from the window at all. Needless to say, Peter and Michael didn’t get much dinner that day.
Michael had great tastes. He often decorated the interior of their dwelling, selecting attractive wallpaper and paint.
Peter was a very gentle man who never wanted to hurt anyone, but one day he was rounding up the horses, and there was a cow who kept getting in the way. The wrench slipped from his hand, hitting the cow in the head, and she died instantly. Someone asked Peter, “How hard did you hit the cow?” “Not very hard,” said Peter, “I just went Shoo!” Peter was often reminded of that incident.
On another occasion, Peter woke up one bright moonlight night, dressed, and went out to milk the cows. He wondered why the cows weren’t at the gate as they usually were. He returned to the house to await their arrival. He looked at the clock, only to realize that it was two o’clock in the morning. He would be a long time waiting for the cows to come; so he went back to bed for another while.
Peter never wanted to accuse anyone of improper behaviour. One day, two children were walking home from the store in Rollo Bay. As they walked along they picked up bottles from the ditch of the road, and broke them on the pavement. Peter and Michael came along, and gave them a drive, without mentioning the glass. When Peter let them off at their driveway, he remarked to them, “It’s strange; as soon as we picked you up, we stopped seeing broken glass on the road.” It was his way of saying that you were caught in the act. The children felt sorry for what they had done.
Peter and Michael enjoyed music, and occasionally, Michael would jig and Peter would dance. Their home was a popular place for parties, where young and old enjoyed themselves.
Peter was eighty, when he died in 1984. Michael died two years later, ending the McGaugh name in Bear River.
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