The Box With Broken Seals (1919)

THE BOX WITH BROKEN SEALS (1919)

It is hard work being a transatlantic traveller. An English chap has to put up with an awful lot. On his arrival by train in Chicago James Crawshay of the English Secret Service, remarks: "Your trains Hobson, may be magnificent, but your coal is filthy. I will have a bath...".
Crawshay's bete noir is Jocelyn Thew a handsome and enigmatic Irish adversary who spurns love because of his dedication to his nation.
After much sleight of hand Crawshay and Thew are as reconciled as the two nations would seem to be at the time of writing. Oppenheim's prescience is some years ahead of the facts on the ground.

Both the main characters especially Thew are well-drawn although the plot is severely stretched to keep Thew at liberty.
Again shades of The Thirty Nine Steps with secrets en route to Germany, this time post hoc.
7/10