The Romance of a Station

"The romance of the station" is set in Australia and tells the story of Mrs. Ansdell and her husband, Alec. Excerpt: The undulating outlines of our Island gave promise of picturesque scenery. It was all interesting and romantic. Something was fascinating in the thought that only at the full or new moon when the tide was lowest, could man or beast swim across the Narrows to the mainland. I liked the idea of being separated from the world by that long, lonely, man-grove-fringed strait which, no broader than a river at its neck, widened out some twenty miles lower into the beautiful Gundabine harbour that had filled me with admiration as we had entered it in the coasting steamer. In calm weather the bay was blue and smiling; but when a south-east gale blew, and the waves dashed on the little islets that stood like a row of sentinels between the great island and the mainland, and the sea horses chased each other, it was no pleasant passage to make on a night in Rame's skiff or the Island boat. But I did not let myself foresee possible storms and terrors, and I would not dwell upon practical difficulties and inconveniences such as the carriage of household goods and stores, and having to send to Gundabine for our mail. Neither Alec nor I had realized these as yet.