Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

Page 33 text:

SAMARA 31 Fannie Fix ' s Lovelorn Column Dear Fannie Fix: I am madly in love with a boy who is many years older than I am. His name is Hannibal and I ' m pretty sure he loves me too; only every time we go on a date, he pokes my arm and says, My dear, you are getting fatter and better looking every day . Miss Fix, I think Hannibal is a cannibal; what shall I do? Sincerely, Angela Fatcat. Ans: Dear Miss Fatcat: I suggest you try the Elmwood diet table for a month or two. Then, you lose weight, and your suspicions are right about Hannibal ' s being a cannibal, he will leave you and you will be safe. Fannie Fix. Dear Fannie Fix: I yam foorten yars old an ' secratly marrad. I yam stil livin on da far, with ma folks, but ma husbin Abner warnts me to leave hoome and traval around wit him, as he is a travaUing salesman. I dun ' t know whart t ' do, cus if Ma or Pa efer found out ah was marrad, he wood take the shot gun and shoot me and ma poor husbin full of buck shot. An if ah run away wit Abner, pappy wil git them there hound dorgs on our traile, an when he gits us . . . well, we will be plum out of luck cause dem buck shots hurt! Wat can Ah do? Rosabelly M.C.B.L.O. Marblehead. Ans: Dear Miss Marblehead: I ' d shoot them hounds and git! Fannie Fix. Francis Wood, V B Nightingale Story of a Lost Pet It was a cold winter day; and as I was walk- ing along, I could tell that the first snowfall was not far off. I did not know where to go, for I was a homeless pet. All summer my master had played with me and fed me; but when he went back to the city, he turned me out in the cold. Just like many other cats, I was looking for food on Nantucket Island which was now barren and bare. Suddenly I saw meat and without looking to see if there was any danger, I pounced on the raw chunk. In a flash a bag closed around me, and some boy picked it up and walked away with it. I could tell I was entering a barn, for the heat and the sweet smell of hay convinced me. Before I could take another breath I was shaken out of the bag; and a lot of groans followed. It was evident they were not pleased, because I was so skinny. A little girl ran into the barn and danced with delight when she saw me. She picked me up and called me a pretty kitten . I began to purr because it was the first time in a long time I had been content. One of the boys took her back to the house and in a few minutes returned with some thin ropes in his hands. He tied me up and placed the raw meat in front of me and kept tempting me with the wonderful odor. I tugged and tugged on the ropes, but I could not get free and finally after ten minutes my paws were rubbed raw, and I fell down ex- hausted eyeing the raw meat. They kept me in the barn for a few days, and on the third day the neighbors found out I was in the barn. When they saw my paws, they were horrified; but they forgot to do anything about me. In the meantime my paws were getting infected. All the time I had not had anything to eat in days and only the water to drink which leaked through the barn roof every time it rained. Later that night a storm came and broke a window; and climbing with all I had left in me, I managed to get out of the win- dow. I walked until I found a soft pile of leaves, and I flopped down and went to sleep. In the morning when I awoke, I found my- self in a soft basket with a fire snapping cheer- ily in front of me. In half an hour the Ottawa Humane Society was there; and they carried me, basket and all, and put me in a truck. In about ten minutes (it seemed like an hour to me) we drove up in front of a small building, and they took me out of the truck and carried me into the building. When the men saw me, they all pitied me and a man picked me up

Page 32 text:

30 S A iM A R A fasted, praying that God would send them the grace to live for another winter. No matter what he tried to do, he could think of no way to provide for his little flock. He began to ' lose faith in himself, and to think that it was his fault that his people were so miserable. Pierre was not worried at all. So long as he had his potage and his tartine every day, it did not seem to him that much could be wrong. But Annette had seen her Maman weeping in the corner of the cabin and her papa could say nothing that would comfort her. So Annette began to think. Pere Lalenient had told her that Le Bebe listened to people ' s prayers, so that afternoon instead of going out to play with Pierre, she would go up to the little church. She had her precious Rosary clasped in her hand, and she was thinking of a prayer to make, so that Le Bebe would understand how hard it was for everybody. Then perhaps He would tell Le Bon Dieu, about it, and then everything would be settled. Quiet as a mouse she crept into the little wooden church, built by such loving hands. She knelt down by one of the pillars and be- gan to pray. She heard another voice murmur- ing prayers too and peeping behind the pillar she saw the cure on his knees. This gave her courage and she told LeBebe about the trouble; how A4aman had cried and how Papa had not been able to comfort her; how the cure had prayed, and how Yvet had tried to do his best. She told him how hungry the people were and how cold. Oh please, help them. She would be very good. She would try to be in time for dejeuner and try to remem.ber to come home as soon as the sun went down behind the mountain — how pretty it was then. The snow became a beautiful gold, barred with great black shadows, and the mountains were purple; she wished that it would always stay like that — and she would tell Pierre too, and he would try — though sometimes he would not do as she asked — but she was sure he would this time — though only yesterday she had begged him not to go down by the river, and he had. She was afraid of the river now that Yvet — oh, please, Bebe, bless Yvet, look after him and love him as much as we did. Oh, please listen to her prayer, blessed Bebe, and help them! She stood up, and suddenly, a terrible thought came to her! She had not brought a single thing to give to Le Bebe in return. How ashamed she felt! She only had her Rosary. How she loved it, her Rosary, the beautiful beads, and the pretty cross, and it was her very own and yet . . . She went slowly to the cure; he stood up, when he saw her and said, What do you want, my little one? Oh, Monsieur le Cure, I have made a prayer to the Blessed Bebe and I didn ' t bring anything to give him — so I thought he would like my Rosary, it is such a pretty one! Pere Martin gave it to me when we left Quebec. See how pretty it is! Don ' t you think that per- haps He might like it, too? People said that what happened that night was a miracle. Perhaps the cure knew differ- ently. That night he had prayed, not so much for help for the town, but for such faith as he had witnessed that day. The miracle was that the tired, discouraged villagers woke up to see a bridge to the island. The ice floes in the river had jammed against the boulders and piled up, forming a natural pathway from the mainland. That night there was food enough in the little village, and warmth too. The face of the cure was like a light that night, as he gazed on the devout people, kneeling in thanks to their Lord. He had seen a miracle performed, a miracle of faith among his own people. To Annette that night, as she said her prayers by the bedside, it had been the obvious thing to happen. As she snuggled down in her cosy bed, she told herself that she knew it was going to happen. After all, It was such a pretty Rosary . Janet Chapman, V A Fry

Page 34 text:

32 SAMARA and put me on a white table. One man held me while another man washed and put medi- cine on my paws, and after that they put bandages on them. I cried with pain, but I soon got over that when they put me in a nice cage and fed me fish and warm milk. It was not long before I fell asleep. I was only there about two days before my paws were almost healed and I was getting fat again. One afternoon a man came with a little girl whose dog had been killed previously and who was looking for a cat. When she saw me, she begged her father to get me. The man paid for me and bought me a collar, and they took me home where I am to this day. If I could talk, I could never express my thanks to the people who took me in and to the Ottawa Humane Society who sheltered me and fed me and found me a home. There are probably millions of other pets everywhere who think the same thing. Judith Kleinhans, IV A Keller The Tabby and the Abbey In Westminster Abbey There lived an old Tabby Whose job was to keep out the mice. When in walked the bishop. And told her to dish up. She said, Sure, I will for a price . So the money rolled in And the mice rolled out, And the winter went by in a hurry; When Spring came along. And the mice were all gone. The cat had a terrible worry. She was out of a job. So she sold for ten bob. Her fur for the robe of a Lord; Then she lay down and died. With a heart full of pride. And they drove her away in a Ford. Margot Freiman Susan Brain VB Nur Jehan To-day I am going to tell you about a famous Empress of India. While Elizabeth I ruled in England, while Shakespeare wrote his famous plays, in India there ruled a most beautiful and witty Empress, Nur Jehan. Her father, an Irany merchant, having en- dured many hardships in Iran, decided to go to India. On the way, a daughter was born to him whom they named Mehrunisa. They were very poor and the baby meant another mouth to feed, so they decided to abandon her. They left her on the roadside and continued on their way, but they could not bear to leave her so they went back. Upon returning, they saw that a caravan had stopped there and was taking the child. They thanked the nobleman for his kindness but took the child themselves. They became friendly, and the nobleman, a member of Akbar the Great ' s Court, gave him an entry into the court. Soon the Irany mer- chant was appointed Master of the Household, and Mehrunisa grew up in the luxurious atmosphere of the court. One day, at the age of seventeen, as she was wandering in the palace gardens, she met Prince Saleem. He gave her two pigeons to hold and went away. A few minutes later he returned and saw that she was holding only one pigeon. He was furious. He asked her what had happened to the other pigeon — It fliew away she said — But how? he asked. Like this, she said, and opening the other hand, she let the other pigeon fly off. Saleen fell in love with her and later wanted to marry her; but the marriage was thought unsuitable, so Mehrunisa was married off to any army officer. Akbar the Great died, and Prince Saleen became Emperor and assumed the title of Jehangir. In the meantime, Mehrunisa became a widow and was appointed lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Queen. Jehangir, that is, Prince Saleem, courted Mehrunisa for seven years after which she consented to marry him. After their marriage he named her Nur Mehal, meaning glory of the palace . Later he called her Nur Jehan, the name by which