AustLit

A train journey from York to Newcastle is snowbound and introduces young Bob Lawson to a veiled young lady and her elderly mother. The appearance of a detective elicits a plea for help which Lawson gives - subsequently discovering the young lady to be a youth wanted for bank embezzlement. Persuaded that the youth was hard pressed he assists in finding him a job on a departing yacht and further fools the persistent detective. Pleasant tale, lightly written. (PB)

Complaints about the incivility of a thief who holds Mr. S and his wife at gunpoint in their own home. (PB)

A neglected step-daughter's first ball and her meeting with the lame but stimulating Lord Mandevilel; a walk in the woods of her new employer's house and her self-sacrifice to save Lord M. from a jealous rival's bullet; the same woods months later and a marriage proposal. Light. (PB)

When station owner Neil McLeod decides to marry again, to Jane Edom whom he has long courted, Sandy McIntyre and his brother Angus strongly oppose it. McLeod's brothers-in-law, they hold a secret over his head; and he himself is haunted by ghosts and alcohol. Edom is marrying him for his moeny but meets a dreadful fate on the wedding night, and Angus is revealed a woman ... (PB)

Humorous English romance. A young city gentleman tries to avoid an otherwise pleasant elderly gentleman when his obsession with Roman England becomes tedious. When the young man meets the woman of his dreams on holiday at Boulougne the 'bore's' knowledge helps him win her hand - and the bore is her father ... Crustily engaging. (PB)

Helpless wayfarer/murderous host tale. A traveller in the Virginia mountains is driven to seek shelter by a terrible storm. He is reluctantly offered shelter in a rough house where the master seeks to murder him for his money but he is saved by a woman's warmings and a madman's thirst. Usual tale competently written. (PB)

A tramp regales a barkeeper with his homespun sayings, and asks his reward in refreshment. (PB)

A quarrel between a married couple in the Tennessee mountains becomes tragedy when a terrible storm descends and husband searches for wife. Narrated by a traveller. (PB)

Jealousy and a beautiful woman's plots separate humble Maggie Adair and her handsome fiancee, Hugh Seymour. The beauty's deathbed confession and a sickbed reunion during the war with France restore understanding. Pleasant style. (PB)

A sympathetic friend describes the horrors of having a tooth removed to a man about to ascend the dentist's stairs. (PB)

Tale of New York in the 1770s and 1780s, when the Dutch were still in ascendency, before the Irish invasion and including the American Revolution. A Jewish antique dealer and his niece arrive in NY and he sets up business dealing with both sides in the revolution. He is fascinated by clocks, eventually being strangled by one - and his landlady's son is accused of the murder. Odd tale; competent. (PB)

US tale of honesty and perseverance overcoming bad family ties. A boy proves himself honest to his employer, even when his own drunken brother returns and attempts robbery. Plain tale of character rewarded. American values. (PB)

The horrors suffered by a boy as his mother cuts his hair. Rough humour. (PB)

A governess recovers from a serious illness when she receives a letter from home and discovers her father is not drowned as believed. With his return she recovers and leaves her job but has won the heart of her employers son Slight. (PB)

Anecdote of the quick answer of an ice cream parlour proprietor to a complaint. (PB)