Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

'A Comedy of Capricorn' is a humorous romantic tale. When Gwendolen invites the supremely eligible animal lover Lord Bampton to meet her parents so that he can ask permission to court her, she warns her family of the visitor's fondness for pets. Even the butler is warned to allow any strange or exotic animal which might accompany his Lordship into the drawing room without batting an eyelid. So when a stray goat turns up by chance at the same time as Lord Bampton, chaos, confusion and hilarity are predestined.

'Ways of Escape' is a mystery story. The strange Mrs. Trevarrian lives in a lonely cottage on the moors with her elderly housemaid. The villagers are beginning to suspect that there is something rather odd about the lady. In particular, she has a studio photograph of a maidservant on her mantelpiece and tells all visitors that she hopes to get this maid to return to her house again in the future.

'The Pursuing Shadow' is the story of Spatz, an unscrupulous and self-absorbed businessman who has left a trail of devastation behind him in the form of destroyed business partners, one of whom lost an arm as a result of a suicide attempt when cheated by Spatz. But karma catches up with everyone, and the amputee finally returns to find Spatz at the precise moment of his own downfall.

Mrs. Scarr is a tense and mysterious ghost story set in Mauritius, a place where local mythology and European morals sit uneasily alongside one another. Mrs. Scarr is a beautiful woman of French origin who defies local cultural norms. She goes out alone at night and wears white rather than the traditional black. And her husband, who is a debauched sea captain, is mysteriously plagued by a single white moth wherever he goes.

Bats in the Belfry is a humorous short story in the tradition of the Victorian bedroom farce. Percy Biffin, an awkward house-guest at the summer residence of Sir Borwick Trout, is unexpectedly called on in the middle of the night to remove a bat from the beautiful young Julia Trout's bedroom. His presence in the young lady's bedroom is misinterpreted by every person who learns of it...and the more Biffin tries to extricate himself, the worse the situation becomes.

Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirized Edwardian society and culture. The Lost Sanjak' is the last-minute account by a condemned man, speaking to the prison chaplain, telling the astounding story of how he came to be condemned to hang for the murder of...himself!

Stella Benson (1892-1933) was an English feminist, novelist, poet, and short story and travel writer. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Cooperative Stores is an amusing allegorical story about mercenary love, the gullibility of those men who keep a mistress and the cynicism of those women who accept this kind of relationship.

A fascinating collection of classic short stories featuring unusual ways of making a living, including 'The Umbrella-Mender' by Beatrice Harraden, 'The Triumphs of a Taxidermist' by H. G. Wells, 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Kate Chopin, 'A Skinful of Trouble' by Arthur Morrison, 'White Magic' by Ella d'Arcy, 'A Deal in Ostriches' by H. G. Wells, and many more.

'The Brazen Serpent' is an unusual crime story in that it is told from the perspective of the criminal. Danby, a young engineer and hobby metalsmith has just escaped from prison and is in search of a way to make a living while on the run. His friend Parmenter, a collector of antiquities and owner of a rare and valuable medallion which is his most prized possession, offers him a position running an antiques business he has just acquired.

A Skinful of Trouble is the humorous tale of Mr. Dowdall, a gentleman who has invested as shareholder in a circus of dubious repute. All attempts to pursue the circus and recoup his investment are frustrated, until the circus manager agrees to send property of the circus to the value of the sum demanded. A circus tiger is then deposited on the street outside the Dowdall house in London.

The Leather Case is an adventure story about a young man who has just reached Paris after five years working in India as an engineer. While in Paris, he is startled by seeing a young woman whose face seems remarkably familiar, although it is impossible that he can have ever met her before. Moreover, the companion of the girl - apparently an uncle - seems to be going out of his way to engage the young engineer in a mysterious project in Silesia.

The Penance is an edgy and at times horrifying tale about a normally amiable man who has killed the cat belonging to his neighbour's children, on the grounds that he suspected it of attacking his chickens. His efforts to make up for this awful deed are met with hostility, and the children take the opportunity to plan a dire revenge.

Mary Postgate is a horrifying story, and like much of Kipling's work it can be interpreted in different ways. It was written as propaganda in 1915 during World War I against the background of German atrocities and massacres in France, and just after German aircraft had engaged in bombing raids on English towns. Mary Postgate was intended to inspire English readers with just such cold-blooded courage and ruthlessness as Mary herself displays.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings. In this story two old friends had promised to meet up exactly 20 years to the day since their last meeting in New York. One of the friends has travelled a thousand miles to be there...and is now waiting for his childhood companion. Will he turn up?

Thirty little gems by some of the world's great classic short story writers, including: 'The Flying Man' by H. G. Wells, 'Between Rounds' by O. Henry, 'A School Story' by M. R. James, 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Kate Chopin, 'A Deal in Ostriches' by H. G. Wells, 'The Piano Next Door' by Elia W. Peattie, 'Royal Visitors' by E. F. Benson, 'The Stolen Bacillus' by H. G. Wells, 'The Story of Chugoro' by Lafcadio Hearn, 'One Law for the Rich' by Stacy Aumonier, 'My Enemy and Myself' by Vincent O'Sullivan and more.

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English playwright and novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. 'Philanthropy' is the story of a man who is approached by a drunken couple with a sob story, hoping to scrounge some money from him. The experience causes him to explore the underlying motivation for his habitual philanthropy and discover that it is not as altruistic as he had supposed.

John Davys Beresford (1873-1947) was an English writer, now remembered for his early science fiction and short stories in the horror and ghost story genres. 'The Hidden Beast' is a strange and evocative tale of superstition, supernatural forces and suspense. Could the rumours about a strange beast, imprisoned and tortured in the lonely house in the woods where the weird man lives, really be true?

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874 - 1922) was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. 'The Voyage of the James Caird' is the story of Shackleton's 1916 failed attempt at a crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea via the pole. The expedition turned to disaster when Shackleton's ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island.

William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943) was an English author of short stories and novels. His most popular works in the early part of the last century were his humorous tales set around the docks of Wapping and in the taproom of the infamous Cauliflower tavern. 'The Rival Beauties' is one of the night watchman's most unlikely tales. He narrates the time when his ship came across a giant sea-serpent and they attempted to lure it with them to New York.

The Voice in the Night is an uncanny story about a ship becalmed in fog in the middle of the Pacific. In the night, the watch hears a voice hailing the ship. It would seem to be a lone man in a rowing boat, but the individual does not wish to be seen. He is starving and urgently wants food - but despite this, he will not approach the ship and vehemently rejects the idea of being rescued. Instead they have to float some provisions out to him in a crate, which he takes off to a nearby island where his fiancée is dying of hunger.