The Horn of Mortal Danger is a 1980 novel by British musician Lawrence Leonard. It relates the adventures of a brother and sister as they discover a secret civilisation buried beneath the streets of London. It is a 'classical' children's fantasy. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Lawrence Leonard (born August 23, 1923, died January 4, 2001), British conductor, cellist, composer, teacher and writer. ...

Plot

Simon "Widgie" and Jen Widgeon are innocently exploring the old abandoned rail tunnel near their home when they discover a hidden gateway halfway along it. Through this they find their way to a little old-fashioned railway station. At first the tunnels seem deserted. As Jen wanders down the tunnel to explore, the Railwaymen emerge and capture Widgie. Jen in her turn discovers an underground canal, complete with a little steamboat, which the railway crosses by means of a retractable bridge. Men emerge from the boat and take her captive. This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street Station in 1865. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Channel (geography). ... The bridge deck of a Retractable bridge can be rolled backwards to open a gap for crossing traffic, usually a ship on a waterway. ... A log bridge in the French Alps near Vallorcine. ...

It quickly becomes apparent that Widgie and Jen have become caught up in an entire underground civilisation, the North London System, kept secret for centuries from the world above. Two civilisations, in fact, seemingly perpetually at war. Their arrival is the catalyst for a climactic battle between the Railway and the Canals. Widgie manages to escape and rescues Jen, and the realisation of the threat they pose should they escape above ground and expose the System forces the Railwaymen and the Canallers to set aside their differences for the time being in a vain effort to recapture them. In the course of the battle, giant Rats, kept imprisoned in a blocked-up tunnel, are released and proceed to spread through the whole system. As Widgie and Jen escape into the Post Office Railway, it appears that the entire civilisation is on the verge of disintegration at the hands of the Rats. Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... The Post Office Railway, also known as Mail Rail, is a narrow gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office to move mail between sorting offices. ...

Structure

It is worth noting that, seemingly in imitation of The Lord of the Rings, Leonard includes Appendices telling of the aftermath of the story underground, in which the Railwaymen and Canal Folk discuss the joint threats of the children and the Rats, and giving a short history of the North London System (and suggesting that similar societies exist beneath many major cities, at least in England). It also includes two short "Interludes", set above ground, concerning the search for the missing children. The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ...

References to the real world

Leonard's secondary world is unusual in that it overlaps with the primary one and is separated from it, it seems, through nothing stronger than blind luck. Uniquely among such fantasies, Leonard never employs magic, and indeed seems at pains to explain how his underground System works. There are no women seen underground, nor any apparent means to produce food to support the Undergrounders, but rather than hoping his readers will not notice this (as the children do), he explains very concisely the why and how of this in a throwaway manner near the beginning. The technology of railways and canals is borrowed from observation of the Aboveground world, but the System is conservative and usually does not adopt new things very quickly. They have no electricity, though the Railway is reportedly looking into the matter. The children finally make their escape through an Observation Shaft, similar to the one they entered through, which leads into a Tube line and is used to study the operation of electric trains. A fictional universe is a cohesive imaginary world that serves as the setting or backdrop for one or (more commonly) multiple works of fiction. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a level of technological mastery sufficient to leave the surface of the planet for the first time and explore space. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ...

In the story, the System had existed for centuries before the Tube, and it is mentioned in the second Appendix that the beginning of construction of the Tube caused the Undergrounders considerable alarm, although tempered by pride that the Abovegrounders were (seemingly) imitating them for a change.

The key clue to the location of the System is the River Fleet, diverted underground in the eighteenth century. It serves as the spine of the canal network and the setting for one of the most dramatic scenes in the book, as both the train (with Widgie on board) and the boat (with Jen) race against time to reach and pass a bridge over it as the river becomes swollen and flooded. Several locations (King's Cross, Paddington, Camden Lock) are named after real-world locations, and it appears from the map in the book that these are intended to be very near their real-world locations: the System incorporates the area roughly bounded on the surface by Muswell Hill to the north, Tottenham and Islington to the east, Paddington and Oxford Street to the south and Finchley Road to the west. The southern part of this area includes the River Fleet, which drains southwards into the Thames. Entrance to the Fleet River, Samuel Scott, c. ... Kings Cross St. ... Paddington station or London Paddington is the name of a major railway station in the Paddington area of London, which is the London terminus for long distance trains to the West of England and South Wales and some West London commuter services. ... Camden Lock is a double manually-operated lock on the Regents Canal in Camden Town, London, England. ... Muswell Hill is an area in the London Borough of Haringey. ... Tottenham is in the London Borough of Haringey. ... Islington is an inner-city district in north London. ... Paddington is an area in the west of London in the City of Westminster. ... Oxford Street, from the top deck of a bus Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster, and one of the worlds most famous streets for shopping. ... Finchley Road is one the longest roads in London, England, along with Green Lane and Lea Bridge Road Categories: UK geography stubs ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames...

References

Leonard, Lawrence (1980). The Horn of Mortal Danger. Cox and Wyman Ltd. ISBN 0744508479.