Tárogató, 1949-1950 (12. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1949-10-01 / 4. szám
TÁROGATÓ 15 fell through the ice. It would serve him right! Then Miss Knight’s words about returning good for evil flashed through Wilbur’s mind. He ran after the other boys, calling, “Hey, the ice isn’t safe!” “Who asked you?” Butch turned and shook a fist at Wilbur. “Mind your own business, see?” Wilbur dropped behind. Well, he had done his duty. If Butch and Marty would not pay attention it wasn’t his fault. Wilbur thought how pleasant it would be at school without two boys. He started toward home whistling. Suddenly Wilbur turned and began walking toward the pond. He had not told the boys he knew the ice was unsafe. It would not be right not to try to keep them from falling in. He hurried faster. The two boys wer already gliding away from the shore when Wilbur reached the pond. “Wait!” shouted Wilbur, but his words were lost in a loud crackling sound and a splash followed the scream. Only one boy remained on the ice. “Marty, crawl towards shore,” Wilbur called. Martin obeyed. Wilbur watched Butchs head appear in the dark water of the hole in the ice. “Run for help, Marty, while I keep Butch afloat.” Wilbur lay down on the cold ice and crawled toward the hole where Butch was thrashing about wildly. “Take it easy, Butch,” Wilbur commanded, edging himself forward as fast as he dared. Butch gave a cry but became quiet long enough for Wilbur to grasp his hands. Wilbur held on. It seemed years. His hand grew numb. Once when he turned there was a terrible cracking. What if he should fall in, too! Butch did not speak. What if he were drowning! Wilbur was so tired that he hardly heard a man’s voice calling, “Hang on!” After what seemed more hours, Wilbur realized that he was being dragged across the ice. Then he was lifted in strong arms. “Butch?” he whispered. “He’s all right.” The janitor laid Wilbour on the ground and began rubbing his half-frozen hands. Warm blankets were wrapped around him and Wilbur closed his eyes to rest. “It’s a good thing the new boy is small,” someone said. “Anyone else would have been too heavy to go out where the ice was cracked.” Wilbur sighed. So Miss Knight was right. He really didn’t hate Butch. Why, Wilbur realized in surprise, he no longer minded being small. It was silly to get so angry at being called Wee Willie. The nickname really did fit him. He’d just keep on turning the other cheek. —The Christian. MOTHER’S WAY Whenever I am bad all day, Until I am ashamed to pray; I wait till mother cames to say, “Good night, dear child.” That’s mother’s way. And then, somehow, I don’t know why, I tell her everything, and cry. She hugs me then, and right away I feel less sad. That’s mother’s way. And mother kneels down by my bed, And pulls my face close to her head; And we both snuggle down and pray; That’s why I’m glad for mother’s way. —Exchange. NEWFOUNDLAND: ITS GEOGARPHY The tenth largest island in the world, Newfoundland, covers an area of nearly 42,000 square miles. It virtually spans the mouth of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence at the entrance to the inland waterway which extends some 2,000 miles from the Atlantic to the head of the Great Lakes. The island is triangular in shape and is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Belle Isle, nine miles wide at its narrowest point. To the south, Cabot Strait, sixty miles, wide separates it from Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island. The province of Newfoundland is composed of the island described above, and the territory of Labrador on the mainland, to the northwest. Labrador with an area of approximately 110,000 miles is located in a sub-Arctic region.
