Great Algy Moments In Biggles And The Blue Moon

Biggles and the Blue Moon, as many people have already mentioned, is a lovely book (apart from that one moment where Biggles left Algy in the lurch and didn’t get punched in the face for it, Algy being the nice forgiving person that he is).

In any case, here are a few of the lovely Algy moments in the book, for those of us hardcore Algy fans:

For no reason at all, this bit where Biggles and Algy talk the position over strikes me as fantastic:

“I’ve been thinking about the position here, and the more I think about it the less I like it.” Biggles, wearing a silk dressing-gown of Imperial Chinese yellow (lent to him by his host) sat at the foot of Algy’s bed and lit a cigarette. 

It was nearly midnight. Unable to sleep, he had just walked into Algy’s room expecting to find him in bed; instead he had not yet undressed, apart from taking off his jacket. In his shirt-sleeves he was sitting by the window. The room was in darkness except for the tropical moonlight that flooded through the open window.

 Just the thought of Biggles in a yellow dressing-gown is enough to make my day. The description of Algy “in his shirt-sleeves” just adds fuel to the fire. And as if that isn’t enough, there’s the lovely idea of Biggles dropping in to Algy’s room to have a smoke and talk at midnight. How completely sweet and adorable. *fangirl moment*

Five minutes later we have another adorable Algy-cares-about-Biggles moment:

[Algy]: “You talk about making a dash for Kuala Lumpur as if the way was wide open. It isn’t, and you know it.” 

[Biggles]: “I think it’s worth trying. If I failed to get through you’d be no worse off than you are now.” 

“That’s nonsense. I should have you on my mind. How am I to know if you’ve got through, anyway?”

How sweet is that? Too bad it’s ruined a few seconds later with this:

[Biggles]: “If I’m not back here with the Auster in a couple of days you can assume I didn’t get through.” 

[Algy]: “Then what do I do?”

 And Biggles, Biggles, Algy’s best friend, comes out with this:

 “That’s something you’ll have to work out for yourself.”

Thanks, Biggles. As helpful as you are, you should be working for some customer helpline. Most days, they’re about as much use as you are.

Getting back to Algy, here’s another random adorable moment where he’s working on an airstrip in anticipation of Biggles’ (maybe) return in the Auster:

“Are you coming back to the house for lunch?” 

[Algy]: “No thanks. I can’t spare the time. Anyway, I prefer not to leave here.” 

“I will send something out to you.” 

“Just a sandwich will do. The only thing that matters is to get this strip cleared.” 

…

Algy returned to the workers and urged them on. Presently one of the house servants arrived with a packet of sandwiches. He ate them standing, always watching the perimeter of the golf-course. He was now counting minutes, for on the completion of the task everything now depended. If Biggles came as arranged—although he knew in his heart that this was a big if—he would expect to find everything ready.

How many times has Algy ever refused a decent meal in favor of a couple of sandwiches? He’s so worried about Biggles and the airstrip that he’s actually refusing food! (That’s our boy!)

Any more lovely Algy moments from Biggles and the Blue Moon? List them in the comments below!