Front matter

Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page Scan Source: https://ia600201.us.archive.org/10/items/devlinbarber00farjrich/devlin barber00farjrich.pdf (University of California Libraries)

DEVLIN THE BARBER

BY

B. L. FARJEON,

AUTHOR OF "THE NINE OF HEARTS," "GREAT PORTER SQUARE," ETC. ETC.

FOURTH EDITION.

LONDON: WARD AND DOWNEY, 12 YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

[All rights reserved.] 1888.

CONTENTS

Introduction. In which reference is made to a strange, unfathomable being, through whose instrumentality an awful mystery was solved.

Chap. I. In which an account is given of the good fortune which befell Mr. Melladew.

II. I am the recipient of terrible news.

III. A shoal of visitors--followed by another mystery.

IV. Mr. Richard Portland makes a singular proposition to me.

V. I pay a visit to Mrs. Lemon.

VI. I am haunted by three evil-looking objects in Mrs. Lemon's room.

VII. Devlin's first introduction into the mystery.

VIII. I make the acquaintance of George Carton's guardian, Mr. Kenneth Dowsett.

IX. Fanny Lemon relates under what circumstances she resolved to let her second floor front.

X. Devlin the Barber takes Fanny's first floor front.

XI. Devlin performs some wonderful tricks, fascinates Mr. Lemon, and strikes terror to the soul of Fanny Lemon.

XII. Fanny Lemon relates how her husband, after becoming better acquainted with Devlin the Barber, seemed to be haunted by shadows and spirits.

XIII. In which Fanny narrates how her husband had a fit, and what the doctor thought of it.

XIV. Devlin appears suddenly, and holds a conversation with Fanny about the murder.

XV. Fanny describes how she made up her mind what to do with Lemon.

XVI. MR. Lemon wakes up.

XVII. Lemon's vision in the "Twisted Cow."

XVIII. Fanny's story being concluded, I pay a visit to Mr. Lemon, and resolve to interview Devlin the Barber.

XIX. Face to face with Devlin, I demand an explanation of him.

XX. Devlin astonishes me.

XXI. Devlin and I make a compact.

XXII. I send Devlin's desk to my wife, and smoke fragrant cigar.

XXIII. I pass a morning in Devlin's place of business.

XXIV. Mr. Kenneth Dowsett gives me the slip.

XXV. We follow in pursuit.

XXVI. Another strange and unexpected discovery.

XXVII. We track Mr. Kenneth Dowsett to Boulogne.

XXVIII. The trance and the revelation.

XXIX. The rescue.

XXX. Devlin's last scheme.

DEVLIN THE BARBER

INTRODUCTION.

IN WHICH REFERENCE IS MADE TO A STRANGE, UNFATHOMABLE BEING THROUGH WHOSE INSTRUMENTALITY AN AWFUL MYSTERY WAS SOLVED.

The manner in which I became intimately associated with a fearful mystery with which not only all London but all England was ringing, and the strange, inexplicable Being whom the course of events brought to my knowledge, are so startling and wonderful, that I have grown to believe that by no effort of the imagination, however wild and bewildering the labyrinths into which it may lead a man, can the actual realism of our everyday life be outrivalled. What I am about to narrate is absolutely true--somewhat of an unnecessary statement, for the reason that human fancy could never have invented it. To a person unfamiliar with the wondrous life of a great city like London the story may appear impossible, but there are thousands of men and women who will immediately recognise in it features with which they became acquainted through the columns of the newspapers. I venture to say that the leading incident by which one morning--it was but yesterday--the great city was thrilled and horrified can never be entirely effaced from their memories. Dark crimes and deeds of heroism, in which the incidents are pathetic or pitiful, draw even strangers into sympathetic relation with each other. These events come home to us, as it were. What happened to one whose face we have never seen, whose hand we have never grasped, may happen to us who move in the same familiar grooves of humanity. Our hopes and fears, our joys and sorrows, our duties and temptations, are the same, because we are human; and it is this common tie of kinship that will cause the story of Devlin the Barber to be received with more than ordinary interest. Now, for the first time is revealed, in these pages, the strange manner in which the fearful mystery in which it was enshrouded was unravelled. The facts are as I shall relate them, and whatever the impression they may create, a shuddering curiosity must inevitably be aroused as to the nature and movements of the inscrutable Being through whose instrumentality I was made the agent in revealing what would otherwise have remained for ever hidden from human knowledge. By a few incredulous persons--I refer to those to whom nothing spiritual is demonstrable--the existence of this Being may be doubted; but none the less does he live and move among us this very day, pursuing his mission with a purpose and to an end which it is not in the power of mortal insight to fathom. It is not unlikely that some of my readers may have come unconsciously in contact with him within the last few hours.