AustLit

Story of the seven-year-old shepherd's son who gets lost in the bush and dies.

A small and isolated country town without a resident preacher sees a succession of itinerant preachers, some of dubious credentials, lecturing at the pub.

The narrator muses on the different characters that constitute the Australian squatter. He takes as an example his friends, old Robin Ruff of the Murrumbidgee, and young Dudley Smooth of Murriowooloomoolooneriangtrotolong Station, and compares their distinctly different approaches to running their businesses.

The narrator declares that 'The quality of a race of beings is determined by two things: food and climate'. In musing on what the future Australian race will be like, the narrator looks to the past and the present as indicators of the likely progression that will eventuate.

This story was first published in the Australasian, 14 September, 1872, with the title 'Human Repetends'. This version of the story, which includes a character called Marston, has been republished several times in anthologies and selections. A second version of the story, with a different beginning and featuring a character called Hylton, was first published in the posthumous selection Sensational Tales with the title 'A Mysterious Coincidence'. This version has been republished under both titles.