while this certainly has interesting passages, bar the ridiculous schoolboy conclusion, it's by no means a classic. The set up is that hero (or anti-hero) Auriol Darcy discovers an elixir of life in the hands of his grandfather, the mysterious Dr Lamb, just as the 17th Century is dawning. He promptly kills Dr Lamb and swallows the elixir, since he's suffering from serious stab wounds. The tales goes fast forward a couple of hundred years and we find Auriol is still about, as are a catalogue of ruffians and the woman he loves. But his immortality has been at a high price, as he's pursued by an equally mysterious person. Amid much padding involving dog stealers, a curious dwarf, and Auriol's betrothed, the story switches back and forth with enough mystery and fantasy to hold the interest.