Sard Harker himself is perhaps a relative of Kay, although they're not explicitly connected (the details that are given are at least sufficient to establish that he's not a direct ancestor).

Character Overlap: Abner Brown previously appeared as a henchman of the villain (also a black magician) in Sard Harker.

Brick Joke: Kay's letter-writing style, which his governess scolds him about during a writing lesson early in the book, returns full-force near the end when he writes a letter to the authorities to let them know the treasure has been found.

Black Knight: On the way to meet King Arthur, Kay, the unnamed messenger and Sir Launcelot encounter a supernatural Black Knight who treats beheading as a minor setback.

He nearly succeeded, but Abner's grandfather was too much for him.

The Atoner: Twiney Pricker, one of the crewmen who mutinied to steal the treasure, subsequently repented and spent the last years of his life tracking it down to return it to Captain Harker.

Roper Bilges the gamekeeper shares the name of his grandfather, one of the mutineers on Captain Harker's ship.

Miss Piney Trigger has the same name as her father.

Abner shares his forename with his father and grandfather.

Ancestral Name: Several characters pass their names down through the generations:.

Nibbins also used to be a familiar, but is now a household cat who sides with Kay.

All Witches Have Cats: Blackmalkin and Greymalkin serve the coven as familiars.

Abandoned Area: The brewery and stables at Seekings, obsolete in the age of mass-produced beer and motor cars, now slowly falling into ruin.

The two books also have links, in terms of shared settings and characters, with a series of adventure stories for adults which began with Sard Harker in 1925. He is aided in his quest by the Midnight Folk, an association of Talking Animals, Living Toys, and other fantastic creatures.īut not all the creatures that haunt the night are friendly: a coven of witches is also after the treasure, led by the scheming Abner Brown and the sinister Mrs Pouncer, and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.Ī sequel, The Box of Delights, was published in 1935.

Young Kay Harker has a variety of adventures in search of the truth about a famous treasure that his great-grandfather, a merchant captain, was given for safe-keeping then lost when his crew mutinied.

The Midnight Folk is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield, first published in 1927.

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield