More "Short Sixes"

In Short

H. C. Bunner’s More "Short Sixes" gathers lighthearted, sharply observed tales of nineteenth-century American life. Moving from rural mountain farms to European tourist tracks and small-town courtrooms, the stories trace the absurd collisions between high-minded ambition and stubborn reality. Characters attempt to curate their lives through books, treaties, and clever schemes, only to be upended by uncooperative animals, manipulative locals, or unexpected romance. Bunner’s gentle irony and keen eye for human vanity have kept these comedic vignettes fresh, offering an affectionate, unvarnished portrait of classic American character and social friction.

The Story

The collection opens with Mr. Brimmington, a forty-five-year-old scholar who inherits a fortune from an aunt and immediately retires from tutoring to write his lifelong dream project, a multi-volume history of prehistoric man. Desiring absolute solitude, he purchases a remote, dilapidated Revolutionary-era farmhouse in the bleak hills of Pike County, Pennsylvania, sight unseen. His negotiations are handled by Mr. Hiram Skinner, an unscrupulous local jack-of-all-trades who convinces Brimmington to allow a wretched, elderly white horse to remain in the pasture for the winter. The scholar’s quiet retreat is shattered on his third night when a deafening crash echoes through the house; investigating with a candle, Brimmington finds the frozen white horse has burst through the back door and fallen through the flimsy kitchen floorboards, leaving the beast stuck in the joists and screaming into the dark.

From this rural misadventure, the narrative lens shifts across a canvas of diverse settings and eccentric figures. In France, an impoverished guide-book writer named Vincent Egg stumbles into the home of a poor washerwoman named Virginie. Seeking to boost tourist traffic for his employer, Egg invents a sentimental, fraudulent historical attraction around her courtyard and infant, earning himself extra shillings while crowd-watching tourists pour money into the bewildered woman's hands. Elsewhere, a wealthy narrator travels south to visit his friend Billings, an ardent believer in occult spiritualism who insists that two local men, Penrhyn and the rugged "Big Mitch," are actively swapping their spiritual essences, backing his bizarre claim with a cold fifty-dollar bet.

Legal and social absurdities continue in a Northern courtroom, where an attorney delivers a sweeping, dramatic closing argument to a jury regarding a long-standing feud between two fur-trappers snowbound in the icy wilderness along the Sagus River. In Brooklyn, newlyweds Winkelman and Angelica Wick navigate an outrageous inheritance contract left by their grand-uncle. The will demands they maintain a country residence for their infant aunt at least forty miles from any major city, leading them to a pristine club-house at Jericho Pond where social reformers and eccentric relatives complicate their domestic peace.

Meanwhile, in a township filled with sharp personalities, the theatrical Mrs. Fortescue feigns poverty to live cheaply in an Old Ladies' Home, only to charm the local millionaire contractor, Josiah Filley, into helping her resolve a series of hilarious misunderstandings. In a small newspaper office, a absurd, nonsensical phrase—"pink pants"—inserted into a letter to the editor drives an entire town into a frenzy of curiosity and annoyance. In the remote island of Ausserland, deep-sea fishermen maintain a tranquil tax arrangement with their prince until an imperial envoy arrives on a balcony to grandly proclaim a utterly trivial royal favor regarding dance steps. Finally, in the Maine backwoods, a headstrong mother and her driver pursue a fugitive son to stop an unauthorized marriage, only for love and natural summer storms to rewrite their plans, while young lovers like Carmelita Billington discover that high-minded personal rules melt away when confronted with true affection.

How It Unfolds

The scholar arrives in Pike County Mr. Brimmington leaves his city tutoring job to write a history of prehistoric man in a secluded Pennsylvania farmhouse. He discovers that his rustic retreat is freezing, desolate, and managed by the overly familiar, untrustworthy local agent Hiram Skinner.

An uninvited guest in the kitchen Persuaded by Skinner to leave an abandoned white horse in his pasture, Brimmington is awakened at midnight by a catastrophic structural crash. He enters his kitchen to find the giant horse has crashed through the floorboards and become wedged between the floor joists.

A guide-book writer invents a legend In France, Vincent Egg inspects the humble lodgings of his washerwoman Virginie and fabricates a romantic historical tale for his excursion company. Tourists flock to the courtyard, lining Virginie's pockets with coins while Egg pocketing extra wages for his lucrative falsehood.

A bet on swapped souls A narrator visits his friend Billings, who claims two local men are exchanging their spiritual essences through occult power. Billings proves his absolute devotion to his eccentric theory by offering a fifty-dollar wager on the outcome.

A wilderness courtroom drama An eloquent prosecutor lays out the story of an ancient grudge between two trappers trapped in a snowbound cabin along the Sagus River, urging the jury to reject the defense's arguments.

The terms of the grand-uncle's will Young newlyweds Winkelman and Angelica Wick find themselves burdened with strict rules regarding their infant aunt's country upbringing. A desperate suggestion leads them to relocate to a pleasant lake community, where they navigate social reformers and family duty.

A theatrical schemes at the manor The scheming Mrs. Fortescue, facing expulsion from an Old Ladies' Home, confronts millionaire Josiah Filley with a dramatically exaggerated confession that wins his laughter, his protection, and his complete allegiance.

The power of a silly phrase A mysterious letter containing the absurd words "pink pants" lands on a newspaper editor's desk. The silly phrase quickly infects the minds of every townsperson who reads or hears it, forcing the editor to print the letter.

An imperial decree for Ausserland An imperial envoy travels to the isolated fishing island of Ausserland to read an official decree from the stone balcony of the Town Hall, grandly granting the islanders permission to use the third figure in the cotillion dance.

A chase through the Maine woods A mother and her driver transport her captive son back from Bangor to prevent a runaway marriage. A midnight rescue at an inn and a sudden summer thunderstorm alter the party's stubborn course.

The People

• Mr. Brimmington: An earnest, middle-aged former tutor who wants nothing more than peace, quiet, and a quaint old farmhouse where he can draft a massive history of prehistoric man. His total ignorance of rural life and horse-flesh leaves him helpless against local schemers and uninvited livestock.
• Hiram Skinner: A talkative, red-handed postmaster and real estate agent in Bethel Corners. He uses his rustic familiarity and smooth tongue to sell Brimmington a dilapidated house and dump an old, unsheltered horse onto his newly bought property.
• Vincent Egg: A cynical, impoverished compiler of European guide-books. He seeks quick cash to fuel his leisurely habits and achieves it by fabricating romantic historical lies that satisfy naive English and American tourists.
• Virginie: A poor, simple French washerwoman who desires only to care for her ailing child. She unintentionally becomes the beneficiary of Egg's fraudulent historical attraction, collecting coins from visiting crowds.
• Billings: A wealthy, solemn believer in theosophy and spiritualism. He desires to prove that human entities can swap souls, willing to back his absurd occult convictions with cold, hard cash.
• Mrs. Fortescue: A clever, dramatic woman with a youthful spirit and a talent for acting. She feigns poverty to live cheaply in an Old Ladies' Home, using her immense charm and theatrical flair to win over powerful local figures.
• Josiah Heatherington Filley: A wealthy, sturdy millionaire architect and builder. He appreciates boldness and humor, gladly becoming Mrs. Fortescue's ally after she entertains him with a hilarious account of her schemes.
• Carmelita Billington: A headstrong, wealthy young woman who convinces herself that she must refuse her suitor out of rigid adherence to a lifelong personal plan, only to surrender to her true feelings when tested.

In Its Own Voice

"It is not to be denied that a sense of disappointment pervaded Mr. Brimmington’s being in the hour of his first acquaintance with the isolated farm-house which he had just purchased, sight unseen..."

Mr. Brimmington first views the lonely Pennsylvania property that he bought through postal letters, realizing his dream of quiet solitude may be far colder and rougher than anticipated.

"Subsequent investigation proved that the horse had come in through the back door, carrying that and its two vestibule windows with him, and that he had first trampled and then churned the thin floor into match-wood."

After hearing a terrifying midnight crash, Brimmington discovers that the abandoned white horse from his pasture has broken into his small kitchen and destroyed the flooring beneath its weight.

"‘This is a three weeks’ go at elysium,’ said he to himself; ‘such as I haven’t had in many a year. And, so far as I am concerned, it is the Fruit of Falsification, and the Wage of Sin.’"

Vincent Egg examines the bonus cash given to him by his manager after fabricating a fake historical legend for gullible tourists visiting a French washerwoman's home.

What It's Really About

Beneath its comedic misunderstandings and colorful nineteenth-century settings, the book explores the gap between ideal expectations and chaotic reality. Characters construct elaborate plans—whether writing academic histories, enforcing eccentric wills, maintaining strict social codes, or promoting esoteric spiritual belief systems—only to have those neat frameworks shattered by practical necessity, financial reality, or simple human nature.

The stories also probe the art of deception and social performance. Bunner highlights how easily human beings are swayed by theatricality, clever phrasing, and romantic illusions, showing that people often prefer a entertaining lie or a comfortable fiction over a plain, boring truth.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic American humor, crisp social satire, and short stories rich in regional atmosphere will find much to enjoy in this collection. Bunner writes with a swift, engaging pace and an affectionate, ironical warmth that makes nineteenth-century social friction feel surprisingly modern and relatable. The prose moves fluidly between cozy rustic farmhouses, bustling European tour stops, and small-town newspaper offices, offering a delightful portrait of late-nineteenth-century manners and absurdities.

The book does reflect its era through occasional period slang, local dialects, and relaxed rural pacing that takes its time establishing a scene before delivering its comedic payoff. Some readers may find the casual depiction of regional types or older idioms characteristic of late-1800s popular magazine fiction. However, these elements serve as authentic markers of its time rather than obstacles. The collection remains a charming, genuinely funny showcase of narrative craft, ideal for anyone who loves lighthearted character studies and clever plot twists.