"Hagar of the Pawn-Shop" is the humorous tale, set in London, about the workers of a pawn shop. Jacob Dix had built a successful pawn shop by driving hard bargains, therefore earning himself a bad reputation as a stingy man. His marriage to his late wife Hagar had given him a son, Jimmy, who at the moment was inclined to avoid his father's presence. Relaxing at home with a friend, he was surprised to receive a loud knock at his door. Surprise however turned to shock when the visitor introduced herself as Hagar Stanley, a name eerily identical to his late wife's maiden name...

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII. THE PASSING OF HAGAR. It was now two years since Hagar had presented herself to the astonished eyes of Jacob Dix, and one year since the death of the old miser had left her in sole charge of the pawnshop. During all these months she had striven hard to do her duty, for the sake of the man who had taken pity on her poverty. She had toiled early and late; she had neglected no opportunity to make bargains; and she had lived penuriously the meanwhile. All moneys accruing from the business she had paid into the bank; and all accounts of receipts and payments she had placed in the hands of Vark, the lawyer. At any time that Goliath chose to arrive, she was ready to hand over the pawn-shop and property to him, after which it was her intention to leave. As yet she had no idea in her head what was to become of her when the arrival of the lost heir reduced her to the position of a pauper. It had, indeed, occurred to her that it would be best to return to her tribe again, and take up the old gipsy life. On account of Goliath she had exiled herself from the Romany tents: so when he came into his inheritance she would be free to return thereto. As a wealthy man, Jimmy Dix, alias Goliath, would not care to spend his life in roaming the country with vagrants; and thus she would be relieved of his presence. Hagar was getting very tired of the shop and the weary life of Carby's Crescent; and of ten the nostalgia of the roads came upon her. Several times of late she had wished that Goliath would claim his heritage, and relieve her of the irksome task which she had taken on her own shoulders, out of gratitude to Jacob Dix. But as yet the absent heir had not made his appearance. Hagar knew very well that Eustace Lorn was looking for him....

Edgar Award winner Otto Penzler—“detective fiction’s best editor and champion” (The Washington Post)—returns with a new anthology of exhilarating mysteries, assembling Victorian society's lords and ladies and most miserable miscreants. Behind the velvet curtains of horsedrawn carriages and amid the soft glow of the gaslights are the detectives and bobbies sniffing out the safecrackers and petty purloiners who plague everything from the soot-covered side streets of London to the opulent manors of the countryside. With his latest title in the Big Book series, Otto Penzler is cracking cases and serving up the most thrilling, suspenseful Victorian mysteries. This collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy mysteries.

Excerpt from Hagar of the Pawn-Shop This particular friend was a solicitor named Vark, who carried on a shady business, in a shady manner, for shady clients. His name - as he declared himself - proved him to be of Polish descent; but it was commonly reported in the neighborhood that Vark was made to rhyme with shark, as emblematic of the estimation in which he was held. He was hated only one degree less than Jacob, and the two, - connected pri marily as lawyer and client, -later on, had struck up a mistrustful friendship by reason of their mutual reputation and isolation. Neither one believed in the other each tried to swindle on his own account, and never succeeded yet the two met nightly and talked over their divers ras calities in the dingy parlor, with a confidence begotten by an intimate knowledge of each other's character. The reputations of both were so bad that the one did not dare to betray the other. Only on this basis is honor possible among thieves. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Fergus Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. His self-published novel, "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab", became a great success. Hume based his descriptions of poor urban life on his knowledge of Little Bourke Street. It eventually became the best selling mystery novel of the Victorian era, author John Sutherland terming it the "most sensationally popular crime and detective novel of the century". Table of Contents: The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Professor Brankel's Secret Madame Midas The Harlequin Opal The Expedition of Captain Flick Hagar of the Pawn-Shop The Silent House The Bishop's Secret A Woman's Burden The Pagan's Cup A Coin of Edward VII The Mandarin's Fan The Red Window The Secret Passage The Opal Serpent The Green Mummy The Crowned Skull The Solitary Farm The Mystery Queen Red Money A Son of Perdition