Matthew Quigley

"It's a lever-action, breach-loader. Usual barrel length's thirty inches. This one has an extra four. It's converted to use a special forty-five caliber, hundred-and-ten-grain metal cartridge, with a five-hundred-forty-grain paper patch bullet. It's fitted with double-set triggers, and a Vernier sight, marked up to twelve-hundred yards. This one shoots a mite further."

- Matthew Quigley discussing his rifle "I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn't know how to use it."

- Matthew Quigley - talking about using revolvers, after killing his former boss. Matthew Quigley is a cowboy and sharpshooter from Wyoming, who heard about a rancher in Australia who needed an expert rifleman. He proves he's the man by firing several shots at a sheet of paper at 900 yards away, and sending the paper to the employer with the message "M. Quigley 900 yards." Upon getting to Australia, a few elderly passengers are being harassed by another man, so he intervenes, explaining that the couple had come a long way, and were just as anxious to get off the boat, and lets the couple go before him. When the rude man, who was now behind Quigley, continues to complain, Quigley uses the butt of his rifle to hit the man in the groin, and tells the elderly woman, who wishes to apologize for the hold up, that the man really isn't in that big of a hurry after all.

Quigley soon encounters a group of men trying to abduct a woman, and tells them to leave her alone. The woman calls him Roy, and hugs him, asking him to take her back home. The men soon get into a fight with him, with the woman, Crazy Cora, assisting him, accidentally hitting him a few times with an oar, all the while calling him Roy. Quigley finally identifies himself to the woman as "Matthew Quigley", which causes the men, who have experienced the butt end of Quigley's rifle, and his hands, a few times each, to stop fighting, and say that he's the man the Boss was looking for, and had sent them to get.

The men take Quigley, with Cora tagging along, to Elliot Marston's place. Along the way, they encounter British Major Ashley-Pitt, who dislikes Americans, for being uncouth misfits. Quigley tells him that America got rid of its misfits by sending them back to England. The Major informs the men that they are looking for two deserters, and rides off, with his men.

Once they get to Marston's place, Quigley tells Marston that he promised gold to the one who got there, and mentioned that it had been a three month trip. Marston gives him his gold, and asks Quigley if he's as good as his note says. Quiqley removes the cloth from his rifle, a Sharps rifle with special ammunition, with the capability of hitting a target at 1,200 yards away. Quigley demonstrates his capabilities on a bucket that is at a quarter of a mile away, hitting it three times, which impresses Marston enough to hire the man. One of Marston's men brings in the two deserters that Major Ashley-Pitt was looking for. Marston seems to sympathize with the pair, but tells them that desertion warranted the death penalty, and they were trespassing on his land anyways, but sees no reason for them to be treated like animals. He then sets them against some posts, where Marstan's man, leaving his rifle, unties the one deserter, and works on the other, when the first goes for his rifle, while the second goes for his handgun. Both are quickly gunned down by Marston, with a Colt Army revolver. Marston then invites Quigley to dinner.

During dinner, Marston explains why he wants Quigley to work for him; he wants the American to kill Australian Aborigines for him, in part because Aborigines killed his parents, and in part because the Government is letting people settle things in their own way, "Pacification by Force". Quigley, thinking he'd been hired to kill coyote-like dingoes, does not like this. Marston finds himself getting punched out of his own house, twice. Marston orders his men, a bunch of Irish convicts, to go and get him, but Quigley sets himself up, and has his gun with him. Problem for Quigley, Marston's Aboriginal servant knocks him out with a heavy object. Marston's men then proceed to beat Quigley almost to death. Cora tries to help, but is also beaten. Marston then orders them to be dumped in to the Australian desert, so that the wilderness can kill them.

After being dumped, Quigley manages to kill those who dumped him and Cora, one with a knife, and one with his rifle. Shortly after this, Quigley and Cora are rescued by Aborigines, who nurse them back to health in a cave. Quigley and Cora spend some time with the tribe, becoming friends with them. Cora tells her story - she was married to a man named Roy Cobb, and together the pair had a baby. One day, while Roy was out hunting, a group of Comanches came to their sod house. Cora and the baby hid in the root cellar, and the baby started crying. Cora tried to keep him quiet, and accidentally smothered the baby. The Comanches, who hadn't meant any harm, just being drunk, left. When Roy came home and found out, he buried the baby, got Cora on a wagon, headed to Galveston, and put her on the first ship he found, saying that he didn't want a woman who would kill his son to save herself. Worse than that though, he didn't look back at her, as he walked off, and the ship sailed away.

One morning, the Aborigines leave, and Quigley soon sees why - Marston's men have shown up, and start to attack the natives. The warriors try to fight back, but their throwing spears don't have the range of the firearms used by Marston's men. However, the men are in range of Quigley's rifle, who attacks the foe from the cave, which distracts the enemy long enough for the Aborigines to kill one of them, and get away from the fight. Quigley manages to kill all but one of the enemy, who rides away. Quigley gets a horse, a saddle, and some canteens. Quigley and Cora leave, knowing that Marston now knew that they were alive.

As they travel, the pair comes across more of Marston's men, trying to drive another group of Aborigines over the edge of a cliff. Once again, Quigley uses his rifle to kill several of them, forcing them to run away, and saving the remaining Aborigines. Quigley learns the location of a town, as well as Marston's Station, from a dying man, and Cora finds a toddler that survived the massacre.

Quigley soon heads to town, leaving Cora, with a supply of food, water, plus the weapons looted from Marston's dead men, in a cave. Quigley locates a friendly gunsmith, who helps him out with supplies, mainly in part because he hates Marston, who keeps on trying to kill the Aborigines, whom the gunsmith is friends with. Qugley learns that the Aborigines have taken to calling him the "Spirit Warrior".

While this is going on, dingoes, who were out hunting, come across Cora and the baby, and try to attack. In a reversal of the situation that had happened to her before, Cora fights back, killing/wounding several of the wild dogs, and driving the rest off.

Back in town, several of Marston's men, who were there drinking, notice Quigley's horse, and decide to try to kill Quigley, as Marston has placed a substantial bounty on his head. During the fight, the gunsmith's wife is killed. After killing the rest of the men, Quigley lets the wounded survivor leave with a message, to let Marston know that Quigley is coming for him.

Later, the next day, Quigley returns to the cave, and finds the dead dingoes, as well as a tired Cora, and the baby, who is just fine. The trio go to town, where the baby is given to another group of Aborigines, to take care of.

Quigley then sets off to fight Marston, but stops, and looks at Cora, as if to say that he'd be back, which makes Cora happy. When Quigley get's to Marston's place, he kills a man who was looking for him, and send the horse back with a note - safe passage would be granted to those who left, save Marston. Marston orders all of his men to stand watch through the night, however, some desert. Come morning, Quigley kills two men who were standing one in front of the other.

Marston sends his men after Quigley, with an offer of 200 Pounds in gold to the one who brought him in, preferably alive. Utilizing a number of traps, and his rifle, Quigley kills all but one of Marston's men, who decides to surrender. However, it was a trap, as one of the convicts had sneaked around where Quigley was hiding, and shot him from behind. The two drag him behind a horse, and deliver him to Marston.

Marston has Quigley stand in front of his target post and is about to have his henchman give Quigley his rifle, when he changes his mind, and tells the henchman to arm Quigley with his second revolver, citing that Quigley didn't use them. He then tells Quigley that "Some men are born in the wrong century. I think I was born on the wrong continent. Oh, by the way, you're fired." Quigley tells him that "This isn't Dodge City, and you're no Bill Hickok." referring to a conversation that they had when they first met. Marston goes to draw his gun, but Quigley is faster, gunning down Marston and his two remaining henchmen.

A number of British soldiers show up, lead by Major Ashley-Pitt, who decides to try and arrest him for murder. However, it seems that a number of Aborigines have also shown up, surrounding the place, which convinces the Major to leave.

Later, Quigley books passage under the name of Roy Cobb, mainly because Mathew Quigley is a wanted man with a bounty on his head, for him and Cora to travel to America, to try and build a life together.