Auriol; or, The Elixir of LifeAinsworth, William Harrison
Science
Auriol; or, The Elixir of Life
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Detective and mystery stories; Gothic fiction; Horror tales; Paranormal fiction
Who has not heard of the Barber of London? His dwelling is in the
neighbourhood of Lincoln's Inn. It is needless to particularise the
street, for everybody knows the shop; that is to say, every member of
the legal profession, high or low. All, to the very judges themselves,
have their hair cut, or their wigs dressed, by him. A pleasant fellow is
Mr. Tuffnell Trigge--Figaro himself not pleasanter--and if you do not
shave yourself--if you want a becoming flow imparted to your stubborn
locks, or if you require a wig, I recommend you to the care of Mr.
Tuffnell Trigge. Not only will he treat you well, but he will regale you
with all the gossip of the court; he will give you the last funny thing
of Mr. Serjeant Larkins; he will tell you how many briefs the great Mr.
Skinner Fyne receives--what the Vice-Chancellor is doing; and you will
own, on rising, that you have never spent a five minutes more agreeably.
Besides, you are likely to see some noticeable characters, for Mr.
Trigge's shop is quite a lounge. Perhaps you may find a young barrister
who has just been "called," ordering his "first wig," and you may hear
the prognostications of Mr. Trigge as to his future distinction. "Ah,
sir," he will say, glancing at the stolid features of the young man,
"you have quite the face of the Chief Justice--quite the face of the
chief--I don't recollect him ordering his first wig--that was a little
before my time; but I hope to live to see you chief, sir. Quite within
your reach, if you choose to apply. Sure of it, sir--quite sure." Or you
may see him attending to some grave master in Chancery, and listening
with profound attention to his remarks; or screaming with laughter at
the jokes of some smart special pleader; or talking of the theatres, the
actors and actresses, to some young attorneys, or pupils in
conveyancers' chambers; for those are the sort of customers in whom Mr.
Trigge chiefly delights; with them, indeed, he _is_ great, for it is by
them he has been dubbed the Barber of London. His shop is also
frequented by managing clerks, barristers' clerks, engrossing clerks,
and others; but these are, for the most part, his private friends.
Mr. Trigge's shop is none of your spruce West End hair-cutting
establishments, with magnificent mirrors on every side, in which you may
see the back of your head, the front, and the side, all at once, with
walls bedizened with glazed French paper, and with an ante-room full of
bears'-grease, oils, creams, tooth-powders, and cut glass. No, it is a
real barber's and hairdresser's shop, of the good old stamp, where you
may get cut and curled for a shilling, and shaved for half the price.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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