Halifax Grammar School - Grammarian Yearbook (Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada)

Page 11 text:

THE COMBAT Along a beckoning road, About the break of day, A knight rode happily along While all the world was gay He heard a damsel ' s cry for help And raced towards the sound. He came to a great stone castle Which stood upon a mound. There was a shield vdiich barred the way. These words he read in the light; He who wishes to save this damsel Must vanquish the Black Knight o He called, Black Knight, prepare yourself To battle for your captive. For here I stand to save her, And to make you inactive, Out of the great stone castle Forth came a glorious knight, Followed by pages and esquires. With lances for tofLght, The knights took up their stations o Then both charged with pride. The lances smashed to pieces, And the two soon ceased to ride. They took up two fresh lances, And returned to their mounts. Again they charged with fury. Would this round take the count? The Black Knight ' s lance was splintered. But the other ' s filled the need. The former fell from his horse. The latter stopped his steed, Yield, 0 brave and haughty knight. Give up your prison key. That I may free the captive maiden And take her home with me. Then off they rode on his noble steed. While their love more constant grew, The damsel with the hair of gold, And the knight with the eyes of blue. Williajn Black - Age 10,10

Page 13 text:

A RESCUE FROM A MINE The day of the disaster started like any other day. It was cold and gloomy as my brother and I made our way through the sleeping; ugly little mining town of Bradley., Our fellow miners passed us or walked by our sides, but we did little more than shake our heads, and say a gruff Goodmorning, Not until the morning wore on and we were fully awakened, would we become cheerful and friendly toward one another„ We collected our headlamps, drills, picks and shovels and made out way into the elevator shafto Down, down we went to the lowest level, and then climbed out of the shaft, and started our work. We worked steadily for most of the morning and we were all thinking how hungry we were, when suddenly a strange rumbling sound reached our earso My heart skipped in terror, for how often I had heard my father tell me of that dreadful rumbling sound which meant that part of the mine had shifted,, As we froze in fright, the rumbling became louder and the rocks started falling in at the end of the shaft o We were trapped! Sounds of shouting and fright from the miners in the other shafts reached our ears, and before I knew it, I had raised my voice to a shout » All the training my fa- ther had given to me came back, and I shouted, Be calm, men! The next hours were a nightmare of cold and dread. The water had started to seep In, and most frightening of all, we could smell the gas fumes. Suddenly I remembered the happy times we miners had had when we sang together, and before I knew it I had started to sing one of our favourite mining songs. The others Joined in, and for hours we huddled together, trying bravely to sing and refusing to stop, in case we should be overcome by fear. As in a dream, I heard a very faint Hello there, and seeing a dim light, I rushed to the corner of the shaft, and knew that we had been found. Our rescuers painfully crawled towards us through a narrow opening in the aiiaft. Those too weak to walk were carried up to safety, and the stronger of us reached the top, leaning on the arms of our rescuers, thanking God who gave us the strength to stay alive. Stephen Greening - Age lOA