Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
A WORTHWHILE CRIME
ROUGH TOSS
THE LONGEST SIDE
THE SUPREME GETAWAY
EVEN IN DEATH
FIRE FIGHT FIRE
SPEED LIMIT
A FLYER IN JUNK
THE SILO
IN MARINERS’ HOUSE
AFRICA
CURSED (Part 1)
CURSED (Part 2)
CURSED (Part 3)
TEST TUBES
DARKNESS AND DAWN
BOOK I: THE VACANT WORLD
BOOK II: BEYOND THE GREAT OBLIVION
BOOK III: THE AFTERGLOW
THE AIR TRUST (Part 1)
THE AIR TRUST (Part 2)
COPYRIGHT INFO
The George Allan England MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2015 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
“Introduction,” by John Betancourt originally appeared in The Supreme Getaway and Other Tales from the Pulps and is copyright © 2008 by John Betancourt.
“The Supreme Getaway” originally appeared in People’s Magazine, October 1916.
“A Flyer In Junk” originally appeared in All Story, March 9, 1918.
“The Silo” originally appeared in Argosy-All Story, date unknown.
“Fire Fight Fire” originally appeared in Munsey’s Magazine, Vol. 35 (1906).
“Speed Limit” originally appeared in The Cavalier, November 15, 1913.
“The Longest Side” originally appeared in People’s Favorite Magazine November 10, 1921.
“Test Tubes” originally appeared in Short Stories, March, 1921.
“In Mariners’ House” originally appeared in The Cavalier, February 7, 1914.
“Rough Toss” originally appeared in Complete Stories, May 15th, 1932.
“Africa” originally appeared in The Cavalier, November 1908.
“A Worthwhile Crime” originally appeared in Detective Story Magazine, August 19, 1922
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
George Allan England (1877–1936) is mostly remembered these days for his early science-fiction novel, Darkness and Dawn (originally published in Cavalier magazine as three different serials between 1912 and 1913). Set a thousand years in the future, Darkness and Dawn tells the story of a devastated America. Due to its length, it was split into five volumes for paperback publication in the 1960s.
Other works of note include The Air Trust (1915), an anticapitalism novel about a monopoly on air travel; The Golden Blight (1912), about a ray that transmutes gold into ash; The Flying Legion (1920), a near-future (of the time!) tale of the heist of a sacred relic from Mecca; and The Empire of the Air (1914), about an invasion by beings from the fourth dimension.
England, however, was a prolific author in many different genres: adventure, romance, mystery, and science fiction were but a few of his themes, as the stories in this volume attest. Here, then is a fine selection of England’s classic pulp stories, ranging from Darkest Africa to the laboratory, from the perils of speed to the perils of savage cannibals! If you haven’t encountered George Allan England’s work before, you’re in for a treat. And if you’ve already discovered him, chances are high that you’ve never encountered many of these rare tales before.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE SERIES
Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK™ ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.
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A WORTHWHILE CRIME
Originally published in Detective Story Magazine, August 19, 1922.
“It looks to me like a very ordinary sort of case,” declared T. Ashley, tilting back his desk chair in the little office-and-laboratory place of his, whereof the door showed the sign in gold letters:
T. ASHLEY
Investigations
“Ordinary!” echoed Scanlon. “You call it ordinary when ‘Big Boss’ Hanrahan himself gets touched for seventeen thousand? I call it most extraordinary, I do. Hanged if I don’t!”
“Oh, I don’t mean that part of it,” T. Ashley disclaimed, a trace of a smile curving his austere lips. “That particular angle of the affair possesses no interest for me. The personality of the victim, his affiliations, his control of the city’s political machine are matters wholly beside the point, so far as I’m concerned. All I’m looking at, from the standpoint of my profession, is the technique of the crook. And this case presents no original factors there.”
The Golden Age of Pulp Fiction Megapack 01 Page 1