OUR CAMP NOEL FARR HOGGARD ADVENTURE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 39, 15 February 1930, Page 18

OUR CAMP NOEL FARR HOGGARD ADVENTURE

np HERE were three of us—two boys and a girl—myself, my boy jj_ chum, and my sister; and we were camping for the holidays in the Hinekura bush. Our camp was situated in a delightful spot—a slight grass-covered nlateati partly surrounded by manuka and wild bush of every description. In the background ran a waving line of hills, the dark and light of the foliage contrasting vividly with the intense blueness of ■'-•" floiidless sky. '■"'/ ; ". ./• .. ... '. Well, to commence my story. . . . One evening— on the, third -hv in camp—the three of us decided upon a moonlight walk among the hiiis. .. . ;■ .■■■■■■■ .■: ~-.■.: .-,.■■' For a while we walked in silence, then George—that's my chum— -;iid, "Wliat a great spot these hills would be for bushrangers if there ~.„,•„ i)nv nowadays." • ■ ' ' ...'".. ' ..-. I nodded. "Yes! But ambushes are out of . the question these 'lays. Nothing exciting of that nature is likely to happen. Bushrangers ■■f1 !'iosr gentlemen are finished with." My sister gave a low laugh, "The shadows look terribly grotesque, lon'i they? One could imagine robbers in hiding." Then, "What's that?" hissed George in such a tone that my hair -isp'on end. We listened. A sharp crack in the undergrowth broke the •<;il-'"C9 on oneside of the track. '■.'■■■''» We halted, our hearts beating rapidly. The bush is an eerie place '" ho in at night, and'the dramatic suddenness of the sound startled us ■"'■l'lpj-'ilily. . Again that rustle. Then silence intense. We almost ceased 1 t - ' X i • "Who—who's there " I jerked out. No answer. Then it happened. The shadowy scrub bordering the track disgorged three dark forms, whose features were concealed in masks, nnd who wore long coats. This was all we had time to observe, for '■'■ iho sam<* instant the shapes flung sashes over our heads. We were '■r- Inl"=s. It is practically an impossibility to put up a fight of any '-c'jntion when one cannot see what one is hitting. We didn't have -1 nhnnce. Not a word did our captors say as we were led along the track, coming to a.spot where we seemed to branch off. In about half an hour we hailed.

We should have been stifled, I am certain, in the sacks but for the fact that holes—too small for us to see through—were cut to enable us to breathe. Gruff voices (somehow though I could not get rid of the feeling that the gruffness was assumed) spoke something we could not catch, and pOnr what seemed to be an eternity the sacks were removed. We stood in a clearing in the bush, in which were pitched three Icnts, and a huge fire threw a lurid glare on the three masked persons, who stood looking at us, saying never a word! . . . Then one spoke. Doubtless the leader. . "You are wondering who we are? We are the Scrub Gang." Here hn coughed. f ' \ , He continued:'"No one has ever escaped the clutches of the Scrub Gang. Our motto is, 'Dead men tell no tales!' Do you hear?" He turned abruptly to one of the other figures behind him. "Jake, lie their hands securely and put them in a tent, and keep walcli oirtsidc." Here we wei'e bundled into one and left alone. , "'Surely they don't mean us any harm?" exclaimed my sister. "Come closer," I whispered to the other two. "I want to tell you .something. Bushrangers and robbers don't leave Eastern Hutt School raps lying about, do they? It is rather careless of them. We should have been'kidded'splendidly but for that slip." I went on: "Now listen, T have a plan that will make them give themselves away. Wait and pee!" '• • In about half an hour the leader of the so-called .bushrangers enter, the tent. "How did the cricket match come off?" I asked suddenly. Not lhinkin<\ the masked figure replied, "Great," in his natural voice. "The game's up," I said. "We know you are schoolboys. Let us free." The other laughed good-naturedly. "Right-o!" He whipped off his mask and coat, and the grinning features of p. schoolboy of about fifteen were revealed. The other two entered and unmasked. They were a boy and girl of ab^nt ihe same age as the first. They turned out to be such jolly kids that we didn't object to their practical joke, though \ve aren't lik6ly to be taken in in the same way again, you may be sure!