Pied Piper

Pied Piper is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in 1942. The title is a reference to the poem, The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The story concerns an elderly Englishman who is on holiday in France when the Second World War breaks out. Entrusted with the care of two British children, he heads north in an attempt to return to safety, accumulating additional children en route. While attempting to get passage on a boat, he and his charges are discovered by the Germans. However, in a final plot twist, the German commandant allows them to escape on the condition that they take his ?niece with them and send her to relatives in the USA.