In which we observe the gentle tragedy of Singleton Carthew’s son Norris, a youth of sensitive indifference and vague talent, whose life drifts between paternal reproach and a disengaged pursuit of art, culminating in a reluctant exile to the antipodean colonies. Here, amid Sydney’s lowly haunts and the ceaseless labour of railway navvies, Norris discovers a rough redemption and a peculiar measure of pride, even as he confronts the harsh realities of his wasted prospects.