"VIKING SPIRIT."

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

"VIKING SPIRIT."

(By Adcle Castle, 15', Onslow Road, Ellerslie; age 17.) ■ , When one is eleven, one's name is still to be made. Eleven years, the first four of which arc practically useless so far as following one's- ambitions is concerned, is not long enough in which to make the world ring praise. What Kit meant to say was, not many explorers \sailed up the Amazon in the first eleven years of their lives. And the most precocious of deep-sea pirates did not start upon 'their notorious careers till they reached the mature age of fourteen. Even an engine-driver Kit understood, had to attain the ripe old age of about twenty - iive before taking charge ef his iircsiiorting steed. Twenty-five, in Kit's eleven-year-old opinion, was doddering senility.

Bearing in mind till these facts about the professions our hero most liungerejl to adopt, was it fair to take a chap and brand him before his fellow-explorers, pirates, engine-drivers in miniature by making him absolutely ridiculous? Kit's opinion of little girls and women, never very high, dropped to zero on the morning when the head of Victoria Boys' High School announced: —

"This.morning at 10.30 there will be an assembly of the entire, school. Mis? Smitherton, of the Junior Girls' High, is producing a costume-play in aid of the local Girl Guide- movement, and is anxious that certain characters be portrayed by boys. I am. therefore placing at her service any boys whom she may choose for the parts, tind I shall expect such boys to give their aid freely and wholeheartedly/''

And that was that, Tlie prospect of eluding half an hour's Latin translation was not mi pleasing. Truth to tell strutting a part in an amateur play was not as distasteful as the .majority of the hoys preferred to imagine—provided the characters were of the right kind. But would this be the ease? Kit at least had •i premonition that it would not. His baby blue eyes, peach-like- skin, golden ringlets which no amount of mercilesa brushing could straighten, and deceptive appearance of delicacy, had once before thrust him into the embarrassing position of being photographed and displayed aa "the Tiiost beautiful child in the district." It took a full year of brilliunt football tactics and many street fights to live that down.

When, at 10.30, the Head observed a boy a head shorter than others in a row ostensibly composed of the tallest boys, he said not a word. Young enough to understand the lads under his care, he remembered the time when he himself had blushed furiously under the caresses of fond lady visitors who admired his blonde beauty. But Miss Smitherton was an observant woman. "The play V I am producing," she addressed the assembled school, "is of the 'Midsummer Night's Dream' type." (Most of her listeners looked blank. They had not reached an age when they could appreciate immortal Shakespeare, and such works as they had studied left their minds weary and perfectly void.)

"It is," she continued, "partly from life and part phantasy." (Still blank. The oldest boy was fourteen, and it was a school renowned more for prowess on the sports field than for poetic endeavours.) "The parts I wish to be acted by boys are those of two highwaymen and an executioner." The whole school brightened visibly and Kit wished that he had not been so inconspicuous. He even pushed forward a little. That was his downfall. "Ah," exclaimed the enthusiastic lady, "there is the very boy I want. Come here laddie!" and when Kit obeyed with trembling knees—"laddie!" "Y&j," our ideal Fairy King. The girls will be delighted." The boy.-'., also were delighted. For the four weeks of rehearsal they talked of" nothing else—to Kit. In vaiii did he punch out savagely at the jiber who jeered. "Hallo, Smithy's pretty, nitty fairy queen." In vain did he save the school's honour by a well-placed drop-kick.' Rehearsals went on intolerably, and Kit suffered. Then came the night of the performance. Both schools were there en masse, the girls for duty's sake, the boys because hey anticipated a happy evening. One incident was not printed on the programme. The second act was Kit's entirely. Hurt by the taunts of his fellows, the boy had savagely put his best

ii'to his portrayal and results were illuminating. Even the ribald school boys were impressed. Interrupting Kit's leading speech came the incident. The frocks worn by the girl fairies were flimsy, and oho . of the Jack-o-liiiitei'iis represented by»a lighted taper, danced too low. Kit stopped abruptly in the middle of a sentence. There was a scream, a flurry, a spurt of flame, and half the fluffy skirt diopped, all singed to the floor. Kit's hands were very much blackened and his

l'iiuu rathur white. Uproar reigned. The play, of course, was postponed, and both children hurried to the nearest doctor.

Kit's triumph came when the play was once more presented with an unaltered cast, ten days later. At the conclusion a stout gentleman climbed onto tlie stage to address the packed house. "Ladies and gentle men," he proclaimed, "1 shall not keep you long. Many of you know me as the producer of successful dramas. I have been searching for a boy to play the difficult part of the son in 'Viking Spirit,' one with histrionic talent, blonde colouring and, above all, 'Viking spirit.' I have found him. Thank you!"

THE TWO POWDERS.' A good story is told by Mr. "Will Fyfl'e, tho well-known Scottish comedian. It concerned a Glasgow lassie who had sent her little brother to the chemist's for some toilet powder. "Please aa want some pooder for ma sister," he said. "Some, that goes off with a baug?" asked the chemist jokingly. "No," said the youngster. "The sort that gangs on wi J a puff." —Roiucia Louie, Pt. Chevalier.

OCTOBER (J. AUwrlglit, Katie. Heald, Stanley. Bluir, Rowena. Johnson, Dick. Brlnn, Gwen. Lawrence, Lulu. Carter, Iris. . Laing, James. Carmalt, Eileen. -Lusby, Ivy Duckworth, Mildred. Mahon, Lois Donehue, Sybil. ' Mosen, Myra. Edge, Bernard. O'Brien, Doreen. Eyre, Lulu. Purvis, Robert. Green, James. Read, Albert. Henderson, Eileen. Thatcher, Marjory. Hmdinan, Doris. • ' OCTOBER 7. Appleby, Edward. Henderson. Buna. Butland, Dorothy. Hughes, Jean. Buslield, Selwyn. Keesing, Lionel Bradley, Eileen. Moody, Leonard Butcher, Greta. MeKenzie, Keith, lunan, Nora. Siddons, Minnie. Handcoek, Irene. Smith, Joan. Harp, Joyce. Whaley, Phyllis. OCTOBER 8. Anseought, Ivathleen. MUlwara, Claude. Anderson, Betty. Morgtfn Olive Coxhead, Tlielina. Morgan, Alice. Coffiey, .Pat. t> Martin, Graham. Cooper, Melva. Macdonald, Flora. Davis, Isabel. McDonald, Ronald. Eden, Noel. Me Williams, Doreen Eraser lan. McHugh, Joseph. Gallagher, Rachel. Robbins, Billy. Grubb, Margaret. Rose, Eileen. Harris, Leslie. ' Rule, Douglas. Harris, Zoe. Sykes, Clarence. Kerwan, Leonard. Woolley, Tlielina. Murray, Mabel. Walker, Grace. Maxwell, Iris. OCTOBER 9. Arthur, Sybil. Lawrence, , Flossie Bagnall, Gwenyth. Nicholson, Anthony. Cole, Pat. Prlnn, Gwendoline. Culluni, Lorna. Paiill, Patricia. Duff, Stephen. Pollington, Edna. Davis:, Jessie. Son) er veil, Patricia Finan, Mary. Stone, Doris. Gealic, Jack. Taylor, Irene. Gannon, Eileen. Trist, Jane. Hardman, Jack. Wedderspoon, Leslie. Harking, Stanley. Williams, Teddy. Hunter, Joyce. Young, Grace. Johanson, Clare. OCTOBER 10. Bert, Gweu. Kidman, Dulcie. Bi-oomfield, Doris. Kipling, Gladys. Carson, Aihol. Maunder, Joyce. Deuxberry, Joan. Mo ran, Horace. Gow, Jean. McLaren, Joan. Hingley. Mary. Pelham, Becky. Jenks, Lorna. Webb, Mavis. Johnston, May. Whitcombe, Alice. OCTOBER 11. Andersou, Vivian. McWilUams, Kalh. Andrews, Arthur. McLean, Peggy. Beuth,.Muriel. Neithe, Leslie. Burgess, Eileen*. * Notuian, Lotta. Cliffe, Gwendoline. Peacock, Clara. Clarke, Martha. Smith, Maud. Fitzgerald, Maurice. Stecu, Thomas. George, Frank. Stratton, Nancy. Gedye, Nancy. Truelove, Joan. Hutehinson, Bertha. Towers, Phyllis. Harold, Elvey. Webster, Wilfred. ■Magson,- Helen. Whitcombe, Clifford. Mclndoe, Walter. OCTOBER 12. Bunting, Edna. ' Parry, William. Erdmann, Paula. .Parker, Ronald. Heaphy, Brian. Robinson, Mervyn. Izzard, Kenneth. Reeve, Edna. Johnson. Mabel. Robinson, Powell. Johns, Betti. Thomson. Evelyn. Kane, Eva. Tornquist, Aileen. Kneebone. Betly. Taylor, Richard. Keith, Gweneth. White, Bessie. Laing, Stella. Waterfield, Wendy. Mclnally, Margaret,