October’s vintage Foreign Legion story is from the pen of Robert Carse. It appeared in Argosy Weekly on 09 September 1933. The story is as old as the Foreign Legion–past crimes finally catch up to one who hides in the Legion. In this case it is an American who has done well in the Legion and is now a Lieutenant in charge of a small detachment in a far flung Saharan fort. His past arrives in the form of an armored car and an agent of La Sûreté. On top of this situation is a murderer within his platoon and a captured hoard of Tuareg treasure. The story culminates in a battle between the garrison and the tribesmen intent of retrieving their gold.
This is one of Robert Carse’s better Legion tales in my opinion. It’s pretty much a mystery played out within the walls of a Legion post in the desert. It also does not involve the entire garrison being wiped out which was often what happened in some of Carse’s Legion stories. (Wiped Out was actually the title of a collection of his stories that featured tales of Foreign Legion last stands).
Mon Legionnaire 