Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THF SCHOOL YEAR 1943-1944 I haven't left my room since lunch. Immediately after the meal I came right upstairs to my room. You ascended the stairs immediately after having left the dining-room F Yes. Thanks, NIV. Gardner, that's all I wanted to know. I think I'll take.a look over at your neighbour's place. If you'll be so kind as to show me over, I'll be awfully grateful to you. YYhy, certainly, we'll go by the river path, it's shorter. Mr. Gardner and the detective then left for the house farther up the river, taking the route that Gardner himself had raced along, not mziny hours before. XYhen they reached the waterfall, the detective paused to look at the beautiful falls. Suddenly his face went rigid and he showed all signs of being alert. :Xt the same moment Gardner went deadly pale, as his eyes met the same sight. There, not ten feet from the shore, in the shallow water was a dagger - a dagger similar to that which the detective had seen on Gardner's desk in his room. Quickly the detective reached for his coat pocket, and in less than six seconds, Gardner was staring into the muzzle ofa revolver, that spelled death if' he moved. I-Ie was caught and he knew it I YY. K. N., Form 6. INTO TI-IE B.-X'I liI,l4i - A CORVETTE STORY T is halt' past two in the afternoon on board a Canadian Corvette. In the ward-room, two young Sub-Lieutenants are reading magazines and listening to the radio. The ship is in harbour, and as they have just been ashore, they are wearing their best uni- forms. One of them looks up at the clock. I-I'm l fourteen thirty. The other looks up and nods, Is the Captain aboard F I-Ie ought to be, replies the first. We're sailing this afternoon. The Captain is aboard, of course. As a matter of fact, he is up in his cabin signing some papers which have to go ashore. YYith him is the coxswain. That's the lot, Sir , he says, as the Captain signs the last paper before him. He nods his head and lights his pipe. Good. By the way, we're going out at sixteen-thirty. 'I Yes, sir. The First Lieu- tenant told me. Any idea if we'll get some action for a change ? You never can tell. There are U-boats all around . Then abruptly. 'A That'll be all for now, Cox. Carry on The coxswain salutes and walks out. The Captain sighs as he glances at a picture of his wife and children. Oh well , he says, as he pulls his sea-boots on, here we go again . The ward-room is empty now, as the two Subbies l' have gone off to change into old clothes. The First Lieutenant has given the necessary orders for the men to be at their stations at the proper time. Then comes the shrill whistle of the bo'sun's pipe, and Hands fall in for leaving Ha-arbour , is shouted through the ship. llll

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SI-ILWYN HOUSE SCHOOL IVI.-XG.-XZINIQ he. A gun F No, they might trace the bullets. He thought of just the thing. :X dagger. He had a pair of them, both identical. He would have to dispose of it, however. He would throw it into the river. It'd be a shame to lose such a beauty, hut it couldn't be helped. :Xt exactly 2.00 he quietly opened his door, stood for a moment, listening for any sound, and then proceeded softly along the corridor to the staircase. He crept noiselessly down the steps, and when he had descended, he walked along the hall, and emerged a few seconds later in the vestibule. He opened the door without a sound, and found his way out into the warm sunshine. lr was lucky, he thought, that his wife was reading in the hack. He raced down his lawn and soon reached the river path. He followed it for per- haps Hve minutes and then came to the waterfall. He hid in the bushes and prepared for a long wait. IfGardner had expected to wait a long time he was mistaken, for in less than ten minutes the doctor came strolling along, whistling as he went. lYhen he was five feet past his hiding place, Gardner jumped on him, gave him two quick jabs in the back with his knife and then one vicious stab in the neck. No sound was uttered by Garret, and he fell in a motionless heap on the ground. Gardner picked him up and, summoning all his strength, he threw him over the bank and into the waterfall, flinging the dagger in after him. Now he must hurry back to the house without anyone seeing him. He scurried along the path and climbed the lawn. Then quietly he tried the front door. It squeaked loudly. He stopped. He tried again, and this time it opened without a sound. He ran up the stairs, entered his room and undressed quickly, slipping into bed. .-Xt precisely six minutes past four, the Gardner door bell could be heard ringing and, a few seconds later, a young man entered the house, having been let in by Mrs. Gardner on the request to see her husband. As she walked from the vestibule into the hall she stopped and, bending to pick up a tie-pin, exclaimed 4 I told Dan after lunch that he would lose his pin if he wasn't careful. Lucky I found it. The gentleman was shown into Gardner's room, and upon entering he swept the room with a quick glance that all professional detectives seem to possess. Suddenly his eye was attracted by the Hash of some object on Gardner's desk. His gaze rested for a moment on its smooth surface, and then rapidly shifted to the man himself, whom he immediately began to question. I have some had news for you, Mr. Gardner. Your friend, Dr. Garret, has been found dead two miles below your lace with three knife wounds in his back. When did , 3 you last see Garret F Dead I I saw him this morning at about ll.30. He had gone over to my neighbour's, up the river for lunch. You don't, I suppose, know any reason for this murder, or who committed the crime F Why, no, I didn't even know he was dead until you told me l As a matter of fact, 1 zo I

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Sl-fI.WYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE The Captain is on the bridge, with his Navigating Oihcer and Leading Signalman beside him. :Xt the wheel is the Coxswain. The lfirst I.ieutenant's superintending the casting-of'l' of the mooring ropes. The order is given to let go, and the Captain says slow ahead, hard a-starboard . The ship quivers and springs to life, and her siren splits the air as the Captain orders half-ahead . She gathers speed and then full a-head is ordered. The convoy of her merchantmen is alreadv formed at the mouth of the harbour. The ships are of all sizes and types, from rusty old tramp steamers to large well-kept tankers and freighters. Two destroyers Zig-Zag up in front, already on the lookout for subs. The corvette moves to her position on the Hank of the convoy, and, as night draws on, the cry Darken ship, Darken shi-ip , is sounded through the ship. Ir is l .-LM., and one of the Subbies is taking the middle watch. He leans over the side and peers through his binoculars at one of the ships, so as to be able to keep his position with the rest of the convoy. Nice night, sir , says the Helmsman. Yes, but l wish we would get some action . The Helmsman didn't answer, for he'd been at sea long enough to know that sometimes things do happen. lfor a moment neither speaks, and suddenly, without warning, the water by one of the ships of the convoy seems to part and the ship is hidden by a dancing sheet of flame. The Subbie presses a button, and bells all over the ship ring action stations . The Captain comes out of the chart room to take command of the ship. The Subbie explains what has happened. One of the ships has been torpedoed, and is slowly sinking. But the sinking ship is of no concern at the moment 4 it is the sub they're after. The Captain gives an order, and a star shell is fired to illuminate the water. .-Ks the shell explodes, a look-out shouts, Submarine on the port bow . Full speed H is called for, and the corvette speeds to the place where the sub is preparing to dive. An order is given to stand by depth charges . There is a long pause, as the cor- vette thrashes through the water faster and faster and the Ca wtain L uestions a man at H 1 the listening device. As the man answers, the Captain orders Fire and Ready . Two depth charges are rolled over the stern, and four more leap from the throwers on either side of the ship. There is a pause, another order, and more depth charges splash into the water. Then the whole ship shakes as the depth charges sinking near the submarine tear the water apart with their explosions. An excited cry comes from astern. Submarine on the starboard quarter . Searchlight , the Captain orders, and a thin white beam of light stabs the dark. It moves right and left, and then rests on a thin cigar-shaped hull, standing almost vertically out of the water. V131