PAPAKURA.

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 81, 1 April 1882, Page 41

PAPAKURA.

: j of. our local railway guards, whom we may -call George (because that is not his name),jliavuig

hopes that he may some day retire from the van and become a gentleman farmer, bought at one of the recent land sales a piece of fern land, comprising about forty perches. This he fenced in and divided into two paddocks, and placed in them grazing stock of four cows, four calves, and a bull to eat ofß the fern. When the fern was eaten off, George thought he might next introduce a horse upon the farm, and accordingly applied for a day's leave to attend a sale of farm stock, etc., last week. He succeeded in becoming the purchaser for £7 10s of a thoroughbred mare, said to have been served by Kingfisher. Delighted with his purchase (the mare is of the now fashionable chesnut colour), George borrowed a saddle and bridle to ride horne — a distance of twenty miles or so — and started about 3 p.m. After proceeding two or three miles he was overtaken by a jolly horse-couper (McS.), who had also been at the sale. McS. seeing that Q-eorge was not quite " at home " in the saddle, and desirous of having a bit of fun at his expense, praised the mare (as a horse-couper can do), and then suggested going home by the by-roada instead of the metalled highway, so that they might have a nice little race now and again. Cajoled by the flattery, George agreed, and, starting off, McS. led the way to a dreary waste of fern-clad hills and marshes, and then cunningly allowed George to pass him as soon as they had left the tracks. Then he suddenly returned, leaving George's mare, whose blood was now up, careering wildly along, with her rider holding on by the mane, and Ms hair flying in the breeze without a covering. When G-eorge regained control over his steed, he was alone and lost. Darkness came on, and after a series of adventures, such as getting into a swamp occasionally through riding after a will-o'-the-wisp, daylight appeared ; and during the forenoon George succeeded in reaching a settler's house, where he borrowed a side-saddle for a change of posture, and got directions as to the route to be taken for home, where he arrived in time for an early tea. After using an immense quantity of bran and hot water for poultices and fomentations, George was able to enter the van on the fourth day following the sale, wishing he had invested the money in a nice quiet cow instead of the throughbred mare, and vowing vengeance against the horse-couper when he catches him.