The career of a young Scotchman' "Rob Angus," is the subject of this novel. He is unusually gifted and clever, though born among the working people of a little Scotch village. His literary career is interfered with for awhile from his having to assume the care of his sister's little child, but the little thing meets with a sad death, while attempting to carry him the letter which offers him a position on an English newspaper. The child's death sets him free, and he goes to Silchester and becomes a reporter on the Daily Mirror. His experience as a reporter and reviewer is quite amusing, and his love affair is full of interest.

This is the annotated edition including a rare and very detailed essay about the life and works of the author.