Stingaree by E.W. Hornung (1894)

Name: Stingaree
Author: E.W. Hornung

Stingaree by E. W. Hornung opens on Mrs. Clarkson's station, where her paid companion, Hilda Bouverie, a would-be professional singer stifled by her employer's vanity, is overheard singing by a swaggering, monocled stranger who praises her voice and asks her to keep his visit secret. At Mrs. Clarkson's charity concert, meant to flatter the visiting musical patron Sir Julian Crum, the stranger reappears with an accomplice, holds up the room at gunpoint, announces himself as the bushranger Stingaree, and forces Hilda to sing Sir Julian's own song, giving her a triumphant debut before he and his mate vanish. Sir Julian secures her passage to study and perform in London. The narrative then follows a string of loosely connected episodes in Stingaree's career. Young Scots immigrant Fergus Carrick joins bank manager Andrew Macbean at Glenranald in a secret scheme to trap Stingaree beneath a rigged trap-door floor; Stingaree instead turns the trap on its builders, loots the bank, and takes Fergus along as a forced accomplice. When Fergus turns his stolen revolver on Stingaree mid-escape, the bushranger disarms him, ties him to a fence post, fires blank shots as a "mock execution," then spares him and pins a note praising his gameness. Next, rabbiter Vanheimert, rescued from a duststorm by Stingaree and his mate Howie, secretly recognizes the outlaw, tries to shoot him with a revolver Stingaree had deliberately unloaded, and is condemned to be abandoned, tied, in the heart of a second duststorm as punishment for repaying rescue with treachery. The Hon. Guy Kentish, an English gentleman touring Australia, is himself stuck up by Stingaree but tracks him down alone afterward; the two bond over shared knowledge of London theater and music (discussing the opera Iolanthe and Punch magazine), and when Kentish reveals he recognizes Stingaree as a disgraced former club member, he persuades the bushranger to return the stolen mail rather than expose his real identity. Crossing into Victoria, Stingaree is pursued by rival police officers Sub-Inspector Kilbride and Superintendent Cairns of New South Wales. Posing as a trooper, Stingaree lures and ties up Kilbride, only for Cairns to capture Stingaree in turn; but a jurisdictional quarrel between the two officers over whose colony gets credit lets Stingaree escape in the confusion. Back in New South Wales, squatter Hardcastle reports that his overseer Duncan, having won a lottery and carried his winnings in cash, has been shot dead, and blames Stingaree, whom he claims to have seen on his run. Superintendent Cairns instead deduces that Hardcastle himself is the murderer, motivated by debt, and traps him. Stingaree, cleared of this killing, is credited by Cairns with having only impersonated a policeman nearby, never having taken a life. Later, at the notoriously irreligious Mulfera Station, manager Carmichael grudgingly prepares to receive the visiting Bishop Methuen, only for "the Bishop" and his "chaplain" to be revealed as Stingaree and Howie in disguise, about to rob the station safe—until the real Bishop, who had been stripped and left barefoot in the bush, arrives in his pyjamas and helps subdue and capture both bushrangers. Being led away bound with Howie under Cairns' custody, Stingaree feigns weakness, engineers a fall from his horse to be left behind under lighter guard, tricks Cairns into dozing, uses his bare foot to fire the lawman's own revolver and cut his bonds, and escapes on Cairns' horse; he then rides to the police barracks, knocks out the guard, frees Howie, and the two flee together on fresh mounts. The final section introduces George Oswald Abernethy Melvin, an ardent admirer of Stingaree and vain, morbidly fanciful young clerk in a Riverina music shop, the son of a genteel but impoverished mother — his story beginning as the text breaks off.

By E.W. Hornung · First published 1894 · Genre: Adventure, Crime, Romance · 10 chapters · 69,963 words

First lines

"La parlate d'amor, O cari fior, Recate i miei sospiri, Narrate i miei matiri, Ditele o cari fior -- -- "

What this Textopian page supports

Stingaree is listed on Textopian as a novel by E.W. Hornung, dated 1894 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: E.W. Hornung
Date: 1894 CE
Language: English
Genres: Adventure, Crime, Romance, Historical
Length: 69,963 words
Structure: 10 chapters, 1,546 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Work identity for Stingaree by E.W. Hornung
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Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters

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How does this novel by E.W. Hornung fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Adventure first become important in the reading?

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Genres

Adventure — The narrative is driven by action, physical challenges, and daring exploits.
Crime — The story revolves around criminal activities and their consequences.
Romance — Elements of love and relationships are present in the narrative.
Historical — The setting and context are based in a specific historical period.