Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School - Echoes Yearbook (Peterborough, Ontario Canada)

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The lntruders by JACK THOMPSON, xu A Ac. On the edge of the lake a camp-fire Hickered fitfully, then died down to a bed of dully glow- ing coals. Its last few rays of light barely out- lined the blanketed forms of two slumbering canoeists who had been lulled to sleep by the lapping of the waves on the beach and the rustling of the night breezes through the poplar leaves. The fire finally gave up its last spark and settled into a heap of Warm ashes. Then a thin silver crescent appeared over the tops of the trees, as the moon rose to join the myriads of stars. A narrow beam of light stole across the water gradually widening into a silvery path on the still surface of the lake. The borders of the dark forest were also touched with the silver light and the moon began its travels through the star-studded heavens. With a faint rustling a chipmunk scampered across the beach, stopped near the dead fire, sat up and curiously regarded the silent forms of the sleepers. He watched them closely for several minutes, then crept closer and again made a careful scrutiny. Finally deciding that they were harmless, he moved around and dis- covered a crumb of bread which he stored in his cheek pouch. While he was searching for more plunder one of the sleepers rolled over and immediately the chipmunk raced for his burrow between the roots of a tree, from which place he watched and waited for several minutes. He finally decided that it was not worth the risk to go near these strange crea- tures again, and scampered off into the woods. No sooner had he made his exit from the scene in one direction, than another stranger appeared from the opposite direction. Walking proudly with brush held high, the red fox pro- ceeded slowly along the shore looking for an unwary squirrel which might be running about the beach. He stopped to quench his thirst, then tested the breeze with his sensitive nose. Sud- denly he stiffened as he caught an odour which he had smelt once long before. His haughty bearing immediately left him, he remembered the day when a thunderous roar had crashed forth from some nearby bushes and his right leg had dragged loosely behind him. The hunt- ers had tracked him all day with dogs. Finally, after he had eluded his pursuers, he had spent weeks nursing his leg back to health, weeks when he had been too sore to catch even a mouse but had to subsist upon a few roots and an occasional dead fish. He trembled as he thought of it and turning tail, he fied into the forest to leave that dreaded man-smell behind. From far out on the lake came the eerie, long- drawn call of a loon. A desolate, lonely sound, it filled the night air, then faded away, and silence once more reigned, a silence broken only by faint rustlings and scurryings among the leaves, suggesting that the wood-mice were at play. Then from the dark gloom of the woods, with a slight clinking of hoofs and rustling of bushes, a magnificent stag stepped forth, fol- lowed by two does. They moved gracefully to the water's edge, waded in a few feet and began to drink. The stag, raising his head, sniffed on the faint breeze the man-smell from the camp. He snorted and moved restlessly about near the does who had also raised their heads. Suddenly, at the camp, one of the sleepers stirred, half sat up, then lay back again without noticing the deer. At the first movement the stag had frozen! Standing silhouetted against the moonlit waters, his royal head raised to listen, he re- sembled a great bronze statue. Snorting, he bounded up on the shore followed by the two does, and disappeared into the gloom from whence he had come-a royal visitor indeed to that tiny camp, if the sleepers had but known it! Once again a loon called from the lake, not an eerie and desolate sound this time, but one full of mirth, as if laughing at these creatures who slept through the night while others were up and about. Dawn was close by and over the tops of the trees at the eastern end of the lake a streak of light was gradually broadening. A faint Hush of pink suffused the grey sky. Then a single golden ray pierced an opening between two tall pines, and touching the top of a ripple, trans- formed it into a sparkling diamond. Following the example of the first ray others came shoot- ing forth, all seemingly intent on chasing the rapidly rising mist from the surface of the lake. Then with a sudden burst of fiery splendour Page Twenty-four

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the sun itself arose, sending a warm flood over the Water where but a few hours before had been the cold white path of the moon. With a burst of exquisite song, a woodthrush greeted the new day from his perch in the top of a tamarack. From all sides came the morning songs of countless birds: the liquid warbles of the thrushes, the teeterings of the downy woodpeckers, the loud wick, wick of the flickers, the sprightly bubblings of the Wren, the harsh strident notes of the blue- jay, and the soft cooings of the mourning doves. Amid this rapidly increasing riot of sounds, one of the sleepers awakened and nudged his companion who in turn sat up and gazed about him. By golly, he remarked, stifling a yawn, seems like I just went to bed. A fellow can surely sleep up here away from all the city noises. lt's funny that no animals disturbed us though. His companion replied, Don't you worry, no animals would come near a camp. Why, l'll bet that there weren't more than a few rabbits and mice within two miles of us last night. I suppose you thought that a deer would come along and look at you! Democracy Ar War by MARGUERHE WALKER, xm B Ac. Freedom is in peril! Defend it with all your might. Valiantly, grimly, with that inspiring slogan ever in the minds of her people, Britain has buckled down to war. Chamberlain showed us the weak state of our defences and the in- vasion of Poland showed us what had happened to nations similarly unprepared. Chamberlain had done his work, very finely, at Munich, and in this new revitalised Britain, the call was for a leader, a strong man, and so Churchill came to power. Fighting for freedom, the British people re- nounced it. Factories became Government supervised and the Government took over the production of many sources of food. Conscrip- tion came into force and the problem of organ- izing and equipping the British Army was dealt with sanely and intelligently. Even in the stress of war Britain preserved the right of individuals to hold their own beliefs, so a board dealing solely with conscientious objectors was set up. Air raid shelters sprang up all over the country, from those in London capable of hold- ing thousands, to school shelters and little family ones in suburban back yards. Huge factories were cleverly camouflaged, sound detectors were established in key points, and a ring of bristling anti-aircraft guns protected the vital war supplies and factories of Britain from the enemy bombers. Cheerfully the people submitted to a black- out which made fortunes for torch battery manufacturers and inspired several song hits. It was an eerie sight when the huge blue-lighted buses moved silently and slowly along the roads. Of course the blackout was felt mostly in the towns, but the country had its share of complications. The evacuation of many firms into the coun- try created housing, feeding, and amusement problems and gave rise to many humourous articles describing the town dweller trying to work a rusty pump in the back garden, or being wakened by horses peering in the windows. There were, too, the inevitable child evacuee stories, several of which have come across the sea and become seavacuee stories, probably be- cause of the new wartime rule of economy. Under that rule rationing came into force and busy housewives had to fill in ration books and still busier shop-keepers had their quota of forms to fill in too. In fact, the only real hard- ship suffered in the first few months of ration- ing was writer's cramp. Britain was jogging along, getting the last ounce of humour out of every situation and gradually adjusting herself to war conditions when suddenly, unbelievedly, she was fighting in Norway, then Holland, Belgium, and finally France. The situation was getting serious, and the threat of invasion was imminent, so Churchill called Britain to the defence of her beaches. Men willingly gave up their brief half-holidays to fill sandbags and pile them up around air-raid shelters, decontamination posts, police boxes and telephone boxes. The sight of air-raid wardens practising be- came quite familiar. They roped off a street, exploded practice bombs, dealt with imaginary fires and gas, and treated very real patients for imaginary injuries. And then the military really took over. Many coastal areas were made into defence areas and no one could get in or out without producing their identification cards and accounting satisfac- torily for their desire to enter the area. Every exposed beach was closed off with barbed wire and every inch of them covered with machine guns. Roads were blocked with old cars, barb- ed wire, anything, at night, and the barricades were patrolled by sentries. England was ready, and the British were prepared to defend their freedom. Herbert Morrison invented a new slogan- Go to it! So, with one eye on her beaches and ears listening for an air-raid siren, or the church bells which would herald invasion, Britain went to it. Page Twenty-five