Ten years after he took shelter with the Aborigines, escaped convict Jack Drew returns to civilisation. He finds employment on a back-country farm called Emerald Downs, and when the owner, Major Ferrington, is ordered to take troops into the wilds beyond Brisbane and roust the Aborigines who have been terrorising the area, Jack finds he must go with him as a scout. The estate is left in the hands of Adrian Pinnock, brother of Major Ferrington's fiancee, Jessie, but when Jessie insists on accompanying him, life on the estate takes a very different course, leading to some shattering events
