A Bid for Fortune

In Short

First published in 1895, Guy Boothby's Victorian thriller follows Australian adventurer Dick Hatteras into a globe-trotting web of identity theft, abduction, and dark conspiracy. After thwarting a minor swindler in Sydney and returning to England, Hatteras finds his romance with a colonial politician's daughter derailed by the sinister Dr. Nikola. Pursued from Bournemouth to Port Said and across the Pacific, Hatteras must rescue a kidnapped nobleman, untangle a duplicate-identity plot, and storm a remote island hideout. Driven by the hypnotic allure of its immortal villain, the novel remains a foundational artifact of early speculative fiction.

The Story

The tale opens with Dick Hatteras, a colonial-born adventurer with a straightforward disposition, who leaves Australia to visit his ancestral roots in England. In London, he pursues Phyllis Wetherell, the daughter of the Australian Colonial Secretary, Sylvester Wetherell. Though Hatteras and Phyllis are deeply attached, her father opposes the match. Seeking recreation while awaiting his sweetheart's arrival, Hatteras hires a yacht at Bournemouth and saves a drowning man—an incident that draws him directly into the orbit of a terrifying shadowy figure named Dr. Nikola.

Nikola, accompanied by his sinister agent Baxter, is executing a meticulously calculated scheme. Targeting young Lord Beckenham, the heir to the Duke of Glenbarth, Nikola uses drugging, imprisonment, and deception to substitute an impostor in the young aristocrat's place. Hatteras and the real Lord Beckenham are lured into a trap in Port Said, where they are trapped in a mosque during a riot, captured, and held captive in a desolate building. To send a plea for help, Hatteras catches a mouse in their cell, ties a message written in lead pencil to its body, and sends it down a pipe to an iron-shod cripple who passes by each morning.

The rescue succeeds, but Hatteras learns that Nikola's reach extends far beyond simple abduction. The impostor Marquis has already sailed to Australia alongside the unsuspecting Colonial Secretary, positioned to infiltrate high society and government circles. Realizing that the plot hinges on something much larger than blackmail, Hatteras and the freed Lord Beckenham race back to Australia to expose the fraud before the false Marquis can marry Phyllis.

Upon arriving in Sydney, Hatteras confronts Mr. Wetherell with the truth, showing him that the young man at Government House is a fraud set up by Dr. Nikola. Tracking the conspirators through town, Hatteras discovers that Nikola's true objective centers on a mysterious, ancient Chinese stick in Sylvester Wetherell's possession—an artifact so perilous that Nikola is willing to kidnap Phyllis to secure it as ransom.

Hatteras, Wetherell, and Lord Beckenham arm themselves with Winchester repeaters and sail for a remote, reefless island in the South Seas where Phyllis is held captive. Approaching under cover of darkness to avoid heavy fire, they storm the island's southern plateau, overpower the captors, and secure Phyllis's freedom. Back in Sydney, Hatteras and Phyllis marry in a grand cathedral ceremony, receiving an exquisite diamond necklace as a wedding gift directly from Dr. Nikola himself. Reconciled with his father-in-law and clear of the conspiracy, Hatteras returns to England with his bride, leaving Nikola to pursue his unknown global ambitions with the Chinese artifact.

How It Unfolds

A chance encounter in Sydney Dick Hatteras uses a sharp memory to outwit Dorunda Dodson, a notorious local swindler trying to fleece him over a cab fare. The incident demonstrates Hatteras's keen eye for deceit before he sets sail for London.

The rescue off Bournemouth While sailing near Canford Cliffs, Hatteras spots an exhausted swimmer washed out to sea by strong currents. He pulls the unconscious stranger into his dinghy, bringing him back to health with brandy learned from his Thursday Island days.

The trap in Port Said In Egypt, Hatteras and Lord Beckenham attempt to protect fellow countrymen during a riot inside a mosque, only to be locked inside and abducted. They are held in a dark room, where Hatteras concocts a brilliant scheme to catch a mouse and use it to pass a written message down a pipe to a passing cripple.

Exposing the double in Sydney Returning to Australia on the trail of the conspirators, Hatteras confronts Mr. Wetherell in his study, revealing that the young man posing as the Marquis at Government House is a complete fraud engineered by Dr. Nikola.

Storming the South Sea island When Nikola's agents kidnap Phyllis to force the handover of a mysterious Chinese stick, Hatteras and his allies charter a vessel, arm themselves with Winchester rifles, and execute a night landing on a remote island to rescue her.

The People

• Dick Hatteras: A resilient Colonial-born adventurer who wants to marry Phyllis Wetherell and settle down. Stood in the way by her father's objections and Dr. Nikola's international conspiracy, he develops sharp detective instincts and physical bravery, ending the story as a happily married man of property.
• Dr. Nikola: A brilliant, sallow-complexioned villain with dark eyes, black hair, and small hands, who seeks absolute power through an ancient Chinese stick. Stood in the way only by the persistence of Hatteras, he remains undefeated and disappears into the shadows after sending his enemy a wedding gift.
• Sylvester Wetherell: The Colonial Secretary of Australia who wants a aristocratic match for his daughter and guards a dangerous secret from his past. Stood in the way by his own stubborness and Nikola's ruthless extortion, he shifts from a cold, status-driven politician to a grateful, affectionate father-in-law.
• Phyllis Wetherell: A strong-willed, beautiful young woman who wants to marry Hatteras despite her father's disapproval. Stood in the way by family pressure, unwanted suitors like Mr. Prendergast, and outright abduction, she maintains her resolve throughout her captivity and emerges triumphantly as Lady Hatteras.
• Lord Beckenham: A naive young Marquis who wants to explore the world outside his noble upbringing. Stood in the way by Nikola's agents who drug, kidnap, and replace him with an impostor, he matures into a capable, manly ally who helps Hatteras defeat their shared captors.

In Its Own Voice

"There certainly is no place like London for show and glitter, I'll grant you that; but all the same I'd no more think of taking up my permanent abode in it than I'd try to cross the Atlantic in a Chinese sampan." Hatteras reflects on the overwhelming scale of the metropolis shortly after arriving in England.

"We must manage by hook or crook to catch a mouse and let him carry our appeal for help to the outside world." Desperate during his imprisonment in Port Said, Hatteras devises a novel escape strategy.

"He is a fraud, an impostor, a cheat of the first water, put up to play his part by one of the cleverest scoundrels unhung." Hatteras warns Sylvester Wetherell about the counterfeit nobleman residing at Government House.

What It's Really About

Beneath its pulse-pounding chase sequences, the novel explores the vulnerability of Victorian elite society to calculated fraud. The ease with which Dr. Nikola replaces a high-born Marquis with a forged double exposes how much the Empire relies on mere appearances, letters of introduction, and unchallenged authority.

It also investigates the clash between Colonial pragmatic self-reliance and old-world aristocratic naivety. Hatteras succeeds where British authorities fail precisely because his rough-and-ready experience in Northern Australia gives him practical instincts. Finally, the lingering mystery of the Chinese stick highlights Victorian anxieties regarding the occult power and hidden knowledge buried in distant, uncolonized corners of the globe.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers looking for the roots of popular thriller fiction will find this book an entertaining specimen of late-Victorian sensation writing. Guy Boothby writes with brisk, unpretentious clarity, driving the plot rapidly across continents, ocean liners, and tropical islands. The character of Dr. Nikola—with his spotless elegance, vast intelligence, and icy lack of malice—stands as an essential predecessor to iconic master criminals like Fu Manchu and Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The reading experience is remarkably direct, though readers must adjust to period conventions. The novel moves with rhythmic serial pacing, meaning some subplots exist primarily to set up dramatic cliffhangers. Modern audiences will also notice typical Victorian imperial attitudes toward foreign locales and native populations, along with minor instances of melodrama in the dialogue. Yet, these historical characteristics rarely slow the narrative down. What remains is a lean, highly imaginative thriller that captures the thrill of nineteenth-century adventure.