"The adventures of Heine" by Edgar Wallace is a collection of espionage stories written in the early 20th century. The narrative follows Heine, a boastful German secret agent, as he recounts his wartime exploits in Britain with sardonic humor and self-aggrandizing flair. Expect sly reversals, covert schemes, and satirical portraits of both spies and the supposed “enemy,” all filtered through Heine’s unreliable bravado. The opening of the narrative finds Heine reassigned from
New York to London at the outbreak of war, where he quickly deploys agents using quirky identifiers and basks in his own cleverness. His star operative, Alexander Koos, courts a Woolwich engineer’s daughter for armament secrets but is outplayed by a young woman from British Intelligence and executed, forcing Heine to flee to Scotland. There, a supposed ally on a Highland hill proves to be a Swiss forger; Heine escapes while his colleague is arrested. Shifted to industrial propaganda in Manchester, Heine funds a fiery labor agitator, targets a chemical firm’s secret grenade plans, and clashes with the enigmatic Miss Harrymore—stealing a march on her by denouncing her as a German spy—only to learn she was actually a German agent, leaving him to spin a face-saving report as the section closes with mention of another captured operative and the introduction of Mister Haynes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Alexander and the lady -- The man who dwelt on a hill -- The lovely Miss Harrymore -- The affair of Mister Haynes -- The man from the stars -- The affair of the Allies' conference -- The word of a prince -- The Jermyn Credit Bank -- Mr. Collingrey, M.P.: pacifist! -- The grey envelope -- The murderers -- The passing of Heine -- The U-boat adventure -- Brethren of the Order -- The world dictator -- The syren -- The coming of the Bolsheviks -- The going of Heine.
Credits
an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer
Reading Level
Reading ease score: 78.7 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
