The Riddle of the Sands Chapter 1 - The Letter

In which a young bachelor of the Foreign Office, trapped in the solitude of a London September and disillusioned by the fading social season, is unexpectedly roused by a curious and urgent letter from an old acquaintance inviting him to the strange and far-off yachting grounds of the Baltic. As he contemplates this unlikely respite from his tedious routine, the letter stirs within him a flicker of hope and mystery amidst the dreariness of his discontent.