The Riddle of the Sands | Page 4

the pitiful
inadequacy of their own secret service, had, he believed, made use of

them, to avert a great national danger. I say 'he believed', for though it
was beyond question that the danger was averted for the time, it was
doubtful whether they had stirred a foot to combat it, the secret
discovered being of such a nature that mere suspicion of it on this side
was likely to destroy its efficacy.
There, however that may be, the matter rested for a while, as, for
personal reasons which will be manifest to the reader, he and Mr
'Davies' expressly wished it to rest.
But events were driving them to reconsider their decision. These
seemed to show that the information wrung with such peril and labour
from the German Government, and transmitted so promptly to our own,
had had none but the most transitory influence on our policy. Forced to
the conclusion that the national security was really being neglected, the
two friends now had a mind to make their story public; and it was about
this that 'Carruthers' wished for my advice. The great drawback was
that an Englishman, bearing an honoured name, was disgracefully
implicated, and that unless infinite delicacy were used, innocent
persons, and, especially, a young lady, would suffer pain and indignity,
if his identity were known. Indeed, troublesome rumours, containing a
grain of truth and a mass of falsehood, were already afloat.
After weighing both sides of the question, I gave my vote emphatically
for publication. The personal drawbacks could, I thought, with tact be
neutralized; while, from the public point of view, nothing but good
could come from submitting the case to the common sense of the
country at large. Publication, there-fore, was agreed upon, and the next
point was the form it should take 'Carruthers', with the concurrence of
Mr 'Davies', was for a bald exposition of the essential facts, stripped of
their warm human envelope. I was strongly against this course, first,
because it would aggravate instead of allaying the rumours that were
current; secondly, because in such a form the narrative would not carry
conviction, and would thus defeat its own end. The persons and the
events were indissolubly connected; to evade, abridge, suppress, would
be to convey to the reader the idea of a concocted hoax. Indeed, I took
bolder ground still, urging that the story should be made as explicit and

circumstantial as possible, frankly and honestly for the purpose of
entertaining and so of attracting a wide circle of readers. Even
anonymity was undesirable. Nevertheless, certain precautions were
imperatively needed.
To cut the matter short, they asked for my assistance and received it at
once. It was arranged that I should edit the book; that 'Carruthers'
should give me his diary and recount to me in fuller detail and from his
own point of view all the phases of the 'quest', as they used to call it;
that Mr 'Davies' should meet me with his charts and maps and do the
same; and that the whole story should be written, as from the mouth of
the former, with its humours and errors, its light and its dark side, just
as it happened; with the following few limitations. The year it belongs
to is disguised; the names of persons are throughout fictitious; and, at
my instance, certain slight liberties have been taken to conceal the
identity of the English characters.
Remember, also that these persons are living now in the midst of us,
and if you find one topic touched on with a light and hesitating pen, do
not blame the Editor, who, whether they are known or not, would rather
say too little than say a word that might savour of impertinence.
E. C.
March 1903
NOTE
The maps and charts are based on British and German Admiralty charts,
with irrelevant details omitted.

1 The Letter
I HAVE read of men who, when forced by their calling to live for long
periods in utter solitude--save for a few black faces--have made it a rule
to dress regularly for dinner in order to maintain their self-respect and
prevent a relapse into barbarism. It was in some such spirit, with an

added touch of self-consciousness, that, at seven o'clock in the evening
of 23rd September in a recent year, I was making my evening toilet in
my chambers in Pall Mall. I thought the date and the place justified the
parallel; to my advantage even; for the obscure Burmese administrator
might well be a man of blunted sensibilities and coarse fibre, and at
least he is alone with nature, while I--well, a young man of condition
and fashion, who knows the right people, belongs to the right clubs, has
a safe, possibly a brilliant, future in the Foreign Office--may be
excused for