Report of the "Narrow Shaves" Competition
IN the book of our memories certain incidents stand out with headlines, and amongst these are the narrow shaves. we have , experienced—not necessarily from death, but from some disaster. These experiences are by their very nature so 'Vivid that we can generally remember, not only our feelings, but every detail pertaining to them. It was not surprising therefore that the entries for this competition were, on the whole, good reading : at any rate, the stories were exciting: But it is one of the hardest tasks of a writer to tell an exciting Story excitingly, to recapture and convey to the reader his *motion.
,There were descriptions of aeroplane crashes, railway accidents, of being nearly burnt to• death; Of being nearly drowned, eaten by a lion or a crocodile, attacked by a mad bull, cut off by the tide, scalded to death in milk (at the age of two and a half), trampled to death by a pony, and of miraculous escapes from murder—copy for many a "thriller." It is unfortunate that we have only space here to quote the winning entry, by Mr. B. B. Grey, who tells us that "the first of the two incidents described took place at Professor Hunter's home in Wellington, NZ., and the second on our plantation in the South Seas."
Trees
• It seemed a shocking act of vandalism to destroy such a tree as the pine that spread its branches over the lawn, but the view it hid was of even greater beauty, so down it was to come. •
: It leant slightly towards the house, so I, the sailorman, climbed aloft and made a large block fast to its truck, sixty feet above the ground, through which to reeve a rope which we later hove tight and made fast thirty yards from the tree's base. : We started to cut a scarf with our axes on the side away from the house. After ten minutes work we took a breather, and, .looking up, I saw that the block had taken a turn so that the rope did not lead well.
; We had only cut about an eighth of the way through the trunk *little thinking that another stroke of the axe would have revealed a rotten heart) and there was not a breath of wind to stir the leaves, so up I went again to put matters right.
i Just as I finished, and paused a moment to appreciate the scene of gentle beauty that lay before me, a heavy squall of wind swept down the valley. The tree began to rock wildly, and I started to slip down as quickly as ever I could.
For a few feet the descent was easy, but then, about fifty feet above the ground, the end of a broken branch caught my trousers. 4s I struggled to clear myself a tremendous crack sounded like doom in my ears, and the tree began to fall. I clung fiantically to the trunk while the air was filled with a great swishing as each needle brushed against its fellows, swallowed at last by a deafening crash as the tree met the ground. • I found myself lying on my back, still hugging the trunk while horrified face bent over me. ! "Are you alive," old chap ? " , "I think so," I replied, idiotically, not really sure. - On either side of me a branch had saved my body from the weight of the trunk, and after the tangle was cleared away I was hauled out without a scratch or a bruise.
. Sometimes, in nightmares, I relived that sweep through the air, but at last the vividness faded until, years later, I watched the felling of a large tree, to make a canoe for me, on a far-away tropic island.
' No sign of the terrible work of the white ant showed on the exterior of the trunk, and I sat by the water's edge on a log that Was safely beyond the reach of the topmost twigs, even though it Should fall my way. The axes had hardly bitten into the trunk When there was a yell of surprise from the natives, a loud Crash, and I saw the head of the tree begin to lean towards me.
• Amazement held me motionless for a few seconds, and then, realizing that some coconut palms must inevitably be uprooted and fling their whole sixty feet ot length at me, I started to run. A few strides, and my foot slipped on the hard, shiny midrib of a Coconut leaf. Frantically, I tried-to rise, hearing again the inter- minable gentle " swish-swish " of leaves sweeping through the air. . . It seemed hours before I regained my feet ; without looking 'hack I reached a place of safety, and then turned.
• On the spot where I had fallen the half-ton head of a coconut palm lay with its fruit and leaves around it. And the third tree ?
' 6 ghar ii lentbi, Shema, Malta. B. B. GREY.
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