Into the Fire – The Scarlet Pimpernel

< center>

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel

“This man was clad in a huge-caped coat, which made his powerful figure seem preternaturally large. His hair was fair and slightly curly above his low, square brow; the eyes beneath their heavy lids looked down on her with unmistakeable kindness.”

This book is actually a collection of short stories, each a different adventure of Percy and his gang, with an ingeneous new scheme in each one. Some were more predictable than others, but I found the entire book highly enjoyable. My only complaint is that I’d like to read one written from Percy’s point of view, but that might just be me. 🙂

“In this squalid room was presented one of the most curious spectacles of these strange and troublous times: two English gentlemen, the acknowledged dandies of London drawing-rooms, busy picking locks and filing hinges like any common thouse thieves.”

The following is a list of the stories in the novel. I especially liked how Orczy worked the death of Marat into one story, and how many different disguises she came up with for Percy and the League!

Sir Percy Explains

• A Question of Passports

  Two Good Patriots

  The Old Scarecrow

  A Fine Bit of Work

  How Jean-Piere met the Scarlet Pimpernel

  Out of the Jaws of Death

  The Traitor

  The Cabaret de la Liberte

  “Needs Must –“

  A Battle of Wits

“It contained a few lines scribbed in pencil – just that foolish rhyme which to his fevered nerves was like a strong irritant, a poison which gave him an unendurable sensation of humiliation and impotence.

• We seek him here, we seek him there
  Chauvelin seeks him everywhere
  Is his in heaven or is he in hell?
  That demmed elusive Pimpernel”

Back to Novel Index