Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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The Branksome Slogan 25 Slogan Staff The Twilight Hour Thy beauty is a joy to all Who love the sunset glow, That evening quiet enchants the land, And peace reigns here below. The clouds above serenely float. Like fairy ships they glide, Above they dreamily sail away All pink, with eventide. The evening birds are singing songs, As dusk falls on the land; The world is quiet with peacefulness, For rest is now at hand. The flaming sky behind the wood Strange shadows cast, as if a magic lamp Shot its glory through the sombre trees, Dark and still, as sentinels at camp. The herds and flocks are wandering home. As the setting sun sinks o ' er Yon distant hill of purple hue, And night has come once more. V. J. GOULDING, Form III.

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24 The Branksome Slogan Appeals were made to all the nations for help. Dr. Nansen persuaded the dif- ferent countries to let the men pass through their lands; he chartered ships and arranged for special trains. In con- nection with this, the work of Dr. Nan- sen was very wonderful. He acted as High Commissioner for the League in the help given, settling and finding work for about a million Russians, who fled from their country at the time of the revolu- tion. Dr. Nansen, helped by Americans, has also worked to secure the settlement of Greek refugees .who fled to Asia Minor during their struggle with the Turks, in new homes in Greece. Among other activities of the League might be mentioned the reduction and limitation of armaments, the securing of freedom of transit for commerce of all states in the League, the government of the Saar valley and the free city of Dan- zig, and the protection of racial and re- ligious minorities in a number of Euro- pean countries. Switzerland was chosen as the meeting place of the League because of its neutral- ity during the Great War. The city of Geneva, so closely connected with the Reformation in the sixteenth century, be- came the home of the League. The main organs of the League are: The Assembly, consisting of three dele- gates from each of the states represented, which meets annually in September; the Council, consisting of one delegate from each of the fourteen diff ' erent states, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan being permanently represented. The other nine states arc elected from time to time by the Assembly. This body meets three or four times a year. Besides these, there is the Secretariat, the international civil service by which the League is served, and the International Labor Organization. You have heard how the League came into being, .what it stands for and its hopes for the future. It can only con- tinue to succeed in its aims and ideas if everyone takes an interest in what it is trying to do. It can only act in the right manner if the spirit of the people is behind it. HENRIETTA OWEN, III. B.

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26 The Branksome Slogan The Tale of Alza The wind had risen from a mournful sigh to a whirling madness, driving leaves, twigs and stones before it, crack- ing the branches of the trees, shriek- ing wildly through the forest; forked lightning cut the sky into fragments of blackness, while, from the moun- tain-top, Jove hurled his thunder-bolts until it seemed that these fragments of the heavens must come crashing to the earth. At last the rain came, falling in a raging torrent, washing the leaves from the trees, drowning any animal which had not sought shelter in time. It was a night in which the evil spirits held sway, howling and laughing like maniacs in the darkness, and striking terror to the heart of an unfortunate mortal, caught in the bosom of the storm. It was a boy, struggling vainly against the force of the wind and rain, until he was driven, as though by the hand of Providence, against a log-cabin. Numb from the cold, wet, and weak from hunger he staggered to the door and fell, in an exhausted heap, on the cabin floor. When he had somewhat recovered his senses, he saw a fire burning on the hearth and an old hag bent over him, muttering strange incantations to herself. She might have been a thousand years old, and indeed her face .was lined with a thousand wrinkles; her eyes were black and burned like live coals, her nose was like the beak of a hawk, and what teeth she had were yellow and decayed; her hair was gray and matted with dirt, and she was bent almost double with age, one bony hand clutching a twisted stick. My name is Alza, she hissed, ten hundred years have passed before my eyes, but always I tell the same tale .... always always And sit- ting on a three-legged stool, the ghostly light of the fire casting weird shadows on her face, she began — Centuries ago, when Romance and Chivalry walked together throughout the land, a huge, gloomy castle stood on one of the foot-hills of yonder mountain, which guarded the village huddling at its feet as a hen guards her brood. The castle was built around a square court in the middle of which was a well, running, it was said, straight through the centre of the earth, for nothing thrown into it had ever been heard to strike bottom. The king had no children of his own, but a beautiful young niece of his, with bronze-gold locks and blue eyes, lived at the castle, and when she had taken a noble and wealthy husband, he intended to name them as his successors. But who can tell at which port the ship of love will anchor? There .were, in the king ' s guard, two handsome knights, Alfred and Arthur, brothers, of low birth. Alfred was dark and Arthur fair, and each had the sta- ture of a viking. Alfred and the princess were in love, each living in constant dread of the day when the king would choose a husband for his beautiful niece. They met secret- ly by night in the deserted court-yard, as all the guards were stationed on the out- side of the castle. Here they would com- pare the depth of their love for each other to the depth of the well, until fin- ally the king made his choice. It was the night of their last meeting, the next day the princess was to be wed and the knight .was going to leave the king ' s guard and ride through the land, fighting evil and relieving all whom he found in distress, until he .would meet his death, bravely, in conquest. It was a sad sweet farewell, but alas! fate was more cruel than either had thought. A page, seeing a shadow move on the court, aroused the king; He, with two knights from the guard, strode into