Agar Halfi the mystic

"Agar Halfi the mystic" by Roland Filkin is a novel written in the early 20th century. It blends occult adventure with village mystery, following the cool-headed scholar-explorer Hugo Alexis Brentwood and his Eastern adept companion Agar Halfi as their path crosses with the sensitive new vicar of Worlstoke, Philip Alletson. Expect a collision of Eastern mysticism and English pastoral life as a sinister force behind baffling disappearances tests faith, reason, and nerve. The opening of the novel moves from a haunted mountain cave near the Persian border—where a demon-like roc from an old legend nearly kills Brentwood before dawn—to the quiet Somerset village of Worlstoke. There, the previous vicar has vanished without trace, and soon a young woman disappears too, unsettling the entire district. At sunset by the ruins of Melsea Priory, the new vicar, Philip Alletson, is lured by an eerie cry and drifting green mists until clutching his gold cross snaps him back, sending him fleeing home in terror. The next day, disturbed dreams and growing unease push him to seek help from Brentwood, who is himself plagued by uncanny dawn episodes. Meanwhile, Agar Halfi reads ominous astrological signs of danger for Brentwood. The section closes with Alletson confiding in Brentwood and the two men agreeing, cautiously, to probe the sinister mystery.

Agar Halfi the mystic, by Roland Filkin. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #77673.