Humberside Collegiate Institute - Hermes Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 163 text:

THE I-iggrawutgfn A 'N a Q3 heart at these words. Truly he had been a very thoughtless father. They were in the living-room now. iiWhC1'6 is my boy? He went out to the store for me. He should be back any minute now. If you will wait a moment, I will bring you a picture of him. In a minute or two, she returned and handed it to him. As he looked at the card in his hand, an expression of horror crept over his face. Slowly he grasped the awful truth. The youth in the picture was his street tramp Y -Louis Jlfarks, V-fl. WZ.72f6f Tfwiliglzt The night came slowly on us VVith stealthy, hidden steps. The day was slowly fading From the barren wind-swept hills. A dog barked in the valley, A cold wind stirred the bushes And died away in the silence. Suddenly there was no light, All colour and sound had fled To some far corner of spaceg And only gray clouds above. VVhite snow below, remained. -Nora Hodgins, V-1-1. Night Mysterious night! Its deep silences form a background for the myriad sounds that seem to drift past on the wings of soft breezes. Across the velvet blackness of the night sky, the stars form a shining pathway for the blue, misty dream- fairies that wander from the Land of Make-Believe to visit us, as we lie sleeping. A spirit of beauty and peace steals through the world, this world of slumber and reposeg and far above in golden splendour, the moon shines serenely over all. Night is unreality, filled with the shadowy, obscure fancies of the un- known, Perhaps, indistinctly, we see the dim figure of a dream-fairy pause for a moment at our window, to blow towards us a radiant dream bubble. There is a gentle fragrance of wild llowers left behind her. Night inspires within us a feeling of awe and wonder. As we look up at the stars and planets illumined against the great arching sky, we become aware of our own insignifi- cance. Then, at last, our eyes close, and we sink into oblivion, into the grey twilight of sleep. -Gladys Ezfans, III-A.

Page 162 text:

QQTVIE XXX long ride had made him sleepy, and the street lights were not working because of the storm, so that driving was especially difficult. However, he did not have much trouble in locating his sister-in-law's house. After park- ing his car, he lightly ran up to the door, and rang the bell. A stranger answered his ring. Pardon me, he asked, does Mrs. Laidner live here ? No, was the answer, she doesn't. She moved out about eight years ago. That's strange, l've been sending mail to her here for thirteen yearsf' Well, you see, all her mail is handed over to the landlord who for- wards it to her. Wait a moment, and I will telephone him and find her address for you. Do, please. , In a few minutes she returned. She lives at 149 Radley Avenue, in the north end of the city. Radley Avenue! Even to his dim memory that name brought a flood of recollections. Radley Avenue! One of the poorest and most notorious districts in the city! What in the world could have induced her to move there? VVithout a word of thanks, he rushed down to his car. What was this? Both headlights had burned out! But lights or no lights, he had to go! With a roar the car sped away. What a ride that was! More by instinct than anything else, for he could not see the road, he made his way in the general direction of Radley Avenue. Suddenly he lost his sense of direction, and had to stop to find out where he was. Dimly, he could discern a street intersection ahead of him where he made out a sign-post at the corner. Striking a match, he read the name of the street. Radley Avenue was at his left. To find out ran was so that in which direction the street the work of only a minute, soon he was on his way once more. Barely had he managed to get some speed out of the car when he felt it strike something with a sickening crash. Stopping his car and looking back, he could just discern a huddled form on the road. To reach the body required but a moment. He lit a match and saw that it was a ragged youth, not bad-looking in spite of his pale features. lt took only one glance to see that he was dead. A terrible thought entered tl. Allan Saudner's head. No one had seen the accident, and, besides, he was in a hurry. It was not his fault if street tramps persisted in walking around at night. Most likely the lad was home- less, and would not be missed, so why not leave the body at the side of the road? Grimly he carried the lifeless burden to the curb and dropped it there. Slowly he made his way back to the car, started it, and drove to his destination, this time with less speed. He found number l49 with little trouble and rang the bell. Are you Mrs. Laidner? he asked. Yes. Er-who- ? l am joe. Hfoe! Why, this is so unexpected. Do come in. Slowly he entered the long hall with one small light in the centre of the ceiling. The wall-paper was torn, and in parts the plaster had fallen away. Mary, he said, what is the mean- ing of this? What in the world made you move here ? Well, what else could l do ? She resented his reproach. My only source of income was your very infre- quent money orders. A pang of regret shot through his

Page 164 text:

.Ti we eiemmefi ,f Us-Tffx . . ,. . -, Cl gzfif 4 Excerpts from the Valea'z'vt0ry Address .M r. Wren, visitors, the szfajjf, studezits, ladies cmd g'6VLiZ'Z677ZC7fLI Today we return as graduates, but little more than five years ago we crossed the sand-dunes south of the school for the first time. Not many of us have forgotten what a motley crowd we were: grinning girls, who had not yet joined the Society for the Prevention of Shiny Noses, and awkward boys, who folded their arms stiffly and waited for the gong to ring them into the school for the first time. After the strangeness of the opening week, however, we began to appreciate the freedom of High School and to ridicule the narrow conventions of Public School before admiring younger brothers and sisters. In October, the weekly rugby game and half-holiday gave us a chance to parade about the field with school colours flying and to gossip, in between the exciting moments of the game, about the star rugby players of the Upper School, the teachers, homework, and the coming winter. At that time we could be excused for putting on running shoes in the middle of an algebra period, for con- fusing the older students with the younger teachers, or for wandering into a staff-meeting in search of the janitor. At that time, too, dress and personal appearance mattered little to us. The girls were unconscious of their long and beautiful locks doomed all too soon to fall beneath the barber's shears, the boys .were guilty of using a comb about once a week- certainly not oftener. Work was also of secondary importance, for, when unobserved, we spent our time and creative genius editing illustrated dailies, after the style of the Star, and sketching morbid faces in the margins of our Latin and French grammars. After a fall and early winter of minor diversions and major surprises, the Christmas holidays opened their arms to us through the mist of our iirst High School examinations. Wishing our teachers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, we sprang back along the homeward trail to spend the next two weeks on skiis or skates. ln January, however, we returned to school with Hrm resolutions to work a little harder. Outside in the port- ables many of us passed the pleasant day in a temperature ranging any- where from ten degrees below zero to one hundred above, and though the ink froze in winter and boiled in summer, the portables did have their advantages. They had back doors as Lwell as front, and dark corners to hide any little diversions such as dogs, cats, snakes, or salamanders. During the winter months the teachers, passing to and fro from the school, usually caught bad colds, which meant for us occasionals and the leisure to enjoy a little sleep. When the newest addition to the school was opened for occu- pation the following fall, many of us lamented the passing of the portables and, even as early as second form, could look back with sorrow on the old days. ......... . Fourth form rolled up on the other side of summer. We began to under- stand that we were children no longer but had arisen to a stage where much was expected A of us. We did not entirely abandon chalk to chalk engagements, it is trueg we did not