Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/74

 occasion did credit to his intelligence, for one of those visitors was such a Hercules, that, had he been roused, he alone could have overpowered the three of them. Without incident, therefore, they left Pigeon Bay during the Sunday night for Purau. On arrival there, they surprised the three Greenwood Brothers, as well as some men who were working on the place, and having tied them all, hands and feet, placed them on the kitchen floor. Then, selecting Edward Greenwood, the youngest and most peacefully disposed of the brothers, they released him, and, under threats, compelled him to collect all the money and valuables in the house. The doing of this necessitated the ascending the stairs to the upper rooms. In descending, the robbers were so intent on their booty, and in watching their prisoner, that they did not observe suspended on the wall over the stairway two double-barrelled guns and a rifle, all loaded with ball, and capped for shooting wild dogs. As Edward Greenwood was the last to descend he could, with one of those guns, have potted all three robbers in line, and so have effectually closed the incident. He was, however, peculiarly sensitive and humane, and, though