ld hardly believe that he was the host
who had been so kind to all of us young officers only a few months
before.

"Surely you are not Colonel ----?" I said.

"Yes," he said, "I am."

"Well," I said, "you probably won't remember me, but I do remember you
and all the pleasure you used to give us. Are you all out here? Where are
the girls?"

I introduced myself, and he did remember me. The result was that he asked
me to stay to their evening meal, which invitation I gladly accepted.

As he landed from the ladder he laughed, and he said, "I'm afraid I'm not
much of an adept at tarring. It's only been my second attempt, and it
takes me such an awful time to get rid of the amount of the tar which I
so freely distribute over myself. But I am sure you won't mind our
primitive ways, and if this abode is not as pretentious as the old castle
in County Cork, still we can all give you a very hearty welcome."

I put up my horse in the shed which did duty as a stable. He told me that
the two sons were away with the milk cart, while the girls were hard at
work doing the evening's milking of the cows and feeding the poultry, and
would shortly finish their day's work. In the meantime, we would have a
pipe and stroll round what he called the domain. We were a cheery party
that met at that evening meal. The girls appeared, looking sweet in their
very best clothes. The old man and his sons put on evening dress. The
centre room was a living-room, drawing-room, dining-room, smoking-room,
library, all combined in one. The table on which dinner was served was
made of rough boards resting on a couple of trestles, but covered with
the best of damask tablecloths and silver ornaments. The dining-room
chairs consisted of empty packing cases. Such were the difficulties that
the early settlers had to contend with.

Some years afterwards I was paying an official call on one of Her
Majesty's ships at Adelaide, South Australia, and the commander asked me
to go into his cabin, where I saw a photograph of a sweetly pretty woman.
I recognized it at once. It was one of the three sisters with whom I had
dined some years before. I mentioned the fact, and asked him if she was a
relation of his. "Very much so," he said; "she is my wife." He then told
me all about the family, and that they had done well, and the farm had
been a great success.

CHAPTER XII

A MAORI MEETING

At this time Tauranga itself was a centre of another kind of activity.