Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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OPPORTUNITY Johnny, spell opportunity. Opportunity, o-p-p ... and this word in his son ' s spelling, sent his mind back to a conversation over which he had been brooding. Smith, we, the Citizens Committee, want you to head a survey, to see what oppor- tunities we can offer the slum boys of this city, opportunities to live a good, wholesome, clean life. Afterwards Johnston had said, You owe it to us, and to yourself; besides, it will pay your debt to the Padre. He had promised to give his answer in a week. Johnston had laughed, Duty calls, you know , and left him. That lane, that was what had come to his mind, when they had asked him. That dirty, garbage-laden, rat-infested lane! His childhood playground, it had been. He remembered the day Tony had come and told him about a swell place to play. The Y he said it was. Just then Big Bill had come, and he said it was a sissy place. When Bill came along, Tony had run away. Then he. Smith, had gone home, and his mother had said something about the Y too. He had laughed her down and said he had better things to do. Better! That was a laugh! He remembered now how the corners of her mouth drew down, how she threw up her grey head. He ' d gone out that night. He met Tony — he almost went with him to the Y but Bill came along and yelled to him, and Tony ran away again. He crossed the lane and Bill outlined the plan. It sounded good. When they got there. Bill pushed in a window. The others went in and hauled out the till. They heard a noise and crept away. Behind a shanty they broke open the till. There were only a few cents in it. They all cursed, so did he. Then Bill handed out the cash, just a few cents each. He felt badly about taking it, but after a few nights, he did not care. One night the cops chased them. They caught a few of the gang, but neither Bill nor him. One night they tried a house. They woke the baby. That time they all were caught. How scared he had been on his way to court. His Mother was there; he hardly recognized her, she looked so broken. When he saw her, the Judge was speaking to her after the sentence had been passed. [23]

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who were in each one. Immediately afterwards the first House meetings were held, and then the Houses were firmly established. Riddell House meets in Miss Cumming ' s and Miss Bryan ' s sitting-room in the House. We are grateful to them for allowing us to use it. We have a meeting whenever there is something to communicate to the girls, such as competitions. These have been most interesting. One was a Spelling Bee which Barclay House won. There were five on each team. The Third Formers proved that they were the best spellers in the School! Then we had a General Knowledge Test with twenty-five very interesting questions. The results of this we have not yet heard. Where usually in tests in class, girls have only been able to compare answers afterwards with their class-mates, in this test, one could hear older girls and younger girls through the school talking about the same test. Earlier in the season the Inter-House Basketball matches were played. We came second, beating Ross and Barclay Houses, and losing to Fairley. The Gym. Competition and Inter-House Tennis Matches are still in store but we are starting to practice already. On Field Day, there is to be a game for the Houses which promises to be great fun ! In the first adding up of points, Riddell House stood third with seventy-nine points. We thank Miss Cam, our House Mistress, for her interest and help. She made out a list, after the first adding up of points, who had lost points, and those who had neither gained nor lost, which was interesting to see. Purple is our colour; and the motto which we chose Facta non Verba — Deeds, not Words. Janet Slack, Marjorie Robinson, Heads of the House. [22]

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Then there were those months in the Reformatory. He had gone from bad to worse there. When he got out, he had almost gone to his Mother, but the memory of her sorrow, and her beaten, bitter face, stopped him. He got in with a bad gang again. They did jobs all over the city. One day they tried a bank. They got caught at it that time. He landed in the penitentiary. There he got into the prison library. He started reading. It was good stuff. He was treated well there. He remembered the chaplain, the day they had talked in the library. Those were fine words. Smith, each book is like an opportunity. It must be of your own free will that you accept and make use of it, otherwise you will not profit. He was a wonderful man. He had beaten him at chess for the first time yesterday. How the Old Man had laughed. They ' d talked together a lot. The day he got out, the Chaplain had called him into his office. He said he could work on his farm for the rest of the summer, to get rid of that prison pallor. He had a swell time there. Up with the sun and slept like a log all night. One day after the first snow, the Chaplain came out and told him of a job he could have if he wanted it enough. He did. The Padre sat on the fence and told him about it, how hard the work would be. He did not care. Next day he went into town and bought a new suit with the summer ' s savings. He went to work — that was twenty years ago. The whole town knew his past. They had accepted him for what he was worth. Now he was personnel manager of his company, married and with a family. He knew now why J ohnston had asked him. He got up, leaped to the telephone, and told Johnston he would pay and pay with interest. What he had missed, he would make sure that no one else in this town would ever miss. Queer what that one word opportunity will accomplish! Lyn Berens, Form IVa, Riddell House. VIEW FROM MY WINDOW AT CAMP The upward thrust of sturdy pine. The purple mountains ' blended line. The golden gleam of shore line sands. The blue sky ' s fleece like shadow ' d bands Of filmy clouds, the green of trees At water ' s edge, a gentle breeze From the great Northland far away. The flight of loons that cannot stay; And all this beauty as one whole Is nature in her summer role. Heather Campbell, Form Va, Ross House. [24]