# The Black Company

By W. B. M. Ferguson.

"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. (Summary by Project Gutenberg, written by machine.)

- Language: English
- Subjects: Detective and mystery stories; Love stories; Criminals -- Fiction; Millionaires -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction; Temperance -- Fiction; Gangs -- Fiction; Wagers -- Fiction

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From Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.