London South Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

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TIIIIEE SIIATTIEIRIEIO IDOL By EDNA GARDNER, IV Bq OR over a week the Harrison family had suffered. It began when Eve met the curly-headed , gl Adonis in the cottage with the striped shutters. With the exception of the love-stricken Eve, they all bitterly regretted having come to Silver Beach for the summer. 'Oh. Mumsf, Eve glanced anxiously along the beach, I do believe the peroxide blonde is trying to vamp him. Eve! her mother protested, I cannot allow you to call Sally a peroxide blonde, even if she is trying to vamp your new flame. Please, please, Mums, Eve looked up soulfully, don't refer to Alfred as my flameg this is the real thing. What on earth are you turning your eyes up, like a dying duck, for L? Mr. Har- rison looked up from his paper. Are you ill, Eve? You just don't understand, Tom, Mrs. Harrison's mouth twitched, t'Eve has met her ideal man. Yeah, she has fallen for a walking collar-ad, by the name of Alfred Telfer, Roy, Eve's older brother, said disgustedly. 'tAfter all she said about the name, 'Alfredif' You keep still, Roy, Eve turned away impatiently. If I disliked the name in my extreme youth, that doesn't mean I can't change my mind. Anyone can make a mistake. Alfred is all right, Billy, the youngest of the family, put in with an impish grin. He is a bit knock-kneed, but nobody is perfect. Mother, Eve stormed, please speak to the boys. Don't let them talk like that. Mrs. Harrison gave the boys a long look, and they took the canoe paddles and went out grinning broadly. Mr. Harrison had returned to his paper and Eve was free to rave on, sure of one sympathetic listener. ' Should I wear my new pink dress to the dance tonight? she asked a little SOUTH C. I. anxiously. I look more grown up in it. But I don't want you to look grown up, Mrs. Harrison objected. After all, you are only seventeen, and you look so sweet in your little white dress. lx X.'X X. ' X xl ' X X ,I fkiy . ' - f 1 , X, X ,I fXX X V 1. ZX. 1 P X ,-X ,x ,rs . ,N Ts fyy' f i ,fi i. gi . ,LL ' g.i'J56. 35125 . 44' ggi YT 129 2 X '1'-'fJ'5'L2f' , ' ' .iss f xxx .V A-1 A X' l figs I ll, gf I n 2 Wim! xl jlx x' yxrlj. . I ' 'X ' ' 7 I . was .ill , ,fm A 5 WV-5 A -as - 7594 'f . I.- 1 2.522 l A H I 55'-iii iii Y i Y Y - 7 ' -- g-gg . T AQ fsf - I A 1 -e islam? He is Cl bit knoclf-A'1zeed, but nobody is perfect. Oh, mother, you are making things awfully hard for me, Eve wailed. If Alfred sees me in that silly dress he will just fade away. I look too young in it, and he is twenty-one. Quite an old man, her mother mur- mured. Then, perhaps because she remem- bered her own iirst love, she consented to the wearing of the disputed pink crepe dress. When Eve was dressed and waiting for her escort that evening, she turned a pair of pleading brown eyes on her father. Daddy, will you please sleep inside to- night? she begged. I will be mortified if we are greeted by your loudest snores when Alfred brings me home tonight. A plain snore is bearable, but you whistle as well, and you can be heard for blocks. Oh, well, rather than have you morti- fied I will stay off the porch, Mr. Harri- son agreed good-humouredly. But I bet your boy friend can do his share of snor- Ktzzwrn to page 862 page twenty-five

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CELHAQS BOY FRIEND By EUNICE SMILLIE, V A. ' - WEN if y' are takin' Celia out, l Frank, ya can't wear my tie, ya big hunk a baloneylv The afore-mentioned portion of ground meat removed his brother's neck- tie from the proximity of his Adam's apple, substituted one of his own, and strode from the house in a discreet and manly silence which was. however, largely induced by that most unromantic of afliictions-a cold in the head. As Frank swung along the street his line of thought was singularly monoto- nous: Am I really Celia's boy-friend, or aren't I? Am I or aren't I? he demanded of himself at frequent intervals. Pre- viouslyhe had thought of various expe- dients for ascertaining this most weighty problem, such as consulting daisies and The Heart-Throb Column in the local newspaper. Now. these paled before a new and particularly daring scheme-he would ask Celia herself. Rehearsals were begun immediately, and occasionally an unimpressed telephone pole was apostro- phized, Do you know, Celia, weive gone to two shows and three rugby .... and, You do rather like .... These results were so remarkably unimpressive and un- romantic that Frank, plunging into the depths of dark despair, gave up. But here was his lady's sacred abode. To give himself the necessary savoir faire as he approached he jingled impor- tantly the two quarters that were to take Celia and him to the theatre. The woman in the case was seated on the front steps engaged in the delightfully domestic pas- time of shelling peas. Heddo, Cedia, he began. Curse it! He had forgotten his cold was that bad. She looked up, surprised. Oh, I'm awfully sorry, Frank. but I can't go to the show tonight. You see, Mother and Daddvve gone to the station to meet Aunt Elizabeth, and I've got to be home when she comes. It's too bad I couldnit have let you know and saved you walking over here. page twenty-four Thad's too bad, Cedia, I'b awfuddy sorry, quoth our hero. What else was there to say? He shifted his number twelve's thoughtfully as the moments flew by in a practically golden silence. At length Celia burst out, Oh, there are those awful birds again. Indeed, there were some birds-whole flocks of noisy grackles and starlings with the apparent intention of spending the night. Very evidently, however, the neighbours were not of the same opinion. Doors were slammed in violent succession, a wash tub was kicked resonantly, blank cartridges were fired, and shrill whistles were emitted. The birds received these more or less friendly overtures with complete sophistication-a surprised murmur, a polite flutter, and that was all. . 1 xiii ggi- ' I 'L' 1 E M 29417 s as 5. - S 1' fume. ' bi?-T' . my . . . I .,-M. ' is 'ff .XX I g 'll X 'X , ' 54 xx N ' f , P qi, 2 i , , . 'ti'-'R ' .l ff se A il V I ' ll: it 1 ' . .-.r f. If 11, 's fif 1 xv v ,fig , ' .- I QP 'J at!! - .. A q s ... C Q. xv f, ? ' l '-l ,- I f r ' a nx SSI ,,, ,e ll-1 3 Aunt Elizabeth looked at him. Well, Celia, I ccwzft sary as I think much of- We do this every night, explained Celia apologetically. We better do some- thing, too, or they'll all be over here. They're an awful pest. So together they sat on the front steps and beat tin pans at frequent intervals. Miraculously, Frank was able to speak again, Dook ad thad bad getti'g the hose to ged the birds. With that he gave up . Cturn to page 8-H THE ORACLE

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ON BIZIXG BORED By Ross ANDERSON, IV A. NOTICED in the paper last evening that a young man had 1 ii, been arrested and tried for rob- xifijj' H - bery. The judge and jury were amaied when he pleaded guilty, for he came of a respectable family, and could not possibly have needed the money. He was asked why he had stooped to such a crime. His reply was, I was bored and wanted a thrill. Boredom is now a universal affliction of civilized people. No one is too rich or too poor to have fits of this distressing con- dition. It stops at no international boun- dary and rears its unwanted head even at places thronged by seekers of pleasure. What makes us bored? Is boredom a disease? Is it a sign of weakness of the mind? Or is it merely an unavoidable state of mind? As a student of history, my answer would be that boredom shows a weakness of mind. Can you imagine Themistocles going about robbing a poor Athenian trader merely because he could iind no other amusement? Oh, no. That crafty ancient was always too busy tricking his fellow Greeks into winning a battle for themselves or cooking up a scheme to hdouble-cross the Spartans until Athens had her walls rebuilt. Or try to conceive of Julius Caesar as being bored. His active brain was always taking advantage of every little morsel of luck the Goddess of Fortune threw to him, leaving him no time for boredom. Or, to take a more modern great man, can you conceive of Napoleon as bored? His plans for conquering the world left him no time for such a thing as boredom. So, from history, I would be forced to conclude that boredom is merely a sign of a weak mind. But how often I have felt bored myself! My personal experi- ence makes me dubious about the conclu- sion drawn from history. For instance, I put off the writing of this essay because I am always terribly bored when begin- ning a composition. I make innumerable false starts, change from topic to topic, and, when I finally do get started, I usually write a poor essay. page twenty-six Thus, though the learning of the ages C?J whispers to me that there is no reason for me to ever be bored, the flesh is Weak, so to speak, and I feel slightly bored right now. This essay began With an anecdote about a bored young man. I will try to end it on the same theme because that is, I have heard, a good thing to do. What happened to the youth? He was sent to the penitentiary, and he Wasn't bored while there-he Worked too hard for that. CAS TOFFS They fade in lonely places, That once were gay in their pride- The lost, soft-'whispering leaves, Chill Autzmtn has cast astcle. Pale 'enteralcl in the Springtime, In Surnrner, a cool green shacleg Latly of fzrarrn reel rub-ies A crown for her they rnacle. N ou' Autunzfn, fickle rhatalen, Scarce cherishzfng them a clay, Grozrn careless of so much beauty, Has flung them all away. -JEAN PHILLIPS, VA. I I r fxxlis fs-A I l '- I 1? -P5 QUATRAIN Tho' time has passed, sweet onenzorles Thine eyes yet haunt, thy voice. Still those thoughts, those trw,portunfittes,' In recollection still I can rejoice. -OLIVER INGAMELLS, II B. THE ORACLE