Wild horses and wild outlaws. Horse-thieves and "bobbies and bushies". What youngster does not love them? Though he adheres to his fidelity of detail in depicting the lives and habits of the brumbies -- the wild horses of outback Australia -- the author really gets going after Blackie the Brumby is captured and tamed. He is stolen by bushrangers, takes part in their notorious doings, gives a helping hand (or hoof) to the police and, with a hilarious boy character named "Jonah", takes a leading part in the final overthrow of the gang.