The Comrades of the Red Hand attempt to seize Count Stylptitch’s memoirs in a violent intrusion into Anthony Cade’s room. The attacker identifies himself as a member of the revolutionary Brotherhood and threatens Anthony with a revolver; Anthony knocks the weapon away and kicks him into the corridor. The failed seizure turns a political threat into a direct physical confrontation and convinces Anthony that delivering the manuscript will be more dangerous than he had expected.

The manuscript becomes a target

Anthony has the memoirs with him as he works through the papers connected with his commission. When an intruder appears in the doorway, the stranger’s gaze fixes on the packet of letters Anthony has picked up. He does not disguise what he wants for long: he demands the memoirs of Count Stylptitch, establishing that the attack is not a random robbery but an attempt to take possession of a politically sensitive manuscript.

The stranger’s appearance and manner initially invite Anthony to treat him as a theatrical figure. He has a squat, brutal-looking head and an evil grin, and speaks English with a guttural foreign voice. Anthony answers with mockery rather than alarm, even speculating jokingly about who might have sent him. That comic exchange does not lessen the stakes: the attacker has entered Anthony’s room specifically to prevent the memoirs from reaching their intended destination.

The Comrade reveals his allegiance

The intruder produces a crude red hand traced on paper and identifies it as the sign of the Comrades of the Red Hand, declaring that he belongs to the organization. He casts Anthony as the paid servant of an effete monarchy and offers to let him go unharmed if he hands over the memoirs. The threat frames the manuscript as an object contested between revolutionary opposition and the monarchical interests that Anthony’s instructions would serve.

Anthony refuses. He says his duty is to deliver the manuscript to a publishing firm, not to the Brotherhood. The Comrade dismisses the prospect of Anthony reaching the office alive, draws a revolver, and demands the papers. His language turns a demand into an ultimatum: unless Anthony yields the manuscript, he will shoot.

Anthony’s counterattack

The attacker expects the revolver to give him control, but Anthony moves before he can be covered. He springs forward almost as soon as the weapon emerges from the man’s pocket and knocks it from his hand. The blow turns the Comrade around, leaving his back exposed; Anthony takes the opening and kicks him hard through the doorway into the corridor.

The Comrade collapses, then quickly gets to his feet and flees down the passage. Anthony does not chase him. The manuscript remains in his possession, and the assailant’s retreat ends the immediate struggle without resolving the larger danger to the commission. The reversal depends on Anthony’s quick physical response rather than on negotiation or any outside intervention.

Consequences for the commission

After the intruder escapes, Anthony reflects that the Comrades are less formidable in direct action than their appearance suggests. But the incident has changed his estimate of the job. He realizes that he has already come into conflict with both Loyalist and Revolutionary parties, and anticipates that other political groups may also become involved. Rather than abandon the assignment, he decides to begin work on the manuscript that night.

That decision leads directly into a more guarded routine. Anthony orders dinner in his room rather than leaving the papers unattended, places the manuscript beside the letters, and watches the waiter bring in the meal. When he notices that the waiter’s eyes are fixed on the parcel, the failed attack’s warning about the manuscript’s vulnerability acquires a second, more immediate form. Later, after another intruder reaches the suitcase at night, Anthony wakes to the sound of stealthy movement. The Red Hand episode thus introduces a recurring pattern in which access to the memoirs depends not only on political allegiance but also on who can get close to the papers and when.

Political threat and narrative function

The scene makes the memoirs’ danger visible through a contest over physical possession. The Comrade’s red hand, his offer of clemency, and his armed ultimatum turn an abstract political conflict into a bedroom intrusion with a clear object at stake. Anthony’s joking response briefly makes the attacker seem like a comic villain; the revolver abruptly changes the register, and the swift kick resolves the immediate danger without making the underlying threat disappear.

The attack also establishes Anthony as both the custodian of the manuscript and an active participant in the conflict surrounding it. He does not surrender the papers or wait for protection; his own speed and force preserve his control of them. Yet his decision to continue with the assignment, even after recognizing that multiple factions may oppose it, carries the scene’s consequence beyond the corridor: the memoirs remain in play, and Anthony’s commission has become a hazardous political undertaking.