The Three Hostages
Encyclopedia
The Three Hostages is the fourth of five Richard Hannay
novel
s by Scottish
author John Buchan
, first published in 1924
by Hodder & Stoughton
, London
.
Hannay had previously appeared in The Thirty Nine Steps
(1915
), his most famous adventure in which he battles German spies across England
and Scotland
, and two books about his activities during the First World War
, Greenmantle
(1916
) and Mr Standfast
(1919
).
, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot
, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late...
, and Sir Richard Hannay
is living in rural tranquility, having bought Fosse Manor and married Mary Lamington (both featured in Mr Standfast
); they have a small son, named Peter John. Hannay's new friend, local doctor Tom Greenslade, a well-travelled and learned man, talks ominously one night of psychology
, the subconscious
, thrillers and post-war society. Later, Dick reads a letter from his old boss Sir Walter Bullivant
, warning him that he will soon be asked to undertake another job for the country.
, asking Hannay to help find her. Later that day, MacGillivray visits and tells Hannay of a sinister criminal organisation, controlling the mass of disturbed and disordered minds left over from the Great War, and tracked by the police forces of the world. Faced with capture, the leaders had taken three hostages, Victor's daughter, an aristocratic student and a young boy, sending each of their families a mysterious poem to prove the kidnappings were linked. He also explains that they have only until June to round up the gang, and that the hostages must be safe by then.
Hannay is adamant that he cannot help, but his third visitor that day, Sir Arthur Warcliff, tells him about his missing son, and Hannay is drawn into the chase. That night, he lies awake pondering the lines of doggerel
sent to the families, and connects them to something Greenslade had said recently. Next day he tells Greenslade all, and bids him remember where he drew his phrases, two of which, concerning a blind woman spinning
and a barn
in Norway
, matched verses from the poem, while the third in Greenslade's speech referred to a curiosity shop
run by an elderly Jew
, which seems to bear no correspondence to the poem's reference to the "Fields of Eden
". Greenslade is baffled, but Hannay recalls a hymn
mentioning the Fields of Eden, which Greenslade connects with his vague memories.
Another day's pondering gets them no closer, until Hannay breaks his pipe. Suddenly Greenslade remembers an evening in a country pub, where a man named Medina had broken his pipe as he hummed the tune, and at the same meeting mentioned the ideas echoed in the poem.
. Macgillivray briefs him on their enemies, and soon after Hannay meets with Medina, a handsome and accomplished man who Hannay finds he likes a lot, but doesn't yet take into his confidence. He sees Sandy again, who is suspicious of Medina, and the three attend a meeting of an elite dining club, where something Medina says affects Sandy extremely - he becomes rude and angry, and tries to drag Hannay away, but Hannay refuses and walks home with Medina. They stop at Medina's house for a pipe, and there Hannay has a strange dreamlike experience of which he remembers little, only later realising that Medina attempted to hypnotise
him and that he somehow resisted.
He wakes next day feeling ill, and visits a Doctor Newhover, whose name was planted in his head and who refers him on to a masseuse
named Madame Breda, in whose house he also sees a strange young girl. He is again hypnotised, by unseen hands and a strange voice, and again resists. He later reports his experiences to Sandy, who urges him to watch Medina closely and makes plans to investigate the house of the masseuse, and then to take his researches to Europe
.
For some time Hannay hangs around Medina, one day attending a secret dance-hall with his friend Archie Roylance, where he sees a beautiful girl with dead eyes led away by Medina's suspicious butler, but learns little. He visits Newhover again, and learns that he plans to head to Norway
. At last, visiting Medina, he is taken to the library where he was first hypnotized, and introduced to Medina's mother, a striking, frightening, blind old woman. He is again hypnotised, and made to do demeaning tasks, until they are sure he is under their control. He hears of Medina's plans to meet with one Kharama, and learns the gang plans to break up by midsummer
, before he faints from exhaustion.
Arriving there, he sees Newhover head off by boat, and follows at a discreet distance. Knowing Newhover's heading, he leaves his boat at the village before, bidding the pilot to await his return, and heads overland to Merdal. There, not wishing to be seen at the inn by Newhover, he approaches some locals to find lodging, and is amazed to meet Herr Gaudian, a German
engineer he met during the events of Greenmantle
. Gaudian reveals he knows Newhover, in truth a former German agent, and agrees to help Hannay. Hannay takes lodgings alongside Gaudian, and learns of a farm in the hills leased to an Englishman ; next day they watch Newhover travel up there, and the man he replaces head down to the village.
They spy out the place, but learn little until the second night, when Hannay, heading to the farm, sees Newhover hurrying anxiously down the hill ; he heads into the scrub to avoid being seen, and comes across someone scrambling through the bushes. The man falls into a stream, and Hannay rescues him, and recognises Lord Mercot, one of the hostages. They feed and bathe him, and hear his broken story of hypnotised abduction, but then must persuade him to return to his captors, until such time as the other hostages can be found, promising Gaudian will be keeping an eye. The brave boy heads back to his prison, and Hannay heads for his rendezvous with Archie Roylance. Despite the weather, he makes it safe back to England, and returns to London and Medina.
shop, clearly a front. He arranges a housebreaking expert to let him in by night, and explores, finding the shop backs on to a larger and newer house; he sees a man there he recognises from his time under hypnosis at Medina's, and following the sound of music finds himself in a room overlooking the dance club where he saw Odell, Medina's butler. To his shock, he sees his old friend Turpin there, dancing with his own wife Mary.
He meets Mary later at her aunts' house, and learns she has been working for Sandy, who also knows about the Fields of Eden; they have found the missing girl, Adela Victor, disguised as one of the dancers at the club, but are no closer to finding the little boy. Hannay is invited to stay at Medina's house, but before he moves there he hears from Mary that Archie Roylance has been to the club, been upset by Odell's treatment of the girl and revealed Turpin's identity. Hannay visits Roylance in hospital, where he was recovering from having been beaten by Odell, but Turpin has disappeared - Hannay later learns he was taken, part-hypnotised by Kharama, to a strange house; there Turpin shakes off his paralysis, sees his girl in the house, and plays quiet for a time.
Hannay moves in with Medina, whose cool facade has weakened somewhat, and hears that Sandy has been spotted in London. For a week he stays at the house, under close scrutiny, but learns little until he gets a telegram from Gaudian, saying Mercot and his captors have fought and Gaudian has had to lock them all up, bringing Mercot home himself. Tom Greenslade visits, with a message from Mary saying Turpin and Adela Victor are safe. Hannay discovers that Medina's plans to liquidate his gang have been brought forward, and manages to warn Mary.
Sandy briefly drops in on Hannay and Medina at a dinner of the Thursday Club, from where Hannay goes to the dance club and sees the staff rounded up and Turpin soundly beat Odell; Mary visits Madame Breda once more, leaving with a bundle in her arms and police swarming the house behind her; Hannay returns to Medina's house, and reveals he knows all, pleading with Medina to hand over the boy. Despite the upset to his plans, Medina is cool, but shaken somewhat when Kharama enters and reveals himself as none other than Sandy Arbuthnot, who has looked after Turpin and Adela at Medina's request, and now threatens to expose him if he refuses to heal the child. Lavater, an old friend of Sandy long lost to Medina, is discovered to be Medina's private secretary
, and to hold many secrets, but still Medina holds out. Mary enters with the strange little girl from Madame Breda's house; she has become a powerful figure of wrath, and threatens to disfigure vain Medina if he does not cure the child; he gives in, restores the boy's mind, and they return him to his joyous father. Later, Hannay and Mary join Adela, Turpin, Mercot, and Gaudian in celebration.
for a spell. Soon he, Mary, their son and Doctor Greenslade are in the Scottish Highlands
for the deerstalking season. Soon Archie arrives with news that Medina is at a neighbouring lodge, and Hannay prepares for a showdown. After a long and complex stalk through the crag
s, Hannay, with no bullets, climbs a dangerous chimney, only to have his hand shot by Medina; he struggles to the top, and Medina follows, but takes a bad turn and gets stuck. He loses his gun, and Hannay lowers a rope to him, but the exhausted Medina is too much for one-handed Hannay to raise up, and lowering him wears through the rope until it breaks, dropping Medina to his death. Hannay falls back exhausted, but is found alive and safe next day.
with Patrick Barr
playing Richard Hannay was broadcast by the BBC.
The story was adapted for television by the BBC
in 1977. Written by John Prebble
and directed by Clive Donner
, the 85-minute television film The Three Hostages
starred Barry Foster
as Hannay, Diana Quick
as Mary, Peter Blythe
as Sandy Arbuthnot and John Castle
as Medina.
It was shown in the United States by PBS
.
(1936
), although he also appears as a minor character in The Courts of the Morning
(1929)
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
author John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir was a Scottish novelist, historian and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation....
, first published in 1924
1924 in literature
The year 1924 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Ford Madox Ford publishes the first book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928.-New books:*Michael Arlen - The Green Hat...
by Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Hannay had previously appeared in The Thirty Nine Steps
The Thirty-nine Steps
The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
(1915
1915 in literature
The year 1915 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* May 3 - In Flanders Fields is written by Canadian poet John McCrae....
), his most famous adventure in which he battles German spies across England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and two books about his activities during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Greenmantle
Greenmantle
Greenmantle is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character of Richard Hannay, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London...
(1916
1916 in literature
The year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...
) and Mr Standfast
Mr Standfast
Mr Standfast is the third of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1919 by Hodder & Stoughton, London.It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Greenmantle ; Hannay's first and best-known adventure, The Thirty-Nine Steps , is set in the...
(1919
1919 in literature
The year 1919 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain return to Somerville College, Oxford, to complete their education following war service.*Two paintings by E. E...
).
Plot introduction
After the War, Hannay is married to Mary and living peacefully in the CotswoldsCotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot
Sandy Arbuthnot (fiction)
Ludovic "Sandy" Gustavus Arbuthnot, later 16th Lord Clanroyden is a fictional heroic character who appears in various books by John Buchan in the Richard Hannay series. These books include Greenmantle, The Three Hostages, The Courts of the Morning, and The Island of Sheep, but not the first in...
, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late...
Plot summary
It is some time after the warWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and Sir Richard Hannay
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
is living in rural tranquility, having bought Fosse Manor and married Mary Lamington (both featured in Mr Standfast
Mr Standfast
Mr Standfast is the third of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1919 by Hodder & Stoughton, London.It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Greenmantle ; Hannay's first and best-known adventure, The Thirty-Nine Steps , is set in the...
); they have a small son, named Peter John. Hannay's new friend, local doctor Tom Greenslade, a well-travelled and learned man, talks ominously one night of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, the subconscious
Subconscious
The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a definition-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
, thrillers and post-war society. Later, Dick reads a letter from his old boss Sir Walter Bullivant
Sir Walter Bullivant
Sir Walter Bullivant is a fictional character created by the Scottish thriller writer John Buchan for his series of novels featuring the spy Richard Hannay. He plays small but significant roles in both The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle....
, warning him that he will soon be asked to undertake another job for the country.
The three hostages
Next day, Julius Victor visits Hannay and tells him his daughter Adela has been kidnapped and held hostageHostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
, asking Hannay to help find her. Later that day, MacGillivray visits and tells Hannay of a sinister criminal organisation, controlling the mass of disturbed and disordered minds left over from the Great War, and tracked by the police forces of the world. Faced with capture, the leaders had taken three hostages, Victor's daughter, an aristocratic student and a young boy, sending each of their families a mysterious poem to prove the kidnappings were linked. He also explains that they have only until June to round up the gang, and that the hostages must be safe by then.
Hannay is adamant that he cannot help, but his third visitor that day, Sir Arthur Warcliff, tells him about his missing son, and Hannay is drawn into the chase. That night, he lies awake pondering the lines of doggerel
Doggerel
Doggerel is a derogatory term for verse considered of little literary value. The word probably derived from dog, suggesting either ugliness, puppyish clumsiness, or unpalatability in the 1630s.-Variants:...
sent to the families, and connects them to something Greenslade had said recently. Next day he tells Greenslade all, and bids him remember where he drew his phrases, two of which, concerning a blind woman spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
and a barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, matched verses from the poem, while the third in Greenslade's speech referred to a curiosity shop
Curiosity Shop
Curiosity Shop was an American children's educational television program produced by ABC-TV in 1971, capitalizing on the success of Sesame Street....
run by an elderly Jew
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, which seems to bear no correspondence to the poem's reference to the "Fields of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
". Greenslade is baffled, but Hannay recalls a hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
mentioning the Fields of Eden, which Greenslade connects with his vague memories.
Another day's pondering gets them no closer, until Hannay breaks his pipe. Suddenly Greenslade remembers an evening in a country pub, where a man named Medina had broken his pipe as he hummed the tune, and at the same meeting mentioned the ideas echoed in the poem.
The mysterious Mr Medina
Hannay heads to London to meet Macgillivray, and briefly runs into his old friend Sandy ArbuthnotSandy Arbuthnot (fiction)
Ludovic "Sandy" Gustavus Arbuthnot, later 16th Lord Clanroyden is a fictional heroic character who appears in various books by John Buchan in the Richard Hannay series. These books include Greenmantle, The Three Hostages, The Courts of the Morning, and The Island of Sheep, but not the first in...
. Macgillivray briefs him on their enemies, and soon after Hannay meets with Medina, a handsome and accomplished man who Hannay finds he likes a lot, but doesn't yet take into his confidence. He sees Sandy again, who is suspicious of Medina, and the three attend a meeting of an elite dining club, where something Medina says affects Sandy extremely - he becomes rude and angry, and tries to drag Hannay away, but Hannay refuses and walks home with Medina. They stop at Medina's house for a pipe, and there Hannay has a strange dreamlike experience of which he remembers little, only later realising that Medina attempted to hypnotise
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
him and that he somehow resisted.
He wakes next day feeling ill, and visits a Doctor Newhover, whose name was planted in his head and who refers him on to a masseuse
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
named Madame Breda, in whose house he also sees a strange young girl. He is again hypnotised, by unseen hands and a strange voice, and again resists. He later reports his experiences to Sandy, who urges him to watch Medina closely and makes plans to investigate the house of the masseuse, and then to take his researches to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
For some time Hannay hangs around Medina, one day attending a secret dance-hall with his friend Archie Roylance, where he sees a beautiful girl with dead eyes led away by Medina's suspicious butler, but learns little. He visits Newhover again, and learns that he plans to head to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. At last, visiting Medina, he is taken to the library where he was first hypnotized, and introduced to Medina's mother, a striking, frightening, blind old woman. He is again hypnotised, and made to do demeaning tasks, until they are sure he is under their control. He hears of Medina's plans to meet with one Kharama, and learns the gang plans to break up by midsummer
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
, before he faints from exhaustion.
The farm in Norway
Hannay arranges with his friend Archie Roylance to be flown home from Norway when the time comes, and is taken to meet Kharama, an impressive but sinister Indian who discusses hypnotism with Medina. Later, he gets a note from Sandy, arranging a meeting. Telling Medina he is ill and needs a week's rest, he fixes a rendezvous with Roylance and heads home to Fosse, where he sets up a pretence of being in his sickbed. He meets Sandy and they share what they have found, and then slips onto the boat taking Dr Newhover to Norway.Arriving there, he sees Newhover head off by boat, and follows at a discreet distance. Knowing Newhover's heading, he leaves his boat at the village before, bidding the pilot to await his return, and heads overland to Merdal. There, not wishing to be seen at the inn by Newhover, he approaches some locals to find lodging, and is amazed to meet Herr Gaudian, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
engineer he met during the events of Greenmantle
Greenmantle
Greenmantle is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character of Richard Hannay, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London...
. Gaudian reveals he knows Newhover, in truth a former German agent, and agrees to help Hannay. Hannay takes lodgings alongside Gaudian, and learns of a farm in the hills leased to an Englishman ; next day they watch Newhover travel up there, and the man he replaces head down to the village.
They spy out the place, but learn little until the second night, when Hannay, heading to the farm, sees Newhover hurrying anxiously down the hill ; he heads into the scrub to avoid being seen, and comes across someone scrambling through the bushes. The man falls into a stream, and Hannay rescues him, and recognises Lord Mercot, one of the hostages. They feed and bathe him, and hear his broken story of hypnotised abduction, but then must persuade him to return to his captors, until such time as the other hostages can be found, promising Gaudian will be keeping an eye. The brave boy heads back to his prison, and Hannay heads for his rendezvous with Archie Roylance. Despite the weather, he makes it safe back to England, and returns to London and Medina.
The Fields of Eden
He spends some days with Medina, including another meeting with Kharama, to little avail, but on hearing the hymn mentioned by Greenslade at the start of his quest he is inspired to investigate London for a place suggesting the "Fields of Eden", calling in his old boss Bullivant, an expert on old London, to help. They find mention of a pleasure-resort of that name, and Hannay travels to where it stood and finds an antiqueAntiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
shop, clearly a front. He arranges a housebreaking expert to let him in by night, and explores, finding the shop backs on to a larger and newer house; he sees a man there he recognises from his time under hypnosis at Medina's, and following the sound of music finds himself in a room overlooking the dance club where he saw Odell, Medina's butler. To his shock, he sees his old friend Turpin there, dancing with his own wife Mary.
He meets Mary later at her aunts' house, and learns she has been working for Sandy, who also knows about the Fields of Eden; they have found the missing girl, Adela Victor, disguised as one of the dancers at the club, but are no closer to finding the little boy. Hannay is invited to stay at Medina's house, but before he moves there he hears from Mary that Archie Roylance has been to the club, been upset by Odell's treatment of the girl and revealed Turpin's identity. Hannay visits Roylance in hospital, where he was recovering from having been beaten by Odell, but Turpin has disappeared - Hannay later learns he was taken, part-hypnotised by Kharama, to a strange house; there Turpin shakes off his paralysis, sees his girl in the house, and plays quiet for a time.
Hannay moves in with Medina, whose cool facade has weakened somewhat, and hears that Sandy has been spotted in London. For a week he stays at the house, under close scrutiny, but learns little until he gets a telegram from Gaudian, saying Mercot and his captors have fought and Gaudian has had to lock them all up, bringing Mercot home himself. Tom Greenslade visits, with a message from Mary saying Turpin and Adela Victor are safe. Hannay discovers that Medina's plans to liquidate his gang have been brought forward, and manages to warn Mary.
The round-up
We learn in an aside of a dowdy but somehow elegant district visitor coming to the house of Madame Breda in Palmyra Square, befriending the maid but being warned off by her mistress. Hannay continues to cling to Medina, until at last Greenslade visits again, and instructs Hannay to come to the dance club the following night, leaving a door to Medina's unlocked, while Mercot travels home by train and Turpin, having awakened Adela from her trance, is held in the mysterious house while she sets off once more for the club, and around Britain, Europe and the world the police close in on a variety of people and places.Sandy briefly drops in on Hannay and Medina at a dinner of the Thursday Club, from where Hannay goes to the dance club and sees the staff rounded up and Turpin soundly beat Odell; Mary visits Madame Breda once more, leaving with a bundle in her arms and police swarming the house behind her; Hannay returns to Medina's house, and reveals he knows all, pleading with Medina to hand over the boy. Despite the upset to his plans, Medina is cool, but shaken somewhat when Kharama enters and reveals himself as none other than Sandy Arbuthnot, who has looked after Turpin and Adela at Medina's request, and now threatens to expose him if he refuses to heal the child. Lavater, an old friend of Sandy long lost to Medina, is discovered to be Medina's private secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
, and to hold many secrets, but still Medina holds out. Mary enters with the strange little girl from Madame Breda's house; she has become a powerful figure of wrath, and threatens to disfigure vain Medina if he does not cure the child; he gives in, restores the boy's mind, and they return him to his joyous father. Later, Hannay and Mary join Adela, Turpin, Mercot, and Gaudian in celebration.
The showdown
After a restful spell in the country, Sandy warns Hannay that Medina, never accused of any crimes, may be out for revenge, and advises him to head to ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
for a spell. Soon he, Mary, their son and Doctor Greenslade are in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
for the deerstalking season. Soon Archie arrives with news that Medina is at a neighbouring lodge, and Hannay prepares for a showdown. After a long and complex stalk through the crag
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s, Hannay, with no bullets, climbs a dangerous chimney, only to have his hand shot by Medina; he struggles to the top, and Medina follows, but takes a bad turn and gets stuck. He loses his gun, and Hannay lowers a rope to him, but the exhausted Medina is too much for one-handed Hannay to raise up, and lowering him wears through the rope until it breaks, dropping Medina to his death. Hannay falls back exhausted, but is found alive and safe next day.
Characters in The Three Hostages
- Richard HannayRichard HannayMajor-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
, a retired soldier and sometime intelligence man- Mary, his wife, also a former intelligence worker
- Sandy ArbuthnotSandy Arbuthnot (fiction)Ludovic "Sandy" Gustavus Arbuthnot, later 16th Lord Clanroyden is a fictional heroic character who appears in various books by John Buchan in the Richard Hannay series. These books include Greenmantle, The Three Hostages, The Courts of the Morning, and The Island of Sheep, but not the first in...
, a resourceful polyglot friend of Hannay
- Sir Walter BullivantSir Walter BullivantSir Walter Bullivant is a fictional character created by the Scottish thriller writer John Buchan for his series of novels featuring the spy Richard Hannay. He plays small but significant roles in both The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle....
, a senior man in the intelligence service- MacGillivray, Bullivant's right-hand man
- Dr Tom Greenslade, the well-travelled local doctor
- Julius Victor, a very wealthy American banker
- Adela Victor, his nineteen-year-old daughter
- The Marquis de la Tour du Pin, Adela's fiance, an old friend of Hannay
- Adela Victor, his nineteen-year-old daughter
- The Duke of Alcester, an elder statesman
- Lord Mercot, Alcester's grandson, an Oxford undergraduate
- Sir Arthur Warcliff, a national hero
- David Warcliff, Sir Arthur's ten-year-old son
- Dominick Medina, a charming and gifted politician, poet and celebrity
- His mother, a sightless but impressive old lady
- Dr Newhover, a suspicious medical man
- Madame Breda, a masseuse used by Newhover
- Kharama, an Eastern mystic
- Herr Gaudian, a German engineer and friend of Hannay
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 1952 a six-part series The Three HostagesThe Three Hostages (TV series)
The Three Hostages was a British television series which aired on the BBC in 1952. It was an adaptation of the novel The Three Hostages by John Buchan featuring his character Richard Hannay who is played by Patrick Barr. It consisted of six 30 minutes episodes...
with Patrick Barr
Patrick Barr
Patrick David Barr was a British film and television actor.Born in Akola, India, Patrick Barr went from stage to screen with The Merry Men of Sherwood . He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types...
playing Richard Hannay was broadcast by the BBC.
The story was adapted for television by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1977. Written by John Prebble
John Prebble
John Edward Curtis Prebble, FRSL, OBE was an English/Canadian journalist, novelist, documentarian and historian. He is best known for his studies of Scottish history.-Early life:...
and directed by Clive Donner
Clive Donner
Clive Stanley Donner was a British film director who was a defining part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing But the Best, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and What's New Pussycat?...
, the 85-minute television film The Three Hostages
The Three Hostages (film)
The Three Hostages is a 1977 British television film directed by Clive Donner and based on the John Buchan thriller novel The Three Hostages. It starred Barry Foster, Diana Quick, John Castle and David Markham. Foster played the lead role of Richard Hannay, a retired British soldier who works...
starred Barry Foster
Barry Foster (actor)
Barry Foster was a British actor who appeared in numerous film roles and is known for his leading role as a Dutch detective in the ITV drama series, Van der Valk, which spanned five series over 20 years from 1972....
as Hannay, Diana Quick
Diana Quick
-Life:Quick was born in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of a dentist's four children. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, Miss Davis, who encouraged her to pursue acting...
as Mary, Peter Blythe
Peter Blythe
Peter Blythe was a British character actor, best known as Samuel "Soapy Sam" Ballard on Rumpole of the Bailey.-Early life:...
as Sandy Arbuthnot and John Castle
John Castle
John Castle is an English actor. Castle has acted in theatre, film and television. He is well known for his role as Postumus in the 1976 BBC television adaptation of I, Claudius and for playing Geoffrey in the 1968 film, The Lion in Winter. He also played Dr...
as Medina.
It was shown in the United States by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
See also
The final Richard Hannay novel by John Buchan is The Island of SheepThe Island of Sheep
The Island of Sheep is a novel by John Buchan. It is part of the series featuring Richard Hannay and Sandy Arbuthnot.-Plot summary:...
(1936
1936 in literature
The year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Life magazine is first published.* The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is established in the UK.-New books:...
), although he also appears as a minor character in The Courts of the Morning
The Courts of the Morning
The Courts of the Morning is a 1929 adventure novel by John Buchan, featuring his character Sandy Arbuthnot. The prologue is narrated by Richard Hannay, so the novel is sometimes included in Buchan's Hannay series...
(1929)
External links
- The Three Hostages HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
from 'Project Gutenberg Australia' - A review of the book from the John Buchan Society
- Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions and links to used copies