The Rural Voice, 1993-01, Page 31was a quick smile — not just a
movement of the face, but her eyes
were alive and warm. What I saw,
also, was a young lady, very tired
after a long day, making herself carry
on.
My reverie was interrupted by
quick movements of the redcoats.
The unthinkable had happened! They
pounced toward the offender, but the
lively Duke of Edinburgh stopped it
all with a hearty "Hello there" as he
squatted down to the level of one of
my 10 -year-old charges who had —
sinfully — reached out and jerked the
leg of the Royal pants.
The redcoats stood back. So did
1, and heard only parts of the
conversation. They exchanged
names and the boy told about his
farm home to an encouraging listener.
He pointed to the crowd of people
massed around the station. The man
followed the point and nodded,
saying something to the nearest
redcoat about "Wish We —". In the
meantime the tired Princess had
stopped and, with a gesture of happy
acceptance, waited for her husband to
finish his visit.
The little procession stopped
often. No wonder the train was late
— our 10 -minute stop became 30
minutes. When the quiet puffing of
the train started away into the
twilight, the children sang their
farewell song as they had been
taught. But no — it was different
than rehearsed. No teacher had
taught them to put this warm meaning
into the old Scottish song "Will Ye
No' Come Back Again". There was
an instinctive beauty in that mass of
young voices; the beauty that puts a
tear in the eye and brings a glow of
admiration for our young folks. It
had been a long wait, but it was
worth it. They would have liked to
see more of this unassuming young
couple.
Waving their good-byes to us from
the back of the train, the Royal
couple must surely have heard the
friendly message. Perhaps they even
found a wee bit of encouragement to
face their future of welding a nation
of people together.
And here at home, in 1993, a
wonderfully precocious little farm
boy, all grown up, will be
remembering the very human touch
of Royalty on his young Iife.0
3ettes
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323-1545
OWEN SOUND
371-3281
MITCHELL
348-8492
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291-4100
Mikitish, Hesketh, Batte,
Andrews & Associates Inc.
Farm, Small Business, Corporate, Individual
Accounting
Tax Planning
Investment & Financial Management
QUALITY, SERVICE & VALUE
Office
Fax
For more information, inquiries
and in-house service please call:
(519) 271-1358
1-800-363-4233
(519) 271-2742
P.O. Box 22002,
Mornington Plaza
Stratford, Ontario
N5A 7V6
JANUARY 1993 27