novels are typical adventure novels of the "Northwest Frontier" of British India, which were very popular in the early twentieth century in both book and film productions. The Man of a Ghost starts out in East Africa during World War I where Wendover is given a court-martial and a dishonorable discharge when he is found on duty in an apparent drunken state. Wendover and his friend, the Pathan, Shere Khan, wander over Africa and Central Asia, until finally Wendover and Shere Khan are able to prove Wendover was drugged by the medical officer. Worth Wile starts with the story of a military airplane raid that crashes in the mountains. The young airman, John Vere-Vaughan, survives the crash and is taken prisoner by the Pathans and is used in a plot to capture a British outpost. The novel continues with a flashback and introduces, Wendover's best friend, Sybil Ffoulkes, who is in love with him. Prince (and Commissar) Bailitzin who was a rival for Sybil's hand becomes a Russian secret service agent and is involved in capturing and torturing Wendover as a British secret service agent. After escaping, Wendover saves Vere-Vaughan after he is reinstated and reunited with Sybil. But soon a tragic series of events occur where Wendover has to break Shere Khan out jail, and has to flee back to the mountains.