Danny the Detective by Vera C. Barclay
Danny Moor, newly arrived from London to live with his mother at the lodge cottage of Sir Edward Finch's estate in Dutton, is a boy obsessed with detective stories and known to his friends as "Danny the Detective." Befriended by Patrol-Leader Dick Church of the 1st Dutton Troop, Danny joins the Wolf Cubs, eager to live by the Cub motto, "Do Your Best." During a paper-chase he falls behind and witnesses a cyclist crash, bandages the stranger's wound, then later spies him throwing his bicycle into the old mill pond and vanishing without a trace. Danny reports this to the Scouts' Court of Honour, but when the Kangaroo Patrol drags the pond and finds nothing, he is branded a liar and mocked as a "budding novelist." Undeterred, Danny keeps investigating. He tails a suspicious tramp who emerges from a cart near the mill, marks his trail with scraps of paper, and traces him back to the same pond. That night he keeps watch, overhears two men speaking German near a hidden drainpipe "telephone," and sees a grey car with a false number plate and two disguised men. He also befriends a visiting artist who turns out to have climbed a telegraph pole and sketched Dutton from the ruined Abbey tower — evidence he is part of the same gang. When war is declared against Germany, the Scouts are called to guard the trunk telephone cable from spies, and Cubs assist with rations and relief patrols. Realizing his clues point to real German spies, Danny is tempted to solve the mystery alone for personal glory rather than report it immediately, and this delay leads to disaster: sneaking out at night to investigate a signal light from the Abbey tower, he is captured by the bicycle-thief spy at gunpoint, dragged through a secret passage from the ruined Abbot's House, tied up, gagged, and left underground. Cutting his bonds on a sharp stone, Danny escapes through a hidden pivoting stone into a vast underground vault beneath the Abbey, discovering a vast hidden cache of German machine guns, ammunition, and rifles. Choosing duty over reckless heroics, he creeps past a spy operating a cable-tapping buzzer, explores an ancient crypt, and finds a narrow crevice leading to a sea cliff, where he discovers signaling equipment meant for a submarine. Unable to escape via the cliff, he creeps back past the spy a second time and swims out through the flooded passage into the mill pond, finally free. Soaking and injured, Danny reports everything to Dick Church, who mobilizes the Scouts to seal both entrances to the passage and guard the Abbey tower and pond. Dick disconnects the tapped cable wires himself. Captain Miles arrives with soldiers, police, and a detective; guided by Danny, they storm the Abbey tower and capture three German spies, while a fourth is caught swimming up through the mill pond by the Kangaroo Patrol watching there. A raid on the underground vault costs Captain Miles's party a violent encounter with the escaping cable-tapping spy, who throws a bomb and flees, wounding several soldiers before the Scouts administer first aid. Atop the tower, searchers find wireless apparatus, carrier pigeons, a flashlight, and stored provisions confirming the full scope of the spy operation. That night the Troop and Pack celebrate Danny's role in exposing the spy ring. He is elected Pack Leader by unanimous vote. The Scoutmaster later reveals that a letter of thanks from the Government, a medal, and a cheque for £100 arrive in recognition of Danny's service, but what he treasures most is a private letter of congratulations from the Chief Scout.
By Vera C. Barclay · First published 1918 · Genre: Mystery/Detective Fiction, Children's Literature/Coming-of-Age, Adventure · 12 chapters · 27,439 words
First lines
Danny Moor was feeling very happy as he sat on the garden gate swinging his legs.
He had lived all his life in a very dull and smoky part of London. Now, at last, his mother had come to live in the country in a village called Dutton, as lodge-keeper to Sir Edward Finch. And Danny found himself in a dear little house at the bottom of a long drive.
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Genres
- Mystery/Detective Fiction — The entire narrative centers on Danny solving the mystery of the strangers, the bicycle in the pond, the secret passage, and the drain-pipe telephone, following clues methodically as a detective would.
- Children's Literature/Coming-of-Age — The protagonist is a young boy navigating childhood, joining the Wolf Cubs, learning responsibility and moral lessons while growing in confidence and capability.
- Adventure — The story is driven by exciting escapades including diving into ponds, discovering secret passages, tracking suspects, and encountering danger and excitement throughout.
- Boys' Adventure — Features a male protagonist engaged in outdoor activities, scouting, tracking, and pursuits typical of adventure fiction aimed at young male readers.
Tags
mystery · detective fiction · children's adventure · Boy Scouts · espionage · World War I · England · German spies · wrongly accused · vindication · duty · honor
What this Textopian page supports
Danny the Detective is listed on Textopian as a novella by Vera C. Barclay, dated 1918 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novella
- Author: Vera C. Barclay
- Date: 1918 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Mystery/Detective Fiction, Children's Literature/Coming-of-Age, Adventure, Boys' Adventure, Scout/Youth Organization Fiction
- Length: 27,439 words
- Structure: 12 chapters, 509 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Danny the Detective by Vera C. Barclay
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Contents
- In the Straw-Loft
- The Mysterious Stranger
- The Mill Pond
- One a. M
- The Dark Passage
- Spies!
- A White Face in the Moonlight
- Tapping the Cable
- Free!
- In the Hands of the Scouts
- Caught at Last
- "Well Done, Danny!"