Colonel Flea is a short work (a novelette or novella) from the prolific H. Bedford-Jones (1887-1949) that first appeared in Short Stories over issues Dec. 25, 1929, and Jan. 10, 1930.
It’s another adventure tale set in China of the time period. Reprinted by Steeger Books in their “H. Bedford-Jones Library,” we get the cover art from the Dec. 25th issue, which cover featured this story, which is used as the cover here. We get the covers of both issues shown on the back.
At the time the Nationalist government of China is trying to consolidate power from the various warlords, and here they are dealing with one, more a bandit, in control of an area near Hankow (Hankou). Hankow was one of three cities that became the modern Wuhan. But this is background. The focus is on the character of Colonel Flea.
When I heard that name, for some reason I thought there was a literary character already with that name, a sterotypical British officer, maybe of a comedic nature. But I could find no evidence of such a character. Oh, well.
As always, things in this story move quickly. We see a white man who escapes after being attacked on a train by some Chinese soliders. He makes his way to a house and sneaks in. It’s the home of a local man of importance in the foreign concessions in Hankow, Jeffries Curran. He’s been in China for 10 years, nearly 30 years old, and manager of the local office of the International Imports Company. The man who snuck in is his brother, Donn Curran. While Jeffries has been a respective business man, Donn has been an adventurer and soldier of fortune in China.
Worse, Donn is really the notorious Colonel Flea, or Colonel Ko-tsao, which means “flea” in Chinese. He is wanted by the Nationalist for several actions. He is currently working for the bandit/warlord Yuan. He’s helped smuggle out Yuan’s gold, the result of gold mines in his territory, and as Yuan is about to retire, to help get him out, and receive a large reward such that he, too, can retire back to America.
Unfortunately for Donn, his brother is not as respectible a business man as he seems, having also been involved with various underhanded schemes to enrich himself that have hurt others, unlike Donn/Colonel Flea. He is friendly with the local Nationalist general.
Donn heads out to meet with his contacts, some of whom are Japanese. Yuan has been smuggling his gold to be deposited in Japanese banks. Along the way, he learns that two Americans, one being Jeffries’ fiancée, have been captured by bandits. But not really. That local Nationalist general has done this to frame Yuan.
Can Donn succeed in his mission? And rescue the two Americans? His brother has betrayed him to the Nationalists, so will he be able to get out of the trap set for him? And what will happen to the two brothers? Things move rapidly in this work.
This was a fun, if short, read. It wasn’t quite clear at first who was the bad guy. Or who deserved what. But read and find out for yourself. Another great adventure tale from Bedford-Jones!
