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Soon after entering the Big Koom, we, were introduced to wha t were known as "the Branches"; Latin, French, Geometry, Algebra, Botany, and Agricultury All six of us accepted the full curriculum, which implied our intention to carry on to Grade Ten where we would face the matriculation examination to Prince of Wales College -- colloquially known as "trying the Entrance."

The prospect of this confrontation cast a slight, but always perceptible, sobering influence over our school lives from that momerit onward. We were

a group apart from the others of our age who would leave school at the end of the Ninth Grade for other pursuits. Naturally, we all had hopes of passing, but the chilling yearly record of nearly seventy per cent failures made those hopes something less than rosy. I often pondered the advisability of abandoning all thought of the Entrance and either going to a business school, or remaining on the farm. Such a change, however, was not in my power to make. Fortunately for me, my educational future was a matter of parental decision, and that decision called for my attending Prince of Wales. Whether any of the rest of the class had the same thought, I do not know; I accepted the inevitable and settled down to make ready for it as best I could.

A word in explanation of this concern may be in order at this point.

Our success or failure in the Entrance examinations vere in no way private matters. Our performance in the examination hall would be of intense interest to everyone in the district -- relatives and neighbors alike. There could be no concealment of failure; the pass list would appear on

the front pages of the daily papers. for all to read. Success carried a definite measure of prestige; failure a definite shade of stigma. There was, of course, ro logical reason for this reaction, but we recognized its | existence and had to nake the best of it.

In this new environment, I managed to compare favorably with the others

-- except in arithmetic and algebra. Some of them had difficulty with