Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Brentwood College Magazine ' In the morning, Sahib, ' he continued, ' you will have the eyes of a vulture. ' Although I did not altogether believe him, I accepted his gift and went away. ' ' That night I remembered the fakir ' s ointment and, thinking that there would be no harm in trying it, I plastered it liberally over my eyes before retiring, and was soon asleep. On waking the next morning, I felt that a subtle change of some sort had come over me. I could not imagine what it was at first, but suddenly the truth dawned on me. I could see better than I had ever been able to see before. Yesterday the end of the tent had been a dull white blotch ; now I could easily distinguish the threads of canvas of which it was composed. The jungle, which had been a dull green blur before my eyes, now resolved itself into splotches of light and shadow. I could even pick out individual trees and creepers. Life all of a sudden took on a new and rosier hue. The next night I sat up in a tree and secured the tiger which had been regularly thinning the population of the village. The head and feet were too decayed to be of any value as trophies, and so I extracted the claws and whiskers for keepsakes, and still have them. The rest of the tiger I turned over to the spokesman to do what he liked with it. The following day I made my departure with a fixed determination to float a company whose purpose was to manufacture the ointment which the fakir had given me, believing it to be the only infallible remedy in the world for defective eyesight. The company was formed, using the pot of ointment which the old man had given me, as evidence, in cases of unbelief, and in a few months I returned to the village for the purpose of buying the old fakir ' s prescription. I was successful, and to-day that old man and I are the only people who know its composition and ingredients. The company produces it in tubes of two sizes, at 35c and 50c respectively, and in handsome porcelain jars containing a quarter of a pound at a dollar and a quarter the jar. In all fairness, I must add that the ointment must be applied at least once a fortnight to obtain the best results. Now, sir, he continued, opening a suitcase at his side, which size will you have? I got up in disgust and walked off. It was humiliating enough to have listened to this grafter for about three-quarters of an hour, but to have actually believed his st ory made it a thousand times worse, although I could not help admitting to myself that he had imposed on me very effectively. The next afternoon I saw him at the railway station, and in a fit of curiosity reminded him that he had not told me how he had got his game leg. He started to laugh so immoderately that I thought he would choke. That, my dear friend, he replied, is the subject on which I lure inquisitive people like you into conversation. Look! — and for a space of ten or fifteen yards he walked absolutely normally before relapsing once more into his old limping gait. W. S. Robertson. Page Seventeen

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Brentwood College Magazine Salesmanship I MET him in the lounge of the Metropole Hotel. He was a tall, spare, round-shouldered man, with a decided limp in his right leg. We started talking casually about many subjects, he giving me the impression that he had travelled over most of the world. During a pause in the conversation, I happened to ask him if he had got his game leg in the war. Oh no! he replied, with a sudden gleam in his eyes, would you like to hear about that? I assented. Well, to begin with, he started, I got it several years ago when I was on a tiger-shooting expedition in Assam. One day we arrived at a village, from the inhabitants of which we learned that a man-eating tiger infested the neigh- bourhood, and they asked me if I would go out after it one night. Not having very good eyesight at that time, I refused to sit up all night in an uncomfortable platform in the branches of some tree, and insisted that if I was to hunt it at all, I would do so from the back of an elephant, and in no other manner. At this they started muttering . to one another, and at last a man whom I supposed to be the chief of the village approached me. ' Sahib, ' he said with many salaams, ' but there are no elephants within fifty miles of this village, and it would take at least five days for them to be brought here. ' It is impossible, I replied, for me to stay here for longer than two days at the most, and as my eyes are not strong enough to see in the dark, I am afraid that your tiger will have to remain alive, or kill himself by over-eating. On hearing my words, the fellow, with another salaam, walked off to the group of natives with whom he had been chatting, and told them what I had said. After some arguing, they dispatched a messenger to the other end of the village. When he presently returned, he had in his wake a wizened old man, covered with mud and ashes, whom I should judge to have been at least a hundred years old. The spokesman again approached me, this time having in tow the old man, whom he presented to me as the oldest and wisest fakir of the village. ' Sahib, ' he said, ' this man is extraordinarily wise in the art of medicine, and if you wish it, he will make you an ointment which will give you the eyes of the owl which flies by night. ' I demurred a bit at first, but as they both seemed in earnest, I told them to go ahead and do their worst. Next morning I was awakened by my servant, who informed me that a messenger, who was to direct me to the hut of the old fakir, was outside. After breakfast, I accompanied him to the old fellow, who presented me, with much ceremony, with a small clay pot containing an oily ointment of some sort, with which he told me to cover my eyes that night before going to sleep. Page Sixteen

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Brentwood College Magazine Sailing THIS year more interest has been taken in sailing than ever before, chiefly owing to the addition of The Red Devil , ' ' The Flapper , and the two sloops to the flotilla of college boats, and these craft have done much towards increasing the popularity of sailing during the past season. The Black Cat and The Grey Mouse , thanks to the efforts of Deane and Procter, have also been well looked after, and have always to be taken into account when it is a question of speed. Much keenness has been shown in the passing of the light-wind and heavy-wind tests, and at least eight boys have been passed by Mr. Grant or Mr. Hope during the past term. Without having passed either one of these tests, no boy is allowed to take a boat out by himself ; this eliminates almost entirely accidents due to bad management. Many are under the impression that sailing is a series of rushes through seething foam and raging billows, but this is seldom the case. Time and again a crew will set out in a light breeze, and then have to paddle all the way back without a breath of wind to aid them, but with a sun blazing down from above instead. Occasionally, though, a heavy wind does rise up, and then, with waves breaking over the sides and the boom swinging savagely, there is excitement in plenty. As the water is land-locked to such an extent at Brentwood, the wind is seldom steady, but tends more to blow in fitful gusts. But for those who like excitement and do not object to a little spray, there is a good stretch of water between Senanus Island and Finlayson Arm. There there is nearly always a steady wind, and as the sea is comparatively open, it makes an ideal sailing ground. We may be thankful that this year has been marred by no accidents of any importance, such as a broken mast. There were, however, two cases of boats capsizing, but as both were results of attempts at humour, they need not be taken seriously. As far as those ashore were concerned, it was most amusing, but I leave it to those afloat — or who were at one time afloat — to decide whether the experiment is worth trying again. We are sorry that the Cowichan Bay Yacht Club were unable to send any boats down here on the 24th of May, although at the same time there was much competition among the college boats for racing honours. Through the kindness of the Cowichan Bay Yacht Club, Brentwood College was asked to take part in their annual Regatta, held on June 18th. It was a beautiful day and everybody enjoyed themselves immensely. We took six boats, five of which took part in a Kitten class race, over a course of six miles. Unfortunately the wind died down before the race was finished. T he other boat, an eighteen-foot dinghy, came second in the race. Water sports were also in the afternoon ' s entertainment. In every way sailing has been an unqualified success this year, and as things could hardly have turned out better, there is nothing to complain about. For next year we have even greater ambitions, and it is expected that an even greater interest will then be taken ; but even so, it is improbable that we shall have such a successful season as the one which has just been concluded. Page Eighteen