# The Lady of the Barge — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Lady of the Barge by W. W. Jacobs.

- [The Lady of the Barge](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/the-lady-of-the-barge.md): The master of the barge Arabella, Captain Gibbs, argues with a schooner mate about religion before his own mate, Ted, arrives late. Ted reveals he has invited a young woman, Miss Harris, to join them for a trip, much to 
- [The Monkey's Paw](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/the-monkey-s-paw.md): The White family receives a visit from Sergeant-Major Morris, who tells them about a magical monkey's paw that grants three wishes. Mr. White makes a wish for two hundred pounds, which later comes true through the tragic
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/i.md): On a cold, wet night at Laburnam Villa, the White family—Mr. White, his wife, and their son Herbert—are visited by Sergeant-Major Morris, a veteran of twenty-one years in India. Morris tells them about a dried monkey's p
- [The Price of a Wish](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/ii.md): The morning after the monkey's paw wish, the Whites laugh off their fears, but a visitor from Maw and Meggins arrives to inform them that Herbert has been killed in a machinery accident, and the firm offers two hundred p
- [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/iii.md): After burying their son Herbert, the Whites struggle with grief and despair. Mrs. White, driven by desperation, convinces her husband to use the monkey's paw to wish Herbert back to life. Mr. White reluctantly makes the 
- [Bill's Paper Chase](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/bill-s-paper-chase.md): The night watchman recounts the story of Thomas Geary, a miserly sailor who dies aboard the barque Grenada, having hidden his life savings of six hundred pounds. Before dying, he tricks a boy named Jimmy into supposedly 
- [The Well](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/the-well.md): Jem Benson, under pressure from Wilfred Carr's blackmail, descends into a well to retrieve a hidden fortune, with Olive anxiously waiting above. The chapter explores themes of desperation, trust, and the moral compromise
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/i.md): Jem Benson and his cousin Wilfred Carr have a tense conversation in the billiard-room of an old country house. Carr, in financial trouble, attempts to blackmail Benson by threatening to sell compromising letters to a riv
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/ii.md): Jem Benson and Olive spend a summer evening by the disused well in the park. Olive drops her mother's diamond bracelet into the well, and Jem reacts with horror. He promises to retrieve it by morning and extracts a promi
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/iii.md): Jem Benson descends into the well against his servants' warnings, only to be pulled up with the corpse of Thomas Geary, leading to a disastrous accident.
- [Cupboard Love](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/cupboard-love.md): At Negget's farm, retired policeman Mr. Martin Bodfish investigates the theft of Mrs. Negget's gold brooch. Suspicion falls on Mrs. Driver after mud traces are found on the stairs, leading to a comedic confrontation and 
- [In the Library](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/in-the-library.md): Trayton Burleigh, confronted by his partner James Fletcher over financial defalcations, is given an ultimatum: leave the house and firm with two hundred pounds or face disgrace and penal servitude. In a fit of rage, Burl
- [Captain Rogers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/captain-rogers.md): A mysterious stranger arrives at the Golden Key inn, claiming to be an old shipmate of the landlord, who goes by the name Mullet but is revealed to be Captain Rogers. The stranger, Nick Gunn, threatens to expose Rogers's
- [A Tiger's Skin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/a-tiger-s-skin.md): The oldest man in Claybury recounts the story of a tiger that escaped from a circus and terrorized the village. The tale includes the villagers' fear, the tramp's dramatic arrival at the Cauliflower, Frederick Scott's at
- [A Mixed Proposal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/a-mixed-proposal.md): Major Brill, bound by a chess wager not to propose to Mrs. Riddel without Halibut's permission, grows frustrated as Halibut refuses to release him. After Halibut's own proposal is gently refused, the Major hopes to try h
- [An Adulteration Act](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/an-adulteration-act.md): Dr. Frank Carson and his friend Harry Thomson, a solicitor, wake up aboard a ship after being drugged and shanghaied as cook and able-bodied seaman. They protest their kidnapping and demand to be taken back to Melbourne,
- [A Golden Venture](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/a-golden-venture.md): Ann Pullen inherits two thousand pounds, attracting the attention of two older suitors, Mr. Wiggett and Mr. Miller. After the inheritance is revealed to be a mistake due to a later will, Mr. Miller proposes to Ann, belie
- [Three at Table](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lady_of_the_barge_se/chapters/three-at-table.md): A sailor recounts a strange experience from his youth when, lost in a foggy marsh, he seeks shelter at a remote house. The elderly host and his wife reluctantly take him in, and he is invited to dine in the dark with the

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