"I was a school kid at Jerilderie when Ned Kelly and his gang took possession of the township ... Like all the other youngsters in the place, I was keen to get a glimpse of the famous outlaw. ... I saw him come out of [the hotel] and squat on the verandah's edge to have a smoke. He beckoned me over, asked me my name and so forth―and then he gave me a short lecture. I can assure you, a Sunday school superintendent couldn't have given me sounder advice as to human conduct. ... He gave me a shilling, I ought to have kept it."