July 1951 School Magazine

July, 1951

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Jlri sbane Girls' Grammar School Ma gazine

July. 1951

with the children until he tires of their games; with his mis- tress until he wearies of her affection, and with the colonel until he stands in danger of becoming a watch-dog. Difficulties often occur. One day he was playing Angel- ·face, walking with his mistress, when the colonel appeared. "Josette" he cried. "Angel-face"! cried his mistress, as he ran away. Fortunately there was only one passer-by, a lady, who interpreted this the right way. The thoughtful little span- iel licked her with all the affection he could summon. "Oh, what a dear little doggie woggie"! she exclaimed. Thus both parties were satisfied. (Why can't we have this happy fore- thought?) Now, if one day you should chance to see a bundle of golden hair, two floppy ears, a quivering red tongue and two brown eyes eyeing you most faithfully, then know that you :have met Mabs. And of course you will pat him, and say "Isn't he a DEAR little puppy"! Mabs knows very well that you can't help it. -J. M. V. NORTHERN SCENE We left Cardwell in the comparative coolness of the early -morning, on what promised to be a very warm January day. .After an eighty-minutes' drive through heavily timbered ·country, we arrived at Tully, which living up to its reputation, greeted us with rain. There we were compelled to spend Jour long hours while our car underwent repairs. We were on the road again by one o'clock and in a few hours' time, we were revelling in the beauties of Pa;onella :Park, which together with the old Spanish castle in its midst ·was built up solely by the labours of the late Joe Paronella: After passing by green fields of waving sugar-cane, we .reached Innisfail with its beautiful parks and tall palm-trees along the banks of the winding Johnstone River. Within ten miles of Innisfail, on either side, we passed two of the sugar mills for which the district is so famous. Soon after leaving .Innisfail, we branched westward into h igher country. Here we were driving through dense tropical jungle and as we .did so, we marvelled at the endurance of the explorer Edmund Kennedy, who had penetrated this tangled area over a century ·ago. In one of the hollows between the ranges, we were 37

MABS A fierce scuffle, much yelping, flying soapsuds, and Angel- face has at last escaped from his bath. After a few moments of shaking you are able to discern a pair of velvety brown eyes fixed beseechingly on you. 'Fhen you become aware of a small face framed by drooping golden ears. And of course you fall for tha t devotion. Everybody does. You pat him lovingly. "Dear little Angel-face!" That is, if you know him as Angel-face. It would not be strange if you said, "sweet little Mobs"! Or "dear· little Josette", for our little dog is very inconsistent. To begin at the beginning, he was born in a house full of children. The youngest was lucky enough to believe im- plicitly in fairies, and promptly named him Mabs. Soon Mabs decided to explore, and wandered several streets away. One day he strolled through a gate to find himself being picked up and addressed as "dear little Angel-face". After a while he grew tired of the affection of his new mistress, and wandered away once more . This time he was seized by an old colonel who named him Josette because he "was dashed if he didn't remind him ot a little French girl". "Oughta make a good watch dog, too" he announced. Josette wasn't quite sure what this was, but he secretly resolved to give the colonel's food a try before he departed. This failing to pass the test, he returned home. When he becomes bored he changes his lodgings. Thus he remains

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