Up the Country: A Saga of Pioneering Days

Louisa was visiting Charlotte, and Emily was keeping her sister Isabel company at Mungee. It being Saturday, both Hugh and Bert also found their way to the district, and the four young people gathered at Mungee for midday dinner.

The season was well advanced, the lambs had been tailed and marked, and it was the last time the men would be able to go gallivanting before wool-washing and shearing was upon them. The day was unprecedentedly warm, the air heavy and oppressive with the threat of a thunderstorm.