An Outback Marriage by Andrew Barton Paterson

For the next couple of weeks, affairs at Kuryong flowed on in usual / station style. A saddle-horse was brought in for Miss Grant, and out of / her numerous boxes that young lady produced a Bond Street outfit that / fairly silenced criticism. She rode well too, having been taught in / England, and she, Poss, Binjie and Hugh had some great scampers after / kangaroos, half-wild horses, or anything else that would get up and run / in front of them. She was always so fresh, cheerful, and ready for any / excitement that the two boys became infatuated in four days, and had to / be hunted home on the fifth, or they would have both proposed. Some / days she spent at the homestead housekeeping, cooking, and giving out / rations to swagmen-the wild, half-crazed travellers who came in at / sundown for the dole of flour, tea and sugar, which was theirs by bush / custom.

Some days she spent with the children, and with them learnt a / lot of bush life. It being holiday-time, they practically ran wild all / over the place, spending whole days in long tramps to remote parts in / pursuit of game. They had no "play," as that term is known to English / children. They didn't play at being hunters. They were hunters in real / earnest, and their habits and customs had come to resemble very closely / those of savage tribes that live by the chase.