The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Island Mystery, by George A. Birmingham

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Title: The Island Mystery

Author: George A. Birmingham

Release Date: August 9, 2009 [EBook #29644]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE
ISLAND MYSTERY

BY

G. A. BIRMINGHAM

_Author of "Gossamer," "General John Regan,"
"Spanish Gold," etc._

NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

_Copyright, 1918,
By George H. Doran Company_

_Copyright, 1918,
By The Frank A. Munsey Company_

_Printed in the United States of America_

BY G. A. BIRMINGHAM

THE ISLAND MYSTERY
GOSSAMER
MINNIE'S BISHOP AND OTHER STORIES
GENERAL JOHN REGAN
THE LOST TRIBES
SPANISH GOLD
LALAGE'S LOVERS
THE SEARCH PARTY
THE SIMPKINS PLOT
THE MAJOR'S NIECE
PRISCILLA'S SPIES
THE RED HAND OF ULSTER
THE ADVENTURES OF DR. WHITTY
THE SEETHING POT
THE BAD TIMES
HYACINTH
FROM DUBLIN TO CHICAGO

NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

TO

THEODOSIA

WHOSE DISLIKE OF SUBTLE BOOKS
AND "BRAINY" PEOPLE I SHARE

THE ISLAND MYSTERY

CHAPTER I

In 1914 there were not twenty men in England who had ever heard of the
island of Salissa. Even now--I am writing in the spring of 1917--the
public is very badly informed about the events which gave the island a
certain importance in the history of the war. A couple of months ago I
asked a well-known press-cutting agency to supply me with a complete
collection of all references to Salissa which had appeared in our
newspapers. I received a single short paragraph from a second-rate
society weekly. It ran thus:

"Is it true that our new Minister for Balkan Problems has a curious
story to tell about a certain island in the Mediterranean, and is
there a lady in the case?"

The Minister referred to is, of course, Sir Bartholomew
Bland-Potterton. The island must be Salissa. It is a clear proof, if
proof is required, of the effic