The Frontier

The Frontier by Maurice LeBlanc

Maurice LeBlanc's The Frontier opens at the Old Mill, the fortress-like home Councillor Morestal has built overlooking the Franco-German border in the Vosges, where news that Germans have again knocked down their frontier-post reignites the old man's fierce revanchism as he awaits the arrival of his son Philippe, a Paris history professor, and Philippe's wife Marthe. Morestal, a fervent patriot obsessed with 1870 and the lost provinces, has stocked his house with weapons against a feared German invasion and quietly helps German army deserters cross into France, aided by the shady go-between Dourlowski. Philippe arrives with Marthe, but conceals from his father that his political convictions have shifted: he is secretly the anonymous author of a pacifist pamphlet, Peace before All, and carries an unsent resignation from his teaching post, dreading the confrontation this will cause with Morestal, whose heart condition makes any shock dangerous. Also drawn into the household is Suzanne Jorance, daughter of Jorance the French special commissary at the frontier, engaged to marry a man she does not love; her long, charged intimacy with Philippe from his time in Paris resurfaces, and despite his resolve to remain loyal to Marthe, Suzanne all but declares her love and provokes an emotional scene. That evening Morestal and Jorance walk home along the frontier after dining at Jorance's house, while Philippe lingers behind with Suzanne, who draws him into a passionate kiss. On the ridge, Morestal and Jorance hear a smuggling signal and encounter a fleeing German deserter, Johann Baufeld, whom Morestal has unwittingly helped arrange safe passage for through Dourlowski. German police cross the frontier in pursuit, shoot the deserter, and seize Morestal and Jorance, dragging them into Germany as prisoners despite their protests that the arrest occurred on French soil. Philippe, returning late, encounters the dying Baufeld, who gives him a compromising note in Morestal's handwriting, then makes his way toward Boersweilen seeking news. The next morning the household discovers both men missing; Morestal turns up alive, having engineered a dramatic escape, boasting of the exploit, while Jorance remains a German captive. Under pressure and to protect Suzanne's honor, Philippe falsely corroborates his father's account of the arrest's location, though he was not actually present, having been with Suzanne at the time. The incident escalates rapidly into a full diplomatic crisis between France and Germany, with mobilizations, riots, and press agitation on both sides, while Philippe is tormented by his false testimony and his fear of a wider war. Farmer Saboureux, an initial witness, retracts his corroborating account out of fear of reprisals, and Dourlowski vanishes, weakening the French case. The German government insists the arrest occurred on its own soil and refuses to release Jorance. As the crisis nears the brink of war, the emperor sends an under-secretary of state, Le Corbier, to meet a German Statthalter at the very frontier post for a final reexamination of the facts, with Jorance temporarily brought to the meeting. There, under intense pressure and pursued relentlessly by Marthe's suspicions, Philippe finally retracts his corroborating testimony, admits he was not present at the arrest, and, when forced to explain his whereabouts, publicly reveals that he had been with Suzanne that night, devastating Jorance, Marthe, and his father, who collapses from the shock. The narrative resumes with Mme. Morestal at home, learning that mobilization orders have arrived from the town-hall following the previous day's catastrophic scene.

By Maurice LeBlanc · First published 1910 · Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Mystery · 20 chapters · 72,574 words

First lines

"They've done it!"

"What?"

"The German frontier-post. at the circus of the Butte-aux-Loups."

"What about it?"

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The Frontier is listed on Textopian as a novel by Maurice LeBlanc, dated 1910 CE.

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Western Fiction · Adventure Novel · Historical Fiction · Action Thriller · Mystery · Crime Fiction · Pulp Fiction · Classic Literature · French Literature · 19th Century Setting · Frontier Life · Outlaw Hero

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