# Short Fiction — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Short Fiction by P. G. Wodehouse.

- [When Papa Swore in Hindustani](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/when-papa-swore-in-hindustani.md): Colonel Reynolds threatens to shoot his daughter Sylvia's pug, Tommy, for destroying his carnations. Sylvia loves the dog because it was a gift from Reginald Dallas, whom the colonel refused to let her marry after Dallas
- [Tom, Dick, and Harry](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/tom-dick-and-harry.md): Tom Ellison and Dick Henley, both in love with Dolly Burn, agree to let a village cricket match decide who gets to propose to her first. They persuade the curate, Rev. Henry Drew, to let them bat together. Both score exa
- [In Alcala](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/in-alcala.md): The chapter follows the intertwined lives of several characters in the Alcala district, exploring themes of love, ambition, and social maneuvering. Key events include George Balmer's romantic encounter on the promenade a
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/i.md): Rutherford Maxwell, an Englishman working at the New Asiatic Bank in New York, spends his nights writing stories in his cheap hall-bedroom at Alcala. Despite the heat and loneliness, he persists, dreaming of a holiday. O
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/ii.md): Rutherford Maxwell, an English bank clerk in New York, is visited by Peggy Norton, a chorus girl from 'The Island of Girls.' They engage in a playful conversation where Peggy criticizes his excessive politeness and encou
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/iii.md): Rutherford and Peggy develop a routine where she visits him after the theatre. He shares his dream of returning to a quiet life in Worcestershire, while she loves Broadway. Their friendship is strained when Peggy asks ab
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/iv.md): Rutherford struggles with writer's block and loneliness in Peggy's absence. He reunites with her at Herald Square, takes her to supper, and they discuss adapting his story into a play. On the cab ride back, they share a 
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/v.md): Rutherford's nightly visits with Peggy resume, and he writes the play 'Willie in the Wilderness' with her help, drawing on her insights about actor Winfield Knight. The play is a success, and Rutherford feels his struggl
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/vi.md): Rutherford Maxwell's play 'Willie in the Wilderness' is a triumph, largely due to Winfield Knight's performance. After the celebratory supper, Rutherford returns to Alcala where Peggy Norton has waited up. He confesses h
- [Out of School](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/out-of-school.md): James Datchett, an assistant-master at Harrow House, receives an acceptance for a short story and, in a moment of elation, kisses housemaid Violet. The act is witnessed by Adolf, a Swiss servant who blackmails James into
- [Ahead of Schedule](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/ahead-of-schedule.md): Rollo Finch, having abandoned his careful schedule, sends gifts and a supper invitation to a girl, but she fails to appear. Returning home, he discovers his valet Wilson has married the girl, who turns out to be Wilson's
- [By Advice of Counsel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/by-advice-of-counsel.md): A waiter recounts to a silent traveller the story of his time living with a charismatic drifter called Gentleman Bailey and a simple, wealthy man named Jerry Moore. The two drifters enjoy a life of ease at Jerry's home u
- [Deep Waters](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/deep-waters.md): George Barnert Callender, a playwright, arrives at Marvis Bay ahead of his play's production. While walking on the pier, he becomes distracted by a beautiful girl and falls into the water. She rescues him, and he pretend
- [Misunderstood](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/misunderstood.md): Mr. James 'Spider' Buffin, a pickpocket with a hobby of revenge, is arrested by Constable Keating after assaulting a man with a sandbag. After serving sixty days in prison, Buffin obsesses over revenge against Keating. H
- [Rough-Hew Them How We Will](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/rough-hew-them-how-we-will.md): Paul Boielle, a waiter at Bredin's Parisian Café, lives a double life as a struggling artist. He dreams of selling his painting 'The Awakening' to a wealthy connoisseur, which would allow him to marry his co-worker Jeann
- [The Goalkeeper and the Plutocrat](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-goalkeeper-and-the-plutocrat.md): Isabel Rackstraw and Clarence Tresillian meet at a charity bazaar and fall in love. Clarence, son of Lord Runnymede, learns his family is ruined after his grandfather's failed wheat corner. He decides to become a profess
- [The Good Angel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-good-angel.md): Martin Rossiter, a guest at the Keiths' country home, is tormented by his rival Aubrey Barstowe, who reads poetry to Elsa Keith. The butler, Keggs, reveals a servants' hall betting pool on Elsa's marriage and advises Mar
- [The Man Upstairs](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-man-upstairs.md): Annette Brougham confronts her neighbor, who she discovers is actually a wealthy Glasgow millionaire named Bill Bates, not the artist Alan Beverley he pretended to be. He reveals he orchestrated their meeting and has bee
- [The Man, the Maid, and the Miasma](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-man-the-maid-and-the-miasma.md): Mr. Robert Ferguson is trapped in his office overnight with his former office-boy, Master Roland Bean, whom he had fired for being too saintly and reproachful. Ferguson flees to the roof to avoid Bean and encounters his 
- [When Doctors Disagree](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/when-doctors-disagree.md): Arthur Welsh, a jealous barber, struggles with his fiancée Maud Peters' friendly interactions with male customers. After a brief reconciliation, his jealousy returns, prompting Maud to seek advice from a newspaper column
- [Pots O'Money](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/pots-o-money.md): Owen Bentley, a bank clerk with a modest income, asks Mr. Sheppherd for permission to marry his daughter Audrey, but is refused due to his lack of prospects. Despite the setback, Audrey vows to stay in touch via letters 
- [Absent Treatment](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/absent-treatment.md): The narrator, Reggie Pepper, recounts the story of his friend Bobbie Cardew, a charming but forgetful man whose marriage to Mary Anthony, a determined hospital nurse, leads to conflict. Bobbie's chronic forgetfulness str
- [The Best Sauce](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-best-sauce.md): Eve Hendrie, a paid companion to the irritable Mrs. Rastall-Retford, lies awake hungry and disturbed by the unexpected arrival of Peter Rayner, a man who had previously fallen in love with her while she was a governess. 
- [Disentangling Old Duggie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/disentangling-old-duggie.md): Reggie Pepper recounts how he advised his friend Duggie Craye to consult a palmist, Mrs. Darrell, leading to Duggie's engagement to her. Duggie's sister Florence opposes the match and invites the couple to the family hom
- [Three from Dunsterville](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/three-from-dunsterville.md): Mary Hill, a young woman from Dunsterville, Canada, moves to New York seeking work as a stenographer. Initially overwhelmed by the city's harsh, competitive nature, she reluctantly accepts a secretarial position from Joe
- [Ruth in Exile](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/ruth-in-exile.md): Ruth Warden works as a secretary-clerk at a pawnshop in Roville-sur-Mer, supporting her father Eugene Warden, who gambles and dreams of her marrying a rich man. A persistent and confident young man, Mr. Vince, courts her
- [Sir Agravaine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/sir-agravaine.md): Sir Agravaine the Dolorous, an ugly and weak knight of King Arthur's Round Table, falls in love with the damsel Yvonne, who has come to Camelot seeking a champion to fight a dragon. Despite his physical shortcomings, he 
- [The Man Who Disliked Cats](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-man-who-disliked-cats.md): A man dining at the Café Britannique meets a melancholy Frenchman who recounts his tragic life story. The Frenchman, an aspiring artist forced to work as a hotel cashier, develops a hatred for animals—especially cats—aft
- [The Tuppenny Millionaire](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-tuppenny-millionaire.md): George Albert Balmer, a modest insurance clerk, inherits a thousand pounds and travels to Roville. There, he encounters Lady Julia Waveney, falls in love, but is crushed to learn she is a titled aristocrat. He seeks sola
- [Something to Worry About](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/something-to-worry-about.md): Sally Preston, a London girl who loves cinemas, is sent by her strict father to the sleepy village of Millbourne to reform. She finds the place deadly dull and immediately clashes with the quiet, hardworking second garde
- [Crowned Heads](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/crowned-heads.md): Katie, a modest secondhand bookshop owner, is whisked away from her friend Genevieve at Palisades Park by a serious young man named Ted Brady. Despite her self-doubt, Ted pursues her with direct sincerity, visiting her s
- [Death at the Excelsior](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/death-at-the-excelsior.md): A mysterious death occurs at the Excelsior Hotel, drawing in various characters and setting off a chain of events involving suspicion, investigation, and hidden motives.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/i.md): Captain John Gunner is found dead in his room at the Excelsior Boardinghouse. Mrs. Pickett and Constable Grogan discover the body, and a young doctor suspects poisoning, though the cause remains uncertain. Mrs. Pickett i
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/ii.md): Mr. Paul Snyder assigns the mysterious case of a man found dead from cobra bite in a locked room at a Southampton boardinghouse to his ambitious but inexperienced assistant, Elliot Oakes, who is eager to prove his detect
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/iii.md): Mr. Snyder reads a humorous report from Elliott Oakes detailing his investigation into Captain Gunner's death at the Excelsior boardinghouse. Oakes shares his frustrations and theories, including the possibility of an In
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/iv.md): Young Mr. Oakes, a detective, struggles with a baffling case at the Excelsior Boardinghouse. His usual self-confidence wanes as he fails to find any clues in the locked room where a tragedy occurred, and he feels the qui
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/v.md): Mr. Snyder receives a telegram from Oakes announcing he has solved the Gunner mystery. Oakes returns triumphant and explains his logical deduction: the death was caused by a cobra from Java that entered via a crate of ba
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/vi.md): Mr. Snyder is visited by Mrs. Pickett, who challenges the solution proposed by young Oakes regarding the death of Captain Gunner. She insists that Oakes' explanation is impossible and claims to have the true solution. Sh
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/vii.md): At a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Pickett, detective Mr. Snyder, young Mr. Oakes, and Captain Muller are present. Mrs. Pickett transforms from a brooding woman into a gracious hostess, giving each guest a souvenir. Captai
- [One Touch of Nature](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/one-touch-of-nature.md): Mr. J. Wilmot Birdsey, an American baseball fan exiled in England after his daughter married an earl, attends a baseball game between the White Sox and Giants in London. He invites two fellow fans to dinner at the Savoy:
- [At Geisenheimer's](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/at-geisenheimer-s.md): The narrator, a professional dancer at Geisenheimer's, feels homesick and restless in New York. She meets a countryman named Charlie Ferris, who is visiting the city with his wife. The narrator helps Mrs. Ferris win a da
- [Bill the Bloodhound](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/bill-the-bloodhound.md): Henry Pifield Rice, a low-level detective at Stafford's International Investigation Bureau, falls in love with Alice Weston, a chorus girl who disapproves of his 'sneaky' profession. She refuses his marriage proposal bec
- [Black for Luck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/black-for-luck.md): Elizabeth, a struggling writer in New York, adopts a stray black cat named Joseph, hoping for good luck after her favorite magazine folds. She forms a friendship with James Boyd, a playwright whose play means everything 
- [Concealed Art](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/concealed-art.md): Reggie Pepper recounts how his friend Archie, a struggling futurist artist who secretly draws the popular 'Doughnut family' comic strip, concocts a scheme with Reggie to pretend that a wealthy American, J. Bellingwood Br
- [The Making of Mac's](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-making-of-mac-s.md): Henry, the old waiter at Mac's Restaurant, recounts the history of the establishment, from its humble beginnings under old Mr. MacFarland to its rise in popularity. He describes the key figures: Andy, the stubborn son; K
- [The Mixer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-mixer.md): A dog narrates his life as a mixed-breed who moves between different owners and households, observing the foibles and secrets of the humans around him. Through his adventures, he becomes a silent witness to romantic enta
- [I: He Meets a Shy Gentleman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/i-he-meets-a-shy-gentleman.md): The narrator, a dog, recounts his early life in an East End public house and his purchase for half a crown by a shy, quiet man. After being sold to a caretaker in Kent, the dog is overjoyed to reunite with his old friend
- [II: He Moves in Society](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/ii-he-moves-in-society.md): After being hit by a car, the narrator dog is taken home by a small boy named Peter, who insists on keeping him despite his nurse's objections. The dog enjoys a life of luxury in a grand house, but is puzzled by the spec
- [The Romance of an Ugly Policeman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-romance-of-an-ugly-policeman.md): Constable Edward Plimmer, a homely policeman, is assigned to a quiet beat in Battersea Park Road, a neighborhood of artists and intellectuals. He falls in love with Ellen Brown, a girl who lives in one of the flats, but 
- [The Test Case](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-test-case.md): Reggie Pepper recounts his near-marriage to Ann Selby, who doubts his worth due to his idle wealth. To prove himself, he visits his friend Harold Bodkin, whose sentimental devotion to his first wife Amelia is ruining his
- [Wilton's Holiday](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/wilton-s-holiday.md): Jack Wilton arrives at Marois Bay, appearing as a strong, cheerful man. However, a rumor spreads that he is secretly heartbroken because his fiancée died in his arms on their wedding morning. The community treats him wit
- [The Man with Two Left Feet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/the-man-with-two-left-feet.md): Henry Wallace Mills, a studious bank cashier, learns to dance to surprise his wife Minnie, who has grown bored with their quiet life. After secretly taking lessons from Mme. Gavarni, he plans a dramatic reveal at Geisenh
- [A Sea of Troubles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/a-sea-of-troubles.md): Mr. Meggs, a chronic dyspeptic and retired clerk, decides to commit suicide due to his unbearable indigestion. He methodically prepares six letters with banknotes for old friends, then attempts to retrieve them from his 
- [Mister Potter Takes a Rest Cure](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/mister-potter-takes-a-rest-cure.md): Mr. John Hamilton Potter, a publisher recovering from a nervous breakdown, is staying at Skeldings Hall. He bonds with Bobbie Wickham over their mutual dislike of Clifford Gandle, a pompous politician whom Lady Wickham w
- [Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_42_se/chapters/lord-emsworth-acts-for-the-best.md): Lord Emsworth faces a domestic crisis at Blandings Castle as his butler, Beach, threatens to resign over the earl's new beard. Meanwhile, in London, Lord Emsworth meets his son Freddie, who reveals that his wife Aggie ha

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