Another volume in Murania Press‘s “Forgotten Classics of Pulp Fiction” is George Bronson-Howard‘s The Return of Yorke Norroy, which has two stories from this spy series.
Bronson-Howard (1884-1922) is a forgotten pulp author who like many started out a journalist before turning to the pulps. He had a career in government service that took him overseas to Asia and around the Pacific, which served as source material for his writing. And like some other pulpsters, he also worked in the movie industry, and even adapted his Yorke Norroy character to films. Sadly, it appears his service in WWI affected him both physically and mentally, and he took his life in 1922. The last Norroy story appeared posthumously, along with some other pulp stories.
His Yorke Norroy character is a spy, or “diplomatic agent.” Working for the U.S. government on dangerous missions, he would be “disavowed” by the government should he be caught. He gives the appearance of being an idle clubman, well liked by the ladies and all, but no hint of the man of action with a cunning mind that he really is.
This character appeared in 30 stories, short works, novels, and serials, over about 18 years, all for Street & Smith’s The Popular Magazine. A few were collected in book form, and some of these have been reprinted by other sources. I know of Norroy, Diplomatic Agent (1907), which I believe reprinted the first two series of stories from 1905 and 1906. I assume Slaves of the Lamp (1917) reprinted the seven-part series from 1912-13 about the search for a set of six jade plates with a formula for a dangerous strain of opium. The Black Book reprinted five stories from 1918. And The Devil’s Chaplain (1922) reprinted that serial from 1920.
Murania Press’s volume actually has two stories. One is the title story, reprinted from The Popular Magazine (October 1908), along with “The Curio Collector” (Dec 15 1912), which is the third of that seven-part story of the jade plates.
In “Return,” we get a The Prisoner of Zenda-like tale with a lot of political intrigue. America wants to build a base in the Mediterranean. And are looking to use a small island in the Adriatic. Then we have a pair of American twins, a young man and woman. Their late father was actually Austrian, and was the third heir to a title or two. But the other heirs have died, leaving the titles to the young man. One of those titles makes him king of that small island. But the Austrians don’t want the Americans to have the island, so they lock up the young man in a notorious prison.
Enter Yorke, who has been hanging out with the sister. His associated spy needs his help, as does the brother and sister. But there are complications. Yorke is retired, due to a severe heart condition, which he keeps secret. He must avoid any stress for two years for his heart to heal or he could die. The sister tries on her own to get her brother out. And another young man is interested in the sister, who gets involved and makes a mess of things. Will Yorke succeed in getting them all out? Or will this kill him? It’s a pretty interesting tale.
The second story, “The Curio Collector,” is apparently more in the style of other Yorke stories. While it’s a stand-alone, I’d really like to read the whole sequence. Here, Yorke is assisted in getting back one of the plates by a young lady. No idea if she’s involved with the rest of this sequence.
In addition to these two stories, we get a great introduction by Murania Press publisher Ed Hulse. It starts out giving a background on The Popular Magazine, before giving us an overview of Bronson-Howard and his life and career. Then we learn about Norroy. I hope this leads to other reprints of this character, and maybe reprints of other Bronson-Howard works if they are worth reading. If you like spy characters, check out this one. I know I’d like to see more of him.
