Gemmy Fairley is living in a Queensland settlement in the 1850's, where he has been raised by aboriginals. He leaves his home in the bush to try to find a better life with the rest of the Europeans who are still trying to develop their city. He notices that Europeans tend to want dominion over the earth, whereas the natives feel like a part of nature itself.
Eventually, he encounters a group of kids around his own age, led by Lachlan Beattie. They mistake him for an albino aboriginal kid, and Gemmy only remembers a few English words and phrases, and Lachlan play conquers Gemmy. Gemmy surrenders to the boy. The adults become aware of this strange young man, and they assume the worst about him. They resent the boy for what he represents, since his existence seems to be contrary to their assumptions about race. A white boy acting like a 'savage' means that their ideas of white supremacy are wrong. When no one can come to a conclusion about what should be done with this boy, a small riot breaks out and Gemmy is badly beaten and chased into the wilderness.
But Gemmy had supporters among the town who were sure he was not a spy, but a refugee. Those people are now outsiders as well, and though Gemmy doesn't come back again, the entire settlement is permanently disturbed. Some people find inspiration in Gemmy's aboriginal attitudes toward nature, and Mr. Frazer actually asks the governor of Brisbane to consider a less hostile philosophy toward nature, but the governor rejects the idea wholesale.
In a minor backstory, the town girl Janet is stung while helping an elderly beekeeper, and the pain is so sudden and intense that it launches her into a religious awakening.
Later, Janet turns to ministry by joining a convent. We resume the story years later. Gemmy likely died from a German raid in WWI. Janet is talking with her cousin, Lachlan, who is now a government minister. They're discussing the town's skepticism around a naturalized citizen who immigrated from Germany, and since the settlement is still technically British, they townspeople are likely going to deport him for fear that like Gemmy, perhaps he is an enemy spy. This paranoia makes the two cousins remember Gemmy and the positive effect he had on their adult lives.
