A DECOY DUCK.

NZ Truth, Issue 104, 15 June 1907, Page 4

A DECOY DUCK.

AN ATHLETE'S ADVENTURE.

Moral : Bie Careful tylto You Mash.

In these unregenerats days of do everybody and let nobody do you* wheai old folk shake their heads and recall days gone by, when things wete tot «Ls ' they now are, anything is , possible* Bven to the younig masht er Mto catohes th©' eye, of some blootiiing maiden and presumes on so slight ,an acquain'ta.nce. to court his catbli m the orthodox Style. Now, it so happened the other day that owe of Weil'toiigitxm's crack atlilet-es, who has broken clocks and watches, aM Would : eV'iKn do , daniage to the Post Office ' clock if .it lent it&elf . out to be damaged,' xna'de the acqiuaintance of a 'somewhat shy, yet, nevertheless, fair creature somewhere m the hills that do not pro beet Wellington from the •; 'W'i'Ms. " The' precise spot cannot bo indicated, excepting' that it was somewhere near KaiWarra, where, the smfclls from various ta«nincries and soa-p-woi'ks, axucl other employiricntgi'ving 'conoerns, strike the traveller Witfr a hiundrod horse-power smell. He star ted out' to court tJiis fair dAiiisel, having rMt>ght her on the hop, as it were, and mst her the same evening, and billod and cooed, and proposed to cbn't/mufc the next evenIng, which was the Sabbath. The tEysting spot wo.s named, and ye ' gall^hit set forth that same pvening to wo-p and win ye faire maid, but on ar riving; at' the -appointed spot, he found the 'fort lvckl 'Wy three or four of Raiwarra's 'best brawny and mus-^ Cular productions, who looked ea>ger for 1 a scrap, awd' talked loudly, of something that was going to happen. Before t-be appointeti time. ; 'however, ye 'gallant atih'iet'e passed 1 his fair damsel on <Mie road, a»vd as she was accompanied by a' female frienfl, ' he thoU'glit the Ib<est thing to do was to keep Ms appointment at the appointed spot, and lie hovered about accordingly, ■ INWARDLY CURSING THE QUA.R* . , TETTE w>ho held the, fort. Becoming suspicious .that there- was something up, the lady-lviller crept behind .a fence a,t the r-ear of the said -big four, , and no s«oner was he safely and smigly ensconced than ye faire maid, almost broaitoess, rushed on the scene and wam»tc<rt to know if they, had got him yet. But they hadn't, though vone bright member of the gang ventured the assertion that he iiad seeoi. the said 'fhim" m the vicinity, wher^upoh- the others expressed their intention to tear hlis liver out. if they cattie across him, and as the maid-an got mad as th«ir> missing •, their prey, who was li&tening m terror all the time, the push began to curse the youirig thing pretty extensively, and rjiiickly vanished along the foreshores of our beautiful harbor. Perhaps a tragedy was narrowly averted. "Truth" only says "perhaps" because the athlete can -dp n. 100 yards m even time, and doesn't mimd a, 6ft. fencei or two. Anyhow, there is a moral m this sfeory which Wellington lady-killers had better take .to heart. Leave KaiWarra "tarts" alone ! -- - - - • • '