The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. This seventh issue of volume 2 presents the following five short stories: "The Peacock and the Copper Moon", by Frances Aymar Mathews: a sculptor's plan to save her lover suddenly receives a dramatic twist "Westward Ho !", by J. Wesley Glover: don't launch the party before the guests arrive ! "The Captain's Gray", by Ella F...

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". In this story, Nick receives a letter foretelling of a murder. His wife, Edith, believes it was from a woman... but who is the Brown Robin, and why taunt the great detective? - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Sally Lunton has led a bohemian lifestyle in Paris, but now at 31 she returns to Little Crampton disillusioned, no job, no money and no hopes for the future except a safe, if loveless, marriage.. Little Crampton has its complement of “typical” villagers – the pompous bank manager, the local gossip, the ageing parson – but this is spring 1915, and the young men are away fighting and dying in the Great War. Farms and businesses are struggling to exist, families are grieving and there are not many marriage prospects for a spirited, worldly young woman...

Due to a clerical error, successful attorney Charles Gordon Curtiss arrives a day late to give a lecture in a nearby town. But the literary society's loss is Curtiss' gain; he meets the charming Constance Stuart and falls in love. A year later, they marry. The very next day, however, before Curtiss can bring Constance to her new home, Constance meets a young woman named Pauline. What Pauline tells her alters the lives of all of them for years to come. - Summary by TriciaG

A portrait of Americas many social groups with the chief interest centered on a university professor and his family - Summary by Publishers Weekly September 5 1925

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". This tale opens with Nick eavesdropping on two strangers in the next booth as he finishes his lunch. One of the men works at the telegraph office and is discussing an unusual wire he received. Nick's interest is aroused.

A prominent banker calls Nick Carter in to investigate $90,000 in missing funds—and a trusted clerk who has disappeared. [Summary by Paul Hampton]

Susan Baird is found dead at her tea-table and all the evidence points to murder. She is supposed to have been penniless but when her will is found her niece Kitty inherits a fortune. Grave suspicion shifts from one person to another and the two suitors for Kitty's hand whom Washington society had watched with interest seem closely connected with the many clues which again and again prove worthless. Until the closing chapters unravel the mystery you suspect the most innocent people and the real murderer and his fiendish devices come as a shock. - Summary from "The Book Review Digest" 1923