Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute - Acta Nostra Yearbook (Guelph, Ontario Canada)

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XVell, Leando, I guess we're not do- ing as well as we have, but we're mak- ing out. lVhen can you start work? Nothing like getting right to the point, is there? chuckled Leando. How about next week? That soon? Boy, Leando, we'd sure appreciate it. Did the Doc say it was all right? According to hitn, the more time 1 spent in the hospital, the worse I was getting. l'm anxious to start practising. l'll start tomorrow. I l t L qj, 5 L x K 'T7 . tl ' I . l ' j t XX ,I aw l'l 'T3H. Good, They've been getting a little out of the routine, I guess, but il 1 know you, you'll have them back in shape in less than a week. I'm really glad you're back, Leandof' Same here, Ron. ACTA NOSTRA 43 He stepped ottt ol the wagon. and ambled through the dank warm night to the took-tent, where most of the per- lormers were hating a bite to eat. .Xs he walked through the door. all eyes turned toward hitn. Then, as one, they jumped up, and ran toward him, chairs tumbling in tlte process, and the babble ol their yoites liilled the tent with welcoming chatter. They were all just as they were when he had left: f the midgets, the strongtnen, the acrobats, the trapefe artists and all the others - and eyeryone was glad to see him. Much. much later that night he lell asleep in his trailer. which the others had kept ready lor him, anticipating his retutn. Suddenly. it seemed, he woke again. Listening, he knew that the circus was awake, and he jumped ottt of bed, eager to be again a part ol this won- derlul sawdttst world ol tinsel and span- gles, XX'ith a swinging gait. he crossed the tent. waving gaily' to the others. The circus was a hire ol actiyity. just as he remembered it, with everyone doing his job. Then. as he tame to the lion cage. a leeling ol terror struck his heart. He suddenly realized that he was terribly alraid ot the eats. especially that tawny streak oi light that sat perched upon the uppermost pedestal ol the cage. Saja, she was called. Now be knew that he would never be able to late the eats again. as she glated down at him through glassy eyes. She knew that he was alraid, She knew, and somehow she communicated the knowledge to the other animals. ,Xs Leando approached the bars ol the cage, the cats snarled at him, and bared their sharp fangs. One tiger pressed his paw through the bars, unsheathing his claws. Leando turned his back on the cage, and walked sadly and slowly out the side exit. Unable to face the others, he wan- dered back to his trailer and sank slow- ly down, upon the bed. The next day he would leave the circus, tnuch as he dis- liked the thought. It would be deserting a friend, lor Ron would be in a bad

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44 ACTA NOSTRA spot without his act, but il' he knew he was gone, he would get a new tamer. a better one, who wasn't afraid of the big cats. That afternoon, he walked over to the trailer, in which just the night be- fore he had been joyfully welcomed back into the troupe. Today he must tell Ron his decision. lVith determination. he flung open the door and mounted the ste Js. 'l'Ron. he began. and realized he couldn't look his employer in the eye, I've decided to leave the circus. I'm no good to you anyway. now. I'll leave tomorrow, and you can get a good tam- er in no time. I checked with some of the people who wrote to me when I was in the hospital, and several of them know tamers who are available for a j ob. X'Vith that, he turned on his heel and hurried off, leaving an open-mouthed Ron james behind him. Stunned by the words, the circus-owner sat down very suddenly, wondering if he had heard correctly. That night, as Leando was packing his bag lor the next day's departure, he was startled to hear a muflled scream from the direction of the main tent. In amazement, he ran to the main entrance. Saja had escaped through a cage door left loosely closed. The ringmaster was trying with a little success to keep the spectators in their seats, while some of the attendants were getting Saja back into her cage. Then a small child ran out from the audience and Saja, sensing easy prey, dashed for her, at the oppo- site end of the tent. Thinking quickly, Leando jumped in front of the child grabbing a whip from one of the closest attendants. Realizing this new assertion of authority, Saja turned, snarling, and slunk back into her cage. The child's anguished mother rushed up to claim her offspring, and the reliev- ed expression on her face more than sufhced as thanks for Leando. Ron trotted up to him, a wide grin on his face. l'Velll And you said you couldn't handle the cats! I guess I imagined it. 'EI guess so. Still eager to start next week? Have I got my job back? asked Leando hopefully. You never lost it. The two men sauntered ol? together, arm in arm, through the summer night. Behind them, the familiar sound of lions' roars echoing through the tent welcomed Leando back to the circus. -, 4M,, do ,,-dg 4 Man, An Advanced Animal? Prize junior Story By Robert Adsett XIA The playground was a mass of scream- ing, carefree children ranging in size and actions from the small chesus mon- kies to lumbering muscle-bound apes, and from the slow honest turtle to the fast, slippery. unpredictable snake. They had one thing in common. They were all white, and more, they were all very conscious ol being white. Their parents. too, were all very conscious of their colour. so conscious that all the little monsters on the playground knew that they were superior beings to the little coloured children across the track, al- though at times one would wonder which children were the blackest. Today they were all very excited. A new family had moved into the big white house just across from the play- ground and everybody wanted to see the new people. They milled around, chat- tering and fighting like bluejays at a pan of suet. It was Saturday morning and most of their elders were also out