Time for the Sunday installment of our Tale for Our Time, a John Buchan thriller set on the great enduring fault line between east and west. In tonight's episode of Greenmantle, Richard Hannay and his comrades press on deeper into the Orient:
Before dawn we started again, and came over a pass into the vale of a big river. The winter dawn showed its gleaming stretches, ice-bound among the sprinkled meadows. I called to Blenkiron:
'I believe that river is the Euphrates,' I said.
'So,' he said, acutely interested. 'Then that's the waters of Babylon. Great snakes, that I should have lived to see the fields where King Nebuchadnezzar grazed! Do you know the name of that big hill, Major?'
'Ararat, as like as not,' I cried, and he believed me.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Seventeen of Greenmantle simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Josh, a first-weekend Founding Member from Massachusetts, write:
I was going to thank you, Mark, for the escapist thrills you have provided us with this tale especially. But upon reflection, if I want to listen to accounts of messianic Arabs, duplicitous Turks, and neurotic Germans, I can tune in to NPR.
Just so, Josh. The only reason why "the news" seems new is because a forgetful society finds itself having to re-learn ancient lessons. Stick with Tales for Our Time and you'll never need to tune in NPR.
If you've yet to hear any of our monthly audio adventures, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For more details, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership. Please join me tomorrow evening for Part Eighteen of Greenmantle.