Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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23 - A PROVERBIAL FAIRY TALE Once upon a time, in the days when countries weren't overrun by oil derricks and mining engi- neers, there lived two brothers named Tom and Augustus. They lived in a little white cottage in the middle of a big green valley at the foot of a bigger green mountain surmounted by a perfect monstrosity of a huge grey castle on the top of which flew a great flapping black flag with strange yellow stripes on it. About the castle and its mysterious black flag we will hear later, but at the moment we must turn our attention to Tom and Augustus, who are obviously going to be the heroes of our story. Now these two brothers lived with their mother in the little white cottage, tending the flocks and cutting wood by day and sitting and listening to their mother talk by night. As for their mother, she spent the day either sitting outside in the little garden knitting and wishing she were inside by the fire where it was warm, or sitting inside by the fire knitting and wishing she were outside in the little garden where is was cool. If the broth- ers were hungry, they opened a can of beans. Every evening after Tom and Augustus had fin- ished their dayls work and their beans, they would take turns helping their mother wind wool to knit socks which she never finished because she was forever dropping stitches or ripping it all out and starting over again. As they sat and wound wool, their mother would carry on a ceaseless flow of chatter-complaints, stories with morals, village gossip and any other little pleasantries which came to her mind. And when she could think of nothing more to say, she would quote proverbs by the score. Her favourites were, All that glitters is not gold and Money is the root of all evil. These she repeated day in and day out, hoping to impress them firmly in her sons' minds for possible future reference. But there was one dif- ference between the two brothers which warrants mention: Augustus enjoyed this sort of thing and Tom did not. Good, dutiful Augustus hung on his motherls every word and took it to heart, while wicked, worthless Tom would have liked nothing better than to break her poor old wool or stand over 'her with a rod and force her to cook a meal. Fie on Tom! One day when the two brothers were out tending their sheep, an old man in a black cloak with yellow stripes on it suddenly appeared from nowhere in particular and asked if he might have some of their bread and cheese lunch as he had travelled a long way and was quite famished. When he saw that Augustus hesitated somewhat, the old man said in a pitifully wavering voice that if they would give him one little bread and cheese snack, they would soon be rewarded by many more sumptuous repasts, not to mention X f FAQ. fxf' V - I stacks of gold coins. Augustus imediately said, Ah, but a bird in the handls worth two in the bush. Besides, money is the root of all evil, and he trotted off into a corner of the pasture and began to eat his lunch. However, the foolish Tom took pity on the old man and gave him all his lunch, even the large piece of chocolate cake that had been meant for his dessert. When the old man had finished eating and brushed away the crumbs from his cloak, he stood up, saying, And now for the reward. And lo and behold, throwing back his black cloak with the yellow stripes, he stepped forth and revealed himself as a tall and noble prince in a gold brocade tunic, and embroidered on the front was a black ensign with yellow stripes, just like the one flying above the great grey castle! Tom would have fallen to his knees such was his surprise and humiliation, but the tall prince said, Never mind, old chap, I know just how you feel. And now really I must tell you. I was once the master of that castle up there, but a wizard came and put me under a spell which could not be broken until someone did me one favour. Not much chance of that looking the way I did, eh? But now all -this will have killed that annoying old wizard, so we can go up and free my sister, the beautiful princess who has been imprisoned up there all this time. You can marry her if you like. But come on, let's hurry up or we'll be late for the feast! And with that the prince seized Tom's hand and pulling the dazed fellow after him joyously, ran all the way up the mountain and in the front door of the castle, leaving Aug- ustus imperturbably munching a hunk of his mother's strongest rat-trap brand in the corner of the pasture. The next day Tom was married to the beautiful princess amid great gaiety, razzle-dazzle, and ex-

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what gift Father Christmas had left. Cokes and Christmas cake were carried up to the White House Upper Hall where the mats had been rolled up in readiness for the dancers. The non-dancers were busily occupied with a small, withered piece of mistletoe. The wee green leaf managed to be held over, or by, nearly everyone at the party. As the clock ticked on, our Christmas Party for 1951 ended and everyone went home feeling full, tired and happy. Dawna Duncan. DESERTED Drifting, drifting all alone Drifting on a silver foam, A weary wail, a shrieking moan, A haunting laugh, a hollow groan. Deserted on a stormy night, Fantastic sails red and bright, A misty gap we soon do see- What, oh, what can it be? Sylvia Pierce, Grade IX. .aiinf Photography Winner-Mary Thornton, VIII. BRUWNIES I-IND GUIDES BROWN IES ENROLLMENT On Tuesday, December the 7th, we came into the gymnasium in our Brownie uniforms and stood in a circle. We all pledged to be good Brownies. Madame Commissioner put our Brownie pins on the ties of our uniforms. Madame Commissioner told us a fairy story about how Brownies started. All the Brownies put their fairy gold fcollectionj under the toadstool. Then we played The Germ and the Toothbrush. We had some good food to eat. Then, since the party was over, we all went home. Katherine Kaufmann, Grade III. A 16TH GUIDE COMPANY The Balmoral Hall Guide Company opened in September 1951, for its second year, under new leadership. The Captain, Mrs. Hutchinson, and the Lieutenant, Mrs. Graham, have worked very hard. In January ten new Guides were enrolled and one second class badge was received. Every guide 'has been working hard on her semaphore during February and March. At the end of each meeting there is time to play a few games. In the fall some of the Guides went on a picnic and in the winter we went for a tally-ho ride. The guides sent three sets of place mats into a competition, but we did not win. For one meeting we went to Canada Bread and were shown around. This was very interesting. The whole Guide Company went to the Auditorium to attend the Thinking and Remembrance Day Service on February 24th. All Guides, Brownies, Cubs and Scouts assembled at the Civic Auditorium on Sunday, February 24th for a special programme to com- memorate Thinking and Remembrance Day. We sang familiar hymns and were lead in prayer by well known guides and scouts. A guide brought forward the guide Hag and then Mrs. A. Mahon told us the meanfng of everything on the flag. Guide Patricia Malaher gave a speech about Thinking Day. The ceremony closed with all Scouts and Cubs solemnly renewing their pro- mise, and led by Mrs. Greer, our Provincial Commissioner, the Guides and Brownies repeated and renewed their promise. Mary Thornton, 16th Guide Company.

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. E- - ZZ pense. Augustus and his mother were invited to the wedding, but declined the invitation on the pretext that all that glitters is not gold. That night they succeeded in winding six large balls of wool before retiring to bed. But Tom lived happily ever after and ate square meals for the rest of his life. Moral: Never trust a woman who quotes prov- erbs. She's just trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Ann Jennings, Grade XI. Winner of the Senior Story Competition fTied wilb fame Gfrld.lif07Z6D THE WINDOW Adele stood waiting in the doorway of the office building. The street was deserted save for an old man shuffling toward her. Adele watched him as he came closer. He looked so old and tired-bent like a branch of the oak tree that had been in Adele's back yard for as long as she could remember. She wondered vaguely who he was and what he was doing out on such a cold night. Then she remembered how cold she her- self was, and shivered involuntarily. . . . My but the buses were slow . . . The man was closer now and she could see his features more closely. He wasn't as old as she had first suspected, but so very tired looking. He was stopping now in front of the hardware store a little way down the street. He was looking at something inside the window which Adele could not see-probably a lawn mower, a set of power tools, or something equally uninspiring. It was funny the number of people she had seen stop at that very window, just during the time she had been waiting there too . . . Adele stamped her feet to keep them warm. A gust of wind swirled along the street picking up a piece of newspaper that had been lying on the pavement. It would settle for a moment, then be picked up again and carried still further by a new gust. Even in her relatively sheltered spot, Adele could feel the bite ofthe wind. How much colder that poor man must be! She turned her head to look at him again, Ending that thinking about him kept her mind off the cold. He was still standing there looking in the store window. His 'hands were clasped behind his back in what Adele imagined was a very characteristic gesture . . . Would that bus never come? . . . A streetcar rumbled up from the opposite direction. It stopped almost directly opposite the hardware, but the man never turned around. Square patches of light were cast on the snow from the streetcar windows. Adele thought how warm the passengers must be inside. Soon it started up again and passed from sight. The man had never moved. Then, watching a neon sign across the street blink on and off, on and off, helped pass the time. Finally Adele sighted her bus coming along the street. She started walking briskly down the street to the bus stop. By now she was frankly curious as to what was in the window. She slowed down as she neared the hardware so that she would be able to have a good look in the window. From her position all she could see was some drapery and a large piece of white cardboard. But as she drew closer, she suddenly knew why that man had stood so long, oblivious of the weather, just to gaze in the window. It was all too clear. On the cardboard was a picture of His Majesty, King George VI. jane Gladstone, Grade XI. Winner of Senior Short Story Competition CTM!! 10216 A7271 femzingrj THE GRADE NINE BAND One memorable day the Grade Nines gathered in the classroom to discuss the new project-a band. We all tried to think of instruments we might be able to play, and Elaine Protheroe was chosen to be musical director and conductor. The string section was represented by Carol Nixon, Pat Benham, Carol MacAulay and Suzanne Flood who played guitars or ukeleles. The wind instruments were played by the following musicians: Dawna and Diana played the first and second clarinetsg Eirene the flute, Martha played a miniature type of bagpipe and Gail Brooking attempted to play the trumpet-when it workedg this was the only instrument that could be heard above the din. The tambourines, drums, cymbals, triangles and woody things which gave the band rhythm, were nobly played by other energetic volunteers. Honor tried to play the piano besides attempting to transpose the music to fit Gail's flat trumpet. So did Dawna, Diana, Carol Nixon and Elaine Protheroe. In fact the instruments all seemed to be in different keys and the first few weeks were spent in straightening this confusion. Miss Bore- ham supplied us with the music and gave up her Friday noons to lend a helping hand. The first piece attempted was God Save the Queenu and when Gail hit the right notes, a listener might be able to put them together and make out the tune. Despite the noisy Friday noons we all hope the band will progress in future years' Honor Bonnycastle, Grade IX.