This combined compendium distils the collection’s comic short stories—pastoral and urban vignettes notable for light irony, social satire and romantic misapprehension—summarizing plot, principal characters and outcomes while noting recurrent themes: class contrast, provincial innocence versus metropolitan sophistication, ambition, courtship and the resilience of decency beneath buffoonery.

The Man Upstairs — Composer Annette Brougham is tormented by a persistent knocker, meets mop‑haired painter Alan Beverley, overcomes art‑world rivalries and, after a wealthy patron’s unexpected proposal, reacts with comic impulsiveness.

Something to Worry About — City girl Sally Preston is sent to dull Millbourne, flirts recklessly, matures under gardener Tom Kitchener’s steadfast wooing and chooses him after rival suitors quarrel.

Deep Waters — Playwright‑swimmer George Callender is rescued by Mary Vaughan; their romance develops through swim‑lessons and stagecraft despite publicity schemes and a capsize plot, ending in theatrical and amorous success.

When Doctors Disagree — Maud Peters, troubled by her fiancé Arthur’s sudden placidity, follows an advice column’s jealous provocation; Arthur’s public devotion restores their relationship and satirizes facile counsel.

By Advice of Counsel — A waiter recounts how timid Jerry Moore, coached by the manipulative “Gentleman” Bailey, insults a prospective bride’s family to win Jane Tuxton in a comic study of social stratagems.

Rough‑hew Them How We Will — Paul Boielle, a Paris waiter and aspiring painter, faces despair after dismissal but is rescued when an appreciative American manager buys and praises his canvas, restoring hope and love.

The Man Who Disliked Cats — Jean Priaulx, hardened against animals by hotel life and a series of misjudgements, loses engagement and prospects before finding an obscure scholarly post on cats.

Ruth in Exile — Ruth Warden, working in a pawnshop, meets George Vince whose renunciation of a cruelly profitable scheme proves his worth; they become engaged.

Archibald’s Benefit — Hapless golfer Archibald Mealing wins a local championship through friends’ engineered favour, reconciling him with his fiancée and yielding comic sporting camaraderie.

The Man, the Maid, and the Miasma — Robert Ferguson, trapped overnight by officious ex‑employee Roland Bean, reunites awkwardly with an old flame; Bean’s moralising prompts reconciliations and reassignment plans.

The Good Angel — Martin Rossiter’s courtship of Elsa is quietly guided by the butler Keggs, whose discreet interventions remove misunderstandings and restore love.

Pots o’ Money — Shy bank clerk Owen Bentley meets the critic‑dramatist Prosser (his secret authorship revealed), opening unexpected literary opportunity and the promise of prosperity.

Three from Dunsterville / Mary, Joe and Eddy — Mary Hill arrives in New York; Joe Rendal’s brusque decency and Eddy’s moral decline are exposed at a restaurant climax, restoring loyalties.

The Tuppenny Millionaire — George Balmer inherits modest money, seeks distinction abroad, rescues a companion from a casino scrape and wins her despite class anxieties.

Ahead of Schedule — Rollo Finch’s mechanised courtship collides with his uncle’s pursuit of the same chorus‑girl; frantic mis‑timing parodies social ambition.

Sir Agravaine — Mock‑medieval tale in which diminutive Agravaine unexpectedly wins plain Yvonne, satirizing the rites of courtship and true‑love blindness.

The Goal‑keeper and the Plutocrat — Aristocrat Clarence Tresillian becomes a professional goalkeeper under an alias to support his engagement; performance, identity and class tensions resolve in public spectacle.

In Alcala — Rutherford Maxwell, failed clerk turned dramatist, finds a muse in chorus girl Peggy Norton; their collaboration yields theatrical success and fraught romantic choice.

Overall: brisk plotting, character comedy and recurrent Wodehousian ironies—romance, social pretence and the endurance of decency beneath buffoonery—unify the sketches.