Thank you so much for your kind comments about the Lionel Chetwynd interview on our most recent Weekend Show. It's made possible by the support of Founding Members of The Mark Steyn Show - as is much of what we do here. For Victoria Day in Canada, our weekend movie date recalls Queen Victoria's highland fling, and we continue tonight with my serialization of our authentic Victorian adventure yarn, written by Conan Doyle at the apogee of Empire, the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. First published in Strand magazine in 1897, The Tragedy of the Korosko recounts the experience of western tourists at the hands of the jihadists of their day, the Mahdists. In tonight's episode, the captives are given a choice - convert to Islam or be put to the sword:
"You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things," said he. "...how can we stave them off for another day?"
"You know my advice," the dragoman answered; "I have already answered it to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next camping-place alive."
The Colonel's well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was some minutes before he could trust himself to reply.
"We'll set that aside," said he at last. "Some things are possible and some are not. This is not."
"You need only pretend."
"That's enough," said the Colonel abruptly.
Mansoor shrugged his shoulders...
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