Cirrus@Austlit

Sketch of Charles James Fox, English statesman, including his gambling and his refusal to assist in the assassination of Napoleon. Anecdotal rather than biographical. (PB).

Very brief humour anecdote of a New York Irishman's changed opinion of an acquaintance after discovering he has robbed him. (PB).

Slight romance of the estrangement and reunion of a girl from Windsor, Victoria, and a Bank of NSW accountant from Rutherdale. Jealousy separates them but her two years in Tasmania and his lonely time in the bank do not allow them to quite forget ... Their feelings are reflected in the weather - well-described but still a little disproportionate. (PB).

Tom's secpmd letter, recounting the progress of the battle between him and his wife six months on - including a sham illness and the cure; and an un-Christian prayer-meeting. (PB)

A tale of the American Civil War. In Virginia in 1864, a Confederate officer hears a tale of his fellow officer's youth in Louisianna, the deadly hatred borne him by a former employee, and the officer's presentiments of death that night - all of which come to pass ... Swashbuckling manly sentiment and foreboding. (PB).

The historic and fairy myths associated with flowers. Patchy. (PB).

A comic misunderstanding when a proposal is mistaken for a plea to be included in a play. Set in a country-home one wintry Christmas. Slight. (PB).

A railway journey and a holiday romance result in Arthur Brentford marrying Elinor Milliken to save her from her rich heiress aunt - only to discover he has the heiress. Ungainly comic romance. (PB).

An anecdote from Seneca teaches the value of a peaceful conscience. (PB).

Crude comedy of the disruptions to an up-country hotel caused by a sesquipedologist, his somnambulistic nephew, a nervous new chum, and a drunken Irishman. All is smoothed by a friendly drink. (PB).

Sketch of a sister's sacrifice of her true love to marry the villain who knows of her brother's purported forgery - and the illness that intervenes. (PB).

Sketch of a schoolgirl friendship between two different characters, and the attempt by Nellie Blake to come between Nellie Carroll and her fiancee. Set principally in Australia with a revolution in Rome. Slight. (PB).

Tales of the inhabitants of the drinking room of an outback bush shanty as they recover from their respective sprees. Intended to show the cupidity of hotel keepers, the connivance of policemen and the inequity of country justices, together with the varied characters of the bushmen knocking down their cheques. Stilted but interesting material. (PB).

A canny father quiets the complaints of his son-in-law by threatning to cut his daughter out of his will. Anecdotal. (PB).

On the value of books for learning. (PB)

A child dies alone while her mother begs on the street for bread. Moralises on those rich Christians who give no help. Thin. (PB).

Two policemen are sent to a tiny isolated settlement on the Sydney Road to discover why travellers keep disappearing. They discover a grisly murder committed by an old woman - who is in turn dreadfully murdered by her crazed son. A shanty-keeper plays a large part. (PB)

An old merchant's wish to return to the world of his youth is fulfilled - and he is increasingly annoyed by its difficulties and inconveniences. Set in a mercantile harbour city in the USA. Very well conceived and executed; marred only by the moral tone extolling progress near the conclusion. (PB)