Preview of Lot No. 249 Summary:

Most of Doyle's stories, including "Lot No. 249," are intended for sheer entertainment, much like the mysteries and stories of adventure which we see on television and in the movies today. Doyle's goal was an exciting plot that confirms the values of his readers: patriotism and a belief in hard work, fair play, bravery, and physical prowess. That is to say the story is about the character of a Victorian "public school ideal" of a gentleman. As such it also affirms the chivalric code which was supposed to guide a man's relation to women. In the novel, William Monkhouse Lee's sister Eveline is engaged to Edward Bellingham, and Lee's actions—his early commitment to secrecy and his later turn against Bellingham—are shaped by his desire to protect his sister and his family's honor and good name.

But certainly the focus of the story is on Abercrombie...