Jack Dunstan, a young selector has chosen a good block of land and sets about looking for a wife. His romance with Kate Brandon the daughter of a nearby farmer is tested, however, by interference from the villainess Leonard Ackroyd, son of a wealthy squatter. Other characters include a major from the Indian army on leave, Kate's awkward lovesick brother, a schoolmistress, a trooper and a 'blackfellow and his lubra' (Age 30 August 1909, p8).
The 'resume of scenes and incidents' is : Act 1. The Harvest in Full Swing ; The Backbone of the Country ; Home Life in the Great Australian Bush ; The Aboriginals ; An Indian Hawkers' Camp ; The Bunyip ; Dead Tree Swamp ; The Aboriginal Stops a Bullet. Act 2. An Important Clue ; Sunshine and Clouds ; The Picnic Among the Ferns ; A Dash for Liberty ; The Last Line of Defence ; The Battle of the Bridge ; The Bushwoman's Triumph. Act 3. The Milking Yard ; Dan as a Separator ; The Kyber Pass ; The Council of War ; The Horseshoe Gorge ; A Forest Giant ; The Great Tree Sensation ; The Bushwoman to the Rescue. Act 4. School In ; Nature Study ; Dan's Philosophy ; Trapped at Last ; The Arrest ; Turning the Tables ; The Bushwoman.
1909 : King's Theatre, Melbourne ; 28 August - 17 Sept. Dir. J. H. Nunn ; Prod. William Anderson (q.v.) ; Music Dir. George Sutch ; Scenic Art Rege Robins ; Cost. Madame Edwards. - Company William Anderson's Famous Dramatic organisation. - Cast incl. Roy Redgrave (Jack Dunstan, a young selector), Edmund Duggan (Ned Brandon, an Australian farmer), Daisy Scudamore (Kate Brandon, the bushwoman), Sterling Whyte (Money Maxwell, a squatter), Lawrence Dunbar (Leonard Ackroyd, Maxwell's nephew), Bert Bailey (Arthur Wellesley O'Hara, a major in the 3rd Punjab Light Infantry), Max Clifton (Dan Brandon, Ned's son), Walter Dalgleish (Dave Glennon, a mounted trooper), Temple Harrison (Billy, a blackfellow), George McKenzie (Ferrah Singh, an Indian hawker), Edwin Campbell (Chandra Null, an Indian hawker), J. H. Nunn (Sundowner Jim, a long colonial), Leo. Leonard (Johnny Pascoe, a schoolboy), Lilly Bryer (Mrs Brandon), Fanny Erris (Mollie Moore), Olive Wilton (Mrs Fortesque, the major's sister), Kathleen Lorimer (Lily, a lubra), Maud Coshan, (Mary, a house maid).
NB: Lawrence Dunbar's christian name is sometimes spelled Laurence. It is not clear if George Mackenzie is the same person billed in other productions as James Mackenzie.