Marjorie Barnard, is, of course, a collaborator with Flora Eldershaw in the writing of five novels as well as several other books, under the collective name of M. Barnard Eldershaw. The stories in this collection, most of which were first published in various Australian magazines before they were brought together in 1943, represent her only attempt at solo fiction writing. All of them have some value and interest and among them are some classics, notably the title story which was reprinted in Coast to Coast and has been frequently anthologised since, most recently in Laurie Hergenhan’s The Australian Short Story.