The Sacred Scimiter - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

And so we continue with the unusual adventures of Dave and Will Hope - the twin aviators who seem to be known around the world for having been the first individuals to make a non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.  I did not thin author William Dixon Bell could take these boys on any wilder adventures than they faced in the last book, but Bell did not disappoint.  This book finds the boys thrown smack dab into the middle of a Holy War, with warring religious factions in the Arabian deserts.  And the title?  Well, let's just say the title to this book does not actually come into play until, quite literally, the very end of the story.

 

The Sacred Scimiter picks up directly after the end of the last book. Astute readers will recall that at the end of the previous story, the Hope Twins were flying to Teheran (which, for those who do not know, is the capitol and largest city in Iran!) with Theodore Curtis and the young woman (who believed she was a goddess) they rescued from the Tibetan mountains.  Well, as this first chapter opens, the brothers and Theodore Curtis have arrived in Teheran - the only thing I was left wondering is - what happened to the girl?  There is only the briefest mention of their adventures in the previous book and how they rescued the girl; yet, there is no mention of her and Curtis falling for one another, and Curtis' decision to take her home with him. In fact, Curtis seems to have completely forgotten about her, as he chats with Dave and Will before taking off on his own.  Are readers left to believe the girl decided to take off on her own as well, or was she safely stored away somewhere, and Curtis just did not feel any need to mention her to the boys?  Whatever the reason, I must say that unresolved plot threads are always quite annoying...

 

As soon as Curtis takes off, the boys are met by a mysterious woman - a Persian woman who happens to speak English - a woman who is in desperate need of help - a woman who is being watched by a strange man with a bent nose and damaged ear - a woman who is willing to pay the boys $25,000 (which would be more than $570,000 in today's dollars!!!) to fly her anywhere and everywhere she needs to go to accomplish a mission about which she cannot tell them - a woman who, as it turns out, is not a woman at all, but a man in disguise!  Once again, the boys undertake a strange mission after being hired by a mysterious stranger (a plot element that is a commonality between the two books) - only this time, the brothers have no clue where they are heading with each flight, and they must deal with the odd bent-nosed man who keeps turning up everywhere they go.  To make matters worse, each time they land, their mysterious benefactor takes off, leaving them to fend for themselves in Arabian countries where they are looked at with suspicion and treated with less than respect.

 

The author spends a considerable amount of time talking about the Muslim religion, their religious practices, and their war against British rule.  Interestingly, this was likely taken from the real "holy war" that was going on at the time this book was written, as between 1936 and 1939, there was an Arab revolt in Palestine, fighting against the British rule and its policies related to Jewish immigration and the sale of land in the area.  In the story, Dave and Will find themselves in the middle of the war, slowly learning that their benefactor is a key player in this war.  Surprisingly, Bell does not have his twins take a side in the matter - in fact, they persistently complain about their distrust of their benefactor and their desire not to do anything illegal or that would place them in a precarious position with the laws of the lands they are forced to visit.  Ultimately, the man they are helping gets what he is after (the "sacred scimiter" that is somehow important to the Arabian cause, yet it is never mentioned or seen until the very last chapter, with its importance not explained until the very last paragraph of the book!), and the Hope twins are able to escape all of the turmoil of the area with the ability to finally get out from under the thumb of their benefactor.

 

The subject matter is a very odd one for a children's book, with a heavy emphasis on the war and the religious aspects of the people involved.  There is a certain level of mystery surrounding their benefactor's motives and real identity, and there is plenty of adventures as the boys fly from place to place; but the heavy emphasis on political and religious intrigue made this book read more like an adult story of spies and espionage than a children's mystery / adventure book.  And speaking of the religious aspect, at one point when the boys are flying over Kirkuk, which is a large oil field in Northern Iraq, their passenger points to the area that many believe to be the "fiery furnace" into which the king threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for refusing to worship him (p. 100).  This location is, in reality, Baba Gurgur (literally "Father of Fire" - The Eternal Fire at Baba Gurgur), which contains a fire that is alleged to have been burning for more than 4,000 years!  Bell also has the boys come across a silversmith who claims he and his people "are the famous silversmiths of Amara ... in addition are the descendants of John the Baptist" (p. 138).  This is likely a reference to the Mandaeans, who revere John the Baptist and believe he was the final and most important prophet.  Later in the story, while flying over the Dead Sea, David jokingly asks, "Do you suppose that sea is the pillar of salt that Lot's wife turned into?" (p. 189).  In addition to all of this, the author also takes the twins into what is referred to as the Great Mosque - in the book it is called "Ka'ba" (p. 217), which in the real world is more commonly spelled Kaaba (Kaaba - The Great Mosque).  Bell's explicit descriptions and references to religious locations and stories leads one to question whether Bell was a student of the world's religions, or if perhaps, he was a Christian who had a good deal of knowledge regarding other religions (and I say that because in both books, the Hope Twins are skeptical and questioning of religious beliefs that do not acknowledge the one true God and the history set forth in the Bible).

 

Thankfully, there were not more adventures of the Hope Twins written after this book.  I have no idea how these books were received back in the late 1930s when they were first published, but they definitely do not hold up well, especially against today's world views, and the plot and characters in this particular book are much too intense for a pre-teen audience.  I would have to agree with the author of the University of Texas webpage on the author, in which he states that Bell never appears "to have made a great success as an author of novels for teenage readers" (William Dixon Bell) - because based on these two books alone, I honestly cannot imagine too many teens or pre-teens who would like these books!

 

I'm just glad to have both of these behind me now, so I can move on to "hopefully" better reading!

RATING:  6 magnificently jeweled scimiters out of 10 for sending these adventurous young aviators into areas and dangers around the world that most series book writers would never dream of taking their sleuths! 

The Secret of Tibet - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

This book is part of a series featuring Will and Dave Hope, two young aviators who happen to be twin brothers.  You do not come across too many series books which feature twins (The Bobbsey Twins are probably the first, and most popular, to come to mind), so when I come across any, I pick them up.  This particular series was mentioned in a Facebook group for collectors of children's series, and thankfully, the two books were not too difficult to find with dust jacket.  Published by Goldsmith in 1938 (although one website about the author indicates this book came out in 1938, while the next came out in 1939 - William Dixon Bell - however, both of my books show a copyright date of 1938), the books feature a strong continuity, as one book picks up literally right after the ending of the book before it.

 

The Secret of Tibet introduces readers to Will and Dave Hope, twin brothers who are in Shanghai, China after winning a contest by being the first flyers to cross the Pacific Ocean non-stop.  While there, they meet a stranger by the name of Theodore Curtis, who engages their services to fly him to the hidden city of Tibet, where he believes his friend, Professor Alfred Noll, is being held captive.  The Hope twins are suspicious at first, but Curtis convinces them and offers to have the National Scientific Society pay their expenses (but, sadly, no salary).  The boys' hesitation ends when a mysterious Chinaman with a scarred face appears everywhere they turn - and when Will is knocked unconscious after catching someone trying to sabotage their plane, the brothers realize they must help Curtis, as his friend (a fellow American) could be in serious trouble!

 

The story takes some rather unusual and, well, rather unbelievable turns as it progresses.  While the fancy, trick flying could be possible, the number of instances that the plane takes off and lands in places with little runway space is a bit far-fetched.  And when the twins, along with Curtis, find the hidden village, they come across a young woman - who happens to be Caucasian! - who thinks herself a goddess (actually, she believes she is a mixture: half Drolma, goddess of mercy, and half Dordjelutru, the god of the highest mountain [p. 126]).  And she happens to be quite fluent with the English language.  And she happens to believe the scar-faced Chinaman is a ruler of the people who can be trusted.  I cannot imagine what Bell was thinking when he wrote these elements into the story.  Plus, for this to be a book aimed at "boys and girls," as the back of the dust jacket proclaims, the fact that this girl is "almost naked" (p. 123), as can be seen on the dust jacket cover art, is a bit too risque for young readers!

 

As one might expect, the story does feature a lot of flying, and there is even a battle in the sky when the Chinaman and his villainous cohort chase our twin heroes in their speedy yellow plane, shooting a machine gun at the Hope twins!  Despite the damage done to their plane, the boys manage to climb down into a wooded area in the middle of nowhere, between the mountains, to find exactly the type of wood they need to make the necessary repairs.  How convenient is that?!  Of course, the boys ultimately outwit the villains, and not only do they rescue Prof. Noll (who they find to be naked as well [p. 177] - what is it with Bell and his naked characters?), but they also manage to sneak out the young goddess girl, who takes an instant liking to Curtis and agrees to leave her home where she is worshiped to start a new life in the outside world with Theodore Curtis!

 

One thing that did surprise me (and it was a pleasant surprise, considering some of the material in this book!) was the twins' refusal to believe in reincarnation when the young "goddess" tells them she has been reincarnated a thousand times.  Dave firmly tells the girl, "...you should be ashamed to claim to be a goddess.  There is only one God - the God who moved upon the face of the waters and gathered them together.  To Him only I pray" (p. 132).  It's not very often you see a series book character so bluntly express their belief in God and to stand strong like Dave does with his conviction of there only being one true God.  Sure, other series characters make vague references to attending church on Sundays, but outside of Christian books, I cannot recall another series that states a belief in God so firmly as this one does.  It rather made up for some of the other nonsense that goes on in this story.

 

While some online sites negatively critique Bell's writing, particularly with some of his dialogue, I actually enjoyed the banter between Dave and Will - it was fun and, to a certain extent, felt natural, with the boys constantly making snarky comments to one another.  Some of the "native" language and pidgin English is rather off-putting at times; however, the depiction of the Chinaman and the other characters the Hope twins meet along the way are nothing more than a reflection of the time in which the story was written (remember, the book was published nearly 90 years ago, and American views on foreigners, particularly between the two World Wars, were not exactly respectful).  Thus, I simply put them in that context, and they did not bother me as much.

 

One thing to note - I had assumed that this book and the next one were the only two books in the "Hope Twins" series; however, it appears there was an earlier book, The Lost Aviators (published more than ten years prior in 1924) that is the first book to feature the flying brothers.  Since this book makes considerable reference to the boys' famous flight across the Pacific, and the prize money they won for making the flight, one might assume that story is told in The Lost Aviators (which, ultimately, would make this a three-book series). Yet, some online research reveals the plot of that book involves three boys who start out on a hunt for some army aviators who were lost while traveling from San Francisco to Panama (sadly, I don't find reference to the names of these young boys, so I can't be sure if two of them are the Hope twins or not!).  Therefore, until I can snag a copy of that book and read it, I cannot be sure whether it truly is a prequel to The Secret of Tibet or not.

 

Nevertheless, the next book is a direct sequel to this one (picking up literally where this one left off), so I will be curious to see what strange adventures await the twin brothers in their next adventure!

 

RATING:  7 bridges made of slender bamboo rope out of 10 for sending two teenage boys on some crazy and unbelievable adventures into unexplored terrain between the mountains of Tibet!