Chapter One
When I was Little
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. . . I suddenly saw
the flames tearing up the wall near me. I rushed out to
the stairs and yelled "The house is on fire. The house
is on fire."
All I heard Father say was "Why aren't
you asleep, so go to bed."
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Chapter Two
The Mangamahu Pub
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. . . I thought the
store-keeper might give me some lollies but there was
not much doing so I went over to the hotel and looked
into the billiard room.
I found the room filled with a lot of
inebriated bushmen and others all scrapping on the
floor with highfalutin language flying everywhere.
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Chapter Three
My School Years
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. . . Our grass stems
made a loud, squeaky noise when we blew through them.
A horse taxi gig from Dwyer's Stables
came trotting along, and hearing the noise, the horse
ran off the road, throwing the occupants out onto a
heap of lawyer vines.
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Chapter Four
With My Brothers
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. . . When my oldest
brother Hugh got married he took his townie bride there
to one of the loneliest places there was, without any
outlet.
My brother Sid and I made a sledge and
transported a full-size piano down to their house. We
nearly lost the whole outfit going around the gorge.
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Chapter Five
Mangamahu Cowboy
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. . . I started work
for Cecil at Ruakiwi as a cowboy although I was quite
experienced and could do a man's job.
The cowboy in America rides buckjumpers
and has some thrills, but the cowboy in my day was the
name of a young learner who was started off with the
easier farm jobs until he became more experienced
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Chapter
Six
The
Mangamahu Murder
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. . . On striking a
match I was horrified to see George with his head
severed.
Kinsella, very intoxicated, was sitting
nearby, saying that he himself had done the deed,
because George his old bushmate cobber had asked him
to do it. "He lay on the floor and asked me to cut his
head off, and I did it."
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| Chapter
Seven
Our Bush Camp
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We had
to find straight poles from the bush for tent poles, as
well as split wide slabs for the fireplace. We made a
frame to nail or wire the slabs on, making a little wall
about eight foot long and about ten foot high, with a
three-post wall at right angles at each end. Then we
built up clay inside about two foot six high.
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