"A Bad Night" is a short story by

E. W. Hornung Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles (character), A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Hornung was educa ...

, and features the gentleman thief

A. J. Raffles Arthur J. Raffles (usually called A. J. Raffles) is a fictional character created in 1898 by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, an inversion of Holmeshe is a "gentlem ...

, and his companion and biographer,

Bunny Manders Harry Manders (almost exclusively known as Bunny Manders) is a fictional character in the popular series of Raffles stories by E. W. Hornung. He is the companion of A. J. Raffles, a cricketer and gentleman thief, who makes a living robbing the r ...

. The story was published in June 1905 by ''

Pall Mall Magazine ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and ge ...

'' in London. The story was also included as the sixth story in the collection '' A Thief in the Night'', published by

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

in London, and

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

in New York, both in 1905.

Plot

Raffles plans to burgle the house on the banks of the

Mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

of a bride-to-be, which is presently so laden with wedding gifts that she has had the gifts insured. However, Raffles is selected to play for the English in the Second Test Match, the first day of which will be the day of the wedding, when her gifts will be vulnerable. Bunny insists on taking the burglary job himself, so that Raffles can be free to serve his country. Raffles is anxious, but Bunny is eager to prove himself. The night of the wedding, Bunny sneaks to the house's garden. He stops to light a cigarette, merely to demonstrate his nerves. As Bunny finishes, a window opens overhead, and a wheezing voice accosts him. Bunny, relying on a story rehearsed with Raffles, pretends that he is from the insurance company. The young man at the window, who is the bride-to-be's asthmatic brother Mr. Medlicott, believes Bunny, and lets him into the house. Bunny follows Medlicott, who struggles to return to a library upstairs. Though Medlicott is ailing, he is kind, and he and Bunny discuss cricket. Bunny begins reluctantly to sympathize with Medlicott, and helps to keep the man's asthma pacified. Suddenly Bunny hears a noise, and looks out the window to see there is a new light from downstairs. When Bunny decides to go downstairs and investigate, Medlicott is impressed and offers his concealed revolver to Bunny, but Bunny prefers to use the life preserver he has brought. Downstairs, Bunny finds and quickly knocks out the burglar, only to realize afterward in anguish and bitterness that it is Raffles in disguise. Medlicott joins Bunny, and Bunny sends Medlicott to fetch the policeman on his beat outside. Raffles rises, and expresses his irritation. Together they escape the house. Raffles changes their clothes using garments he has hidden in some bushes, and they catch a train. Bunny only learns later that Medlicott had been unable to reach the policeman, and eventually had to struggle home. Bunny regrets having wronged both Raffles and Medlicott. Raffles, however, apologizes himself, and explains: rain had cut the day's cricket short, and he had been so anxious about Bunny that he had come to keep an eye on Bunny. He had followed Bunny the entire time, and had admired Bunny's performance throughout. Moreover, Raffles was able to take some jewellery from the collection of wedding presents.

Adaptations

Television

The story was adapted into the ninth episode of the '' Raffles'' television series, with

Anthony Valentine Anthony Valentine (17 August 1939 – 2 December 2015) was an English actor best known for his television roles: the ruthless Toby Meres in ''Callan'' (1967–72), the sadistic Major Horst Mohn in ''Colditz'' (1972–74), Bob in Tales of the Un ...

as A. J. Raffles and

Christopher Strauli Christopher Strauli (born 13 April 1946) is an English film, television and theatre actor. He is known for appearing as Norman Binns in the British Yorkshire Television sitcom '' Only When I Laugh''. Early life and education Strauli was born ...

as Bunny Manders. The episode, titled "A Bad Night", first aired on 22 April 1977.

Radio

BBC Radio adapted the story into the tenth episode of its Raffles radio drama, "A Bad Night", which first aired on 22 June 1988. The drama features

Jeremy Clyde Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to American ...

as Raffles and

Michael Cochrane Michael Cochrane is an English actor. Biography Cochrane was born in Brighton, East Sussex. He was educated at Cranleigh School. He has had many television and radio roles including Oliver Sterling in the Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers'', ...

as Bunny. The episode follows the plot of the original story, with some changes: * In the drama, Raffles goes after this house as an act of revenge against young Medlicott's prosperous father, for the sake of the man's orphaned and financially ruined nephew, Spadger, who killed himself after his appeal for help from his rich uncle fell on deaf ears. * In the drama, rather than explain all to Bunny in the train afterwards, Raffles sleeps nearly all the way back to the cricket match in Trafford, thereby recovering well enough from Bunny's blow to play well against the Australians the next day. He explains his actions to Bunny in the Albany later.

References

;Notes ;Sources * *

External links

*
Free online annotated version of "A Bad Night"

BBC Radio adaption of "A Bad Night”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Night, A 1905 short stories Works originally published in The Pall Mall Magazine A. J. Raffles short stories