Cirrus@Austlit

Robberies in a small township bring the attention and presence of sub-inspector M'owie from Melbourne to assist SEnior-Constable Parks. An apparently genial Scottish storekeeper and her sons prove to be the thieves - and one a murderer. Their 'cousin' Henry Landsor is the long-lost son of the local misanthrope Captain Ronalds, restored to his position by William Evans J. P., cleared of a charge of forgery and enabled to marry the captain's pretty niece. (PB)

Woman's salvation through kindness. An outcast woman is sheltered by a church sexton and his wife on Christmas day and after telling them her tale of want, theft and imprisonment, becomes a sister of charity. Crude. (PB)

Humorous English take of a young man's inheritance earned by accident. Frank Mahew attends a distant relative's funeral to avoid a picnic he rashly organised and cannot afford. The only mourner, he thus becomes the rich old man's sole heir. Light. Masculine 'undergraduate' tone. (PB)

A London coffee-stall proprietor tells the narrator his experience of the poor, and of those who committed suicide from the nearby bridge. In particular, the tale of a young man who left the proprietor his watch, but changed his mind about suicide. He would never acknowledge his intention afterwards or take the watch back. Character tale of the underside of life. (PB)

Light English romance. Love at a summer house party reveals to a penniless young man engaged to a rich cotton manufacturor's daughter (in exchange for his prospective title) that he wishes to marry another. Fortunately the heiress finds another title and the hero inherits his own and sufficient income to marry. (PB)

Romance of a spirited (American?) hoyden who refuses a proposal from Vane Winton, a serious theological student, but learns that she loves him during the visit of impeccably beautiful Alice May. Recklessness causes her to be thrown from her horse - but true love repairs all. Light. (PB)

US tale of a wife left alone with her baby and a burglar, and her undaunted coolness in waiting until she can summon help. Slight. Passing references to reading Robert Elsmere. (PB)

English romance of a misanthrope, his secluded daughter, and his heir and nephew. The return of an Australian-born youth to his ancestral English home introduces him to his invalid and reclusive uncle, and to his cousin believed by the local village to be the ghost of an ancestress. His uncle's death soon after, and his written confession, and the will leaving his daughter to the case of his nephew, clear away superstitions and create romance. Light. (PB)

Slightly ironic English romance set in 1881. A youth's repinings over a condition of his aunt's will that he should marry within a year of her death are quickly consoled by a young lady glimpsed during a visit to the theatre. Visions of his lost first love who married for money are soon forgotten. (PB)

Domestic estrangement brought about by the separate flirtations of a proud handsome married couple is repaired through the sickness of their infant daughter. Slight. (PB)

A marriage for money costs Estelle Gordon her true love. By the time she is a rich widow he has success and a beautiful 'innocent' wife. (Sophisticated successful woman vs. beloved child wife. Always loses out in love, etc.) (PB)

Customs and feelings of the day. Includes verse extracts. (PB)

A beautiful American requests Detective Sinclair's help at a Melbourne mayoral ball - to find a viscious little dog and to prevent her husband from finding her as he would kill her for an inheritance. Sinclair enlists the help of a clever and reformed burglar, and when Mrs P. is apparently killed sends hismother to help mind the house. With the ex-criminal's help he pins the murder on the beauty's newly arrived husband - and she is resurrected on his deathbed. (PB)

Family tale from England. The visit of a rich cantankerous aunt threatens to spoil a family Christmas until Clara returns for her holidays and refuses to cater to her whims. Then the aunt reveals her true self and a very merry family Christmas follows. Cheery. (PB)