A few miles further along the road [from Healesville] a grim struggle was fought ... It was a tense battle with death – but, re-considered to-day, it has its humourous touches. Mr and Mrs Ward managed to save everything – their family, their house, and even their cow, Biddy, who took refuge in the bathroom!

Biddy is a friendly soul, who likes companionship, especially in moments of stress. She refused to leave the homestead, and eventually found her way onto the verandah, and thence to the bath. Every once in a while, Mr Ward, seeking respite from his labors with hoses, water and pumps, stumbled into the bathroom to soak towels – and had to circumnavigate the cow. But Biddy lives to tell the tale – with not even a hair on her tail singed.

[A, 12/1/39]