WBHS_School_Magazine_1966 LR 01

STANDARD
A HAUNTED
4A
VILLAGE
"Aaab, he, he, he."
"Did you hear that shout and laugh, Dick?"
said Joe.
"Sure did," said Dick. "That's the ghost that
kills people. I remember that laugh from last
night."
Next morning the villagers found tbe body of
a woman hanging from a tree. Tbe body was
battered and the victim had been strangled.
Rumours went round the village that one of
their gods was angry with them.
For the next three days three more lives were
claimed by the so-called god.
The chief of the village said that they should
move because the village was haunted, but Dick
had a plan in mind.
That night Joe sat in a tree with Dick. Joe had
a shot-gun loaded and ready to shoot the "ghost".
"He! He!"
"Listen!" said Dick, "there's that laugh again.
Get ready with the shot-gun."
"There he is, plug him." The "ghost" fell to
the ground. Dick and Joe climbed out of the
tree and ran to the body. It was a figure dressed
like a ghost and it had claws over its fingers. Joe
had shot the person through his heart. "That's
the end of the ghost," said Joe.
"Sure thing," said Dick.
"He was known as a dare-devil, and he was an
evil man," said one of the villagers. Before he
was sbot he was a convict who had been sentenced
to ten years' imprisonment for trying to kill a
man with a knife. A few weeks earlier he had
been set free and started terrorising the inhabitants
of the village.
MY IDEAL
GARDEN
J. OOSTHUIZEN.
Sitting on the lawn in my spacious garden was
simply marvellous. I thought I would take· a
stroll through it. .
My garden consists of twenty large beds of
flowers and five lawns, of which two descend in
terraces to a stream. Also, there are a few rockeries,
a sun-dial, and two fountains.
There are many different kinds of flowers, such
as roses,. ·carnations, pansies, primroses, dahlias,
sweetpeas and poppies, with daisies in between.
Three hedges grow around the biggest bed.
I stopped at the stream to throw a couple of
stones into it, and then stepped across by means
of stepping-stones. Leaving the path, I ran across
the lawn to the sun-dial. Seeing the time, I went
on and arrived at the rose bed. I marvelled at
how quickly the buds had opened up into flowers.
r moved on to where the fountain towered high
into the air. There I sat on a bench for a minute
to watch my feathered friends bathing in the
bird-batb.
I then realised that I had been wandering for a
long time. I cut across the lawn, up the steps,
and into the house. It was indeed a happy stroll
through my garden.
A STORM
AT SEA
B. WHITLEY.
The "Seaworthy" left harbour at one o'clock
and brought forth a glorious afternoon with the
sun shining and the breakers lapping against the
stern of the ocean-going vessel. Everything was
going smoothly up till about six o'clock. Then
the crew began to feel uneasy as dark clouds
started to form against the now darkening sky.
Suddenly the wind began to grow. In a few
minutes it was screaming across the sky. "All
hands on deck!" rang out the command. The
wind in its fury was now a gale. "Reef the main
sail!" Some of the sailors began pumping water
from the deck, while others were trying as best
they could to control the vessel. The rumbling of
thunder could be heard and lightning seen at
intervals.
The gallant vessel was tossed about like a
cork. "Rocks ahead," yelled the look-out. Even
as he spoke, a grating sound could be heard. The
tremendously powerful waves still pounded broadside
on to the "Seaworthy".
"We're off the rocks," yelled a sailor. Then,
after about five minutes of fighting, the terrible
grating noise could be heard again. This time
there was a shout, "A leak, we've sprung a leak!"
Then, just as suddenly as it came, the storm subsided.
"We're on an island," yelled a voice. And
so they were. The crew managed to get most of
their supplies to the island.
About five months later the survivors were
rescued and taken to safety.
S. GRANGER.
36