Noble ex-alcoholic remittance man dried out by scheming shanty-keeper in hopes of marrying her daughters richly, falls in love with one daughter and proposes after learning he has succeeded to a title and wealth, but she disbelieves it, turns him down for a local squatter who seems a better prospect, and he drinks himself to death. Similar themes are found in Campbell-Praed's 'The Lost Earl of Ellam' and Boothby's 'The Marriage of Esther: A Torres Straits Sketch'