Midnight
In Chapter 31 , Dick Marston says `` I did live to do her -LSB- Maddie Barnes -RSB- a good turn back ... '' but there seems to be nothing later in the story worth mentioning in this line . In Chapter 35 , a reference is made to `` old Mr. Devereux 's box '' , which was apparently discovered in Chapter 22 or 23 , but cut out from this edition . The story is still quite readable and enjoyable despite these things , but they are mentioned so that the interested reader may look further -LRB- if they desire -RRB- into obtaining an edition which includes the complete text in the original Newspaper serial ; and to give a general idea what sort of things might have been cut . `` Captain Starlight '' was the name used by a real bushranger , Frank Pearson -LRB- 1837-99 -RRB- , but Boldrewood claimed that his `` Starlight '' was a composite based in part on `` Captain Midnight '' and Harry Redford -LRB- ca . 1842 to 1901 -RRB- , the latter of which stole a herd of cattle in a similar manner to that described in the book . The factual events that contributed to the story took place in the late 1860 's and other periods ; but Boldrewood set his story in the 1850 's . The name `` Starlight '' is also used in Adam Lindsay Gordon 's famous poem , `` The Sick Stockrider '' .