An Alpine Divorce by Robert Barr Summary

The narrator begins the story by discussing the chances of people meeting their soul
mates and pondering whether or not John Bodman would have found a better wife if her
personality was the opposite of his. As a result of John’s choice in a companion, he and his
wife are bitter and unhappy with each other from day one. England has a special system to
fight against people getting divorces, so he and his wife are stuck in a loveless marriage.
The Bodman marriage went from dislike of one another to hatred very quickly. The hatred
John and his wife have for each other is so extreme that John has decided he is going to
murder his wife, and he plans a special trip to Switzerland to carry out the deed. It is easy
for John to convince his wife to come, because she knows how much he hates her, and so
she makes sure she spends as much time as possible with him to make him even angrier.
John invites his wife to come on a hiking trip with him to a lookout called the Hanging
Outlook, where he plans on pushing her over the edge of a cliff. She agrees to the hike,
and they do not speak to each other on the way. Once they reach the lookout, his wife
shudders, then asks him if he regrets anything about their relationship. She asks him,
“don’t you think that if you had been kinder to me at first, things might have been
different?” and he said it is too late to discuss that question. After that, his wife’s tone
turns cold and she tells him she gave him the opportunity to repent his ways. Suddenly,
John feels something is not right with his wife, and she tells him that his hatred for her is
nothing compared to her hatred for him. She said she will show him just how much she
hates him. She continued to tell John that she has told everyone back home she suspected
he would try to kill her on this trip. She said she has also alerted the security at the hotel
where they are staying, and that two men followed them on their hike. She then tore
scraps of fabric off her dress and scattered them around, then she threw herself over
the cliff, and screamed all the way down. Then, two men came running around the corner,
and found John standing alone. John realized that even if he told the truth, that he did
not push her over, no one would not believe him.
Parson’s pleasure
Cyril Boggis is a skilled antiques dealer who has a small shop in Chelsea, London. He
manages to make a profit each year by buying valuable furniture cheaply from unsuspecting
country people while posing as a clergyman and president of the Society for the
Preservation of Rare Furniture. He gains entry to their houses in the guise of cataloguing
their old furniture; if he sees something he can re-sell, he offers to buy it. In order to
buy the furniture for less than it is worth he uses his knowledge and a number of tricks,
such as substituting machine-made screws for the genuine old ones.
One trip sees him exploring Buckinghamshire. After leaving his station wagon hidden so as
not to spoil his image as an old clergyman, he walks to a rundown farmhouse where he
meets three locals – Claud, Bert, and Rummins – in the yard. On being allowed into the
farmhouse to have a look at the furniture, he finds a priceless Chippendale commode[1] in
the lounge, one that matches the three famous existing pieces known as 'The Chippendale
Commodes'. He tells the men he needs a new set of legs for a table he owns, and he asks
for the ones on the commode. He convinces a reluctant Rummins that the piece is not
worth anything as it is an "imitation". He buys it for £20, intending to sell it for £20,000.
While Boggis goes away to get his vehicle the three men decide to help the parson; they
assume his car will not be big enough to easily carry the commode and fear he will lose
interest in the deal once he discovers the piece will not fit inside. Since he is only
requesting the legs, the farmers saw them off. With some difficulty they chop the
remainder of the commode up, since Boggis called it 'firewood' and they feel they must fit
all of it in. As they wait for Boggis to return, they comment that the commode was made
by a 'bloody good carpenter no matter what the parson says'.
Hillary’s aunt
The plot took place in England. Hilary Smith belonged to a good family. Hilary, who never
worked, had expensive tastes and many unpaid bills, and had some trouble with the bank
about a few cheques. Hilary was sent by his father to Australia immediately.

Hilary did not like Australia, and Australia did not like Hilary. However, since he had no
money, he had to wait until his father and his brother died. He received all the money
which belonged to the good old family and returned to England.

It took Hilary quite a short time to spend the money he received. Then, he discovered that
he had a rich aunt, his father's only sister. Years ago, after marrying Mr. Prothero, a small
business owner instead of a lord, she was dead to her brother.

So Hilary appeared in his aunt's life. Aunt Mary seemed to like him, and soon he was able
to move into her house. Aunt Mary was very ill and she was slowly dying. Hilary found out
that before her marriage, she made a will and left all her money to a religious group in
China. However, Hilary examined some law books and found out that when a woman
married, an earlier will was no longer legal.

Hilary knew that he was his aunt's only relative, so his future was safe. However, Hilary's
financial problems became serious and he decided to poison his aunt, so that he would get
her money.

Aunt Mary suspected that her nephew wanted to kill her, but she was so sick that she
didn't care. However, seconds before drinking the poisoned drink Hilary fixed her, she
told him she was never married to late Mr. Prothero. They were living together as husband
and wife but never actually married each other.
The purple patch
Jackie wanted a new pair of trousers but his parents couldn’t afford to buy some. He felt embarrassed
because were old and torn. They were brown and they had a purple patch in the seat. So, he sold his
ball and his burning glass to a friend to earn some money to be able to enter a competition whose prize
would let him buy new trousers.
The first race was the seventy yards place in which he got the second place.
The second race was the thread the needle race. His partner was Helen Firman( a rather bold girl). He
was the first boy to reach his partner but he was too excited to thread the needle.
The last race was the wheelbarrow race. Nobody wanted to be his partner because he hadn’t done well
in the previous race. However, Penny Dale, the girl he secretly loved, wanted to play with him. The girl
had to hold the boy’s legs and push him forward while he walked on this arms. He was ashamed
because in that position, the girl could see his patch, so he ran as fast as he could and he won the race.