DEVIL IN THE FOG

My father is put in the stocks again! Oh! the injustice of it! My father's a genius--as are all we Treets."" With that modest avowal, George begins his remarkable tale, and the reader can only watch breathless, and listen... The travelling Treets are performing in the parlor of the ""Eloquent Gentlewoman."" Mr. Treet has made Lucifer's Smoke and the air is filled with great clouds of brown and purple and green vapors. Suddenly a dark shape appears. It is the Stranger, come on November five as he's come these thirteen years--come like the Devil to a christening. ""My Principal instructs me--come no more."" ...With these few words, he has fulfilled his obligation, and Mr. Treet must now fulfill his: George, his eldest son, must be turned over to Sir John Dexter as his son and heir. Who is George? He is a boy of great presence, considerable wit, and many attainments, but whether he is Treet or Dexter, neither George nor the reader may know till murder and concealment, irony and cupidity have been laid bare. In the process, the characters are reflected in a thousand mirrors, and George is an enigma even to himself. The suspense of Stevenson, the humor of Pickwick, and a very distinctive style--nineteenth century phrasing used with twentieth century ingenuity--make this an outstanding adventure story with unlimited upward age appeal.