AustLit

A hen-pecked insurance clerk's nightmare of the shambles his office is reduced to by female clerks - and the outraged response of his wife. Dream brought on by too much whiskey. Mysoginist humour. Female office clerks represented knitting, flirting, decorating the office etc. (PB)

Refugees from the Franco-Prussian war settle in Warrnambool, an elderly man and two adolescents, his son and a friend's daughter. The attentions of a handsome squatter and the couple's separation after the old man's death estrange them - a separation apparently cemented by the youth's return just as the girl was enacting a marriage tableau vivant to the squatter as a Christmas entertainment. Years later, after a terrible storm and his apparent death at sea, they are reunited. Roman Catholic faith emphasised. (PB)

Romance between a very respectable bank clerk and the beautiful Miss Edgar goes awry through a formulaic proposal letter. All is successfully concluded when Mr Rightlines receives a 'Form of Acceptance' in reply. (PB)

A railway journey and a confidence trick involving a beautiful young girl and a clumsy card player rob a young man of £100. Naivete fooled by beauty and scheming. (PB)

The judicious wording of an advertisement achieves the return of an umbrella stolen in church where another fails. (PB)

Tale of a West End userer, Mr Leviticus, and his plotting to prevent the marriage of an elderly Lord and the four-fold harvest it yields him. (PB)

University tale of a graduate's chances of a fellowship nearly ruined by assisting to remove the college master's drunken brother - recently returned from Australia - from a potentially embarrassing situation. Reputation, pride and romance mix in this account told by the college porter, the drunken brother's death clearing up the misunderstanding. (PB)

Domestic tale of a husband's refusal to make his wife an allowance and the eventual growth of their love through illness. She supports him physically and financially and teaches him generosity. (PB)

Tale of twin brothers of differing temperaments who share an inheritance. The debts of one force him to sell out to his brother and a precious heirloom dagger disappears when he leaves. Suspicious of theft, assassination and romantic rivalry are all eventually relieved - and the fallen brother retrieves his character and his fortune. (PB)

The new tenant of a haunted country estate and Daisy, grandchild of the supposed ghost, fall in love. A temporary estrangement through the tenant's sister's determination that he should marry an heiress is eventually removed - and the grandchild's inheritance makes them rich too. (PB)

Vignettes showing hope in life and beyond the grave: mother and dying child; sweethearts parted by battle; a traveller in the desert; a dying convict ... (PB)

Anecdote of a rising barometer and a falling decanter on a man of war bound out of China. (PB)

Criminal tragedy - recidivism explained. A prisoner released from Pentridge attempts to earn an honest living for his family but is refused work. He is finally involved in a burglary but refuses to continue when he recognises the victim - a kind merchant - and is shot by his accomplice. (PB)

Fishing tale set around Lake Omeo and the Mitta, Victoria. German sausage, beer and a huge crayfish contribute to his vision of the bunyip. (PB)

Lodging-house tale. A venerable old clerk tells his tale to a fellow lodger of his youthful employment to the daughter of a Sydney hotel-keeper; her flirtation with an American and her murder. A false note led the narrator to a drunken life until her ghost shows him her body - and a dying man's confession reveals the murderer. (PB)

A murder of a titled Englishman settled in Melbourne with his mother, brother and servants at a Toorak Ball to celebrate his engagement is solved by Sinclair. Neither the fiancee nor her brother - incensed by the victim's claim to the title actually held by his older brother - are responsible. A beautiful family servant. 10 years older than the victim, has killed him rather than see him wed another. (PB)

Humour - domestic sketch on words, meaning and usage. (PB)

Tale of the heroism of a Mississippi steamboat pilot who is badly burnt saving the vessel and its passengers. (PB)