SPENT THE NIGHT IN LEE OF HEDGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19176, 16 September 1930, Page 8

SPENT THE NIGHT IN LEE OF HEDGE.

TWO BOYS’ ADVENTURE WHILE PARENTS SEARCH. Whilst their parents anxiously searched the hills for them, whilst telegrams were on their way to relatives in various parts of the country, and whilst the newspapers printed stories telling of their disappearance, two boys yesterday slept in a Sockburn paddock blissfully unconscious of the stir they were causing. They were Leo Gates, aged twelve years, and Maurice Hogg, aged eleven. Leo, who lives with his parents at 220. Brougham Street, Sydenham, and Maurice, who lives in Selwyn Street, Addington, set out on Sunday afternoon to go for a walk on the Cashmere Hills. Late in the evening the boys had not returned and in the morning they were still missing. Appeals to friends in various parts of the city and country had proved fruitless; the police and parents had without success searched the suburbs, the hills and Lyttelton. Then late yesterday afternoon, the boys walked into the Gates home, dirty, hungry and tired, but without injury. Went to See ’Planes. Wrath was overcome in parental relief, but still it was with some trepidation that the boys told their story. They had intended to go on the hills, but the missing of a tram and the presence of a shilling in Leo’s pocket made them change their minds, and they went to Sockburn instead, to see the aeroplanes. They got there safely and had a good afternoon’s fun, but when they went to return home they could not find their way. They walked on and on, but darkness fell without their having got any nearer the city. They were not alarmed, however, and, without bothering to tell anyone of their plight, went into a paddock and settled down for the night in the lee of a hedge. It was a clear, bright night, and lying close together they did not fee 1 the cold. Yesterday they continued their journey and arrived home at three o’clock in the afternoon. At midday to-day they were still sleeping—knowing well what waking would bring.