AustLit

Confusion results when a forgetful man cannot find the valuable diamond ring an Italian supper-guest asked him to mind while she played the piano. Humour. (PB)

An Australian birthday party in 1860 witnesses Lucy Wilson's agreement to visit the nearby graveyard at midnight to prove she is unafraid of ghosts. Her friends follow her there and their thoughtless joke brings on insanity ... Plain tale; a little forced. (PB)

A newly-married couple have their first disputes over their pets - her canaries and his Newfoundland pup. His Uncle Phillip and her Aunt Clarice are driven from the house and accidentally share lodgings - where they resume an old romance. Light humour. (PB)

A young trooper's wife secretly married leaves her father's farm when she finds she is pregnant. Her father discovers her, shoots her husband and finally rides with her into a flooded river where they drown. Includes her mother's death and a ghostly appearance. (PB)

Anecdote of a clergyman drunk in church through drinking unadulterated rum. Humour. (PB)

Anecdotes of fathers and sons; the principal anecdote about mutual trust. (PB)

A Norweigian falls from a scaffolding after hearing of his son's death. Narrated by his employer. Softened by the human reality of his immigrant workman's life. (Possibly Melbourne.) (PB)

John Stanhope, captain of a Chinese vessel in Ningpo in 1860, takes Barnsley, a wild heroic American youth, on board his ship on a trip to Chusan. Chinese pirates board their ship; after fighting they take to the water and after several hours swimming Barnsley is taken by a shark. Well written tale of action and romance - especially surrounding the mystery of Barnsley's presence in China. (PB)

A coach of brave men is stopped by highway robbers - and no resistance is made. (PB)

A parson's wife mistakes her husband's guest for the parson himself and beats him for his hospitality. (PB)

Stilted romance of a poor but gentlemanly tutor who falls in love with his rich, beautiful pupil and resolves to leave her. Her fond guardian intervenes. (PB)

Two cousins marry: one a rich shallow-brained youth; the other a humble but manly carpenter. Ten years later their fortunes are dear. Sententious but not unpleasant. (PB)

A poor lawyer's clerk, friendless and ill in a strange city, is cared for by a female doctor, educated by her doctor father. He pays his bill by marrying her and she practises no more! Romance made interesting by subject; her femininity is always stressed - and her father's approval and protection. (PB)

In a North-Eastern Victorian township, an impecunious commission agent determines to marry for money - but courts the wrong woman. Amusing by-play over the lady's reading: Harriet Martineau's 'Political Economy'; John Stuart Mill etc. Humour of the carpet-bagger. (PB)

Account of Violet Gray's involvement with 'an association of intellectual women' at an inter-state convention which persuades her not to join. Gossip and malice presented as women's strongest claims; very anti-women's rights. Nevertheless, fascinating picture of the convention, the colourful figures involved, dress, haircuts etc. (PB)

An Irishwoman saves a fairy from grasshoppers and is repaid in her hour of need when she pays a scheming agent her houses's purchase price in fairy gold. Pleasant, warm. (PB)

Anecdote of a patent medicine maker's 'All Sorts' concoction which cured marvellously - through rest, diet and faith, a doctor opines. (PB)

Sothern, the actor and his friend Fiske enact a mock fight on an omnibus in Regent Street. Setting uncertain - Melbourne or London? (PB)