The Black Company: A mystery story: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The Black Company: A mystery story: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The Black Company: A mystery story is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Ferguson, W. B. M. (William Blair Morton) (1882–1967).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"The Black Company" by W. B. M. Ferguson is a mystery novel written in the early 20th century. Told in a witty first person, it follows ex–Princeton star and reluctant heir Peter Lawton—posing as chauffeur Henry Joyce—as he battles alcoholism, slips into a new life serving the imperious Theodore Varney and his perceptive niece Brenda, and stumbles onto a shadowy cabal whose chess-coded signals hint at a larger conspiracy. The opening of the novel traces a chaotic night that begins with a drunken dare and a wild solo drive from Princeton, during which the narrator clashes with a bronze-faced stranger and a young woman in a luxury car, and is then knocked out and robbed by a mysterious man. Awakening at a farmer’s, he seizes a chance to assume the identity of “Henry Joyce,” is hired as Brenda’s uncle’s chauffeur, and promises her he will stay sober. A newspaper report convinces the world that “Peter Lawton” died in a wreck, prompting him to remain “dead” and fight his addiction while working in secrecy. He meets the caustic, chess-obsessed Varney, senses the old man’s hidden vice, crosses paths with the slippery Arnold Frean, and receives a cryptic note that leads to a roadhouse rendezvous with a lifeless-eyed contact, Corby, who toasts “The Black Company” in buttermilk and reveals Frean as a new recruit under watch; returning home, the narrator earns Brenda’s trust and agrees to let Varney win at chess.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The Black Company: A mystery story
- Author credits: Ferguson, W. B. M. (William Blair Morton) (1882–1967)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Criminals -- Fiction
- Detective and mystery stories
- Gangs -- Fiction
- Love stories
- Millionaires -- Fiction
- Temperance -- Fiction
- United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
- Wagers -- Fiction
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Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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