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[Page 44]
dishes off a table near the door, and I said I suppose the shoes will save you money and the elastic would not be missed. Next time her mother gives her anything you must let her keep it!
In the next couple of weeks Dad took Essie and me to Campsie to have a look at this house and he was very pleased with it, and so was she and I said I will have to go to another school and he said in his jokes yes! but there are 2 schools here, one for real good children and one for larrikins so I think I will send you to that, and I asked where it was so we went for a real long walk as I thought until we came to the school, and it looked just like the school I was at at North Sydney and I said "I will like that, and the house it will be better than Rozelle". Anyway the next time my mother came she had with her a lovely little girls singer sewing machine, and guess what I did, I told her that Dad was moving to Campsie and that I was going to go to Campsie and that I was going to Campsie school. "When"? she asked, soon because we have been to see it and it's real nice.
Well the next thing I know we are moving to Campsie and I got started at school and settled in, very well with all the girls in the class and I get put in 4th class, also started church and Sunday School at Campsie. Methodist, a really lovely little church and minister and he had a horse and a sulky to go around in. Dad had fowls in the back yard, we had cocky, a galah, a dog and all sorts of fruit trees. We had a big garage as he started working for himself there as a drainer and plumber. He also bought himself a Harley Davidson motorbike and made a box to put on the side for when he took the side car off, so as he could take all his tools to work. There was a house opposite us and when it was sold I knew the girl Emily Emmerton, she used to go to Rozelle school and so we became friends. There was another girl next door to them, her name was Muriel Martin. We got to know another girl half way along Claremont Street, her name was Ruby Walker, then we got friendly with another girl and her name was Eva Harding. Now there were five of us all the same age and every now and again we used to have a sweets day at the school, and there was a milkbar called "The White Rose" and this girl from there she got friendly with me and said I will ask Dad if he will let the six of us have enough lollies to sell at school. Her name was Cecilia Russell and he said yes, he would make extra, so on the sweets days here we are, the whole six of us with our trays of lollies to sell in the playground, (Mr Russell used to make the sweets out the back of the shop, but later had a little factory).
Well now my father and stepmother by now have joined the Orange Lodge and joined me up in the Juveniles, so I got my friends to join all except Muriel as she was a Roman Catholic, but we five liked it and we all went to Sunday School and picnics too. I used to win all the running races I went in, we played sport at school, on our big sports days we used to hold in Belmore Oval, it is a big main oval now for the footballers, (I still favour Canterbury).
I am now just about 11 years and my mother turns up in the lunch hour. She has already seen the headmistress and she gets me and asks me and I said "no I don't want to see her as I get into trouble at home through it". Though I am older now and things are fine. Anyway she waited until school was out near the front gate and took my arm and kept talking to me, anyway I ran away from her and almost all the way home, but when I got home I told my stepmother and dad when he came in and he said to me "now are