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Madame Midas

Fergus Hume (1859–1932)

Novel · first published 1888 · London: Hansom Cab Publishing Company

A woman mine-owner on the Ballarat goldfields strikes it rich and is betrayed: a goldfields crime novel by the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.

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About 105,292 words · roughly 7.4 hours of reading (long) · 25 sections online · In: Convict and goldfields era

Why this is free

In Australia

Fergus Hume (author) died in 1932. Australian copyright then lasted 50 years after the author's death, so it ended on 31 December 1982. The 2005 extension to 70 years did not revive copyright that had already expired.

In the United States

First published in 1888. In the United States, works published before 1 January 1931 are in the public domain.

Our text

Derived from the volunteer transcription published as Project Gutenberg eBook #4946 (public domain in the US). We removed that project's header, footer, licence and trademark text, producer notes and all images, then re-packaged the text. This edition is not affiliated with or endorsed by that project. Our thanks to its volunteers.

Our sectioning, cover and EPUB packaging are dedicated to the public domain (CC0 1.0).

Rights record

rights.json, checked 2026-10-19. Death dates: Fergus Hume (Wikidata, ADB, catalogue). First publication: reference.

Contents

  1. MADAME MIDAS
  2. By Fergus Hume
  3. PROLOGUE — CAST UP BY THE SEA
  4. PART I.
  5. CHAPTER I. — THE PACTOLUS CLAIM
  6. CHAPTER II. — SLIVERS
  7. CHAPTER III. — MADAME MIDAS AT HOME
  8. CHAPTER IV. — THE GOOD SAMARITAN
  9. CHAPTER V. — MAMMON’S TREASURE HOUSE
  10. CHAPTER VI. — KITTY
  11. CHAPTER VII. — MR VILLIERS PAYS A VISIT
  12. CHAPTER VIII. — MADAME MIDAS STRIKES ‘ILE’
  13. CHAPTER IX. — LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM
  14. CHAPTER X. — FRIENDS IN COUNCIL
  15. CHAPTER XI. — THEODORE WOPPLES, ACTOR
  16. CHAPTER XII. — HIGHWAY ROBBERY
  17. CHAPTER XIII. — A GLIMPSE OF BOHEMIA
  18. CHAPTER XIV. — A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
  19. CHAPTER XV. — SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE
  20. CHAPTER XVI. — MCINTOSH SPEAKS HIS MIND
  21. CHAPTER XVII. — THE BEST OF FRIENDS MUST PART
  22. CHAPTER XVIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS UNJUSTLY SUSPECTED
  23. CHAPTER XIX. — THE DEVIL’S LEAD
  24. PART II.
  25. CHAPTER I. — TEMPUS FUGIT
  26. CHAPTER II. — DISENCHANTMENT
  27. CHAPTER III. — M. VANDELOUP HEARS SOMETHING TO HIS ADVANTAGE
  28. CHAPTER IV. — THE CASE OF ADELE BLONDET
  29. CHAPTER V. — THE KEY OF THE STREET
  30. CHAPTER VI. — ON CHANGE
  31. CHAPTER VII. — THE OPULENCE OF MADAME MIDAS
  32. CHAPTER VIII. — M. VANDELOUP IS SURPRISED
  33. CHAPTER IX. — A PROFESSIONAL PHILANTHROPIST
  34. CHAPTER X. — IN THE FERNERY
  35. CHAPTER XI. — THE VISION OF MISS KITTY MARCHURST
  36. CHAPTER XII. — A STARTLING DISCOVERY
  37. CHAPTER XIII. — DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND
  38. CHAPTER XIV. — CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
  39. CHAPTER XV. — KISMET
  40. CHAPTER XVI. — BE SURE THY SIN WILL FIND THEE OUT
  41. EPILOGUE -- THE WAGES OF SIN
  42. FINIS

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