Born in the Western Victorian town of Hamilton in 1852, Archie Adams grows to be a skilled horseman with an unusual aptitude for mathematics, which he is encouraged to pursue at Hamilton's Mechanics Institute and the Ballarat School of Mines. On Thursday 27th September 1877, Archie's mate and soon to be brother-in-law, is shot during a mine payroll robbery. Archie assures his dying friend he will track the murderers and bring them to justice. Pursuit of the villains takes him to the Colony of Natal in South Africa and then to Zululand, where war is brewing. As a Commissioned Officer in the Frontier Light Horse he leads his troop against Cetshwayo's fear-some Zulu impi, ever conscious of the arrest warrant and extradition papers he carries in the pocket of his patrol jacket.